No real "writing work" went on yesterday. I spoke with Charles and we talked a bit about two outstanding photos for Dr. Warson's "Rider's Back Book," but that project is really ready to send to the publisher, as soon as all the photos are finished.
The day began with me replacing two support posts and repairing the round pen. All the rain we've had lately made that job easy in some ways (clay is easily shoveled out) and difficult in others (clay is not easily shoveled back in or firmly packed).
My dad cut up the four big, dead trees that we'd dragged to the end of the driveway on Wednesday, before our work got rained out.
Then, we went to work on the riding arena. It was too wet to set the remaining posts, but we decided to nail up the boards on the posts we'd already set. We got a good start on things, too, until the Great Studio Move took precedence over everything else.
Yes, the studio is finally here! Not that it moved without incident, mind you. But at least it's in its final resting place.
The guy who moved it underestimated how astoundingly heavy the thing is. I discovered that this is no pre-fabricated, bantam weight building. No -- this thing was built from the ground up by hand. Our best guess is that it weighs over 3 1/2 tons!
And we moved it. We jacked that puppy up, put additional support beams underneath it, and winched it onto the trailer. The support beams (treated 4 x 6's that ran 20 feet -- the entire length of the building) started to disintegrate under the stress of using them to haul the building forward. We had to stop and reposition things three times. (A simple sentence to write, and a short one to read. But it was fraught with danger and encompassed hours in real time.)
Then we crept toward its new home. We cleared the power and phone lines over our driveway with literally inches to spare. We cleared the side of our house with even less room. And we had to stop twice to saw off tree limbs that were in the way.
But we did it. The soggy ground held up under the truck and trailer. Tom of T & W is a masterful backer, and he slotted the building between two trees just exactly as I hoped he would.
Now, I can't wait to finish the inside and move my work space there. Life just moves from one anticipation to the next.
So, while no real "writing work" got done yesterday, I can't help thinking that my business has taken a huge leap forward. Can't wait to get to work on it... but today is earmarked for the riding arena, too, so though the studio has moved here, my moving in will have to wait...
