Hail, Deck, and Cows

 William and I drove out to the farm at 4pm today. Just north of Southey we hit a huge storm where hail pelted our car so hard I though it could crack the glass. What made the final run towards the farm more nerve wracking was the fact that the road has water up to the side in more places due to flooding in the area this year and the road itself has only recently been re-graveled. The whole storm lasted quite a while (for a Saskatchewan storm), probably over a half hour. Fred and the girls were safely inside working on minor stuff when we got there and we joined them, doubting we could anything else with the day. However, the storm quickly ended and within 15 minutes the sun was out and I got to work.

I managed to frame the rest of the deck. The next time out, I'll need an hour to put in the remaining supports and we can lay the deck boards. The drive back was intended to be a cautious one, owing to the rain and the evening hour; I told William to keep a lookout for deer which might be on the move. It wasn't deer he saw but cows. A dozen of them blocked the road, themselves penned in by the water. Horn honking was to no avail so I needed to edge close to them. These are very large animals and combined, they were bigger than us including our car, so I moved slowly. After a ten minute stand-off, they finally relented and sauntered past our car and let us past. Oh, what looks they gave us though!