Date with Dad and the Backhoe

We’ve been making some MAJOR changes at my house to get it read to sell. Mom and Dad have been a HUGE help (aka doing TONS of the work that I don’t know how to do). This particular evening we needed to get rid of the old barn and work on creating the back yard.

The old barn…ahh the old barn…we’ve had a love hate relationship. I LOVE old buildings. The old barn however was not safe. I loved the old wood and seeing the craftsmanship that went into the building of it. I hated the fact that it was falling down and beyond repair. It was so incredibly unsafe. So, it had to go.

Dad brought over his backhoe and we got to work. First, we had to push it down.

Then I had to call the sheriff’s department and inform them we would be doing a controlled burn and get it ready to be lit.

Then came the part that scared me…Dad lighting it and being too near the flames for my taste!

Then Daddy used the backhoe to keep the fire where we wanted it and safe.

The barn was taken care of without a hitch (safety hazard removed! YAY!) and we moved on to making the back yard.

See I have a berm home. It is built into a hillside and had woods behind it. I LOVE the view from up on the hill, so we set about putting the finishing touches on the land to make it a suitable back yard.

There were some BIG rocks and roots that needed removed so that a lawn mower could easily navigate the back yard.

Dad is AMAZING with the backhoe! He maneuvers the levers and peddles with ease. He had worked in road construction years ago and mastered working all the complex movements of this machine. Mom and dad now have their own backhoe and Dad uses it still today in their construction business. I didn’t have much to do, so I climbed on board and saw the action from up close…truth be told, I have always been and will always be a Daddy’s girl (and Mommy’s girl…I have AWESOME parents!), so spending time with Dad is one of my favorite things…even if it is while doing work! Being on the backhoe with me reminded me of my childhood and all the times that I rode on the tractor with him. I heart my daddy.

 

Eventually he had some work for me to do and kicked me out of my nostalgic spot in the backhoe. But I still had to take a few more pictures in between picking up rocks and roots…I couldn’t resist. :)

All this hard work is for the next owner of my home. And what a view they will have from their back yard! You should see it in the summer and fall…GORGEOUS!

I love this place and hope that the next owner will love it just as much…maybe more since we put in all the work and they get to reap all the benefits! haha

But all in all, I am enjoying this experience. Be it working with Michael or Dad or Mom, I get to spend time with at least one if not three of my favorite people in the world.

And I even convinced Daddy to take a picture with me at the end of the night. :)

(You never can get him to take a normal picture! haha But I love it!)