Milk tank is here!

The milk tank came today- without Garry home to watch over the process- hope he likes the way it's installed when he gets here tomorrow afternoon! Maxim was in charge, and the power went out around 10 am- the tank arrived around 11 am, and the DeLaval guys drove away around 2:30. The sun was shining brightly as the were unloading it- you can see how muddy the drive in front of the barn has gotten with the rain the last couple days. In spite of the dark clouds overhead, the village dodged any showers that fell today, so it actually got drier. There was a light misty vapor coming off the plowed gardens behind the barn while they were unloading the tank. Max had gotten some of the neighbors in to help unload it. First the took the wall apart- it had been designed to come apart to get a milk tank in the room. They just tucked it around the side of the milkhouse by the fence until later. They took the tank off the trailer, carrying it with the aid of a couple straps under it. They squeezed it through the hole in the wall and inside the milkhouse.




















Then they carried the compressor into the milkhouse, and the lids for the tank from the van. The valve for the tank is like four or five inches off the ground, which I am afraid Garry is not going to like but the compressor is all hooked up as you can see. The big boss showed up for the final payment, after it was in the milkhouse, but before the guys hooked it up. Maxim came in the house, counted out the grivna and the boss was off in his SUV (no he's not in the pictures - all the boss in Ukraine carries is the money.) You can see Maxim behind the milktank in the photo where they put the lid on the tank. By three o'clock the wall was back on the milkhouse, and someone had washed out the tank.








Max told me at one that the electricity was supposed to come back on at 5 o'clock, but it came back at 3:30 bonus- the fridge and freezer and computer were back on and the stove the guys had sandwiches at mid-day when I normally cook the big dinner- so I made a rice and chicken dish when the power came back on (not to mention I could run the vacuum cleaner and wash the dishes and floors- all on today's plan for the day with Garry bringing company back with him.) Some of the village kids were out at the roadside basketball hoop in front of the house again today, with their soccer ball- there are a couple of ten or twelve year old boys who have come around 5 o'clock a couple times lately. That's why Garry put the net on one of the maple trees in front of the house- so the kids could use it. They were even trying foul shots from behind a line they made in the mud.