Lessons learned from a storm

Okay so this is not really about the barn restoration but is still about my journey.......

Yesterday a wicked storm came through the area after a few days of high heat and humidity it was bound to happen. I was at work and came home to find some of my wonderful trees torn to shreds, patio furniture blown all over the grounds, my barn flooded and essentially the rain waters pouring in through the doors and down the alley way taking mud and silt with it. However, I learned or rather several things were once again reinforce for me because of it so for that I am thankful and feeling blessed. A part of the barn roof is now loose as well, but I remember several years ago I lost one whole side of the barn roof to a storm like the one last night- so I( we) am/are lucky indeed.

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1) Savour the things you enjoy- whether it be a person or even a simple tree......for life can change in an instant and suddenly they are gone and things are never the same

2) There is joy in spontaneity- joy can be found in simple things- such as sharing an ice cream with friends or eating french fries( chips) after the ice cream--- just because you can!

3) Don't dwell on the negative- instead find the positive-- ie yes I lost some beautiful trees and the barn flooded, but the roofs are still on, no one was injured( either man nor beast), and even the patio furniture which was tossed around was not broken. Even the glass table top got that got tossed and was still in one piece. I am still missing one chair cushion and will have to hunt the surrounding area to see if I can locate it.

4) Good neighbours are to be appreciated- although one of the big trees in the front garden bordering the road was blown over (into the road apparently) my new neighbour who we don't know very well, was out there with his little garden tractor pulling it off to the side and into my ditch. I went over to thank him and he said if I needed any other help just to let him know. You see he knows Francis is away during the week in Ottawa.

5) Good friends help you find joy- Serge and Marina came to see if I needed help with the barn or putting horses in for the evening- then they invited me for ice cream ( see # 2 above) ( I think they really came to provide moral support). So thoughtful and very much appreciated.

6) Not being able to help someone in need is hard for people who care- poor Francis was so upset about not being here to help me with clean up and provide support. I had called him to tell him about the damage - not to make him feel bad but just to share. I told him it could be so much worse and that it was fine as was I-- sure I had a little cry but that is just the way I am wired. Emotional release is good for the soul - I wasn't really sad just disappointed that the tree we planted a few years ago to block the sun from the bedroom is now gone......I love trees you see......and of course the 3 stupid pine trees I want to cut down to make room for that lovely maple tree are still standing.....uuurgh. This applies to when you are too far away to help, or whether you have to watch people go through something that only they can solve for themselves or when people don't want your help.

My darling maple tree outside the bedroom- snapped off like a toothpick!

So now I am off outside to take Miss Piggy ( the ATV) and garden trailer to clean up debris. The barn is already put to rights and the patio furniture back in place ( Serge and Marina helped with that last evening)..............The big trees will have to wait for my knight in shining armour( Francis)..how to ruin his weekend.... but he is my hero as I know he will not whine or complain but set about doing what needs to be done without complaint despite him having to give up his few days he gets at home each week.

Major construction,finishing touches, lost loves , dreams and "where's Waldo?"

new support wall

I don't have a lot to post this week. The weather was cold and miserable and rainy. Francis continued to work on the barn. It was our 12th anniversary on June 11- I took the day off from work so we could spend it together. Our plans were to go to our trailer (RV)on the Ottawa River ( Leblanc Island to be precise) and get things ready for the new summer season. The trailer is our summer escape- Francis' get-a-way and favourite place! It is an idyllic spot- ( I will try and find a picture to post). Well, the weather did not cooperate as I have mentioned so instead we went around to nurseries looking for flowers to plant at the trailer and to finish in some holes in my containers at the house. I am an avid gardener you see, and I rarely get Francis to come with me, but as it was our anniversary he had to spend time with me (LOL). However, that works both ways, and he made me spend time with him in the barn.......I sat in a chair and observed him continue his work from last week building the new barn walls. It is quite a job-- he has to build a new supporting structure ( wall) from floor to ceiling to support the barn floors above. The he has to remove the old support posts on the cement foundation wall ( original supports for the barn) and then rebuild a new wall on the cement foundation wall. We ( he) are putting in new windows ( 10 of them) down that long side of the barn so he also has to build new window frames. I decided they are going every 10 feet...


