RicelandMeadows

The winter is bearing down upon us. We finally managed to complete our outside construction projects. Here the porch on the new sawdust building has been made weather tight. It was a fear that the wind driven snow would vault over my wall and drift onto the sawdust pile on the other side. It should be all okay now. The porch also make a great spot for our horse treadmill to live.

The old corn crib and grain bin reconstruct is also completed. Now, the job of cleaning up, organizing and storing of equipment can be done. I look forward to being able to back a piece of horse drawn equipment under the overhang for storage and ease of use. Much better than parking one in front of the other like before, knowing the one I would need next would be in the back!

The retrofit of my wash house/slaughterhouse is complete too. Gone is all the meat cutting equipment that filled this building for years. I divided the space in half. This half is for cleaning vegetables, extracting honey, washing maple syrup equipment and so forth. I kept just enough butchering equipment to process small farm animals and deer, but the bulk of that part of my life has moved on.

This side of the building will now house my forge shop. It will give me more room to work and to teach others. I am looking forward to moving in.

There is still lots to do to move in, but I can work all winter to complete that job. I will move my forge last, so that I can still use it in the old shop until the last minute.

There have been big changes this year all around the farm. Many of those changes will allow me better access, easier chores and a dose of reality as I transition into my advancing age. (haha) In all seriousness, the changes will be very nice, allowing me more time to do the things that I enjoy most. How nice to celebrate the joy of completion.