A Tale of Aladdin

Many of you will remember the childhood story of Aladdin and his magic lamp with the Genie inside who granted wishes. Well it appears I have my own Aladdin/Genie who grants wishes. I just seem to have to say the word and like the Cobbler and the Elves story, the next day my wish is granted. 

I decided this weekend that I would take the time and clean the tack room and sort things out from our spring arrival. I really hadn't organized or tidied it- just sort of dumped things in in. Mostly due to the horrible weather we have had has really not been conducive to hanging about and thinking of spring cleaning as the weather has been anything but spring-like. So I moved all the shelving units to the new feed room, and propped up a stainless steel counter top on them. Now I have a work surface for cutting the ever important carrots for night time feeds and measuring grain into feed tubs. The shampoo and tack cleaning supplies were rehomed onto the shelves. 

A dear young lady by the name of Emma McKenna did a charcoal sketch of Raphi last year and it has now found a home on the feed room door. Emma is the niece of my heart- for her mother although not my sister is like a sister to me, and has been all my life. Emma's mum calls my mum " aunty" and so she is most definitely family. Emma was 16 last year when she made the sketch. 

I have also started teaching another little lady named Laryssa- she is my new step-granddaughter.And so I decided that when helping her tack up we needed somewhere to hange the halter and prop the saddle while getting ready to ride. Hence my wishes- I wished I might have halter and saddle hooks and hey the next day, there the were. All made by hand with love. The left over horseshoe halter holders I made last year came to use  and new saddle racks were made that match the blanket holder. Now I can move my old metal saddle rack over to the tack cleaning hook so we have an area to that task in.

So here are pictures of those little additions- made with love by my very own Genie--- Francis. Will wonders never cease. He really does work magic around the place. 

This is them hanging when not  in use

Ready for the saddles!

Hi Ho the Derry Oh The Farmer in the Well ( instead of Dell)

Well there has been a lot of goings on in the barn over the last several weeks. The biggest new detail that we now have a water source for the barn. Up until now we had a hose on a reel outside but that was connected to a temporary line Francis ran underground from the house last year. It was certainly not winterproof at all. But now we have our own source! Last year while Francis was working on repairing the barn outside wall, he noted a pipe coming in through the cement wall. We decided it must come from the old stone well out beside the machine shed. So instead of using the house and having to drill through the foundation of the house and dig a 6 foot deep trench all the way from the house, we decide we can use the old well as our source of water. And so it began....

• dig a hole 6 feet deep to allow a standpipe pump to be installed ( this type of pump will self-drain and so no water remains in the standpipe to freeze). There are other details about the hole and stones and drain pipes but I won't bore you with those as I don't totally understand it all)
• connect water pipes to existing underground pipe

• McGyver together something so that the water line from well connects to electric water pump, back to the standpipe and also to another hose /tap so a water hose can be connected to it ( Sorry but that is the best I can describe what Francis has spent the last 3 weekendsdoing! It is all very technical and complicated and I have no idea how he actually made it all work- but it does!!

The contraption thingy that goes from water line to pump and standpipe

• fill hole back in with stone

                                                             

• pour new cement to cover hole

• connect a water pump and pressure tank ( he was going to use an old pump we had but it didn't have enough "pulling power" so he had to buy a new one).. its all red and shiny

• test the system using generator as power source as we still don't have mains electricity in the barn 
• take a detour to HOme Depot and buy a new generator as the other one won't do the job ( The new one is huge, powerful and even has a remote starter so I can figure out how to start it!) PS He did try getting the old one to work properly and wasted a whole afternoon draining out the gas from the old one and retrying with "clean" gas" but to no avail.. so once his patience had reached its limit he said a bad word and went off to the store to buy a new one. 
• Test system--- Hmmmm something not quite right.. everything works but no water 😠 ( Francis looked something like this lol)
• Decide system needs a foot valve ( one-way valve) on the end of line that is in the wellso water line stays full of water and doesn't drain back into well
• Buy foot valve
• Drain well to allow Francis to go down in it and install valve onto line in well. This is actually the scariest part as the well is just an old dug well shored up with stones. The engineering of our forefathers is astounding. This well is still standing and must be well over 100 years old. A few rocks around the "rim" are a bit loose which will be another "Francis project" to fix and cement them into place. What is amazing is the stones are merely stacked in a circle one on top of the other- no mortar holds them together. The well is about 25 feet deep- measured by putting a ladder in it. 

