If you've seen the film 'Witness' then you'll know what I mean by the title of this post! Firstly, no, that isn't our house after the recent wind and rainstorms, it's The Cider Barn which has been neglected for decades and is Mike's project for the warmer - and drier - days throughout Summer. (Note the positive use of the words warmer and drier, we WILL have a good Summer this year, won't we..?)
Of course, if we had all the 'menfolk' from the village helping us to 'raise the barn' then it would be re-built in no time; maybe I should start making sandwiches and lemonade and set up the trestle tables... We had considered taking the barn down and putting something else up in its place but then we had a visit from a charming couple in their late 90s. The husband lived in our house in the 1930s and told us so many interesting stories, including how this was called the Cider Barn and in its heyday, gallons of cider were produced in this small barn.
We knew then that we had to rescue it. Mike has stripped the pan tiles from the roof and will be relaying them once he has replaced most of the smaller wood batons - fortunately the oak timbers are good and solid. There will be some re-building of the timber clad side and front, and a new window. Then there's the floor to dig out and re-lay. We found some painted cobbles in the soil but we will need to lay a more practical floor as we intend to use the barn when it's finished.
Oh look, here comes someone to lend a hand...
Perhaps not, don't think he's going to be helping today, especially when there's so much for a cat to explore...
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