Wild Columbine

When the cows come into the milking parlor, they stand on thick rubber mats.  Over time, sand and other detritus had collected under the mats and they were turned up at the edges and bubbled in others.  The mats hadn't been cleaned since they were installed so I decided that today we would remove the mats and steam clean.  The first  issue was how to get the mats up.  They are interlocked w/ dove-tailed pieces.  Turns out if you start to pull up one of the mats, the dove-tails start "unzipping".  It takes two people but Mike and I got all of the pieces up and moved into the return alley.  I used a jet hose to clean the sand off into the gutters.  Mike steamed one side of the parlor while Brady (the new guy) and I scrubbed the other side.   After cleaning, the gutters were  filled w/ the sand so Brady used a scoop to clean them out.  Replacing the mats required some finesse and recutting where they had stretched out w/ use.  Finally the mats were back and now laying perfectly flat.  Our work today should also eliminate that "funky smell" we sometimes get in the summer.  Felt good that we got it done but also am so very glad  it's probably only an annual task.