Archive for the ‘Farm – Barn’ Category
March 9, 2011 – Silly Putty Snow
We awoke to a few inches of very heavy snow with a thick layer of slush underneath.
It’s the kind of snow that tends to swoosh off the barn in one giant slide.
It’s also the kind that isn’t fun to drive in. Emma needed to be to school early, so she was off before the roads were plowed. The road had three ruts, with each lane sharing the common center rut – a semi-truck approached and as she moved over into the deep slush and the semi blinded her with a windshield full of slush, she lost control and avoided a car traveling behind the semi and ended up resting in the ditch – thankful that she didn’t collide with the oncoming car or roll as she traveled down the steep ditch. She wasn’t the only one as there were 4 vehicles in the ditch on the way to town, including a jeep that had rolled.
one year ago…”Discarded Toyota Marketing Slogans”
December 17, 2010 – Winter Barn
A beautiful frosty morning greeted us today!
I’m pleased there’s just enough snow to cover the ground for a white Christmas and insulate the ground, but not so much that I’ve had to spend hours moving it.
one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #189″
December 7, 2010 – Lightning Rods
I absolutely adore the weathervane/lightning rods on the barn.
I especially like the round blue and white glass balls. This is a view straight up the barn roof.
one year ago…”Kale for the Masses”
June 20, 2010 – Mammatus!
We had a spectacular show Friday night as the second round of storms for the day passed by to the east. A nice field of mammatus clouds developed.
I went out anticipating that the thunderheads to the east might have some interesting illumination from the setting sun to the west, but was very pleased to see these clouds and watch as the grew and developed.
The following bit of information is condensed from Wikipedia: Mammatus are most often associated with the anvil cloud that extends from a cumulonimbus (thunderheads). Mammatus are often indicative of a particularly strong storm or maybe even a tornadic storm. These tend to form more often during warm months and are most common over the midwest and eastern portions of the United States.
Mammatus may appear as smooth, ragged or lumpy lobes and may be opaque or semitransparent. Because mammatus occur as a grouping of lobes, the way they clump together can vary from an isolated cluster to a field of mamma that spread over hundreds of kilometers to being organized along a line, and may be composed of unequal or similarly-sized lobes. The individual mammatus lobe average diameters of 1–3 km and lengths on average of 0.5 km. A lobe can last an average of 10 minutes, but a whole cluster of mamma can range from 15 minutes to a few hours. They usually are composed of ice, but also can be a mixture of ice and liquid water.
As the sun sank lower, the clouds turned from yellow to red.
It was rather exhilarating to be outside walking under this strange meteorologic phenomenon under a wide open sky!
one year ago…”Emma’s First 5K”
June 8, 2010 – Barn Staining Update
Looks like Claire managed to complete staining the east side of the barn. There is not complete agreement as the window frames are left unpainted, but daughter claims that was not part of the instruction since no white paint was left in an obvious location.
At any rate, the stain-splattered body tell me that she indeed make a good-faith effort before her looming trip to India!
December 28, 2009 – Stagecraft Snow
We had about 2-3 inches of what I call “stagecraft snow” Saturday night.
The gentle, large fluffy flakes that lazily fall down on a calm evening.
They gently rest wherever they fall and adorn everyday objects with a new look. Whether it be a hat on top of a fencepost.
Or a symmetrical snow carbon copy on the barn handle.
And even a few moments of the fluffy flakes glinting down in the sunlight.
one year ago…”More Ice; Another Day at Home”
November 13, 2009 – South Side of Barn Painted
The flurry of barn painting this summer is as complete as it is going to be until spring – 3 of the 4 sides stained. Two weekends ago we had 70 degrees and a north wind, so it allowed me to get up high and finish the south side.
The doors and trim on the back need replacement as well, but that’s probably a next year item as well.
one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #141″
October 25, 2009 – Barn in Fall
The weather the last week has been particularly yucky. Constant rain, cold, and wind. Virtually all these leaves fell off Last Thursday night – a particularly cold and windy night.
It seems like we’ll miss out on a bit of fall color due to the fast leave drop.
one year ago…”One Side Painted”
September 21, 2009 – Barn Update
I know this is getting redundant, but it’s a big barn!
Here’s the latest on staining the south side. I’ve started cutting out and painting some of the trim boards ahead of making new doors. It’s still going to be a while, but progress is apparent.
one year ago…”Monarch Bed and Breakfast”
September 9, 2009 – South Side of Barn – Before
I neglected to take a picture of the south side of the barn before I started, so here is one after I couldn’t help myself and got started.
The weather has been fantastic for painting – upper 70′s and little if any wind for the last 10 days or so and not much change in the forecast going forward. This side will take more time – almost every door needs to be rebuilt and new trim cut and painted. I’m also not sure how I’m going to handle painting the top six feet or so – it’s out of ladder range for me – so I’m tossing around renting a cherry picker or hiring it done.
one year ago…”Season’s Turning”
September 8, 2009 – North Side of Barn Painted!
When I started staining the north side of the barn a few weeks ago, I never imagined it would get done so quickly. The combination of dry days in the 70′s and helpers at home to watch when I was on the high areas helped this get done very quickly. It’s very seldom something gets done ahead of schedule, but this project beat winter by a long shot.
We completed the west and north sides of the barn this summer (as long as we don’t look at the east and south sides, we can be happy).
Here’s a head-on view of the north side, recently stained and painted barn. There are still some odd boards to replace, but the barn is more ready for wetness now! The white trim against the red sure makes it look sharp.
one year ago…”Never-Ending Raspberries”
August 24, 2009 – Worst of the North Side Barn Staining
I can’t stand the tacky looking north side of the barn any longer. I’ve started staining it red to avoid future scraping.
The worst part is complete, above the top windows – it’s probably between 35-40 feet to the top – which is a long way up on a ladder. I happy that part is complete, and now the trips up and down will be much shorter and not nearly as far to the ground!
one year ago…”Front Page News – Linda”
June 14, 2009 – EZ Barn Door
Today I’m going to pass on a neat trick to rebuild barn doors. Our barn has entry doors with separate top and bottom doors. The interior cross-member bracing fits into slots built into the door frame. The first time I tried to build a replacement door, I measured and built the complete door perfectly square in the shop and when I went to attach it, found out neither the frame, nor the adjoining door was square, so I ended up cutting and shaping the new “square” door to fit and it took way too long.
A neighbor saw my struggles and offered a bit of advice – forget working in the shop and build the door in place. The first step is to nail the interior cross bracing into the slots on the frame. Just nail the boards in with small finishing nails, because after the door is built, these nails will be pounded out as the door swings open for the first time and either pulled out backwards or pounded into the board. The top picture shows the two interior boards temporarily nailed in place.
Next, measure and attach the exterior boards. In this case, they were all slightly different lengths. You’ll notice that in this picture the white door trim is split near the threshold. This bothered me, so shortly after this photo was taken, I got the tractor out and was able to use the loader to push in the bottom threshold beam back into place and replace the white trim board with one straight piece. The boards are nailed or screwed in place and the hinges attached while the door is still nailed to the frame.
After the hinges are on, just tap out the door and remove or pound in the finishing nails holding the first two pieces in place. Here’s an interior door of the completed door (minus painting).
one year ago…”Nearby Tornado Cell”
June 7, 2009 – Painting West Side of Barn Complete
Although it doesn’t look nearly as stunning in this photo as in real life, the west side of the barn has been stained and painted. I love the contrast between the fresh white trim and red.
Now instead of having red and white “highlights,” the barn actually looks like is should. Now onto the other sides as time allows.