View from inside the well

View from top of well

Well as it looks from ground level

• Redrain well the next day as it filled up over night 
• Install valve
• Scoop out all floating debris on top of well water 
• Go back into barn and try pump again...... Hey Presto after 20 min to prime the line using a system he had McGyvered together, we have running water!!!😤

We ( the Royal "we", of course I mean Francis (alias McGyver)) will have to build an insulated box of some sort or a small room ( open for discussion at present) that can be heated to prevent freezing of the pump in winter-- IF and when the stables are to be used during winter time. At this time, that is in the future. 

This project took 3 weekends due to inclement weather and other obstacles mentioned above. Lots of "to"ing and "fro"ing from the local hardware store - Smitty's. The ladies at the cash know Francis by name and joke to him all the time about " What did you forget this time?" as he is there several times a weekend 

Pondering a Question

This is my first entry that is not about the barn restoration so not everyone will want to read this. This is a personal entry about me and my horse.

Someone asked me the other day why I don't sell Raphi and buy another horse that I wouldn't have so much grief over. You see, it has turned out that he is not "perfect" like I thought he was. Since he has been with me he has decided he doesn't want to go in horse trailers, nor does he like being separated from his best friend- who is Pippa- not me. I told the person I had almost sent him back last fall. But something in me just won't let him go. I have had a couple of people tell me different things that make sense to me. Firstly, I was told the Universe gives us the horse we need, not the horse we want. This means he has been given to me for me to learn something. Secondly, I had Reiki done on him ( yes, many of you may pooh pooh the idea but I don't really care) and she said that he is afraid to trust, had loved and trusted a previous person and he is now afraid to trust totally as I'm only going to get rid of him anyway. Must admit, that brings back haunting memories of one of my favourite childhood stories- Black Beauty. It reminds me that a horse's life is not entirely his own, but lives at the total discretion of their owner. We can make their lives heaven or hell. Unfortunately, when I first bought Raphi his life was not full of sunshine and happiness.I mean because I let him down when I bought him, not that he wasn't happy before. You see I didn't trust him- he is right there. Instead, I decided I would make myself the leader! Make him listen and do as I said...I didn't give him credit for all he had learned and done before which is absolutely daft, as that is why I bought him- because of all he had done before. I was afraid to rock the boat and stand up for myself and him. I was supposed to be fitting us into this little box /plan that was laid out before me. It had sounded like the perfect solution. And don't get me wrong, I have seen people get great amazing results from the plan but I just realized that I wasn't happy and nor was he. Perhaps, under different circumstances things would have been different, but I lacked the encouragement and support I needed, instead I got criticism and blame.

You may wonder what all this has to do with the question of why I don't sell him. Well, you see this horse didn't have these "issues" ( separation anxiety and not wanting to load in a trailer), until I bought him and exposed him to a life that was not so reassuring for a horse. I will add here that this trip to me was not uneventful- the trailer blew two tires which I know would have been very scary and so I am sure that memory is in his mind everytime. He was beaten up by other horses ( badly- every day saw another chunk taken out of him) and lost significant weight. He was exposed to a life that he didn't know- from being a stabled, pampered horse to living in a herd outside 24/7- despite heat, flies and whatever else. Again, this lies on my shoulders as I was too afraid to stand up for him, and I didn't trust my gut, which was to have him at home- even if I didn't have an area to work him in. I wanted so badly to be accepted by another person that I had always admired, to "fit in", to follow and learn what they did and were doing ( "the Plan), that I lost myself and along with that my horse and his trust.

And so, I am now taking the time to rebuild a trust between us, and I would say this winter and spring we have come a long way. He still is insecure and hates being separated, but little by little he is starting to feel safe alone with me, and without the other horse. He now comes to me when I go out to the field- he never walks away as if to say, "No I don't want to spend time with you, I don't enjoy our time together". Instead, although I walk out to get him, he always takes those last few steps to meet me. He understands my words... or at least the energy and intent behind them. He is starting to calm and relax with a touch and trigger word I have taught him.Is he perfect? Absolutely not! Does he still have moments when his fear and anxiety are at fever pitch and I can't reach him? Yes.... but I have a LOT to undo, a lot of trust to regain. All the above is one reason why I don't sell him or trade him on.

