****no pix today....but I worked out in the barn most of the day. my youngest son who is 15 helped me tons!!! We cleaned out the horse manure from the barn floor totally by hand and a wheelbarrow because it was not only too muddy to get the tractor in the barn entrance, but the horse trailer is blocking where we'd usually bring it in from!!! Dang....but we needed the rain from this last week, so I am totally not complaining about the down-pours!!!!

My son, also cut some 6 inch wide molding boards and nailed them to the edge of the barn near the floor on one wall that butts up to the chicken coop. Now the chickens are more safe - at least from the barn interior side, from raccoons coming in and 'getting' them!!!! He did a really great job, having to saw the boards to size with a hand-saw, and nailing them on. It was a good learning experience for him, and very helpful to me!!!!

He also dug a french drain partially by hand and partially aided with the tractor at the front of the barn....he helped me re-stack lumber in the tack/storage area inside the barn, so i could sweep the cobwebs down, shop vac them up, hang up tack properly and re set the saddles and saddle blankets...I brought the halters, fly masks, and one handwoven saddle blanket back home here to wash and hang dry....tomorrow I'll take them back and put them into the barn.

All in all we got soooo much done, and of course I tweaked my back from all the digging and hauling of the horse manure, but took some Advil, and I know tomorrow I will be good as new for a middle aged woman!!!! :-) Life is Good!!!!