Painting

In case you wanted to see how I had to pain the barn.


So the first picture is of what I had started way back during Labor Day weekend. I'd finished the bottom because that's what I could reach without a ladder.

And this is what I had to deal with. On the south end, it was a lot more stable. On the north end (where the lean to is, is where it got a little dicey and I had to put a 4x4 under the scaffold to level it out. Yup, not OSHA certified at all!

Drizzle

It's drizzling out. We are supposed to get some decent rain again. I'm not going to complain though. We need the rain to help with the pastures.


On the bright side, we had about an hour of daylight Tuesday night to work on the hay barn. We normally do our weekly shopping on Tuesday (parents are watching the kids) but figured if we had an hour or two of daylight, we could get a bunch done on the hay barn. Unfortunately, we didn't get started until late and then had to put hay in so that cut down on our time to work on the barn. But we did get a row of purlilns up and they look so pretty!


We are about 6 2x4s short of getting the purlins up and we are actually a few more short because we didn't get the right size to go all the way across and have to cut a few boards to fit. But right now we are just focusing on getting the majority of the barn covered before the snow flies. I'm not sure how cooperative these Ondura sheets are when the cold sets in.


The weather was nice last night even though you could see the clouds were starting to roll in. We snarfed down supper and all headed outside to put up two sheets of Ondura. Now we are officially a third of the way done!!!


There wont' be any time tonight to work on it what with the rain. The cedar shingles make the roof very slick so working on the roof tonight is a no go. I've been trying all week to do some planning and prep work for the upcoming playday but the kiddos have needed me so nothing has been getting done.


I'm trying to be more organized now what with the paying job making me work extra hours just so I can keep up with the workload. But that cuts into time with kids and caring for horses and Sanctuary work. So I'm not sure how long I'll last before I say I'm fed up with it. But I need the extra money to help cover the hay bill. So I guess I'll just plug along until I can't do it any more.


We are planning on working on the hay barn this weekend. Not sure which day but I sure hope we can get another good chunk of it done. I'd love to say we'd get it all done but I know better. Trying to be a bit more realistic. I'd love to see the west side of the barn completely repainted but I don't see that in the cards. The little building I painted last year needs another coat too. It's fading so fast and it makes me so mad to see all my work fade away. I may just have to take time off to work on it and see how far I can get. I know I'll be happier all winter looking at a freshly painted barn (well one side anyway) than I would if it was half painted. We'll see how the paying job goes and the weather. Anyone want to help? I could sure use the company while scraping and painting (you don't even have to do any work, just come out and keep me company).

Roofin' It

If the rains hold off, we'll be on the barn all of Saturday! I'm excited. Is that wrong?


There's still a ton of work to do before we are ready to get the Ondura on the hay barn but I'm hoping that if we can do a little bit of work tonight (before the mosquitos come out) that we can tackle the hay barn roof first thing Saturday morning. I shouldn't have as great expectations of getting a lot done, but I do.


I am hoping that we can get the purlins on the west side of the barn in the morning and then start putting the Ondura sheets on in the afternoon. Because of the vents, we can't just do one side. We'll have to do both sides a little at a time. Unfortunately, we need to start on the north side of the barn so that we are safe and will have an easier way to wrap up the project on the south side (where we have a lean too roof to stand on). But I'm worried that we aren't going to get it all done before the snow flies. And the south and east side of the hay barn is in the worst shape. There's no shingles at all in a couple of spots so I'm hoping we can get it buttoned up soon. I may have to beg for someone to watch the kids on Sunday. If we had two straight days to work on it, we might....just might....be able to get most of it done.


Fingers crossed.


And lets hope the rain holds off so we can actually get to work on the barn. I'm anxious. There's already talk of snow. Of course, it should hopefully not be for awhile but people are starting to talk snow and it's only September. I am not prepared. There is still TOO MUCH to get done. We still need to haul hay home from Harrisburg and that will take some coordinating to get done. I may have to push the issue soon. And there's still blankets to wash, repair, and waterproof...oh and put in an automatic waterer.


But for now, it's one major project at a time.


And then in the back of my mind, I still need to be working on the upcoming fundraiser obstacle course and playday. I'm totally not prepared for that and we have LESS Than a MONTH! EEP!


I'm sure to be in a panic for the next month and  I'm sure to share in my anxiety over it. I need to go in search of some Zen. :-)


If you get bored, stop on out tomorrow and watch us fumble around with trying to get the purlins and Ondura sheets on the barn. Spectators are welcome...hecklers are not.