More Barn Finishing Progress

You'd think  I had thought, back in the Spring when we were working on putting up the tack room walls and I was staining boards for paneling the inside walls, that the tack room would be finished and fully functional by the end of the Summer.  I mean, we spent a half of a Saturday putting up paneling and got an entire wall done.  So with just three more walls and the ceiling to do, we'd need what? another couple of Saturdays?

Ha!  Not so.  (Well, maybe if we'd kept at it rather than taking 'breaks' for weeks at a time. . . DH's typical start-stop-start-stop method when he's not super interested in a project or he's feeling unsure how to do it. . .)

Here we are, fully five months from when that first wall got done, four months since the ceiling was installed, and my tack room is still under construction.  Yes, it is further along, and yes, it's about two steps from being totally done, but come on!  Something that really bugs me is disorganization, and with moving things here and there in the tack room (and/or empty stalls) during this construction phase so that there's room to work on the wall of the moment/week/month, the equipment I use on a daily basis for working and/or grooming horses has been anything but in a consistent neat spot where I can quickly retrieve it when needed.

Since I try to keep most grievances offline, let me refocus this post.  Here is what we have gotten done! *insert big smiley face here, LOL*

All four walls are paneled and trimmed!  Toad helped DH with putting up the paneling on the fourth wall (the one DH put off the longest because it also includes plumbing).  At 11, Toad is sorta interested in building/making stuff, so he tried to listen to DH's lesson in leveling the starter board at the bottom but really liked the snapping into place (and holding while DH nailed in) the tongue and groove boards above that one.  Together, they got half of the wall paneled in a little over an hour.

Before we put up the remainder of the paneling, DH stubbed in the hot and cold water faucets that are on the feed room side of that wall (only the cold is operational for now). And, as you can see, we had by then put up the plywood that is the 'finished wall' on the feed room side.

Then, while he finished installing the rest of the knotty pine in the tack room, I spray painted the plywood in the faucet area of the feed room with a sealant.  Four coats seems like it's well protected against any errant spraying of water when using the faucets/emptying the hose.

Once the wall was finished inside the tack room, there was another pause while we had a debate about trim.  Or, rather, I wanted a less easy for DH to make (slap together) style of trim and we took about a two week break. . . Until he decided my idea was feasible and not totally outrageously expensive to buy, and stopped at Home Depot to buy a few sticks of quarter round for me to stain. (First, he had to try making quarter round out of some scrap lumber we had, but didn't have the right router bit or jig or patience for it to work.  Then he decided to give in and buy some since I was standing adamant on not having 'square edged'--as I referred to it--trim.)

Last weekend, we installed the quarter round at the ceiling/wall joints and at the corners of all four walls inside the tack room.

He had wanted to go with some ripped two by fours or leftover paneling pieces and use those as trim in the joints.  I felt that would 'box in' the corners and ceiling visually and draw your eye to those areas, when all I wanted to do was 'hide' those rough edges where walls and ceiling met together and soften the joints of the room.  Hence the necessity of using quarter round.  

Once it was all in place, DH did admit it looked nice, even if it wasn't his first choice (the easier--slapping up square boards--way out).

With the interior of the tack room trimmed out (except around the door frame, which DH forgot to cut boards for when he was cutting other trim pieces for me to stain last weekend), we spent a quick half hour or so on Sunday after church and before the Lions game putting up the trim on the corner where the aisle wall boards meet the feed room plywood.  So now that looks nice too.

 

There are just a few things left for DH to do in the tack room.  

• finish the plumbing for the sink and the on-demand water heater,
• install the sink 
• install the heat exchanger he bought at auction last month for heating the tack room (the barn has PEX tubing running to it underground from the outdoor wood boiler; installed back in 2007 when we installed the wood boiler for heating our house and planning to someday have a tack room that needed to be kept above freezing), 
• hook up the above sink light and counter level electrical outlet on that last wall, 
• install the countertop (I bought at a garage sale this summer for $4!) and cabinet above it (I bought at Habitat Restore in early spring for $40),
• install the door trim on both the tack room side and the aisle sides of the door.

