"It isn't pretty, but..."

"it works."

Did this side better after learning from the one below.

My husband's comment, after he macgyvered a setup to make the air-conditioning work. Having it is one thing; delivering it to the girls is another entirely.

OK. Apologies for the photos--taken during construction and a mega T-storm. Thought the tornado was landing, but that's how a tin roof sounds.

Macgyvering began here. You should see behind.

Working with Mickey is an exercise in cliff jumping, without the hang glider. No clue where he was going with this project. I just went. Good wife, right? We used another piece of the portable gate, supported with 2 x 4s and a makeshift brace. Still clueless. Then he wanted cardboard that I threw (Eric's on my list, Michael, if you're reading this). So I grabbed the doors to the Kawasaki mule. Then some plywood. Then the wheel barrow, then more plywood. Still in the dark. Literally, now.

First photo reprised.

Then we made the second side. To what? Still not sure. Repeated the first photo. Sorry, the rest were so bad I deleted them. The Hail Marys were for the girls, us, the barn and farm. Friends. Not the project. This time we dragged the woodworker's bench to the other side. Hard to get to the refrigerator now. And the litter boxes. Mickey anchored the plywood with recycled hay bale twine (that I saved) to the wood vices. Tightened. Still with me. Visualizing this. Hear the storm. Feel my fright. Then he took the new, unopened heavy cart I haul the honey bucket in, and put it upright to provide more background. By now I knew what for. More saved plywood from barn buildings. Then we cobbled the cardboard and plywood together. Looks good, right?

Behind view, first side. Something else, eh?

If you are a scientist, or think like one, or are that side of the brain that falls in love with math and science, you already figured out what Mickey was doing. That part of my brain is still waiting to fall in love. Finally, I screwed up my courage to ask the man what we were building. He tells me that cold air falls to the bottom. Helped me a lot. That's all I got. In between all this, he would stand in from of the big fan, then return. Only to find we need more cardboard that I threw away, says he (didn't). I remembered empty red containers that had 30 years of horse stuff--really good--that I gave to our neighbor who breeds thoroughbreds. Up here, anyone who lives within 10 miles is a neighbor. So I lugged 4 empty red and green containers downstairs. Meanwhile, I was not allowed to call Michael, and I'm not supposed to lift more than 10 pounds. Way over that one. I added them to both sides. Began to feel the difference.

Check out the headband ~ totally MacGyver.

My husband filled in the gaps. He wanted to channel the air (I'm thinking gypsies, mediums, psychics) to the big fan that would in turn take the cold AC air that fell to the ground and take it through the floor fan to the stalls. Makes sense. And IT WORKED! Instantly, the girls felt the difference. So did we. That side of the barn was really cool. Within less than an hour, the barn went from 90 to 80 degrees, but more importantly, the AC reached the girls in the stalls. Now we have AC in the barn.