Another reason, is that I was called a "quitter" when I had decided that I didn't want to finish my Masters degree ( I was 2 courses away from completion). At the time, I thought no I'm not a quitter, I just didn't see the point in spending time, energy and money on something that was not going to change my life. So why do I spend time, energy and money on a horse that I can't do everything with? Because THAT is something worth doing!!I may not be able to go to all the events with him I want to, or go galloping with friends across fields ( I really wish I had the nerve to do that but I have seen this boy gallop at full speed in the field and let me tell you he is a ROCKET, and don't think I would be able to stop it), but I am learning a lot about myself on this journey with him. Learning that sometimes we just can't have it all, but I am close, and who knows it time perhaps his trust will be truly mine and then I will have the perfect horse, and that will because of our journey. Don't get me wrong, most days he is great but he can be a bit like Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde-- and when he is Mr Hyde he is hard to deal with- it is when he is stressed and anxious- he shuts out everything and everyone...I do live in hope that trust will be the cure to Mr Hyde. That then we can go places and do things. He did them before with a previous owner so it's in there.... I just have to find the key.

Today a story popped up on my FB page.. and I shared it... as it resonates with my feelings about Raphi. It is what made me decide to post this blog entry. It rather validates my feelings... there are days I do wish I had a horse that I could do everything with and feel safe and secure. But he came to me for a reason.... I have had other horses that I divorced ( sold) as we didn't match with no problem. Another horse may be so much less frustrating, cheaper ( Raphi is HIGH maintenance), and maybe I don't want to admit I made a mistake??--or wasted my money--- but for some reason it just doesn't feel "right" and so he stays with me and hopefully I will get where I want to-- just not quite so quickly as I had hoped.

And for those that follow the barn project, I will post soon about some of the new refinements!

New Boarders!!

I know I haven't posted for awhile, and I hope to do some catching up soon, but in the meantime I just had to do a quick share of our new boarders.

On Saturday, Francis and I went up to spend our first evening back in the barn- he enjoyed a beer well deserved after a frustrating day ( more on that later), and I with my usual tea in hand. We hunkered down in the tackroom/lounge to enjoy listening to the horses merrily munching on hay and basically settling in for the night. While I was there, I decided that Raphi really needed to be divested of his mud coat which he had cheerfully donned during the day. He has become quite the procurer of this "vetement" ( clothing). While grooming, I suddenly noticed a wee swallow keeping us company- he kept flying up and down the alley and then perching himself to observe all the "goings on". To our delight, we noticed a new nest has been built on the beam in the alley way near Pippa's stall-- our resident swallows have returned to roost again. We can now hear the chirping of the parents as they nestle in to care for their babes to be. The are not afraid and fly around us, in and out through the barn door... we will have to make sure we keep some type of opening for them so we don't trap them in or out of the barn. Anyway, loved this shot as the one male stood watch over us all while we were enjoying our evening and he guarded his family.

Swallow roosting and watching us in the barn

New Name

I have decided to rename the blog site as I realize this is so much more than a restoration project. The blog allows people to glimpse the lives of the animals and people that it nurtures. This wonderful old barn has a soul, and it was sitting there just waiting..... waiting for someone to love it back to its former glory. It has wrapped itself around us and wiggled into the crooks and crannies of our lives.In return, it has given Francis and I a " child" if you will of our own, something that we do together, a passion shared. Our family members stroll up when they visit to check out new developments.It has renewed old friendships, allowed me to dream (it really doesn't matter if they all come true) and soothed old wounds. This summer, it will allow me to develop a new relationship with my step grandchildren and perhaps my grandchildren as I  introduce them to the glory that is horses......My Mum says I got my passion from my great aunt Jane ( who I am named after- my middle name is Jane)... and so just as the barn reaches out to my soul I like to think Great Aunt Jane is smiling down on me with delight as she watches me indulge our passion ...Even my Gran is part of this journey as I used my inheritance I received upon her death to buy my saddle- my Passier- which I could never have afforded otherwise. So out of loss comes joy which I think is a valuable lesson; out of the dark comes the sunshine and hope of new tomorrows and dreams. I am following my very wise son's advice  who always has said since he was a teenager ,"dream with your eyes wide open"- I think I understand that now
Hmm... it happened again... this entry rather developed a life of its own and went off on a bit of a tangent but hey I'm learning some of the most interesting journeys are not the ones we start out on, but happen when we just follow our heart and let life take us where it will
Its funny by I get up everyday and the first thing I do when I get to the kitchen is to look out the window and gaze at the barn. I'm not quite sure why... its not going anywhere. But it has always provided solace to my soul, more so now that I know she knows we are loving her back to life. And yes, the barn is most definitely a female entity-- she reminds me of my grandmother, or the grandmother of Downton Abby fame- you know the one I mean- the grand matriarch who watches over the family from a distance- uttering the silence or Tut-tuts of faint disapproval or the gentile smile of approval and affection. I feel the barn's presence wrap herself around me and offer comfort ( ok by now you feel I'm a raving lunatic) but I can't explain it any other way- that old barn gives solace to my soul and gladness to my heart; she has brought so much good into my life.As Marina my friend would say, since we started this project, so much in my life has "flowed". Okay,not everything is perfect and there are hiccups along the way, and no all the foundation work has not done exactly what we hoped ( we still have a bit of dampness coming through), but overall, the barn has been the catalyst for so much good and love....
Hmm.... big sigh.... maybe restoration project really was the right word after all???.... the barn project has certainly restored a lot of things in my life-

