New Plans

Bill has been working on ‘The Barn’ now for several weeks getting the hardwood down upstairs.  We had a furnace delivered last weekend that will heat and cool the entire 2400 square feet of shop and apartment (it’s a heat pump with an emergency heat coil for those really cold winter days and nights and we will be able to hook the wood burner up to it in the future.)  We have to get the ducting and more 2x4’s for framing walls but the work has started to progress again!  Woo Hoo!

As far as the old rock building – well, we’ve been able to get into it more since Bill pulled the west wall down so that he could pull the old appliances out and take them to the scrap yard (recycling as much as we can and reusing whatever can be.)  There are lots of windows that while the glass is old and probably not very efficient will work well in outdoor storage sheds, cabins, cabinetry and various other applications around the place in the future.  There is also a nice French door inside that we plan to rescue for use somewhere.  But in looking at the actual outside walls – there really are only a couple that are worth saving because they are thick and strong – the rest are just too thin and brittle to save – we can use the rocks in the fence across the front of the property but I think we will have to pull them down.

So, this lead Bill to have a brainstorm of which I jumped right on it and expanded the idea (I do that.)  We are going to take the savable walls and create an outdoor living space.  We can build whatever walls we need and a covered area for an outdoor kitchen (summer kitchen) that will still be open to the outdoor living area that will include a dining area and a sitting area with a fireplace!  We can put a pergola over the areas and train grape vines and clematis to climb over the structure and hand lights in the summer for ambiance.  I’m so excited now about this idea!  I had wanted an outdoor area but just hadn’t figured out how to do it until Bill mentioned using the old rock building and then it just clicked!  It was perfect!

I’m sure it will be a few years before we even get to this project (we have to finish the ‘barn’ first) but it’s something to look forward to and dream about until them.  J