We’re off to see Lizzy next weekend after inviting ourselves when in Canterbury. She has an interesting domestic situation, living with her husband’s mother and his disabled sibling, so it’ll be good to get a mental picture of her life to look at while conversing. It turned out that I have a long-lost cousin, from my mam’s stock, living only a few miles from Lizzy, so we’re having a North-Eastern weekend. Neither have spare rooms but we’ve borrowed another cousin’s camper-van and we’ll drive up into the Dales to wake up to a view. Probably less comfortable than the proffered air beds but we’ll always choose the adventurous option. That habit has got us into some scrapes!
Monica has been siphoning her country wines off their lees today. A new hobby that emerged with the glut of fruit in the local hedgerows and fields this autumn. I’m very pleased that she has taken to this because the gardens I’m planting have the potential to feed dozens and we’ll need a way to use up the bounty. There will be lots of jam in future Christmas parcels!
I’m working on three fronts: settling down the gardens for the winter; getting my wood workshop up and running; and creating 3d models on my computer so that we can visualise the barn conversion. Attached is an x-ray view of what we’re starting with. You can see the arched, barn doors with the threshing floor between and the stables with the hayloft above. Then there’s the latest model including a four-bedroom bunkhouse, a three bedroom luxury apartment, a performance space and a completely new barn, behind, to swallow all the rubbish I have to shift to get at the big barn. It’s complex so don’t worry if you can’t get any of that from the screen shot. That model was created to try out everything for size; now I have to make the models that will allow working plans to be taken off. When they’re at a reasonable stage, I’ll create an animated walkthrough that may give you a better idea.
Of course, if one or both of us is incapacitated by e.g. dropping an oak beam on our foot, the whole affair will grind to a halt. But then, it’s the adventure we’re after. If we pull this off, though, I really look forward to inviting great hoardes of family and friends to stay in Warland Mickle Barn.