Tuesday, May 06, 2014

#188. or, I'm Pretty Sure the Local Mennonites are all Quite Amused With How Long it's Taking Me To Build a Barn.

  So, April was a bit of a blur.

  Because this past winter was unusually cold, and it seems that I'm unusually soft, I didn't really get my ass into gear and begin to make any actual progress on my barn until we were careening headlong into 2014's calving season.

  Fortunately, I had the foresight to hire out the erecting of the building portion of what was to become our barn. Otherwise, I would still be calving outside. My contribution was to be putting up all the pens and to finish the little room that serves as the place where we keep all of our calving and basic veterinary supplies, along with facilities for washing up and hopefully have a handy supply of warm water on hand. Because I know how loving my wife gets when I crawl into bed and rub my cold feet on her calves, it's equally nice to have warm fingers when I reach into the backside of a cow when I go fishing for a calf. That, and cows kick much harder than my wife does.

  Anyways, when I did get down to the business of carpenter-ing,  I made fairly decent progress with the wiring, insulating and sheeting of the room. I had an idea of the layout I wanted, and where I wanted to put the cupboard. It had to fit where the water and drain lines came through the concrete, and I wanted a large laundry sink, because some of the stuff we wash is awkward and unwieldy. To save time, I thought I would just pop over to Home Depot and pick up a pre-assembled cupboard. The trouble with that was, Home Depot doesn't sell a line of cupboards, built to the specific blueprints, filed away in the barn cabinetry directory of my brain.

  Turns out, nobody builds that.

  Now, if I remember correctly, by this time, the first of our calves were already on the ground and while not all the cows come through the barn, some do. So as I assembled pens around the cows that did decide to visit there, I made the decision, almost nonchalantly, that I would just whip up my own cupboard. Like it was an actual thing where I could manipulate wood with my bare hands and turn it into something useful. Or better yet, recognizable. In fact, I'm pretty sure I tweeted that I was going out after lunch one day to build a cupboard. Sort of, I'll let you all know at supper, how it all went down.

  Then I spent the better part of two weeks building that cupboard.



Before
After




















   The thing is, I sort of enjoyed it. Measuring fifteen times and cutting once. A lot of the wood I used in my cupboard was left over cut-off's from when they built the building. I took a bit of pride in the fact that I made very few mistakes and pretty much accomplished what I had intended to do. Even if it did take a lot longer than I thought it would.

  I have no problem in telling you, that in my youth, I was pretty careless with my wood. It didn't matter if I misused it, there was always more wood to try it again. But now that I'm in my mid forty's, for some reason, I've developed a greater appreciation for wood, and in turn, for using it properly. It isn't as satisfying anymore, to try and quickly bang out a project and let a lot of that wood go to waste. Good wood is a bit harder to come by these days, and because of that, I'm finding it's more important to try to use all of the wood for the job, and not finish the project knowing you left some pretty decent wood behind.

  ......Of course, having acquired a nice little line of power tools has made it a bit easier to get the most out of my wood. But it's nice to know that if you apply yourself, you can come up with a satisfying outcome for everyone.












34 comments:

  1. I'm thinking your wife might kick harder if she were wearing shoes. Had me laughing, but that's a good looking cabinet. ~

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    1. Thanks so much!

      I prefer trying to avoid situations that put my wife in a kicking mood.

      Delete
  2. Wow, Ken, you can be rightly proud of that effort, it looks great... and the layout looks useful too. It's obvious that you put some thought and planning into it. As for it taking two weeks, well, better late than never, and you got it done! We have a dozen unfinished house projects, and supplies for a dozen more. Love your thoughtfulness is warming up your hands for calving, I'm sure those mama's appreciate that. Wishing you many little ones born safely in the new barn for many seasons to come!

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    1. Hey J2S!

      The Mrs. and I spent a fair deal of time standing in the before room, trying to visualize which layout would work the best for us. I think we got it pretty close.

      You don't need to worry, I have plenty of house projects that have been on the list for way too long! :)

      Delete
  3. Hmmm that good wood part seems like some sort of metaphor. I can't place it, but it's right on the tip of my tongue. That good wood metaphor is right on my lips but I just can't spit it out. I just keep swallowing that metaphor. It's like I'm choking on an extra thick metaphor of good wood.
    Well, regardless, I admire your ability to actually build something tangible rather than my specialty of assembling a verbal house of cards.

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    1. Pickleope!

      Now I feel bad about being a bit too vague and leaving you beating around the bush, as it were.

      And there's absolutely nothing wrong with assembling those verbal card houses. It's good to know there's still those out there who can treat a deck special, when they get the chance.

