The Poles are in.

The poles for three sides are in. I told him that he can leave his skid steer there when he is finished. I promised to give it a good home-the very building he is constructing.

No deal.

I will see if I can get some pictures uploaded.

Why live in small-town USA?

So, I go into the FSA office to check on CRP for the family farm. Everyone is out to lunch except one very young lady whom I have never met before. So, I sit down at her desk and we start talking about the upcoming CRP bidding and about the possibility of putting some of our acres into the program. She immediately says, "That's for So and So Properties, right?"

To this point I had neither mentioned my name nor the name of the farm. Responding to the puzzled look on my face, she simply said, "It's your eyes. They look just like your sister's" "And that must mean that you are..." First and last name-pronounced correctly! Never met the lass before today. My sister last talked with her over a year ago.

Rafters arrived yesterday; electricity this afternoon, and I believe the sheetmetal this evening-I need to check on that. Builders are scheduled to begin tomorrow morning.

New Power-line Posts

The red flag does mean a new post is on its way-actually two new posts. The electrician told the power company that I need power on Tuesday. It might have happened were it not for the storm. I haven't heard of downed lines, but if there are any, they will naturally have priority over the needs of a new customer.

More news as it develops.

This isn't Kansas

Thirty nine is the official count-that's a record number of tornados in one day in Minnesota. We watched the weatherman, using a live camera shot, show where in a cloud a tornado would appear and right on que, one formed, touched down, and dissappeared back into the cloud in less than five minutes. The storms would pop up, dump lots of rain and sometimes hail, then seem to be past when the tornados reached out to give a parting shot.

One town, Wadena, was preparing for their high school reunion. The school took a direct hit: In a couple weeks it would have been filled with alumni.

A lot of damage to towns, and a number of farmsteads. Unfortunately, three people were killed.

The good news is that the first load of material for the shed arrived on Friday-four days early.

I didn't step on it!

Steve was by so I showed him where the house will go. To get there we walked past another of Grandma's flowerbeds, now overgrown with weeds. On the way back, we stopped so I could see how much work it will be to clear the weeds and restore the flowers. It was curled up in a ball just the other side of the bed. I'm sure mama had told it to not move if people walked by, but when we stopped only two feed away, the spotted, knee-high fawn jumped up and headed for mamma leaving two very startled male humans behind!

I'm here; where's the shed?

There are lots of birds around. They are loud enough to keep one awake at night with their constant, joyful singing.

The materials will be delivered next Tuesday and the workers might start then, or the next day. Not a problem. That will give me time to get power to the site for the builders, and for me once the building is complete.

Well, the electrician looks at the line coming in and says it is too old, he cannot in good conscience connect anything to it (I think I like our electrician). He calls the power company who immediately sends out an inspecter; the inspecter had some trees cut that were touching the lines, then s/he put red ribbons on two poles. One pole holds the meter, the other the transformer-the teeny, tiny, low-montly-cost transformer that will need to be replaced with a bigger, higher-minimum-monthly cost one as we build the house.

Flashback: I remember seeing bird nests on the support for the yard light that is on the pole where the meter is.

The pessimist in me thinks the red ribbon is a signal to replace the poles. And if the transformer pole is to be replaced, why would any intellegent business put up a transformer that will need to be replaced within five years. What that means is that my minimum monthly fee is about to go up-so thinks the pessimist.

Of all the trees and branches that needed to be cut down, there were no bird nests disturbed.

One purpose for a shed is to store tractors and other machinery so they don't deteriorate when not being used. Another is to have a place out of the weather to work on the machines. I have a tractor that needs a little work, then would be moved into the shed. Not a problem, I'll do the repair work and use the tractor while the construction is going on, then drive the tractor in and store it for next year.

Taking the hood off is a simple process, except when one is out of practice. I squished my thumb, drawing blood; I hurt my arm-pop, pain, swelling, getting better-but I've been waiting all year for this and I'm not about to let a little pain keep me from fixing and starting this tractor! I'm on the farm, and farmers are tough-they don't let anything stop them from driving their tractors. And then I lift up the hood...Mamma Robin can be very vocal, and not so musical, when a creature invades her personal space! *Sigh* I'll fix the tractor later; can't use it today anyway-it might rain.