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April 09, 2006

Progress

We're back home after two days in Chestertown. The dog is pleased to be back in her space after having spent several nights consigned to her cage, and we are happy to be back in our own beds again. Tonight we celebrated Christian's birthday with Baja Fresh and bowling. Dahna, Robbi, and I formed one team and Christian, Emily, and Sarah the other. It was lawyers v. non-lawyers and I am happy to say that the non-lawyers edged the esquires in the first game and creamed them in the second. I think Christian had a good birthday anyway.

As for things barn-related, we made progress on several fronts this weekend. Bob and I finished pugging most of the clay. There are still 10 or so bags of a reddish clay that Seiko uses very occasionally and about 20 of the brown clay mixed with sand that she uses for sculptural pieces that require more structure. Robbi kept up the good work upstairs while we pugged, clearing out the formerly impassable central space, opening up an artery for the light to pour in. We got a glimpse of how nice the space will look when it's finally clear of debris. Bob and I loaded much of the large furniture into the van to take to the auction at Crumpton this coming week: a fairly nice roll top desk, a few old dressers, a very dusty upholstered chair, a child's desk, an decrepit foosball table. I carried a bunch of old mattresses and bed components down and Bob will haul them to the dump this week. There are one or two more loads to go to auction or the dump, but we're getting to the point at which much of what remains must be saved and artfully relocated. Piles of lumber, buckets of old piping and PVC, bags for Florabana, rolls of paper, flashing, old doors, and many other usable components.

We found a long piece of framed glass with an etched design that Bob had had made for the Imperial Hotel when they owned it. We'd like to find a way to use it in the new construction. We also dug from the pile the windows that we hope to install between our two offices once they are built.

We are coming to peace with the thought that we might need to resort to installing a drop ceiling as a means of economically finishing our space. Not only would it be less expensive and far less difficult to install than sheetrock, but we would also have much less space to heat and cool. Economically speaking, the drop ceiling option might leave us the opportunity to insulate the walls and create a space that is usable year round instead of only in the temperate months. Also, we could install much more insulation above the drop ceiling than we could between the roof and the sheetrock, furthering our savings on heating and cooling. We would lose much of what is barn-like about the space by covering the beams and the lofted space, but we might need to make that sacrifice for the sake of usability and comfort. When we make our millions we'll be able to tear out the drop ceiling and do things right. For now, however, we'll be able to have a very nice space in which to execute these plans of ours.

Next weekend is Easter and a three-day weekend. We should be able to get a lot done.

I'm sure Robbi will post pictures of the progress. One still has to look closely to see what has changed. At a glance, the jumble remains. But the jumble is much diminished. And we are getting much closer to carving out our new home.

Posted by bogenamp at April 9, 2006 09:37 PM