23 October 2016
So, a lot has been going on the past few weeks.
The first thing I decided to do is clean out the barn. I started with a horse stall at the right front corner of the barn. There was a 50's-60's era kitchen table and chairs in the stall on top of what appears to be a thick buildup of dirt.
The next thing to do was drag this old lawn mower out.
About this time, a small miracle occurred and Amy and I became Grandparents! Welcome to the world Autumn Hazel! Our first beautiful granddaughter.
We then cleaned off the hay lofts on the left and right sides. Each one had about 7 to 8 bales of straw on them. We just had to be careful not to step on any of the spots of the hay loft floors that have rotted through.
Then my father-in-law came to visit. It was great to have him here. He helped spread out the last couple loads of straw. He also helped pick up a LARGE load of nominally sized lumber that I was able to pick up at a local auction. I can only hope that I will be as active as he is when I'm 81. His brother also visited for a day from Winston-Salem. They helped us overcome a cell phone signal problem inside the mobile home (tin roof and aluminum siding).
The only thing I wasn't excited about is that after looking over the barn, they convinced us that our perspective of "it's amazing that it's still standing" should be shifted over the line to "it's too good to be true that it's still standing". The vertical post on the outside wall of the 4th bent was of particular concern because there is 4 feet of air space between the bottom of the post and the ground.
So, a lot has been going on the past few weeks.
The first thing I decided to do is clean out the barn. I started with a horse stall at the right front corner of the barn. There was a 50's-60's era kitchen table and chairs in the stall on top of what appears to be a thick buildup of dirt.
The "dirt" it seems was actually layers and layers of partially decomposed hay and horse manure. It was 1-1/2 to 2 feet thick at the back of the stall.
The next thing to do was drag this old lawn mower out.
About this time, a small miracle occurred and Amy and I became Grandparents! Welcome to the world Autumn Hazel! Our first beautiful granddaughter.
We then cleaned off the hay lofts on the left and right sides. Each one had about 7 to 8 bales of straw on them. We just had to be careful not to step on any of the spots of the hay loft floors that have rotted through.
We had to figure out what to do with all this straw. Fortunately we have a lot of bare dirt around the property, especially near the mobile home. AND it's fall planting time for cool weather grass in the area. So I spread a few bags of grass seed and spread the straw out in a thin layer to provide some ground cover while the grass comes in.
The only thing I wasn't excited about is that after looking over the barn, they convinced us that our perspective of "it's amazing that it's still standing" should be shifted over the line to "it's too good to be true that it's still standing". The vertical post on the outside wall of the 4th bent was of particular concern because there is 4 feet of air space between the bottom of the post and the ground.
So we have suspended all further work on the barn until we can get 1 or 2 people who have a lot more experience with old barn restoration out to look at it and determine if it's even safe to try to temporarily brace and support it for storage. I now have 5 leads I'm working on to get some professional input on the barn's condition.
And about this time there was ANOTHER miracle, Amy and I became Grandparents FOR A SECOND TIME! Welcome to the world Adelaide Megby! Our second beautiful granddaughter.
So now the house and property need to be ready for little visitors to roam in 3-4 years. No pressure. Life is Good!
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