It has been a while since I have talked about the farm we bought last April and the renovations that have been going on there. In fact, as I write this it makes me realize just how little I have discussed it on the blog in the recent months. At present, we have the stalls and automatic waterers in the barn and the last thing to be done is replacing the mats with rubber pavers and putting in the new electrical to replace the older wiring. We are in the process of putting the indoor up and it should be ready to ride in before the spring comes (as with the other renovations, I have learned not to set my expectations too high when it comes to meeting deadlines). Besides some fencing, we are pretty much on the home stretch.
This is thanks in part to the bank barn … the massive, old barn that threatened to fall over in a heavy wind but managed to stay upright despite the fact that it was around 100 years old. When we moved in, my husband listed the barn on one of those websites that allows people to buy it for lumbar, since the failing support columns on the bottom made it clear that salvaging the building would be impossible. To our surprise, we actually had someone reply to the ad and this summer they began taking it down, piece by piece, so they could ship it up to New York for use as a great room in the Hamptons. You heard me, our little barn from the country was moving up in society and going to East Hampton to enjoy a fancier life than we could offer it.
Long story short, the whole thing is finished AND we don’t have a massive bank barn to worry about AND … wait for it … the local newspaper and Washington Post covered the story. Imagine my surprise when it turned up on the front page of The Gazette and in the Local Living section of the Post. I was always told as a journalist that your first byline is the coolest story you will ever get. I disagree. The coolest story I have ever had was the 2-pager about our barn renovations because it represents the most WORK I have ever put into anything (except dressage, of course).
