Hooraaaaaay !!

The dozer guy FINALLY showed up!  We are going to have the place graded by the end of the day and we will be able to get on with the fencing!!  Yeaaaaaa!!   (I'm doing my Snoopy dance as we speak!) 

Here is the main portion of the project he's here to do.

We planned for this to be a pond, but as it turned out, it will not hold water unless the level of the Mississippi River is much higher than the level of the pond -- something to do with the ground water level -- which does not happen in summer.  So the dozer is going to push in the sides so that a regular lawn mower can ride through the depression and mow the thing when there is no water in there.  We'll probably plant some Cypress trees in there since they like "wet feet," and maybe some swamp irises or other bog plants around the trees.  But ultimately it will not be a hazard to either horses or dogs when complete which will be a huge relief to me.

And needless to say, our neighbors -- whose yard looks like a resort golf course year round -- will be thrilled not to have to look over at the overgrown mess that "pond" had become!

I've already e-mailed the Centaur Fence rep over in Breaux Bridge to come give us an estimate.  And once that fencing is in place, the horses can finally come HOME!!  I am so excited!  Not to mention the dogs finally having room to actually chase each other around and get some exercise here at home.  We're going to use the four-rail Centaur electrified fence around the whole front, vinyl picket fencing around the dog area in back, but we haven't decided exactly what style fence to put around the back pastures.  Centaur makes so many different types of fencing for horses that it's hard to choose.  I'm hoping the fence guy (Doug Nicko from Scout Fencing) will help us decide what would be best.  (Sure hope we like this guy since the next closest Centaur dealer is over in Alabama two states away!)

And while the dozer guy works in back, Jerry has been scooping up the mulch from the stumps we finally had ground down that were left over from the trees we lost in the hurricanes over the last few years.  He's getting ready here to spread it around the baby magnolias out by the road in front.  Once all that mulch is cleared away and the drain under the driveway cleared out, we're hoping that the next tropical storm or hurricane will no longer flood the front yard.

I don't know what Mark would do without Jerry to help in the yard and on the barn project most weekends. (Not to mention keeping us updated on all the local gossip!)

Anyway, I'm heading out to run some errands (overdue library books, dog food - the usual) so I'll update the project photos after after I get back.  But I am definitely a happy HAPPY camper today!