Arriving at the farm on our first visit of the year, we untarped, opened up and dusted off the winter cobwebs.  The trailer had wintered well.  Last December, we lost Jazz due to a faulty heart valve so Star was alone this year.  Didn't take her long to find her favourite spot on the floor next to the heat register though.

   
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Down at the creek, we discovered our bridge had suffered devastating damage earlier in the spring due to ice dams and heavy runoff.  The entire bridge had been shifted from its previous position and twisted, snapping deck planks and destroying the deck.  Unfortunately there was nothing left to salvage.

   
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My neighbour Glenn had built a couple of bridges on his quarter.  He took a look at our mess and suggested we rebuild using pipe and a floating deck.  He also volunteered to oversee the project.  First, we positioned two 40" eight inch heavywall oilfield pipes over the creek.  This was our biggest challenge due to the weight and length of each of the pipes.  I had again rented the Kubota from Home Depot, So between the little tractor, my 3/4 ton diesel truck and a side x side on the far side of the creek, we got the job done.

Once the pipes were in position and more-or-less anchored we placed two 2"x6" beams alongside the outside of each of the pipes.  That done, it was just a matter of pushing a second pipe across the creek on both sides and snugging them up against the 4'x6' laminated beam.  Now we had our weight-bearing pipes in place and the means to screw our 2"x6" deck boards down.  When the deck was complete we moved some clay up on either side of the bridge to act as ramps.  To test the integrity of the bridge, Glenn jumped into my truck and drove it across and back.  Everything solid and good to go.

   
   
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With the new bridge in, we started to think about cleaning all of the debris out of the creek that had accumulated over the years.  This was probably backing up the creek in the spring and was likely the cause of the destruction of our bridge.  We started with pulling out what was left of the old bridge.  Then we picked out whatever else had been deposited at that spot by the waters of the creek over the years.  The side x side with its winch and the Kubota with it's bucket (i've got to buy me one of these) were a great help.

The only piece of debris we couldn't budge was the old hay wagon that had been pushed into the creek years ago.  It was sunk into the mud, below the bank and also the biggest contributor to the debris getting caught at that spot and backing up.  My brother Les was up later in the season and he solved that problem.  He suggested we push a couple of beams under one end of the wagon as best we could, then attached a chain to the frame and to the hooks under the front bumper of my truck.  Then it was into four wheel drive, lo gear and ready to back up.  After a couple of false starts and adjustments we got it right and the whole thing popped out and up onto the bank.

    
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By now the leaves were falling and summer was drawing to a close.  We took a look around and tried to determine what our next project should be.  There were many.

    
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In addition to overseeing bridge building, Glenn had bought two bush quarters 4 miles east of us and there was some pasture he wanted to break up.  He bought an old Massey Ferguson 1805 8-tired 4 wheel drive tractor, rented a 14' Wishek Breaking Disk from Flamen's in Fairview and went to work.  I kind of asked if there could be any possibility of breaking some of my pasture while he had the equipment in the neighbourhood.  He wouldn't commit.  However, late in the afternoon a couple of days later we suddenly heard what sounded like heavy equipment to the south.  Soon, we could see a pickup coming up our road followed by a tractor pulling equipment.  Glenn had finished his disking and decided to disk our pasture before he returned the Wishek to Flamen's.  His son Brent went right to work and broke sod until dark.

    
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The next morning Glenn and his son Brandon came back to finish up.  Glenn also brought his John Deere 675B skid steer along and dug out some big boulders they had discovered.  So, for the rental cost of the disk for one day, the 16 acres in my north pasture was broken and ready to prepare for seeding.

   
   
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Now we just needed the middle pasture, the south pasture, the west pasture and the finger fields broke,  But, that's for another year.  Even though Star had to look after the Farm by herself this year, she managed and we got through a very busy spring, summer and fall.

  
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