      Delete
  4. 1. Pickleope, you dirty dog you. I must admit though, the same thing crossed my mind, LOL!

    2. That is one helluva well constructed cupboard. Bravo! Who cares if it took 2 weeks?

    3. Mennonites can be awfully judge-y people, can't they?

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    1. Hey Debra!

      1. Gosh! I'm shocked at you and Pickleope! ;)

      2. Thanks so much! I hope it stands the test of time.

      3. If you can erect a barn, from the ground up in a single day, I can forgive any judge-y-ness that may be in the air.

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  5. I always enjoy reading your posts, Ken. You think like Bill thinks. He also is handy with projects, and plans them out as you do. You did a beautiful job on the cupboards, even if no Mennonites were involved. I wish you and your cows a successful season, my friend.

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    1. Thanks McGuffy Ann!

      For my first stab at anything like this, I kind of surprised myself. I always preferred welding to woodworking, but I think that might have evened out a bit over the last while. :)

      Delete
  6. Your work in the photograph looks great. You can feel proud of all you've accomplished.

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    1. Hi Stephen,

      It's really nice to get all of our stuff back into one place since our original barn burned down a few years back. It took some time, but came together quite nicely.

      Delete
  7. Ken - those last two paragraphs sound a bit personal. Especially out of context with everythjng else. But you did bring tears to my eyes as I laughed and read it aloud to K. Brava. But be careful with those power tools and your, um, wood...

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    1. Hey BB!

      I think I might be suffering from a bit of sleep deprivation from checking those cows in the middle of the night, and just let my mind wander. Glad it made you smile. :)

      Delete
  8. The cupboards look fantastic! I wouldn't even know where to start on something like that. I made a pretty decent looking bookshelf once, but there are no moving parts on that ;)

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    1. Hey Michael,

      Thanks a bunch! I surprised myself, but I don't think it's something that I'd look into doing as a profession. I'm nowhere near that patient!

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  9. Very impressive use of, er, your wood. Seriously.

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    1. Thanks dbs,

      Thanks, and sorry I had to go there!

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  10. It's always a good idea to avoid situations that put the wife in a kicking mood. The cupboards look great - they're actually nicer than my kitchen cupboards.

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    1. Hi Vanessa,

      Truly, a lesson I learned early on. Although, I admit I may have tested the boundaries on occasion.

      Delete
  11. Ken, I always enjoy your posts. That is a badass cupboard!

    Karen

    P.S. I'm glad you are no longer careless with your wood.

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  12. Hey, they look good!
    I actually like building stuff. I think it's good for the soul. Plus, it gets me out of my head for a while...

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    1. Hey Natalie, Thanks!

      I like building stuff as well. But in the past, I leaned pretty heavily toward welding and metal for the things I created.

      Delete
  13. just this morning I was saying the local Mennonites would be looking at our chicken coupe and asking why they ever sold us chickens if we werent going to finish building the extension onto it! Nice job on the cupboard... any interest in a coupe?

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    1. Hey Zoe,

      Gotta look after them chickens!

      Thanks, but the only interest in a coupe I have is the convertible kind, with my hair (what's left of it) blowing in the breeze. :)

      Delete
  14. I'm so impressed with people who can create things like that. I think that cupboard looks pretty awesome, but I'd call it an almost kitchen. Well done!

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    1. Thank you, Sometimes I wish I had more time for creations. :)

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  15. My husband's been building stuff around the house we bought in the all. I helped him make a picnic table out of the wood that used to serve as the back step to the house we rented. I couldn't believe we did it, but hubby is like you: he hates to see a piece of wood go to waste.

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    1. Hey Cynk!

      A picnic table is pretty impressive. We have this fairly large old building on one some of the land we own that's partly fallen down and is really of no further use. I keep looking at it and thinking there's probably a gold mine of reclaimable wood in that thing. But I don't have the time for that sort of project.

      Delete
  16. Those cupboards are impressive, Ken. Are you sure you weren't a cabinet-maker in another life? When it comes to wood-working, cutting once is the ultimate goal so it doesn't matter how many times you measure, as long as you get it right. In this case, a little OCD is a good thing.

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  17. Ha ha ha, I don't know which to praise first, your cabinets or that second to last paragraph :) Both excellent! And as a finale, Pickleope and your comments were hysterical.

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  18. It sounds like you should stop worrying so much about building cabinets and start having more casual sex instead.

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  19. I'm late to the blog post but HEY HEY! Way to go, on the handyman project, friend!!!

    I grew up around a Dad and grandfather that often built things so I have a great appreciation of these kinds of projects.

    Very cool!

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