A productive day

Have you ever had one of those days that was just satisfyingly productive? Yesterday (Monday) was one such day. I don't have photos of everything we did, but you'll get the idea.

Don and I started out in the barn where we moved a new hay bale in place. The cows are eating dry food as well as grazing on whatever new growth is coming up from the occasional autumn rains, which isn't much. This bale is the last of a rather iffy-quality batch of hay we got to tide us over last spring. We've been working on clearing the barn so the better-quality hay we purchased for the winter can be moved indoors.

Next, while I cleaned the barn, Don finished pouring concrete to form the last pier block needed to build the awning that will go on the back of the barn, which will offer the cows more shelter this winter. The pier will need to cure for a few days before doing anything further.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent cleaning up. We have rain expected overnight...

...and we've been doing some fall cleanup anyway, so this gave us some extra incentive to get things done. To use up the last of the gas from the lawn mower before storing it away, I mowed the front and back lawns. Don collected assorted plywood and lumber that's been laying around, and stored it under cover. We collected tools (rakes, shovels, etc.) and put them in the shed. Don organized one of our outdoor sheds to better fit things. I cleaned off the back porch, which often gets messy because it tends to act as a staging area for miscellaneous projects.

By the time we finished mid-afternoon, the porch and yard and front of the barn were gratifyingly tidy.

Then, because we just had a cord of log rounds delivered for an extra boost of firewood, I spent about two hours splitting a good amount of it.

So yeah, it was just one of those satisfying and productive days. The summer heat is finally over, and we can work outside comfortably. We figure we have about four to six weeks to finish all the projects we want to get done before winter.