build-a-barn ~ Fall update

Our barn sat dormant for weeks at a time during the Fall. Everyone's intense focus was catching up on our house. We lucked out and had an unseasonable warm Fall!! Just like the barn, building progressed in layers. Scheduling is tricky and takes insight to be done smoothly. Whenever someone had a lull, barn work got done.

It's been so long since I've done a barn update, I had to go back and check where I left off. It was early October, and we had just poured the wood plank porch...

front porch drying

Brad marking the ceiling spots for our two barn fans

Our son (Colten) helped Brad get the fan stems mounted
by setting a secure block via the crawl space.
It had to be done before the barn ceiling can be insulated,
which remains on the to-do list.

Mid November a concrete approach was poured at a slight incline,
butting up to the stamped concrete porch.
Looks kinda goofy, but will blend the driveway into the barn for easier loaded etc.

side view

Brad built out (furrowed) the bottom of the porch columns, to prep for stone. We are using the same stone as the front of our house, and the columns look similar. It will help tie them together. Finishing the exposed porch truss also remains on the low priority to-do list.

Both Brad & Colten put in multiple days over several weekends moving dirt & sand, around both the barn and house. Of course Brad puts in double the time everyone else does, but I love that our son wants to help. What a difference their hard work makes!!

View from the barn porch to the future horse shelter, and pastures.
Which still need fencing, also on the to-do list.
Notice a common theme, lol!
 The auto water will connect to the black tube in the middle.

view from the other side

the last not so little pile of dirt

It was a huge job to spread the many piles, and even out the land using small equipment. Our son really wanted us to do it, instead of hiring out. There were sooo many large mounds everywhere! I throughly enjoyed climbing & shooting photos from them while we had our mini-mountains, however everything looks much nicer without them!! 

Colten framed the back wall of the saloon
to make it easier for wiring (iphone)

my guys got half the saloon ceiling done, last weekend (iphone) 

Brad is almost done with the wash stall. Just a little trimming left.
Almost ready to hook the water up! (iphone)

Our electricians have been working on/off wiring the barn.
 They installed some of our waterproof LED ceiling lights!We can hose those baby's down, and the risk of fire is much less.
(iphone)

Thankfully only a couple side wall lights were mounted (see wash stall photo) to see how we like them, and if we needed to add more then planned. They are so bright you gotta wear shades! The couple lights that are mounted on the wall, will get moved to the ceiling.
I was worried about remaining holes, but I guess they plug them and it isn't noticeable.

Now that I am close to being done with picking out stuff for the house (thank god, what a pain in the a$$ that has been) I can get back to the barn! No clue why the barn feels fun, and the house feels like a pain. I need to pick out the barn bathroom vanity & lights. Something rustic, simple and self standing. They are all so expensive!! It might just cost less to have one built. Haven't found the right one, still searching. 

We are now officially up to date with posts!! I have no grand tie-in ending photo, so I'll just end with a recent view from the back of our barn. Our baby albino twin (other twin is brown) is growing fast!

Three Shades of Deer

never ending layers

It's been pretty uneventful around here these days. Work, work, and more work. We spent the majority of the long holiday weekend - you guessed it, working on the land.

Remember the hay we spread all over our house site last Winter? It was spread thick to prevent frost from sinking deep, so we could get digging early Spring. As Winter came to an end, that stinky hay mess got pulled off and piled to the side of the building site. It kept breaking down, and became an even stinkier mess. It was far enough away that the huge pile went unnoticed, unless the wind was blowing just right.

We are getting our septic system put in this week. The hay and some of the weeds 'er dirt piles, were in the way. So your's truly got the lovely job of moving the hay. One stinky grapple bucket load at a time. 

I used a rented trac bobcat, while Brad ran the other one doing various things. I quickly found out I really like tracs, better then wheels. Have you ever tried picking up loose hay? Yea, well - it's frustrating. I finally got the hang of it, and was determined to move the entire pile myself. I was hauling it around the dirt piles, down the hill, and around the corner to the other end of the field. Piling it up to ferment, then eventually get spread. It was a bit of an obstacle course, but I had a great radio to keep me company. Good thing too, because it took me the lions share of the day to move that pile!

It was peaceful at times...

heading down the hill with a full load

boring at times...dangerous at times....

Brad had a hay bale smash the window/door on his bobcat.
Thankfully he did not get hurt!!

...and down right exciting at times! I came up over the hill, and couldn't believe my eyes! Stopped me in my tracs, literally. You might want to turn the volume down and zoom in a little to see what I saw...while I was jamming to whatever was on the radio :)

Doesn't show up very well on here, but I saw a doe & her twin fawns in our designated horse pasture! One little brown & one glowing white baby!! Albino's are a novelty around here. Now the neighborhood is on the lookout for the new baby! We have three that I know of: a young buck, an older buck (we've never seen him) and this new little one. Isn't he/she cute?!!

I thought I would never finish moving that darn hay, but I finally got it done. Even if it made for a long day, it felt good to be helping with the never ending layers of work that need to be done.