We had no serious plans for the day. I had things around the house that needed doing – laundry, weeding, cleaning, you know, the fun stuff. Ron headed out to the Farm about 7 am . He needed to water his newest mushroom beds. The canopy of trees over the beds block not only the sun, but also most of the rain. At 8 am I was outside yanking weeds when I heard the phone ringing. Mad dash inside to catch it. It was Dick Crane calling Ron back about moving the outhouse off the trailer for us. I told him Ron was out at the Farm and gave him his phone number. We have lousy reception out there so I sent Ron a text and then waited 15 minutes and called. He not only got my call but Dick’s too. The move was on. He needed me to grab Jo, get into work clothes and meet him. Jo was out on her run so while I waited for her I fielded calls from Ron to bring this and that with us. As soon as Jo was ready, we headed out. Half way there I realized we had forgotten to bring the boards he asked me to. Oh well. We will just have to figure something else out. Ron is good at that.
Dick wasn’t there yet, but Ron said he had already been there to check things out. While we waited for him to come back with forklift, we hunted for wild strawberries and looked at a vast variety of plants growing. Weeds mostly, but some so pretty.
He arrived with his Bobcat and its forklift attachment. Have to say I was nervous. The outhouse looked about twice the size of this machine he was going to lift it with. Being a good team player, I kept my mouth shut. Besides, Ron and Dick both had serious experience with this kind of thing. They spent the first 20 minutes or so talking about the oats growing in the field. That in two weeks they needed to be knocked down. Dick had a friend who would come and harvest it, but no, probably best to let it rot on the ground. Would then be 2-3 weeks, depending on the weather before he would come back and plant the buckwheat. Finally they got on to the task at hand.

First attempt did not work out. Most of the weight is in the roof so the forks needed to be shifted further up. Ron did a great job playing foreman. The two of them never missed a beat. Jo and I watched, holding our breath, ready to jump in or out of the way. Dick finally got the outhouse off the trailer and he moved it toward the stack of pallets we had waiting.

Ron‘s plan had been for Dick to put the house down on the pallets and then he would use a sling to pull it upright. Dick said that would not work, it was too high. He thought we should just leave it on the forklift and sling it upright from there. Not so sure that was a good idea, but there was nothing else left to do. I couldn’t afford to buy that machine from Dick and leave it sitting there.
Some not so gentle shoving to get the house straightened out and then the 4 of us counted to three and lifted that blasted thing up. Amazingly, we did it. It landed hard and rocked backwards. I instinctively reached out to stop it but not necessary. It rocked back and settled solidly on the ground. We are so good. And Larry Munger, you built a seriously good thing.

Then Ron went to work talking Dick into pulling the outhouse down the path, around the tree and into the location Ron had set up for it. Larry had put a steel cable on the bottom of the house and it slid along nicely in the skids. Took a little doing, but our house is right now sitting safely on the Farm. Ready for us to start painting it.

Honestly, I think the hardest part was getting a tarp pulled over it. Rain is forecast for most of the next week. Wet wood does not take paint well. Hugs for Dick from me and Jo and he headed home.
We pulled the now empty trailer around so it was facing out and Ron walked to get the Transit. Hooked the trailer up, picked up all our stuff and headed out. Jo and I walked, getting to the road before Ron so we could give him the all clear for pulling out. On the way home, Jo said she could hear the trailer sigh with relief when we finally got the outhouse. Happy that the elephant was off it’s back. Once again Ron was chortling in his joy. Not only did we get the house where he wanted it, but he had his trailer back. Now he could get back to work.