My arms and shoulders are very sore from only half an hour of
smoothing out the mud in front of the barn yesterday. Sigh This year
has been exceptionally wet and the horses managed to dig a trench in
front of the barn door in their coming and going. 
The barn
seriously needs to be cleaned and I can't do anything with the
amount of mud that is there (it's a good 6 inches deep at the
moment, spans the width of the door, and extends almost 6 feet! 
).
Bob and I have gone over several possible temporary
"fixes" and we've decided to lay down rubber stall mats
and add a little sand in the area since neither we, nor the owner, has
the time, equipment, or money to put in gutters and a drainage
system. The second option was to build a platform, but the mats are a
cheaper solution and can be used elsewhere if they don't work out.
(Bob had voiced concern about it and
basically said "I told you so" 
) Bob helped me pull the
mats back out of the mud and we put down a layer of hay to absorb
some of the moisture, putting the mats aside until the mud dries
again. The landlord is going to see if a gravel truck can fit
through the gate. I REALLY hope so! He's also going to have someone
check for a broken water line as this is the worst it has ever been.
I'm glad that he's ready to work on the problem. I can't clean the
barn until this issue is resolved and the muck is not good for the
horses. The good news is that Bob and the landlord think the mats
will help a lot after the gravel is in place, so I don't feel like a
complete idiot. 
) thinking life is good... then, the
cat uses the litter box and pops my serenity bubble. Just couldn't
wait, could you kitty? 
