reposted from 12/15

12/19/15

     The real estate agent who listed our farm for sale in 1999 was a master of embellishments and exaggeration, and painted a glowing picture of the numerous, quaint barns, outbuildings and facilities the lucky purchaser would have.  It has taken us a quite a number of years and a sizeable pile of dollars to either dismantle them or reconstruct them to put them into useable condition.  This winter’s project has been an ancient bank barn, probably built in the 1860’s, which we have used as winter shelter for the sheep and cows, as well as for hay storage. 

      Old bank barns have a low ceiling in the ‘cellar’ area, with a loose stacked stone wall at the back, and huge beams and posts supporting the open upper hay storage area.   Over time, the supporting posts in ours had become rotted, and some of the beams had shifted.  Jared, on a mission to rescue the barn, decided to use a 20 ton and two 12 ton jacks to lift the beams, and replace the posts and the concrete footers under them. 

Next was the wall at the back, which had lost all the mortar holding the stones in place, and quite a few of the stones.   This week he has been replacing stones, and using a chute from the upstairs of the barn to funnel concrete into forms to stabilize the wall. 

It feels good to recycle plastic milk bottles….it feels very good to salvage an entire building.  By the time he is done, I expect he will be reluctant to let the animals back in, since they will quickly take the lustre off his fresh work.