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Saturday, January 7, 2012

Extreme Barn Makeover

Part two.



Nice and tight. Although...a wooden barn is never completely tight. That's what makes them so nice. Ventilation is important even when it's super cold. Old tobacco barns make great animal barns.



Now we can shut up the entire back of the barn.



Or open it all the way up or anywhere in between. The four doors are running on a double set of track so they can overlap or stack up all the way down to the right.



This new little door is super exciting. It's the simple things ;-). We'd cut out a sheep sized door years ago and had been crawling through it when we needed to. Mostly it was easier though to go out the stall door, down the aisleway, out the end gate, around the back, herd the sheep through, shut the little door, go back through the barn gate, down the aisle and back in through the stall door. Now we can just walk in and out the new people sized door.

If you'd like to see what the "original" door looked like, here are two posts with fun lamb videos. I'm sure we'll make good memories with this door, but it will be hard to beat:

Sunshine and Caspar Belly hiding from their mommas

Stupid Woolliam Tricks



And while I thought the old lady sized door would be my favorite part of the renovation, it was trumped by these door latches. This will only make sense to you if you've ever tried to latch or unlatch a plain, old fashion door hook. The wood has warped, rain swelled, iced over or the wind is blowing the door and the latch is pulled tight and $&*#@!!! you just pinched your finger... These work on a lever system. Ingenious.

Time to let the sheep in. They've been waiting patiently. Mostly.



Willard, what are you and Lila doing out behind the barn?



Marcel, leave Rebecca Boone alone!



Sweet Hank, catching a nap before evening guard dog duties call him.

The sheep weren't jazzed about the new look. They all ran in, stopped short when they saw the door, turned around and headed right back out. Sheep don't like change...but I bet they will next time a rain storm blows in from the south!

16 comments:

Christine said...

The Engineer wanted me to say that he thinks St. Tim is cheeting. LOL We still need to replace the two metal sides on ours. Or maybe just paint the whole darn thing.

The barn looks fabulous! Being able to slide the doors around like that is awesome. I can only imagine how wonderful those latches are.

Christine said...

BTW, the comment hyperlink is floating over the three tiny photos at the bottom of the post again.

Christine said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

Jenny Glen said...

We have a latch like that on our barn too!

Lori Skoog said...

The barn looks gorgeous! That people door is going to save you a lot of walkin'. I'm so glad you kept the integrity of the barn. We have those latches on all our big sliding doors and they work well. Looks like you are still having great weather. Here too.

Brynwood Needleworks said...

Oh, My! Suffering serious barn envy, my friend. It's lovely. Your sheep photos make me smile - and that's before I even read your captions.
Happy New Year!
xoxo
Donna

Leigh Pouliot said...

Where can I get some of those latches?

thecrazysheeplady said...

Apparently these are standard door latches. Who knew :-D.

thecrazysheeplady said...

I'm not sure what to do about the comments overlapping the LinkWithin thing.

Looks fine on my screen + low computer brain power = ARGH!

Linda said...

I have a smidge of barn envy too but you've inspired me to do a tack room make-over.

Alice said...

You are right. Those old barn doors do have a lot o' memories. The new ones should keep the coyotes and the bad weather out for sure. And that’s a good thing :-)

Mary Ann said...

what a great barn, and nifty doors!

Ann said...

all the paint stripped off? How did you do it? I was watching Eachel ray, she had a decorator show a spray to spray on wall paper to strip them off. Very easy.

farmlady said...

Oh, I want a barn so badly. Someday, when I'm so old I can't do chores anymore, we will probably have the money... until then I will have to follow folks like you and dream about barn life.
Wonderful barn and great repairs. That wood is beautiful.
The photos of the sheep are so lovely. Do you use any special lenses on your camera? Your photos have a beautiful quality to them that I don't often see.

small farm girl said...

Love, love, LOVE the latch!

Sarah said...

the new barn siding looks great, though I'm like you, there is just so much appeal in the old lacy boards. I see old barns falling apart and I'm torn between admiration for their rustic appeal, and sadness that they are crumbling into the ground.