Additions and Dreams...........

So after the feed room was completed, Francis moved on to constructing the first of what will be 3 more stalls. We have had an ongoing debate as to whether we should even bother as I will certainly never own 5 horses, but Francis and my daughter-in-law, Dani'el are seeing visions of me with a boarding stable in my retirement and of me having horses here on a full-time basis. We have no intention of filling the whole barn and we are going to make a divider between the " stall area" and the rest of the barn that we will basically leave empty- it will be used for hay and shaving storage. One reason for a divider is to keep any heat generated by horses confined to a smaller space which would hopefully add  a bit of warmth IF we ever over winter horses here. That is still up for debate/discussion.....The barn is massive ( 120 feet long) and two horses will do NOTHING to heat it and it will be COLD if not downright frigid....So we will see what develops over the next few years.

That being said, Francis convinced me to buy enough grill work so we can build 3 more stalls ( so a total of 5).Over 25 years ago, I bought 6 stall door kits and my ex-husband and I put up 4 of them, but 2 were never opened. We have been just been reusing the old stalls up to this point, but we used all the "grill" sections of the 6 doors to make the 2 stalls we have currently. You see I wanted "open concept" stalls to allow horses to see and visit with each other, as well as make them more open, airy and light. (Remember, I like sunlight).So about 2 months ago we made a trip down to Guelph to pick up more stall parts- enough for 3 more stalls. 

These next stalls are going along the opposite side of the barn ( where the new wall put up and new windows put in). When Francis asked me how far apart to put the windows I said 10 feet.....I am now wishing I had said 12. .You see the stalls on this side of the barn can not be as deep as the others due to where the main beams are-- they are 10 feet from the foundation wall; whereas on the other side, the beams are 13 feet from the foundation wall. Francis insists that the windows be centered in the back of each stall-- and I must admit esthetically it makes sense. I do want each stall to have a window for a horse to gaze out of, and get a breeze from on hot summer days/evenings. So the new stall he has just built is 10ft x 10ft-(with a window centered in the back wall) doesn't sound bad and is a common enough size for a box stall, but oh dear it looks so SMALL!!!  IF is had put the windows at 12 ft then the stall would have been 10 x 12---- unfortunately, that is NOT something that can be changed at this time ( the windows I mean). I could make the stalls 12 ft wide but then the windows would be all higgledy-piggedly and the esthetics would be off.
 Perhaps it is because one side is solid and not open grill work?? You see I had planned to have an area next to the tack room to hang blankets ( you saw the blanket rack construction last year) and keep the brooms/wheelbarrow etc for now. Thoughts were that this area could be used to build tack lockers for boarders IF that happens in the future as my little tack room/lounge will really not suffice for boarders. Perhaps, I will have to reconsider that, and make the wall grilled instead-- my poor Francis I am constantly changing my mind. We will see. For now as there are no boarding horses, it does not matter anyway so the point is moot--

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Anyway below are the photos of production. I did not have all the photos to post when I blogged about the walls in March so am including them now. The first photos show what that side of the barn looked like before he started this spring. The photos will show the new walls and window grills and the new stall that has been completed.At present he has one completed... there is to be a second one and then another across the alley. Just in case there is a horse who is not a friendly character or is sick and should not be in contact with others.

