Making inroads

Removing the turf at the entrance to keep the levels constant at the gate.

I took a couple of days off the day job this week, borrowed a digger, and started building a turning space and hardstanding for the new field. With ice staying in the water buckets all day every day, I put on as many layers of clothes as I could while still being able to climb in and out of the cab for the occasional shovelling.

A great view from the cab - those beautiful beasts, that drive me to spend my spare time doing this (note, the shelters are still standing!).

The stone lorries couldn't turn into the field, so the stone was tipped at the entrance, and I dragged it in with the digger.

This was the first time I'd driven a digger, since the Lego one I got for my 30th birthday! I realised that operating a digger can represent a metaphor for some businesses and organizations: sometimes the left-hand doesn't know what the right-hand is doing, and sometimes the left-hand didn't even know what it was doing itself!

I'll be able to get a smaller stone lorry into the field for the final bit.

At times I wondered what I'd taken on, it seemed like the third runway for Heathrow Airport, but after three and a half days, I'm very satisfied with the progress and have broken the back of it - the weather has been ideal, and we can tidy up the landscaping with a small viewing area.

Meanwhile, halter training continued - Discovery is a natural, and Darcy Spice was happy to follow - when I say happy, he turned and spat to let me know he could spend sunday afternoon more usefully!