Francis is so amusing... my birthday is this week and he just could not wait to give me a present that he had for me. While I went into the house to change into riding clothes ( I decided to go riding once the rain quit), he went and brought a gift to the barn and covered it with a blanket... he then unveiled it for me with glee and delight. His eyes light up like a child at Christmas when he is excited about something... anyway his gift caused me to get what he endearingly calls "shiny eyes" ( an old joke between us as I am a mushball and cry with any deep emotion- whether love, laughter, sadness, joy). His gift was a print of a painting that a lady had commissioned for herself of my old horse Romy. I had previously ordered a plaque to hang in the barn to acknowledge his memory and all he meant to me and my life. Romy was the horse I had from the time he was 6 until age of 33 when he was put to sleep. He was a part of our family and I lost him ( ie had to rehome him)at he same time other huge losses and changes occurred in my life. He died the same year as my father and I have learned that it matters not if family is near or far, or has not been as active in our lives for several years, the love does not change, nor the pain off loss when they die. So I have a endearing photo of my Dad on my cupboard in the bedroom ( my favorite picture of him- how I remember him from when I was a little girl) which my Mum gave to me the Christmas after my Dad died.  And now I have an amazing picture of Romy- it has been hung in the barn on the wall of the tack room. All this hard work and me wanting a horse again has been because of my love for my old horse Romy. He was the reason for my passion for horses- I never thought I would find another but just as I have found another dog to love ( Phoebe)when I lost my special Grrl, I have found another horse which is also going to be special- different, not my Romy, but still loveable and special. The heart is an amazing thing--- it has an infinite supply of love to give - it never runs out. So despite losing loves, whether to death, divorce or just from distance.... the heart remembers and seeks out new loves.......new dreams...

Okay so this post has not been so much about barn construction, but it is still about my journey that has come about because of the barn reconstruction.......it is about reconstructing lives and love ....building new from the vestiges of old..........so yes still appropriate I think. 

PS..... other finishing touches were done on Sunday and I came home from work to have to play "where's Waldo?" , but in this case it was "what has Francis done today?"- so he 1) added a bigger solar panel for the lights 2) put the restored door knob on the tack room door 3) cut a hole in the rubber mats near the door for a drain hole 

PPS....  so HONOUR THE PAST, LIVE FOR TODAY AND DREAM FOR THE FUTURE......( Sue's new wise words for today)

Ugly duckling becomes a swan and "let there be light!"

door- BEFORE- blue paint and peeling

Well the weather was super hot and humid this past weekend- Francis got to work in the "airconditioning" all weekend. Okay, its not air conditioned really but because the stable is in the undercroft of the barn and has a lovely stone foundation, it always much cooler in the stable than outside. 

Door -AFTER- absolutely love the finish - this is au naturel-
no stain, or any other produce on it

This weekend had some finishing touches done to the tack room. The door was hung after being lovingly restored to its former glory. The door was repurposed/recycled. Years ago this old wooden door was the door into the garage. This is an antique door I had painted it blue ( you know how it was in the 80's??). Anyway, Francis painstakingly removed all the old paint with stripper and heat gun to  reveal all the wood and its wonderful engravings. Its has crenellations around the glass. He decided that as it took him two full days to get one side done, he would leave the other side as it was. "You can paint it as it is on the inside of the tack room". "Yes", I said-- little does he know that I am not going to paint it but rather will ask him to restore that side as well, but at a later date ( maybe next year?); for now "it will do". Francis says these are my famous words....lol when I am working on something and am fed up with it.Anyway, he bought wheels for it so now we have also repurposed one of the old stall door sliders so the door can slide open/closed. You see, sliding doors are much more user friendly in the barn- can be opened with your foot when your arms are full of tack; don't take up valuable space in the tack room; don't bang into the horses when they are tied in the alleyway.....PS don't look at the dirty glass-- I still have to clean that

The final job was to have lighting put in.... you see I (um , we) don't have electrical service to the barn. But "Francis fix tout "( for those of you non- French people "tout" means all" or everything").This is an ongoing joke between us- you see all week I break things, cant' get things to work etc and he comes home on the weekend and fixes everything so I can find more things that need fixing for the next week ( No seriously, he likes to be kept busy  lol) . We joke around that I keep finding things for him to renovate/fix so he won't leave me... he is too much of a gentleman to leave a damsel in distress......In fact, that is how we started going out together. We met at a motorcycle club, and he and friends dropped by as we were supposed to go biking. Unfortunately, I was trying to get my pool open for the season for the first time on my own. He sacrificed the bike ride and stayed behind to help me deal with the winter cover and get it going etc. and the rest as they say is history. He is always whining about the pool and how much work it is ( grrhhhh)..........but you see I know he really doesn't mean it  as without the pool we would not have met ( hehe). Francis has been renovating/fixing things for the last 12 years!! In fact our "anniversary" is soon approaching- 12 years on June 11 ( and no I won't tell you why we picked that date but I'll leave to  guess). Oops, sorry went off on a tangent there for a sec.. so back to the barn..........anyway I came home from work on Saturday evening at 1115pm to find Francis waiting outside. He wanted me to go  and check out his accomplishments of the day.......and hey presto we went into the barn and he flipped a switch and the place lit up! So exciting!! He has installed LED 12Volt lights hooked up to a solar panel... ingenious I say. What a difference they make when trying to muck out stalls on a dreary rainy day. I can even bring the horses in from outside after sunset-!! ( OK it may not seem like a big deal to non- horsey people but do you know how hard it is to get them in by flashlight??).

the barn at night-- lights, glorious lights

Hard to believe this is possible from a tiny solar panel that is

14" x 4" long and some 12 Volt LED lights