Resurrection

Do you remember or post about the sentimental attactment to the "old red shack" http://wilsonfamilyhomestead.blogspot.com/2007/05/old-red-shack.html. I really didn't think that old building could be saved but again Clarke suprised me with his ability to bring, what most people think can't be saved, back to life. It went from this




to this

The front needed to be replaced but the back was brought back into position and the blocking replaced. It is now a perfectly good shed. We could have never replaced that building for time and money it took fix it. Now it needs to be painted red and it will last another 100 years.

Nancy

Recycle & Reuse

Clarke noticed that a neighbor had a pile of cedar shingles that the neighbor had recently removed from his roof. The cedar shingles had been under the asphalt shingles on his roof and they were in remarkably good shape. So we swapped some firewood for the shingles and brought them home to put on the outside of the barn.




We just flipped them over and they looked like they were always on the barn. They have another 100 years in them. We got enough shingles to finish two half walls and we still lots of shingles left.

There is so much joy in bringing back something that someone previously thought of as being worthless.

Nancy

Chicken Little Was Right.....

The ceiling is falling. I have already talked about redoing of the china cabinet. http://wilsonfamilyhomestead.blogspot.com/2008/04/china-cabinet.html. The upper part of China cabinet was purchased and placed on a bottom cupboard. A tin sheet was tacked to the bottom cupboard before the top was placed on.

It was painted and not in good enough shape to save so we decided to remove it. But in order to remove it we had to take the top part off. Which wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, however once we did that the ceiling began to fall down. So we had to tear that out as well.

Crumbling plaster is really dirty business. At some point I would like to put back together instead of take apart. I guess that is for another year.

Nancy

It Drew Me In.........

One evening I was sitting on the veranda and looking around. In several places the paint is cracking. So I absently started picking......first I started with my fingers....then I got a scraper....then I got the heat gun.....then I pulled out the silent paint remover. Oh dear look what I started..........

If you notice that there are hinges under the paint. This part of the veranda has door that once was part of the "fridge" when there was a store here. Once when to door was operational, meat , milk & butter where keep cold with a spring flowing into a puncheon that was behind the door. . The meat hooks are still there.

Clarke was able to take the hinges off and we moved the door for the first time, in I don't know how long. Clarke said he couldn't remember the door ever being open in his life time.

We would like to be able to recreate the "fridge". It could never be exactly like it was because the spring has been diverted years ago. That will be one of our many projects.

Boy I opened a can of worms just by picking a little bit paint. Now I have another unfinished stripping project.

Nancy

How Many Tools Do You Have in Your Toolbox?

With this project we seem to always need one tool or another. One tool that came to mind was one to help us with the amount of lumber we would need. What was the tool of choice...a WoodMizer Sawmill. Living in a wooded area it just seemed the most logcial step was to purchase a portable sawmill to help with all the lumber we would need.

The first year we had it we keep it outside but that made it unuseable in the winter months. So Clarke set to work a build a building to house the sawmill so we could keep sawing the lumber we needed for the projects we were doing.

It is a large building but most of the lumber has been sawed on the mill. The wood was cut off our own land so it has saved us quite a bit of money on the construction of this building. It takes a little longerto build when you have to stop and saw out the boards to board it in.

It is not quite complete yet but should be boarded in by the time the snow flies. Now that is quite the toolbox!

Nancy