A Tale of Two Leaks: Tractor Towing and a Pitiful Pond

Told (mostly) in alliterative allusions!

While Herb was bush-hogging yesterday, the bush hog threw up a rock which cut a hydraulic line.  Herb lost all power to the tractor, and it slipped down the hill half into the ditch.  There was nothing to do but call Boykin Tractor, our great Kubota dealer in Alabama.  Bronson arrived this morning, winched the tractor onto his truck, and towed it off to Alabama.  By quitting time this evening we got a call that it's fixed, and they'll bring it back tomorrow.  Now that's service!

The second leak we dealt with today wasn't repaired quite so successfully.  Here it is:  our leaky pond.  The back part (the part that was dug out in Feb. 2009) holds water, but the old part where the Bobcat is, doesn't.  So Herb picked up a rental Bobcat today in hopes that we could dig down deep enough to find out where the water is leaking and going underground.

A Curious Cow.  Sara was very curious about this noisy contraption spoiling the peace of her pond.  Once she checked it out really closely--and realized the dirt it was digging up wasn't good to eat--she headed off to chew her cud in the shade.

A Horde of Helpful Horses.  Brandy and Angel were very curious about the Bobcat, and they hung around most of the day.  They checked it out very closely and decided that the dirt it dug up WAS good to eat!

A Dirty, Diligent Dog.  Zephyr loves the water, sticks, and stones.  She got thoroughly wet in the water, then joined me as I picked up brush and stones.  She was sure that each one was about to be launched for her to retrieve, and she never gave up hope.  Every time I picked up a stick or a rock, Zephyr was ready to go.

A Dutiful, Diligent Dog.  Hero doesn't particularly enjoy being around water or fetching, but he adores Herb.  Wherever Herb is, there Hero is . . . all day long.

Hair-raising Herb!  Here he is popping a wheelie!  He's a lot braver than I am when the Bobcat tips.  He very patiently and skillfully scraped away at the pond for hours.

The Scoop on Susan.  I wasn't very good at scooping (or as patient as Herb was), but I did do pretty well scooping up the dirt he dug up.  It was fun driving the Bobcat up the steep grade at the base of the tree to dump the dirt around its roots.

Believe me, we need the Bobcat's Bigger Buddy, the Bulldozer!  There's just no way this little guy can dig that deep into the bottom of this whole pond, but that's what is needed to (excuse the pun) get to the bottom of this leak!

It was 6 p.m. and time to back out and head back to the house.  Maybe we didn't get the job done, but we did find out what's needed to do it.  And that's the first step.

A Helping Hand from our Hilarious Horse.  Brandy thought we needed to return the Bobcat nice and clean, so she proceeded to lick the loader and scrape the dirt off with her teeth! 

One of the horses wasn't quite so helpful when she reached her head in the open truck window, pulled out Herb's new copy of A Lone Survivor, and tore it up all over the pasture.  We figure it was probably Brandy; and if it wasn't her, it was Brandy!  I told Herb it must be a really good book.  Why else would she devour it?

What would we do without our animals?!  They keep us laughing!