Summertime.

Now that it’s summertime, most of our weekends are filled with commitments. And when we’re not otherwise committed, we’re committed to the barn. But every once in a while, we have a rare moment to slow down. We managed to get to my hometown, Point Pleasant, for the 4th of July holiday, and had a beautiful day on the beach. There we saw my elementary school art teacher, Mitsy; (she’s relaxing in the blue chair in the photo). Needless to say, I haven’t seen her in years. She asked what was new, and inevitably the barn came up in conversation. Mitsy said, “I love American barns! They are perfect geometry.” Spoken like an artist! What a cool thought, and so very true…… as we’ve surely learned, with our posts and pegs and Y-beams. Perfect geometry.

All hands on deck.

It was all hands on deck today at the barn…… both figuratively and literally. Tom was in town with Dave and Adam, both my brother and my father came to help, and Billy and I joined in, too. And in a flash, the front porch was built. Pretty awesome.

Tom also found a front door (which will be installed just about where the window is overlooking the porch), so that will be a functioning entrance before long. Speaking of entrances, Tom also had installed a new side door, which means that our house no longer has to be padlocked. Also pretty awesome.

Aside from the porch going up, a window was installed, the hall closet was framed out (thanks Tommy and Dad!), the driveway was cleared, the scraps were sorted and tossed, and the upper and mid-levels were cleaned up. This was certainly the most productive day we’ve had in quite some time. It was good for both our house and our spirits.