Wednesday, September 02, 2009

out buildings...

One of my "main focuses" this week has been our "out buildings", getting them stained and painted and just looking good. Sadie has been a big help with this project, so things are going really well. I have been thinking of the different farms that I have visited and why I like some better than others. And one of the deciding factors, is that my favorite farms are usually extremely neat. Buildings that are all up to date in their paint and repairs, things kept in order, items that are picked up.. and that is the way that I would like to keep our farm. Now, I must confess that painting is NOT my thing, but, it IS something I can do, so I am working my way thru it. Even if I do just a little each day, in time it will all be done, and it doesn't make the job too over whelming.


The first shed, if you will, is what we call the "electrical shed". All our power comes into the farm underground, and this shed houses all the panels, wires and the like, plus our generator. So, if we do ... no WHEN we do... end up with another ice storm, we will have power for the house. It is my goal to make the little out buildings look some what like the big barn. Which is, the light color of the building itself, white trim and red door. So far I like the look.. though I'm not sure if I will stick with that white trim or not. This little building is close to the house, and I might go more with the house color scheme.. but, we'll see, I'll give it some time and see what I decide a little later. Unlike the house, I can change this color scheme if I choose.


The second shed is actually going to be our turkey house. This little shed already has quite a history with us. Ed and I bought it at least 25 years ago, and it has been the "toy/bike" shed, the "lawn mower/yard shed" and lastly the "wood shed." Kas and Nate weren't interested in keeping it, so when we said it would make a good turkey house, they were happy to have us move it. Our friend, Jack, trucked it up to the farm on his wrecker flat bed truck. I wasn't so sure it would survive the trip, or that it would be worth trying to "save".. but it has proven to be a good idea on both accounts. As you can well see, this poor little shed needs alot of TLC.. it hasn't seen a good coat of stain/paint in many a year, but I am determined to make that right... before the turkeys move in!!!


Just getting the first coat of red on the doors made a big difference today.And like the "electric" shed, I am going with a "mini" barn color scheme. Ed will need to get a new roof on it.. and as it turns out, we have a few panels of the red metal that is on the big barn, which will cover the roof nicely. We will cut a "turkey" door into the side of it, and have the pen go out from there, and I think the birds will be quite comfortable in their new home. Hopefully, they will be in by next weekend... at least that is the game plan.



Ed and Ken are back to "fussy" work with the siding. They spent most of the day working around the garage doors, and I understand it was quite a "pain in the neck" job. They had to be sure that the lines of the siding matched between each door, and that those lined up with the front side of the building. I guess a few times, they undid and re did their work. But, by the end of the day, they had reached the top of the doors and tomorrow, the rest of the work should go much easier.




It will certainly make me appreciate the beauty of work like this. I often just look at the color of a house, and never see the clapboards... but I have a different take on that now that I have watched the process. There is a real "art" to this sort of thing, it's been fun to watch. After this, "all" that's left is the back of the house and some trim work and it's done!!!! This will certainly be a big check mark on the list of things....


Once the house is done, we can begin to pull the dirt back in around the building. Ed would like to get some of landscaping done this fall, maybe even start some grass, that would help with the winter and give the ground sometime to settle before next spring and the "wet". The landscaping will be fun and a project that I can help out with, so I am looking forward to that. We are also getting our "inside" game plan worked out....and that might be a story for the weekend blog!!!!