Really all that stuff is 5-30 minute tasks and could be knocked out in one afternoon with time to spare.  Not like it takes a month of Saturdays committed to it. (Fingers crossed it won't be a month of Saturdays from now. . .)

Once a few of those are done--like the heat exchanger, sink and counter, I can get an accurate idea of how much space into the room those things take up and then I will be ready to put up the wall mounted saddle racks and bridle brackets (I don't want to put them up, have them be too crowded, especially near the heat source, and have to move them, thus leaving holes in my beautiful paneling where they had been screwed into place).  

I'm getting really anxious to move everything in and get stuff put where it will 'live' in an organized and easily used manner.  Plus, with all the extras out of the empty stalls (tack, tools, totes of winter blankets in the off season), I can start advertising for another boarder or two and get my barn fully occupied at last.

Glad I Had a Spare

A week or so ago I was saddling the Poetess in preparation to ride her and I made a crucial observation.

I'm guessing that most people do not know what the black ring thing in the picture above is.  I'm fairly certain a whole lot of horse people won't even know.  I know (obviously, since it's pictured in my hand and I'm writing about it).  And I'm glad I always try to keep a spare on hand.  They don't need to be replaced often, but when they do, it's imperative to have a replacement on hand.  Because you can't go without it.

So, what is it?

Well, it's a small (traditionally) rubber ring, although I'm fairly sure there are plastic ones also these days.  It's an integral part of a safety stirrup iron known as a peacock stirrup.  In short, it's a rubber-band like ring that attaches to the outside of a particular style of stirrup that, in an emergency such as falling off and getting your foot stuck in the stirrup, will release and open up the stirrup so that your foot can come out and you don't get dragged and/or stepped on by your horse.

These are the type of stirrups I use on my dressage saddle when I have a horse that's either fairly hot/spooky or early in it's training.  Just in case I have any unplanned dismounts (aka getting thrown off).  That way I at least won't be further damaged by getting my boot stuck in the stirrup iron.

When tacking up the Poetess, I noticed that the ring on my right stirrup was pretty shredded and barely holding together.  I'm glad I noticed before I got on.  Because the state of this ring was a huge safety hazard.

Since the stirrup is open, and therefore my foot easily able to fall out of the stirrup, when this ring is either unhooked or otherwise no longer attached at the top and bottom of the stirrup--so, broken--I want this ring to be connected when I'm riding.  The entire time I'm in the saddle, this needs to be attached.  I, for instance, don't want to be cantering her around and have it give out and therefore my right foot falls out of the stirrup (and I'm suddenly off balance and possibly hitting the ground if I don't regain my balance fast enough).  Or even trotting her and have her spook at a deer jumping out of the cornfield (it's happened at least once this Fall) causing her to swiftly turn 90 or 180 degrees, which would definitely briefly put pressure on the outside of the stirrup and potentially snap the thread that this ring was still connected by.

Had I not had a spare on hand, I probably, in the name of not potentially dying or maiming myself, would have not ridden her that day or the following number of days it took to purchase--and wait for it to be shipped to me--a new pair of safety rings.

Because I did have a spare, I quickly changed it out, and had a spectacularly good ride.  It just so happened to be a day when something we've been working on for a while clicked and we moved a step further along my training plan for her.

 Interesting tidbit I just learned while writing this post and googling peacock stirrup: Apparently these are now considered 'dangerous' and are banned in competitions.  Because the little hook that the rubber ring attaches to can sometimes in a fall, snag on your breeches/belt/belt loops and catch you/trap you.  Oh the irony (Gah!  Pun not intended!) of a long-used safety iron now (that other styles are manufactured) being too dangerous to use.  I've had no issues with mine the last 25+ years, I think I'll keep using them, thank you.  (But I may want to stock up on replacement rings just in case they become harder to find).

