A Place to Linger

Well Friends,
              Things are going along well for the new shop, The Old Homeplace. I just can't wait. My goal has always been to make my shops a place where folks will want to linger, wander and just sit for a  visit. We have finished up all the walls in old barn wood that has been begged, bartered and scrounged from every corner of Marshall County for almost a year now. Two walls are done in barn wood and two are done in wonderful old tin. I just love this tin, it is a soft gun metal blue with just the right amount of rust to it. It really makes the place cozy and warm looking. We are working now on putting tin on the ceiling and I have to say, this is the hardest part yet. Holding 9' pieces of tin above your head long enough to get it screwed on is to say the least....challenging. But I have to give most of the credit to my wonderful husband Bob. He has been behind me on this project and beside me everyday. We have so much to do here on the farm that every couple of days we put down our hammers and nails and have to finish up on other chores. Last weekend I really put him to the test I think. Every fall we walk the fields surrounding our home and pick up all the corn left on the ground after the farmer has finished in it. So we set off for the field  last Saturday morning, one of those mild fall morning with just a misting of rain. Now rain and fog are two of my favorite things, so this was like the perfect day. We spent about 5 hours in the field and picked up what we figure is about 10 bushels of corn. Now that is a lot of corn! The horses will thank us every day. So after a short afternoon nap to warm us up a little after walking in the rain all morning we headed back out to the shop. Working on insulating the ceiling and starting to add the tin we worked until dark. I must say we were feeling very satisfied with how much we got done. But as I am sure I suffer from some form of adult ...ADD I, of course I  wasn't finished yet. Did I say "suffer"? I'm not sure that would be the right word to use, I must say, I do get a lot done during the day. But poor Mr. Bob was looking forward to sitting down and putting his feet up for a while. It was already dark by then and the rain was still coming down, I swear it was calling to me. So being the wonderful man he is, he got up off his warm chair and took me for a walk in the rain that evening, something we have done since we first met almost 14 years ago. See what I mean....he's a great guy!
               So to say that I am truly blessed to do what I love to do and share it with my favorite guy, well it doesn't get any better than that. Check back for further updates on The Old Homeplace, opening in May 2015.