Barn rennovation

I showed a picture a month of ago of a barn we are rennovating. The first half of the crumbling foundation was removed and now a new concrete wall has been poured and a framed wall built on top to support the northside. This barn is attached on the east side of the Rilco Rafter barn. This barn is a post fram barn and is in dire need of work. This barn would be considered by most to be unworthy of the money required to restore.




The bottom picture shows the second phase of installing the new foundation. This was rather ambitious, for we tore out over half of the old foundation on the Rilco Rafter barn and a good part of the post form barn. The footing is poured and is awaiting the concrete walls to be poured.

The barn is supported by jacks and temporary posts. Up in the loft, three cables are installed to tie the rafters together so they do not spread on the bottom. I drilled holes in the concrete floor and tied cables to the wood plate at the bottom of the roofline to a pin inserted in the hole in the concrete.


We have not had any severe winds with the wall out, but the building has shifted a little while being suspended by the jacks. Hopefully the walls will be poured so that we can get the building supported on the new foundation.

The post form barn is going to take a lot of work to straighten. The west side of the wall has settled about six inches, causing the barn to lean to the west about the same amount. The top picture shows the east side of the structure and gives you an idea of how out of plumb the building is.

The heat and humidity have retreated to the south. We have had a nice string of warm days in the 70's and lows in low 50's. Nearly everything in the garden is ready for harvesting. Tomatoes are still being produced and my butternut squash vines are alive and produce some nice looking squash.

I was really pleased with the potatoe crop this year. I dug one row of red pontiacs and gleaned over a 5 gallon pail full of very nice sized potatoes. With the tomatoes we are making juice and salso. You couldn't knock the smile off my face with a 2x4 as we begin harvesting apples, pears, and plums from our fruit trees. Rachel has been making applie pies for the past couple weeks and last evening we made some apple jelly and some apple sauce. There is not a more tasty treats that fresh, warm apple sauce. Or maybe the applie pie with a hefty pile of vanilla ice cream! We are harvesting Macintosh apples now, but soon we will be dealing with a lot of Golden Delicious.

The chickens have yet to be sampled, but this shall not be the case for long!

Summer Update

Well, summer has expanded into August already. It has been a rather hot summer here in the midwest, but unlike the previous couple years, we have had ample rainfall and it has been a good growing season. We have been harvesting sweetcorn, greenbeans, and summer squash. Soon we will be picking some tomatoes and digging potatoes. The trees are loaded with apples and we have a few pears and plums. I am looking forward to making some applesauce, jelly, and cider later this fall.

Our chickens are growing and soon we may butcher a few to sample the quality of the meat of the Barred Rock breed. They are beginning to fill up the brooder house when they come into roost! We have had good luck with them, loosing only a few as chicks and a couple to a predator. Hopefully, in a few weeks we will begin finding some eggs.

We found out in late April that Rachel was expecting. Unfortunately, a routine trip to the doctor revealed that the heartbeat was no longer present so she had a procedure to have the baby removed. She is nearly recovered from the surgery. Such things cause some disappointment, but we are both resolute in our belief that God works all things for our good.

I recently read a delightful little book entitled "Letters from a Confederate Soldier" which was compiled by Judy Inman. The letter provide some insight to the life of Isaac Yaokum, a young confederate soldier from Fannin County, Texas, who served in the 11th Texas Calvary. His father, Adam, settled in Texas in 1845.

The letters reveal his love for his family, their land, and the South. They detail his involvement in the Battle of Pea Ridge, the Siege of Corinth, and the Battle of Stones River in Murfeesboro, where he was twice wounded and later died. Most of the soldiers that left the Fannin County area did not return.

His family was deeply religious and a friend of Isaac who wrote his parents to report his death reported that he was a good soldier that was loved by his company and that he "was ready to die." He died with an optimistic view that the South would prevail against the invaders from the North.