While Jerry was working here this last weekend, he finished painting the areas that still needed painted out there on the barn -- the upper ceiling on the outside porch, some newly replaced wood up at the side of the roof, etc. And it's all looking just fine now. Of course, down the road he's also going to need to paint all those heavy steel fences all around the barn as well. They're red now - they were red when we bought them - but they need to match the trim colors on the barn (and the house, for that matter!)
After we added those fences we put in those gates there inside the porch in that picture above. In that photo, you can see that gate back there at the end of the porch and there's one there in the middle as well. There are also several other gates around the other sides of the porch as well. So whenever we need to separate the horses for some reason, we can close each of those gates and they can then remain either inside their stall OR on their portion of the porch. That doesn't happen often, but of course each time we feed the horses, just that center gate in the picture above gets closed but NOT locked so that Arthur can't go out of his room (that door on the right) and go back there into Shadow's room (see her face sticking out of her room?) and eat HER food as well. Unlike Duke, she doesn't force him away from her food so we need to keep him out ourselves because he's not supposed to eat more than we give him so he doesn't get even fatter! But once Shadow is done eating, she just pushes that gate back against the wall and walks on down the porch to that hay container there in the photo below.
That concrete porch above tilts slightly over toward that red fence so when we bathe the horses there on that porch the water goes out past that fence and into a deep hole full of stones that we use to dump out those water buckets there in front of Arthur daily so we can clean up those cans each day. But the huge water falling onto the concrete during their baths at least doesn't end up in the dirt inside the paddock so they won't have terrible mud as a result (well, except when it pours down rain of course). Glad that cement leans outward!
And because that porch is SO large now, when it rains the horses always hang out on the porch. Before we installed that huge porch, when it stormed the rain blew into their doors so no matter where they were they were often going to get wet. Now -- nope. If we don't know that there's going to be a storm (in which case we close their paddock gates), they're generally out in the pasture right up until it begins to rain. When that happens now, though, the minute they hear the thunder they all three come RACING up onto their porch and they just stay there until it stops raining. As you know, we had those horrendous trees cut down or cut short back in the pasture so they wouldn't fall over onto the horses, but with that porch now they don't bother staying back there under the trees like they used to. Great! We're very happy about that.
Note that barn below. We are the only home with horses along the road in this area that's full of huge new houses, so we needed our barn to look like a little "guest house" instead of a barn. And it pretty much does! But once that fencing gets painted correctly it's going to look even better.
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| That "red" fence there in front is the same kind as we have all around the other sides of the barn porch. They ALL need painted that dark green/turquoise the same as those posts and raised flower beds. |
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| Since Jerry got that ceiling painted last weekend it matches the house now! (And that storage building there on the far right is also that color!) |
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| See - the porch fence and the barn doors and posts as well as that hay container out there in the round pen are already painted that nice color. So it'll be good to have the fences match as well. |
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| Duke is inside his stall eating hay and Arthur is eating the hay in that container out there on the porch. He prefers eating out there and not in HIS own room -- even as a mule, he likes to stay close to horses all the time! |
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| So there are those red fences (they're on the porch on the far side of the barn as well as at the back) that are going to get painted the same color as those doors and posts eventually. Note that the hay storage building back there on the far left above is also pale blue with that dark color door as well. And the building out in the back pasture is that color too. We LIKE that stuff obviously! |
After we added those fences we put in those gates there inside the porch in that picture above. In that photo, you can see that gate back there at the end of the porch and there's one there in the middle as well. There are also several other gates around the other sides of the porch as well. So whenever we need to separate the horses for some reason, we can close each of those gates and they can then remain either inside their stall OR on their portion of the porch. That doesn't happen often, but of course each time we feed the horses, just that center gate in the picture above gets closed but NOT locked so that Arthur can't go out of his room (that door on the right) and go back there into Shadow's room (see her face sticking out of her room?) and eat HER food as well. Unlike Duke, she doesn't force him away from her food so we need to keep him out ourselves because he's not supposed to eat more than we give him so he doesn't get even fatter! But once Shadow is done eating, she just pushes that gate back against the wall and walks on down the porch to that hay container there in the photo below.
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| See that porch? . . . that concrete floor is extended way out past the barn porch ceiling on this side -- probably about 15 additional feet over toward our house. |
And because that porch is SO large now, when it rains the horses always hang out on the porch. Before we installed that huge porch, when it stormed the rain blew into their doors so no matter where they were they were often going to get wet. Now -- nope. If we don't know that there's going to be a storm (in which case we close their paddock gates), they're generally out in the pasture right up until it begins to rain. When that happens now, though, the minute they hear the thunder they all three come RACING up onto their porch and they just stay there until it stops raining. As you know, we had those horrendous trees cut down or cut short back in the pasture so they wouldn't fall over onto the horses, but with that porch now they don't bother staying back there under the trees like they used to. Great! We're very happy about that.
Note that barn below. We are the only home with horses along the road in this area that's full of huge new houses, so we needed our barn to look like a little "guest house" instead of a barn. And it pretty much does! But once that fencing gets painted correctly it's going to look even better.
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There's the view of the barn from the front yard. Fortunately, it doesn't look TOO much like a barn from out there -- although folks DO often see horses hanging around there. . But I'm sure the neighbors are grateful for it looking like that anyway!
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Okay, now that the barn is improving, now we will be in the process of cleaning up Gigi's porch at the back of the actual house. I'll post THAT over the next week or so. That porch WAS great for years because I used to use it as an outdoor bedroom. But once we got Gigi as a puppy, we very shortly had to remove all the things in there that she could chew up or make muddy! . . . the bed, the chairs, the table, etc. And even with all those things removed, while Gigi grew up out there she had chewed up the window sills and got mud all over the floor and walls, etc. I guess I'll post the 'before' and 'after' photos once I get that place cleaned up. But it's a serious mess, so it's going to take a WHILE! Phew!
Wish I knew what all of YOU are working with at the moment. I'm sure everyone is, but at what? . . . I have no idea! Wish YOU had a post!
1 comment:
You have a lovely home :)
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