DRAINAGE DITCHES TO DIAPERS

                                             

The Drainage Ditch is Completed

      
            The drainage ditch is finally completed - all 45' of back-breaking picking and shoveling.  Before placing the PVC and Big O pipe inside the deep groove, I covered the bottom with crushed rock, which I salvaged from down the road with a wheelbarrow.  Did I mention fending off mosquitoes and black flies right up till the last shovel full of dirt covered the drainage pipe from one end to the other - well it was a constant battle.  During the whole ordeal, the sweat was continually pouring off me and of course to replenish the moisture leaving my body at a steady rate, I was forced to knock back quite a few cold beers - at the rate I had been going, if there had been a great deal more shoveling and busting earth with a pick, nothing would have been left of me except my ears and my arsehole.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not against hard work but at my age, wishing I was 30 again or at least 50, some of this intensive hard labour can be a bit much.  And now that the job is completed, I'm waiting for a heavy rainfall to see if the drainage ditch does its job - I sure hope so - I'd hate to have to tear it up and start all over again.
          I started working on the new barn, leveling out the cement footings for the floor until the black flies became so intense, I was forced to postpone it.  I'm hoping to get a good start on the floor before the actual barn raising occurs this Saturday morning.  I'm expecting about 6 or 7 fellow neighbours to arrive and give me a hand, which will be most appreciated, especially since I'm not a very good carpenter - a real ameteur.  My friend Clayton Clark will be in charge - no use me giving orders, telling people what to do when I don't know how to properly do it myself.  Some of their wives will be attending the barn raising as well and I hear some of them are even bringing some more food, which is a good thing because we'll probaly work up a good appetite.  I'm not too concerned if the barn is completely finished by the end of the day, as long as the floor is completed and the sides, windows, doors and the metal roof is in place.
          In the old days and from what I've heard about the Amish that live not that far away, barn-raising is still happening today.  Mind you, the barns they built and are still building are huge in comparison to the one we'll be erecting.  However, the idea is still the same as the days of yore; the bringing together of neighbours to give a hand with the hard work should still be somewhat festive - a time for good food, beer and laughter.  The weather man is calling for light rain during Saturday.  Hopefully this won't discourage any of the people who've said they will be here - if nothing else the rain should encourage us to get the roof up quickly and then we should be able to stay relatively dry.  And, one good thing about a little rain - means the mosquitoes and the black flies won't be out in force and I for one am liking that.
          As soon as the barn is completed and the remainder of the fencing is finished, we are going to buy a couple of nubian goats from a nearby neighbour and pick up our Great Pyrennes dog Luki from the Jolly Farmer.  The chickens will be arriving shortly after as well, which means Golden Unicorn Farm will begin looking more like a real farm.  Sarah was finally able to plant her garden the other day and I hated to go in the house this morning and tell her that some little varmint has already been feasting on it.  That's the trouble with living out in the boonies; there's all sorts of critters that take advantage of our hard work.
         I just heard on the news that the people living at Nackawik, which is just a short distance from here, the home of the world's largest axe is located, are planning to literally give the axe to the Canadian geese that are leaving an abundance of their droppings on the surrounding lawns - seems the tourists are complaining.  I liked what the Nackawik mayor had to say, even though the government has sanctioned slaughtering the geese in different areas, "We won't be killing the geese."  It's true, the geese can be somewhat annoying but what the hey, it's not like they're the same as a herd of cows - now that would definitely be a bit difficult to walk through or spread a blanket out on the lawn to have a picnic.  Hmm, I wonder if there's a company that manufactures little diapers that would fit a Canada Goose - cheers - eh!