Thursday was the day it all came together, literally. Mr Professional came out and we poured concrete into the bridge footings. Nine cubic yards all mixed on site and shoveled into the concrete blocks. I realize this doesn’t sound very impressive but trust me if you were the one shoveling or mixing the concrete you would know that it is a lot of concrete to do at one time.

We did the half closest to the house first. Early on we figured out that we might not have enough concrete mix so we started adding gravel to the mixer to stretch it out, we gained about 30% more concrete which was just enough to finish the entire job. My helper had to go run some errands during the mid day so I took a nap in the pickup after minimart lunch and then slept for another 30 minutes on the hallway floor. The ceramic tile is very cool and if you are overheated it will suck the heat right out of your body. It is a little hard but life is about trade offs and the cool down experience is what I was hoping to accomplish.

We started back up after we moved power, the hose and the mixer to the other side of the spring. We thought about using the tractor again to move the mixer but just ended up manhandling it the 20 feet across the water ditch. I have even decided that I am going to get some sun and set a timer for one hour and went shirtless. My plan is to do that every day I am outside. I don’t want to get burnt but I feel better with more sun. I realize that the long sleeve shirt and scarf and hat are necessary if I want to stay out all day in the sun.

On the uphill side we decided to go with a solid wall as the upper hillside area is putting more pressure on the wall. The bridge is just over five feet wide. My actual bridge that floated off is only four feet wide but since I was the only one who could get the four foot wide tractor over the four foot wide bridge it needs that extra one foot. Once Tex tried to dump the tractor into the spring by missing the bridge it had an extra railroad tie added. That will be even worse now as they will drop down over a concrete wall.

I won’t set the bridge for 3-4 days to let the concrete cure. I will be starting in on the fence next. It will be a joy to try and dig holes in the middle of summer. I see myself starting a bunch of holes and filling them all with water and letting it soak in for a few hours and drilling and water and repeat until I can get deep enough to set a post. I am going to create anchors on each side of the fence by making large rock cribs and then just cow panels down to and over the water. This way during a flood the cow panels can float up wards after the water pushes out the staples. The water will even be able tear out the fence posts next to the spring. This will result in me only losing a single post on each side of the water. This amount of damage is very easy to fix. Redoing the entire fence 30 feet back from the water because the woven wire fence held and it sequentially ripped out every railroad tie attached to that piece of wire, not cool.

I had a very nice surprise as my department staff at work sent me out two bags full for a care package. I have already started eating the candy and jerky and drinking the coffee! It was a very thoughtful gift and I am very appreciative. Even more so that everyone is allowing me the time away from work. That gift is the most needed. Someone offered Annmarie the choice to extend my time off a little longer, she told them that I would be ready on day 43 to return to work!! I am definitely disrupting the routine at home. I love her very much and know very few women who would put up with me. Always marry your betters, the best advice I can ever give to another human being. They will make you a better person.