Random Things on a Friday

 Happy Friday!  I hope where ever you are, the weather is great and life is not too overwhelming at the moment.

Here's a few things from my week I thought I would share for a Friday wrap up kind of post.

1. This is sort of a PSA.  If you use a paper towel roll holder that holds the roll vertical like I do, don't forget to check it and clean the base now and then.  Honestly, I'm not sure how long it's been since I did this; mainly because I'm not sure how many years ago I first bought and started using this roll holder (prior to that the roll just stood on the counter and would randomly get knocked over/blown over in a stiff breeze now and then).  So, let's say, for the sake of easy numbers, I've had this thing for five years.  It never occurred to me that over time, maybe some little paper towel debris (from tearing off those towels) would build up on/under the base of the holder and that I should probably regularly give it a wipe down.  Maybe when I change the roll (we don't go through paper towels very fast, like several months for one roll) would be a good time to do that.  Definitely don't go for five years, because then it will look like this which is kind of gross and unhygienic-looking.

Definitely wipe it off with a damp cloth now and then, so it will be nonfuzzy and look much better, like this

2.  Another PSA kinda thing.  If you're making banana cream pie and your recipe calls for you to put a layer of sliced bananas onto the crust before pouring in the filling but you forget to do that, you can put those banana slices right on top of the filling after it's poured in (and you cuss yourself out because you realize you forgot to do the bananas first).  Just know that you have to eat the whole pie pretty quick because those banana slices will brown after a day or two and start looking rather unappealing.  I wanted to share this info with you just in case you ever mess up your pie by forgetting to put the slices on top of the crust and then pour in the pudding filling.  All will not be lost, just toss the slices on top and eat pie with each meal for the next day or so.  😁

3.  The Northern Lights were out, sort of, a couple of nights this week.  No big light pillars, more like an opaque-ish pale green light that swirled horizontally a bit.

4. I'm taking part in an October walking club over at optimisticmusings.com so have been taking short walks for the last few days.  Just around this little place here, so far, and challenging myself to take at least one picture on every walk.  Here's Wednesday, Thursday, and today's pictures:

5. Last Saturday was the Fall Book Swap that my friend organizes and puts on.  I think I spent about an hour and a half browsing all the offerings, took in 14 books from home and came out with a bit more than that.

Most are authors I haven't read before and thought I would take a chance on, based on the blurb on the back (or inside cover) of the book.  What do I have to lose, other than a little reading time, if I don't like them?  Didn't cost me anything.  And if I find some new favorite authors in the process, all the better! 

Welcome To October; My Grandma Would Have a Fit . . .

 The weather at this little place here is so beautiful, it doesn't feel like October.  Well, maybe like a really good weather day in October.  Right now the temperature is in the low 70s, the sky is bright blue, and there's a warm breeze.  The sun is strong and hot when you're in it.  And that's why I'm running around, hanging laundry on the line in my bare feet.

Which, were she still alive to see me doing this, would absolutely give my maternal grandmother a fit.  Growing up, it seemed that a lot of things I did gave her a fit. . .  (Sorry Grandma, now that I'm a grandma too I can kind of see where you were coming from.)  But this particular thing, this being without shoes and socks in October would give her cause to predict a coming sickness for me.

Because, and I quote "When the leaves come, and the leaves go, you don't go bare foot."  Meaning, in the warm early Spring days, when the leaves are beginning to unfurl their buds, no matter how hot the sun, you need shoes on your feet.  And the same goes for in the Fall, when the leaves are dropping from the trees and covering the ground.

According to Grandma, I should be wearing shoes right now.  But I'm not. Rebel that I am, I'm choosing to live dangerously and walk barefooted through the fallen leaves.  

Hope I don't end up coming down with that cold Faline had last week that kept her home from school--and therefore was at my house since she also couldn't go to a sitter--on Friday. . .