I have always been sort of enamored with the change of seasons.  The last few years I’ve come to appreciate how we all need to take some time to step back, slow down, rejuvenate, and maybe even be a bit lazy so that we can approach the new year with renewed strength and ambition.  Mother Nature knew all along – we humans just don’t seem to understand it!

One “change” I have made – the dive into “email marketing.”

It’s a scary phrase, one that means more time and work, but if I can get it done – and done well! – I’ll be excited for the future!  I won’t bore you with all the details, but just know that we would LOVE for you to sign up to our email list!  And yes – subscribing to this blog is different from the email subscription, but both are appreciated!

Why should you subscribe?

• Special “perks” for ONLY our customers!  (Such as the free recipe download for signing up now!)
• Insider information!
• Exclusive updates and news!

If it hasn’t popped up already, there should be a signup box with Dad’s pic and a couple chicken friends on his shoulders – just put in your email address and first name and you’re ready to go!  If you already clicked out of it and would like to subscribe, please click HERE!

In exchange for subscribing to our email list you will receive a FREE mini-recipe book to download!  It contains some of my all-time favorite things to do with our farm-fresh eggs!  Every time I talk to someone who has used our eggs they gush about how wonderful they are – fresh, flavorful, and so much better than those old store-bought ones!

If this barn could tell stories – taken before we started a lot of the repair/remodel process

Before the remodel

So – why haven’t I been posting as often and what have we been up to?

BUSY.

We have been busy with full time jobs, helping out our parents and their farm(s), and trying to do necessary updates on our farm.  My dad has been such a trooper with our future horse barn – I don’t know if we could do this without him!  Above are a few “before” photos.  Nearly two years ago we started lifting the main posts in the barn to even out the roof.  Lately we’ve been cleaning up brush and removing the rotted stuff on the “south lean-to” so we can rebuild it to house the horses.

Somehow, Colton had “acquired” a railroad jack which proved to be very useful in jacking up the main posts to even out the structure. It was a long, slow process!

When we were jacking up the posts to level out the barn, that whole, big west wall started swaying in the wind, so Colton had to brace it until we could get it anchored.

The railroad jack pictured above really helped with lifting!  I don’t know if it’s really safe doing it that way, but it worked for us!  The scary part was when we finally got things level at the top – the bottom wasn’t as secure and started rocking with a west wind!  So Colton had to brace the wall until we were able to get everything lifted (which takes a long time due to having to lift about 1/2-1″ at a time).

Then came tackling the south lean-to.  There is a TON more work to do, but here is what we have accomplished so far:

Taking down the ruined parts of the old barn – there was more damage than we thought. Pretty scary watching how bad things have disintegrated.

Tearing the roof off one section at a time.

We originally were going to keep as much of it as possible but the more we took apart the more we realized how much damage there was from years of neglect.  It wasn’t anybody’s fault – old barns are amazing parts to a farm, but one hole in a roof does a lot of damage!  Once the animals come there will be too much activity for it to ever happen again!

How is your season going?  What are you looking forward to as the growing and harvesting ends and winter sets in?  Any plans for next year?  We’d love to hear about it – Contact us or comment below!  AND – don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter!