Barn Building, Day 3, May 7th

Mr Black and Mr Decker, do you think?

Pretty good weather again for day three, although not as glorious as yesterday. There was a bit of rain in the morning, but after that all was fine. And today things got VERY exciting. There's a certain moment where an outdoor thing turns into feeling indoors? That was the happening of the day.

There was the normal breakfast planning meeting, and then straight back to work. There was team 'Brace Brace,' team 'Rafters' and team 'Afters,' whilst two went off to Maunders in Cheddar for more supplies. I think the team idea was quickly disbanded; everyone just did what needed doing.

Still enthusiastic, although they MUST be tired by now.

It's really looking like a building. Most exciting day yet!

Here is Cousin J with his amazing power tools (his gizmos were pretty much indispensable).
So, I as a non builder, learnt a few bits of stuff. The walls behind Cousin J cladding which are made more Wancy Edge Douglas Fir. It's my favourite wood of the three, looks-wise. By the end of day 3 they had the two end walls, half the front wall (the rest is a gap for the door) and a little bit of the back wall. There's not quite enough cladding to finish the back wall, which sucks, but the aim is still to finish everything else by tomorrow (!)

The first picnic of the year is traditionally on J's birthday, which has often unfortunately been in all kinds of winds and weathers. Still, we persist whatever the weather! And today, for once, we were lucky: Perfect.

The cross-pieces on the roof are purlins and are made from solid oak. Very strong - same as the basic structure of the Barn. Almost all the purlins are put in, just a few round the back.

And here it is with three walls finished! Exciting! (Notice the huge pile of shingles ready to go on the roof, another biiiiiiig job).

There was some tiredness about. Little M was between two big other events (one in Wales, one in BERLIN) so were very privileged to have here. Thank you little M!

Here are the shingles going on - Cousin J really got the hang of it. The shingles are made of Canadian cedar, so the barn is three woods: fir, oak and cedar. All different and beautiful in their own ways.

A having a little break in the sun.

And looking from the inside, beautiful shadows! Exciting! As you can see the purlins on the left side has been completed, and the right side is side is still to do.

And here's little M about to add the last piece of cladding to the second wall.

Another splendiferous day. And, as J had a Birthday, A concocted a wonderful Indian feast for all the builders (with inspiration from a Southern Indian cookery cause at Demuth's in Bath. People got to pick sort of fortune cookie style papers from a jar (hey, multiculturalism!). There were various ideas such as ''Sometimes it's better just to lie on the floor," and "All of your fingers cannot be the same length." Very meaningful things. Everyone's place mats were Hindi names most similar to their real names, so people had fun (I hope) trying to work them out in the room we (E and A) decorated.

      पतुरिया       क्रिस्टोफर        जेमी

 

There are some examples - can anyone else work them out?

Now, there are photos of the Indian feast, but I can't find them at the moment (anyone have any on their cameras?). Of course we had out the traditional birthday cloth, as well as anything Indian looking we could find around the house, including cushion covers used as centre pieces, incense and random hangings.Everyone felt very fed, and J opened a few presents to celebrate the grand old age of 54!

Six tired but happy builders off to bed, ready for the LAST DAY of building tomorrow!

Oh, and C took some FANTASTIC video footage (to come hopefully), which unfortunately drained his car battery (who knew an innocent iPhone could drain a car battery!), so we had a late night call from the AA! All to add to the mayhem.