as remembered

The Driveway.

Michael and Jordon were due to start on the Dairy Barn repairs upon their return in January. However, with all the trucks coming in and out and the muddy conditions, the driveway jumped to the head of the line. We had the entry regraded to get rid of the hump and laid down a fresh layer of stone.

The “Dairy Barn”.

The Southwest corner of the metal roof had torn loose and blown back in the late 1990’s and all the framing and flooring, as well as the “gambrel” end wall had been damaged. The roofer had been contracted to repair this roof and then start on the roof replacement of the Bank Barn and then move on to the house.

He cut back the metal to it’s usable edge and Mike and Jordon shored up the ridge so that the damaged framing could be safely removed.

If this all looks like it was easy, it was months of work in the dead of winter working from ladders. A real thrill to finally see metal going back over this hole.

It wasn’t until we had this patch of metal complete that I decided that I wanted to go to a heavier gauge of steel for the rest of the roofs and to replace the entire roof on this building.

Still a few window sash to install down stairs and a new interior stair to build to the loft, but this building is pretty much there.

The Pond.

The south east field next the driveway was where I chose to build a pond in 1983. Perhaps a dozen years ago, the trash rack and standpipe collapsed and clogged. The resulting overflow eroded the spillway causing a breach in the dam. In April the pond was drained to effect  the necessary repairs.

The dam was cleared of trees and a new standpipe and outlet pipe were installed. It wasn’t quite that straight forward, but that’s the gist of it.

The Fencing.

The county offers a program supporting the exclusion of farm animals from streams or other elements of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. They offer subsidies to fence the cattle away from these water courses and provide “waterers” supplied by drilled wells. I took advantage of this opportunity and put in new cross fencing separating the cattle fields from both stream bottoms. This layout not only protected the watershed but created a buffer between the cattle and the House site. This work was completed in early May.

The Bank Barn.

This building is the centerpiece of the farm. A majestic structure. The farm “factory” with its lofts and stalls; corn crib and grain rooms; its chutes and ladders. The most fun I’ve had in a long time was watching that tribe of children racing up and down the Barn ramps and stairs during the reunion, screaming with delight every time one of them discovered some new door in the paneling that let them out somewhere they didn’t expect. It’s a pretty cool old building. It had fallen into such disrepair.

Before we could even look at all the framing damage, we had to replace 1000 square feet of flooring so we could move around safely. Several of the exterior columns had rotted away all the way down to the footings from water damage. Most of the siding was loose or falling off on the South side of the building and every pane of glass was either broken of missing completely. While Mike and Jordon were replacing the siding, I started glazing. Got pretty good at it after about the 200th pane. I just went ahead and fixed every pane of glass on the property while I was at it. I even got the chance to get my grandson in the act.

Seven weeks to the reunion.