Easy Come, Easy Go

Here is a picture of our Oklahoma City barn.   It is a large, two story, 60 X 40 foot wonderland.

Here's a photo of the backyard looking down the fence line towards the barn.

The Barn is divided into three main parts - upstairs, and the downstairs has two main parts.  The down stairs, on the south side, has a workshop with large garage doors on the front and back.

The north side (where the office is) has four rooms and a bathroom.  The rooms are heated and cooled and water can be connected.  Here is one of the rooms:

I may end up putting my longarm out there.  That was the original plan but husband wants to convert the existing oversized two car garage into a sewing studio and add a 32 x 18 foot garage adjacent to the main house.  We'll see how that goes.

The upstairs of the barn has, I kid you not, a small indoor tennis court.  The builder had sons who went to college on tennis scholarships.

When we first got the place, the workshop was jammed with junk.

The foundation was cracked and we budgeted to have that fixed.  That has been done.

We knew when we bought the place that the barn roof was leaking:

We also knew that the upstairs really rattled around when the wind blew.

So anyway, we asked a contractor to give us an estimate on replacing the roof.  We were holding our breath on the cost because we expected it to be high.  The contracter went out a few weeks ago and we got good news, unexpected news and bad news.

The good news was that we didn't need a new roof.  They could replace some of the flashing and do some other magic and we'd be good to go.   

The sorta unexpected news was that the thing was going to fall down if we didn't get it braced with a metal framework.  After being up there in a wind storm, I am not surprised.  It was like being in a row boat in a hurricane.  Liked to freak me out.  The cost for fixing the roof and stabilizing the barn was $1,800.00.  TONS cheaper than we expected to pay for a new roof! 

The BAD news was that while they were out there, they noticed termites. 

Sigh...I sure am looking forward to getting back to Oklahoma sunrises.

We talked to the termite people, today and they said they saw termites on the north side, outside.  I guess it is better that it was just outside and not also inside.  No problem, sez they, for $975.00 they can get those critters and for $90.00 more, they'll re-inspect and spray the house.

Remember that money I found in my trust account?  It was $2,900.00.  Well, fixing the barn cost $1800.00 and the termite situation was $1065.00.  So that comes to...$2865.00   I guess we can take the left over and splurge on dinner at the local Tex Mex joint.  

God looks out for fools and little children.

So while I was typing this, Pearl barked to come in from the rain.  It has been pouring down for two days as a result of Hurricane Ida.  She is squatting on us.  I won't say more than that.  Without warning, Pearl leaped in my lap and I frantically maneuvered the lap top to the end table next to me.  After she got tired of demanding kisses, she leaned against me and went still.  I stroked her side and enjoyed how still she was being.  Then, I glanced up and saw that she had her tongue stretched as far as it would go into my wine glass and was delicately lapping it up without me being any the wiser. 

Kids. 

Happy Quilting,

Penny, Evelyn and Pearl