One cool blogger....Tips from the heart for the home!!!

Click here to read an article that my sweet niece wrote about my gallery! She has an amazing blog and is one very creative woman!!! I love you, Robyn, and am so thankful that you are in my life!

Working on the flooring!

 My good friends, Dan and Debbie, spent their Saturday helping me pressure wash a truck-load of wood from the big barn.  I'm going to use it as the floor for the art gallery!  I am very thankful for their help.  They are excellent interior painters, so if anyone needs a room painted...I can give you their number. :-)

 Here is a close-up shot of the wood after it was cleaned.  I love it!!!

My side porch, and no...that is not a real bird.  Haha!

Flooring next!

I spent a large portion of today, power washing the floor. I was going to use some old barnwood, but I'm going to visit a flooring shop in the next couple days and check out my choices. The barnwood might be complicated to install as I would have to raise it with a framework to keep it off the cement. And, barnwood would have to be treated for insects. There has to be some other neat options...bamboo, cork, etc.???

Wrapped in a blanket!

My gallery is now wrapped in a blanket....of insulation!  I had a company come and drill holes around the outside walls of the building, and then fill them with insulation.  They also put rolls of insulation into the ceiling, and along the back room wall.  I have really beautiful fabric that I'm going to drape along the ceiling, so that will help make it look better.  I just have to figure out what kind of heat system to get, and my gallery won't be so freezing cold during the winter months.  Yay!!!

Poison Ivy!!!

I am spending most of my time up high on the ladder painting this sign. The rest of my time is spent nursing a horrible case of poison ivy! I discovered that most of the weeds I pulled out of my garden were not a good thing to touch. Ouch...it's miserable!!!

Garden in and sign painting begun!

There was just a mess of weeds and a couple of overgrown bushes in front of the carriage house, but not now! I have spent the last week...weeding, planting, and mulching...oh, and rock digging.

I'm not crazy about getting up on the ladder, but I am determined to get this sign painted!!!

Goose-neck Lamps Installed!

I now have my outside lighting! My son-in-law's dad (Tim) worked hard on installing these for me, even though the heat was unbearable today. Now, I have to get busy and paint my sign!!! :-)

Antique Doors!

Before washing!

                                    Filthy!

Sparkling clean!

                       Is there even glass in there? :-)

I spent a good portion of yesterday cleaning several antique doors and windows. There were many left in the buildings here on my property, plus I brought a few from my last house (left in the attic). I'm going to use these around the inside perimeter of my gallery to display artwork. Some art will be hanging on the wall behind the glass, with spotlights on it. For doors that are solid, I will hang pieces directly on them. I can't wait to see it all come together!!!

It's YELLOW!!!

Finally, we have bright yellow on the carriage house! The weather hasn't been real cooperative this spring, with all the rain, but the painters are starting to wrap it up. They still have some trimwork to do, etc. They left the basketball hoop backboard up for me to paint as a sign. I'm anxious to get going on that project!

Possible Artist joining Shiloh!

Today...Kelly, Ranen, and I went to an arts and crafts fair at Milham Park.  We had fun wandering around checking out all the cool stuff!  One of my favorite booths had darling little decorated pillows.  I talked to the artist about my gallery opening soon, and she seemed interested in selling some of her wares at my place.  Here are three of her pillows that Kelly and I just couldn't resist!

Also...I just bought this kid's antique school-desk chair at a garage sale! Love it!!!

A Sad Situation!!!

My big barn is collapsing, and I am so sad!  I love this whole farm, and the barn is especially cool.  But, yesterday when the previous owners came to get their boats out of storage in the big barn, they discovered that some of the beams had collapsed in the last couple of weeks.  There were some holes in the roof when I purchased the place, but I had them covered with big sheets of plywood until I could get to having a new roof put on sometime in the next year.  I had dreams of renovating it into an events barn, and now I'm not sure that anything can be done to repair it.  I'm anxious to have my barn specialist check it out.  He completely repaired the carriage house and did an excellent job!  I am just sooo thankful that no one was in there when it fell.  And, I pray that it doesn't cave in further!

Let there be light!

Today, Tim finished installing the six light fixtures in the main room of the carriage house. He is also working on outlets inside, and lighting for the outside of the building. Each step of the process is so exciting to see completed!

Structure Repairwork Done!

                                                                                                  The guys are done with the structural work in the carriage house.  If you look closely at the two above pictures, you can see the difference in the large beam.  It was pulling away from the wall, but they managed to get the beams tight again. Now, I don't have to worry about the whole building collapsing!!! :-)

Another "treasure" found in one of the barns!  I was setting up several old metal racks, and discovered a coke sign.  It needs to be cleaned up a bit, but I think it's pretty cool!  It says, "Drink Coca-Cola.  There's nothing like a coke!"

Awesome Discovery!

I love this place!  It's like a treasure hunt everytime I want to explore.  Today, I was organizing and decided to try getting this old record player to work.  I was thrilled when it did, and now I can play the old collection of Beethoven, Bach, etc. albums left behind!  Maybe I will set it up in my shop for some ambiance.

Clearing and Organizing!

The carriage house was full of tools, old yard equipment, etc. that the previous owners left behind.  My son-in-law, Nate, and his dad, Tim, helped me organize and clear it all out.  They even ripped out the old tool benches, so now I finally have some space to plan out my gallery.  The gallery and workshop will be on the main floor, with storage in the back room where there is a horse stall.  I love to imagine the buggies stored in here, ready to be hooked up to the horses for a ride.  It's so cool to know that this building was here during the civil war!

Raccoon Disaster!

One of the main reasons the tree was removed was to stop the animals from accessing their second floor hide-a-way.  Blocking their access is a major priority, and you would understand why...the moment you took a whiff of the building.  Not sure exactly what kind of animals have been inhabiting and using this beautiful, old building as their latrine, but they have left quite a mess!  We are guessing that the culprits are raccoons.  My son-in-law, Nate, and I have spent a fair amount of time scooping.  We wore facemasks, and gloves because it was so disgusting to tackle.  We even swept up a skull and fur chunks from one that didn't quite make it back outside.

The carriage house renovation begins!

April 21, 2011

When I purchased this property, I had intended to start an art gallery by spring.  But, the interior renovation of my house took longer than anticipated....so, now the goal is to have the gallery going by late summer.  A couple of items have been completed already.  I had electrical service and water piped out to the carriage house.  And, the huge pine tree growing very close to the back of the building has been taken down.  I have hired a barn specialist to stabilize the old beams on the second floor.  Through the years, they have split apart and the sides of the building are bowing out.  The workers are making great progress by replacing temporary fixes from previous owners to restoring the building to it's former glory!