Meadow Creek Farm

Of course it wouldn't be Mark and Tree if we didn't squeeze one more project out of 2009.  We recently had a few more field boarders come to the farm and needed to find a way to feed them without having to stand nearby and referee.  So we harvested some recycled wood (donated by one of our favorite neighbors) and got to building.  We even reused some of the barn's old orignial dutch doors for the gates.  Here's what we came up with.  Not bad huh?  (I must add that it was the most horrible day ever...cold...wet...muddy...wet...rainy...wet...and did I say cold and wet?) 

Our barn is old.  We think it may even be older than the house.  We've even found areas where it looks like they used material from the barn to build the house.  Kind of cool, except in some cases they did not fill in where they took with like material.  So was the case with our upper barn floor in the one corner.  Once we removed some of the plywood sheets, we found pieced together boards (some rotting) and less than par flooring.  So we set to work.  Removing, vacuuming and replacing boards.  We also bought sheets of nice pine flooring to replace the rotted ones.  What we ended up with was a lovely place to store our mowers, scooters and landscaping equipment.  Sweet!

After our recent camping trip, Mark and I decided we'd like to do more camping...but we'd like to go further away and stay longer.  While we both really enjoy tent camping, longer trips would be much more enjoyable if we had better accommodations.  Translation - A softer place to sleep.  So we embarked on our journey to find a camper.  Mark grew up camping...his family frequently took trips in their AirStream Bambi.  So when deciding on what type of trailer we wanted, there was really no question.  It had to be an AirStream. 

Mark thought he remembered seeing one in a neighbors yard...so one night he went jogging in that direction and came home with the biggest grin on his face.  He'd found the trailer and more importantly, discovered that the owners (Sandye and John) were interested in selling it.  We were thrilled.  But it only got better...the current owners (who by the way are so much like us it's scarey...I really think Sandye and I were separated at birth and the same goes for John and Mark) preferred to do a trade.  We would build a fence for them (and everyone who knows us, knows we have tons of experience with this)  http://www.meadowcreekfarm-md.com/2007projects.htm and they would pay us with the AirStream.  Jackpot! 

We went over and dug the trailer out...it had settled into the ground a little in it's resting place.  No problem...Mark jacked it up and with John's help, put air in the tires and TADA! she was road worthy.  Well road worthy enough to make the short trip (about 2 miles) from their home to our farm. 

You can see the part of the journey here... http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb166/teresaperrera/Videos/?action=view&current=Airstream.flv

Now that she's home...we are working diligently to restore her.  (You may wonder why I refer to the trailer as her...well it was easy...look at those curves!)  We spent most of this Sunday vacuuming and scrubbing and all our hard work made a huge difference!  We removed several mice nests...poor little buggers...they are likely wondering where that big silver condo went!  Luckily (for me) we did not see any living creatures.  Phew!  We christened her with Nag Champa incense and she joined the Meadow Creek Family.

So our restoration project begins...a few before and during pictures.  I'll be sure to update as the transformation takes place.  We plan to tackle the outside cleaning this week.  Yay!

Our porch was suffering dreadfully.  Years of poorly installed gutters (thanks previous owners!) had caused the support beams and boards to rot.  Mark and I knew this was a project that needed an expert.  Thank goodness we know such an expert.  I won't mention his name, but he is married to one of my dearest friends (who happens to be a virgo like me) and he is a scorpio...like Mark. 

Anyway, when I left for work yesterday, I knew I would be coming home to a porch that was not only repaired, but was repaired correctly.  Something that did not always happen at our farm before we bought it.  When I got home...what I was not prepared for, was what I saw.  I almost wept.  It was THAT amazing.  Not only had the repair been completed, but it was truly a work of art. 

Mark and I are already planning time to replace the remaining fascia and re-lay the porch planks.  I'm going hunting for branches this weekend to make our new porch spindles.  I can just feel our old farm house smiling.  We do love it so...

Before

After

You can see more images and the transformation here. 

http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb166/teresaperrera/Slideshows/?action=view&current=fafb0a32.pbw

Once Mark and I finished the kitchen, I was recharged and ready to tackle my bathroom.  I never really had a huge problem with my wallpaper there...it was girly and sort of Victorian looking...but it definitely was not my style...and I was really ready to get rid of the parts that were peeling off. 

So I used the same technique...that wonderful KILZ paint in white...and then I finished it off with my lavendar colors.  I really like it!