Here you can see what he started with-- you can still see
one wall of the original stalls at the far end

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This is the same area looking from the other end.This picture
shows the outside walls before he insulated and put up the
finishing lumber

 Same area, AFTER-- beautiful walls and window grills installed.
The grills open for easy access to the windows

The walls after Francis has worked his magic

The photos above show the area before the stall was put in.

Francis had to break the current concrete floors, dig down and pour new cement footings for the support posts. Old support posts had to be removed. You can see the patches of wet cement in the pictures.A few joists had to be repaired.This shows the side wall- the only one that is not grilled. The wall opposite this is the tack room wall, and houses the blanket rack. In future there is room to put 3 tack lockers that would go floor to ceiling and be 3 feet wide. Boarders (future??) would be able to lock up their equipment. I have already designed the lockers- shelf of top, then a saddle rack against back wall, with a box with a lid at the bottom for "stuff".....

We reused the old boards from the old stalls, which is why the one wall looks dirty and stained. We intend to pressure wash that this summer to make it look nice and new like the other wall.

Front view- no floors yet as we haven't decided what we are putting down

Tadaah!!!! One additional stall all finished.

An Official Feed Room

I know the posts have not been as frequent as last year and that is partly because I keep taking Francis away from his project! I make him help with family dinners,drag him off to help me bag shavings for horse bedding or task him with picking up more hay from local farmers, or he is there offering support to me as in the case of our recent loss of Bonhomme.Therefore, he doesn't quite get accomplished what he wants to in a weekend but that is just how he is-- ever willing to give up what he wants to do in order to help me, a shoulder to lean on( or cry on).

So I will now endeavour to catch you all up on recent progress. I will do separate posts for each project. So as you know from my first post this year, the interior walls have been insulated and finished with lovely tongue and groove lumber. It loos lovely and bright and now...will still have to put some kind of "finish" on the wood-- clear stain of some sort to protect the wood, but that will happen inthe hot afternoons of summer when the barn is a cool sanctuary.

The next project he tackled was an official feed room. Last year we used the space next to Pippa's stall to house a freezer that we kept all the grain in( dual purpose- keeps out mice and curious horses ...hmm I wonder who I might be talking about ? hehe). That area also housed the wheelbarrow, broom and manure fork. Originally, there was to be a stall made next to Pippa's but the person doing the cement work screwed up and didn't listen to the foreman (ME), and put the buffer wall 9 1/2 feet from Pippa's stall and not 10. Therefore, it is too narrow to be in a stall ( in my opinion), so we have made it the official feed room. 

Work started with repairing( sistering) some of the joists and framing in the structure.

I had planned on a window being put in the front wall to allow in natural light ( I love sunlight and windows!). Construction was going well and I went out to check on the progress and good thing I did. Poor Francis had the framing all done for the walls and was already putting up the material for the walls when I arrived. Oops, someone had forgotten about the window. 

But Francis just made this face,😠 , and then started taking it all down again and reframing an opening for the window. Poor Francis, he is so patient with my requests/visions etc.

The door for the feed room is another old door we found out in the machine shed and Francis dragged it out through all the snow back to the barn where he lovingly sanded it off and adapted it for use as a sliding door. I am a big fan of sliding doors as they are easy to open when holding onto something and don't take up space. Must admit, this door is rather on the heavy side so is not easily opened with a foot ( must actually use the handle) but in the case of curious horses this is likely a good thing. The hardware that was on the door had been taken off to be "restored" but has not been put back on yet as I am not sure exactly who is to restore it??? Francis?? or am I supposed to paint it or something?? ( to be continued)

 The window is all framed on the inside with a lovely deep sill made out of the same lumber as the interior walls. The boarding for the walls is the same as the tack room. The plan is to make some cupboards  ( to house the first aid kit and other essentials) and have a counter top section for mixing up the grain tubs. We have on old stainless steel counter top from an island we removed from the kitchen so that will be our counter top. Those finishing touches will come later.....

 As I am writing this, I am already thinking we put the feed room in the wrong place (oh dear!!). You see Francis found an old water line in the foundation coming from the old well out near the far fence, and we plan to use this as a water source for the barn. And as we will need to be able to keep the pump warm, I am thinking that the feed room should have been a stall after all,  and the feed room should go where the water line is-- that way we can insulate that room to keep the pump warm for future use if we ever have horses here in winter..... oh dear.... how do I tell him I want him to take it down and start again??? I may not live to make another blog entry.......