milking barn progress

monday i drove to a local saw mill and picked up a pallet of sycamore. this is dimensional one inch thick rough cut very green lumber. a pallet weighs twenty seven hundred pounds. including the weight of the trailer i topped out the towing capacity of the van. i was surprised how easily our van towed it.

we stacked it by width to make it easier to find the piece i need. it took tabitha and i the better part of an hour to unload the trailer, organize and stack it.

that is a big pile of wood.

first thing in the morning i measured my intended window and made the window box. then i had to scratch my head a while because it was barely too big to fit in the intended spot. i had to recess the window a little and i was in business.

yes i am installing a perfectly broken window. i can easily re-glaze it and i like this style of window for my barn.


it is starting to look cozy.


the kids played and helped.

here they made sail boats.


tristan was especially helpful. he knows most of the tool names and can be counted on to retrieve things based on a simple description. here he is trying out his boat.


rome got a boat too.

it is wonderful how kids can imagine a boat out of a piece of wood, a nail and a leaf. those were kind of toys i enjoyed the most when i was a kid.

toly poised to hand me screws


that is a dangerous opening.


kassi helped too. mostly she flitted from pile to pile of wood.


the day was a home schooling extravaganza. everyone learned plenty, great fun was had and i got to finish the east end of the barn.