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EVER
EVER Buildings
Shed
In early September, we bought a small shed kit-set to build, which would hold a Polaris Ranger, tools, and various other things we wanted to keep at the property under cover. My dad, and a hired helper, Terry, built the shed in two days. It is positioned in the second paddock on the property, not far from the estate’s driveway. Dad and John (my brother) painted all the wood to make it look nice. We keep the Ranger, fuel, tools, hats, boots, wood, weed-eaters, a mower, and many other things in the shed.
Front Stockyards
When we bought the property, the front stockyard (at the road) was in a horrible mess. Wood was broken, wire was poking out from the ground, gates weren’t locked, the headlock didn’t work, and the whole set up was really confusing. We had our fencing guy, Ian Fletcher, come and tear the whole stockyard up and put in a new one, along with a nice wood fence in the front rather than a bad wire fence. It didn’t take Ian long, and when it was all done, Mom, Dad, and I went with paint buckets and painted the whole thing in walnut brown.
It made the whole front of the property look a thousand times better and all the days and money we spent to bring it to where it is today was definitely worth it. Not only does it look nicer because it’s painted, but it is much easier to navigate. There are three pens for holding cows, a race with two good gates (one at each end), and six other gates to help get cows/calves were we want them. Mom also had a small opening made between two pens so we can slip through easily, and a cat-walk next to the race to make doing jobs on the cows/calves in the race much easier.
Meadow Barn
The meadow barn was a big ordeal. It took approximately four months for the barn to be built. This building was also made from a kit set. We hired a builder, Stuart, to build the barn. Mom and Dad put their initials in the concrete. We went to the property nearly every day to watch as they put in the structure, veranda, walls, insulations, doors, windows, etc. We then had it stained, hooked up to photovoltaic chargers, and connected to a water tank.
The meadow barn has two stalls, two garages, and a veranda, office, and tack room. The stalls have automatic, gravity fed, waterers, low-voltage lights, and a drain. One garage holds the Kubota tractor, the forks, and the Fieldmaster mower. The other garage holds excess wood, a barrel, tools, the barn batteries, and various other materials for the barn. The tack room is currently empty, and the shades for the two windows are not in yet. The office is currently furnished with a wood cabinet/desk, and four plastic chairs.
Meadow Arena
The meadow arena was made very quickly. Ian Fletcher took less than a week to put in a wood three-rail fence in the front and then electrified wire fence the rest of the way around. Dad and I stained the fence in ‘Rustic Oak’ to match the barn. Mom and her friend Helen have ridden in the meadow arena many times since it was built.
Second Stockyard
Since the property is so big, Mom found it rather necessary to put a second stockyard in the back paddock so that we wouldn’t have to run the cows to the very front of the property every time we wanted to put them in a stockyard. Ian Fletcher was once again hired for the job. It took him approximately 2 ½ weeks to complete the yards. This second stockyard has one pen and then a race. The race has a catwalk on the outside to make it easier to work with the cows. Ian also moved the metal headlock that had been on the front stockyard to this back stockyard.
~ Julia ~