Back in 2022 we had cleaned up the cellar and a lot of long boards had been left in one area. They were a pain because one had to step over them to get from one side to the other. They had also gotten a lot of stuff piled on them from when we cleaned the workshop in the barn.
So before the stone moving could start I had to clean up that mess. But before I did that I got my post up and cleaned the kitchen. I went to the cellar and I put away all the stuff from the barn, then was able to move the long boards one by one into the new workshop and up onto supports built out from the wall.
Then I cleaned off the pallet where the square stones would go. It was not sturdy enough, so I put some of the 2” x 12” under it for more strength. My brother cut one in half for me to finish filling the area.
Looking at the photo, I realized I had only put support under the stack closest to the metal rack. There’s nothing under the rest. Sigh…will have to do that soon, as it’s only plywood.
My intern and her boyfriend showed up at 10AM and they started pulling out the flat stones and cleaning the rotted cardboard off them. Then they got each stone down in the cellar and protected it with one of the boards we’d made. (The greasy boards had plastic bags on them.)
They also got the backerboards down in the cellar. I’d started cleaning off the pallets and laying the stones on the grass. We moved one pallet over and then we emptied the crate and moved it. There were a few corner stones in the ones we cleared and we carefully put them in the most protected corner.
Then we started putting the stones in the rest of the crate. I started emptying the last pallet and found a LOT of corner stones. So we had to move a few stones out and we got the corner stones in a safe place. Then we resumed loading the crate.
I’d run a sheet of plastic down the windward side and once the crate was filled, over the top. We used the not cut stones to hold the plastic in place.
Once I’d emptied the last pallet we brought them over and put them on the too-short-for-fence-posts 4” x 4” that had been stored back there.
They had to leave at 11:30AM and these were the stones that were left. I messaged the kid who said he’d finish the job on Sunday, but he backed out. So my intern said she would come on Monday afternoon and we would finish moving the small stones. We’d also have to clean up the mess that was left.
I sat down to rest for a while and called my oldest brother to see if he was on his way. He’d just left so that gave me plenty of time for lunch, a shower, and a rest.
I forgot to mention that my mulch hay guy had called just before 9AM wanting to bring hay at 10AM. I said I had the kids coming to do stone so if he could get here before 10AM that would be better.
When he didn’t show by 9:50AM I assumed he wasn’t coming. I was out working with the kids when the phone rang and he was at the barn with the hay. He’d actually unloaded a good deal off the truck already.
I told him all but 8 bales were to go in the Big garden. So I thought he’d leave the 8, reload the truck and come up to the garden. But he actually went inside and put the 8 on the pallet for me!
So we got the remaining ones in the garden and I went back to stones.
The forecast was for rain by 6PM so when my brother picked me up just before 2PM to go to the fair, we’d decided to get the Ferris wheel ride out of the way. As I stood in line by myself (my brother doesn’t do Ferris wheels), I was struck by how many young families there were this year.
As I was going on by myself, I asked the man behind me with a small child if I could share his car. When we got to the entrance, there was a little girl about 9 years old by herself ahead of me. So she joined me in my car. I gave her the best side to see stuff. But that made it hard to get photos.
We had a nice round and round ride. It’s so cool to see the whole fair from up there!
From there we went through the animal barns. My youngest brother’s farm where he works was well represented in the dairy barn. But there were fewer animals overall in every barn.
From the barns we went into the museum and I was glad we did. They had revamped it and there was a lot of new stuff displayed. I was fascinated by a display of about 40 photos from 1895 of a decorated horse drawn carriage event. My favorite was a photo of 2 men, side by side (not tandem), on bicycles pulling a small cart with a little girl dressed as a butterfly.
The little girl above I saw in many places. I loved her golden curls! It was the fair’s 175th anniversary and they had the posters and banners all over. I really liked it so I got one to frame. I also got the t shirt, even though the background was black. Not fond of black clothes…
This year they had a reptile show and had lots of cool snakes and lizards and this giant African toad. I got to touch all of the animals, but my brother hung out in the back.
We went through the Wildlife building. It had a display of lots of live butterflies, another of many kinds of edible mushrooms someone had grown, and a huge display of native plants for landscaping, in addition to the usual animals and fish in tanks.
For some reason, the 4-H Building had been renamed the Kiwanis building even though it was still devoted to the 4-H kids’ projects. After that one we went into the Roundhouse.
It was even less full than the year before. So sad that older people aren’t displaying their produce and hand crafts and food preservation like they used to.
From there we went to find food. I got my favorite onion rings and lemonade and my brother filled up on coffee and a pulled pork sandwich and beef stew.
We had thought we’d look at the food buildings to see if we could find really good food like last year for supper. But as we sat eating our snacks, the wind came up and it got darker. It was just after 5PM. So we decided we’d head for the car, just beating the torrential rain down pour and wind.
We’d contacted my younger brother about going out to eat in town when we got back. So we ended up doing that, but we didn’t realize they closed so early, at 7PM. I had a nice chicken salad with lots of different greens, but they didn’t get the seafood they wanted, as the kitchen was closing down. They ended up with a salad for one and a Reuben sandwich for the other.
One of the boys and his mom met by the RCMP
In the evening, just before I was going to bed I found this documentary. It was about 2 boys, who would have been my age in 1967, who drove their little pony from near Boston, Mass all the way to the Montreal Expo in July 1967. Here’s the link.
This was such a cool story, and I couldn’t imagine driving my own pony all that way with my sister who would have been roughly the same age at that time. I hope you will take the time to listen to the 25 minute story.
So I was very late to bed.
On Sunday I have to do all the mowing at the house and the barn. That will do me in for the day. My brother says we are having pesto burgers for supper.