Barn door shenanigans

Apologies for the ridiculous break in posting but we have good reasons! 1. We went on a mini vacation with Mr. Nick's family to Utah, 2. We're still hanging T-111. It's just not that interesting.

But, I finally found time to wrap up Part 1 of the barn door segment. Part 2 of how we actually hung it to come (once we finish, we're going to go back to T-111 and install the bottom part later).

We thought it was a great idea to build the barn door inside the barn because our surface is so flat (if you missed us pouring our concrete floor, check it out here) but what we didn't count on was the door being so heavy we couldn't just muscle it out the opening (the door is 12.6' wide x 13' high and the opening is 12' wide and 12'6 high). What follows is nothing more than shenanigans. If you're unable to view the video, click here.

Here's Mr. Nick hanging our door a couple nights before we went on vacation ... I'll tell you how he did it next!

Towing and hauling on the right side of the law

When building a house, regardless of whether you are doing it yourself or not, chances are you will be involved in hauling materials. We're not even six months in and I've already had two altercations involving improper hauling.

The first time I was leaving the dirt yard and didn't realize they had dumped sand all over my tailgate. The officer (of the law) pulled me over, gave me a hard time, and let me go with a warning, this time, since I didn't know I was in violation. (Side note, that I have already mentioned. The yard has a big sign that says under no condition can you get out of the car, which I took seriously. Now I know that sometime between the yard and the road I need to stop and clean off my tailgate so I don't get in trouble again. I even carry a broom in my truck box so it's simple and easy no matter what). The second time I was hauling the cute adirondak chairs that my mom bought us and we just set them in the back like idiots. Well of course, one flew out and went flying across the road. Thankfully, no one was hurt and I was able to recover it (after a pretty harrowing re-enactment of Frogger). But had we not been so lucky I would have been liable for not securing my load.

So, now that I know better I am taking the time to be informed! Here's the information I was able to gather together pretty easily: 

• Secured load laws in all 50 states
• Towing laws in all 50 states

In addition, here's a great article on "How car towing regulations work".

And finally, when do you need a flag on your load, and how far can it extend? Well this information was actually harder to find but I finally found some answers on the Washington State Patrol website (originally I was looking for answers on the Department of Transportation site). I did a quick cursory look for other states and found that they too house their info on the applicable State Patrol site. For us here in the Evergreen State our vehicle cannot exceed 14 ft in height, 8 ft. 6 in. in width and 40 ft. in length PLUS 3 ft. of front overhang and 4 ft. of rear overhang ... as long as there's a cute little "flag". Happy Hauling my friends!

Plumbing up our poles and learning that sometimes the hug is inferred

What a weekend! Mr. Nick and I worked our little butts off and got all the poles for the barn plumb (straight up and down). Sadly I didn't take any video, which seemed reasonable at the time because it was raining and the work was pretty tedious. However, looking back now I would have loved to re-watch the 2" x 4" cracking on my head, resulting in super hideous crying face. Mr. Nick, who was bear hugging two giant 26' poles at the time, could only respond, "Oh babe, I'm so sorry, I would hug you right now but I can't let these go," to which I replied (making hideous crying face even more contorted) "I know (sniff, sniff), I know."

Of course there wasn't much time for tears as I had to get another 2" x 4" in order to continue trying to jimmy the two giants into place before we could cement them. We got there eventually (one more bonk in the head with the 2"x 4" and a pretty nasty spill when I lost my footing, Mr. Nick still clinging to the poles). Maybe it's better we weren't video taping though as I consider just how dangerous we were being. Of course, my husband, ever the protector told me (while I was bear hugging just one giant pole), "If it falls, get out of the way." To which I asked, "Even if it's going towards the tractor?" and he answered, "Even if it's going towards the tractor." Melt my heart, who said chivalry was dead?

Here's the poles at the end of Day 2, with the braces holding them up.
In order to save money on supplies we re-used, doing half the first day and half the second day.

Each pole was secured on two sides before we could cement them in.

R.I.P. Sweet White Corn

Well crap, I guess that's that. We hit the 90s today (although according to the weather station it only feels like 89, oh coastal breeze how I love you) and lost our corn. To be fair, I'm not sure how much blame I can put on the weather ... APPARENTLY you're supposed to remove the plastic lid as soon as you get sprouts. Oops. Here I've been hot boxing my corn stalks for a good four days thinking that they were having the time of their lives thriving with all that warm moist heat.

So, change of plans. I have brought my lavender tray inside (trying not to stress about the fact that my baby sprout is MIA), taken off the cover and watered again. We don't have air conditioning, as evidenced by the multiple box fans strewn throughout, so it's actually quite warm in the apartment.

Mr. Nick, ever the optimist, is less deflated than me even going so far as to suggest that NOW our soil is extra rich so this next batch of corn will certainly just explode with nutrients. I will trudge ahead but am feeling a little worried that my black thumb is dooming us into a life without home-grown vegetables and fields of lavender ... at least, Sasha doesn't seem to mind.

Nick cracks the whip and saves the day

What a weekend! I left town for a great bonding weekend with my niece and nephew but Mr. Nick stayed home to work on the land. He dug over 600 feet of trench with our new tractor and supervised the excavation and grading of the back acre for preparation of the barn site (more on that tomorrow).

We had a busy night tonight so it's a two-fer with videos...a closer look at his trenches and the very small part I played in them and then the second situation we've been in where our tractor saved the day.

Enjoy!

How not to chop down a tree

This weekend we are hiring a big excavator and dozer to come help us clear the back acre (we did the math and it was cheaper for the guy to come out and level the barn site then it was for us to rent the equipment, etc.).

The one place we can save money in the whole equation is by taking down two trees ourselves. I think it's important to mention that we're sad about losing two trees, especially the maple, but we spent a lot of time laying out the barn to take advantage of the pre-existing space...and this is the best case scenario.

We promise to plant AT LEAST two trees for every one we lost (including the accidental one).