"On the plains of Oklahoma, with a windshield sunset in your eyes like a watercolor painted sky, you'd think heavens doors have opened."
Fly Over States



Thursday, November 12, 2009

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

6 comments:

ranette said...

Pearl sounds like the typical teenager to me!!!

Great barn Penny....I can't wait to come see it all fixed up with a quilt on the longarm!

Anonymous said...

The barn looks like it came with its own gum ball machine!

I sure hope Pearl isn't becoming a wino.

Janet

Lady Beekeeper said...

Are you kidding? I hope I'M not becoming a wino!

Phyllis said...

Oh boy - I'd love to fix up that barn and just live in it!

Funny Pearl, she knows what she's doing :)

Stephanie D said...

That's an amazing barn! Was it converted from a true horse barn or did he build it just that way?

I can see how, in the Oklahoma winters, you might not want to traipse through wind, rain or snow to get out to the longarm. A room attached to the house would sure be convenient then.

Who taught Pearl to delicately lap up that wine instead of doggy-lap? lol Oh, well, the family that drinks together....

Lady Beekeeper said...

Stephanie, the builder also built the barn, as I understand it. It was never a horse barn. He used it as a business with the offices on the north and big shop on the south. And yes, we'd have to do like the pioneers - attach a rope to the barn from the house so we could not lose our way to the barn during a blizzard - hahaha!