It's a steamy September morning. I'm just in from the barn where the crew is enjoying a lovely bale of Mike Darling's second cutting. As I was picking the area under the overhang I couldn't help but congratulate myself on investing in a Nelson Waterer. It's only been in service since the end of June but it has already paid for itself in my book. No more algae coated water troughs, just a lovely stainless bowl that is a breeze to clean.

On Sunday the winter's hay arrived. 608 bales in all and I must say that it is always a good feeling to know that the loft is full. A few weeks back Mike injured his knee so the troops rallied to help with hay. Dicky, Mike's brother in law, apparently ran the baler at warp speed which may account in some way for the weight of the bales?? The 'gorillas' were John , Brady & Tyler Rose, John Darling and a couple others that I didn't know. They managed to consume gallons of iced tea and thanks to Syd we had plenty of mint! He went back to the old farm and gathered a generous bunch,

This is a picture of the house progress from last week. Much has been done since then. The garage is in situ, the trusses arrived yesterday afternoon. The screen porch is under construction and the porch flooring has been delivered. More pictures soon.

Last evening after the hammer bangers had left I went out with a tape to try to layout the placement of the kitchen sink, dishwasher and cooktop. Managed to rescue a few scraps of plywood of an appropriate size and used them to represent the appliances. I think I'm close.