"Somewhere...somewhere in time's own space, there must be some sweet pastured place, where creeks sing on and tall trees grow, a place where forgotten horses can go." - Author Unknown
In addition to getting our 2008/2009 winter hay supply in, we are also urgently trying to raise the funds to build a hay barn. As we do every year, (with the help of some very special monthly contributors) Jim and I will pay for the hay out of our own pocket, which runs approximately $12,000 to $20,000, depending on hay prices. And every year we discuss the dream of building a hay barn, but some other more pressing need for the horses always comes up and the new barn remains a financial impossibility.
This hay barn will actually save the sanctuary money. Right now we don’t have the room to store the amount of hay we need for the entire winter (3000 bales). Consequently, we can only buy several hundred bales at a time. We have to store these couple hundred bales in the stalls of our existing barn, which in turn renders it useless to use for the horses on the days the farrier or vet is coming. Not only will building a hay barn give us back our stalls, but it will allow us to negotiate a much better price on hay if we could buy it all at once.
Our barn, currently used as hay storage.
Jim and our contractor, Charley Grosse
...looking over the building site & plans.
The lumber arrives
...and the work begins!
...delivering the trusses
The trusses are up!
Jim working on the side walls.
We've been at a bit of a standstill, but the roof is finally complete!
Hopefully we'll be back on the road to completion soon.
Our nephew Joshua, visiting from Oregon....
lends a helping hand.
November 2008
Working on the side walls...
Almost finished!
December 2008
It's finished...! And it's absolutely beautiful! I'm so grateful everytime I look up the hill (who would think that a gal could get so giddy over an agricultural building).
Thank you to everyone who made this dream a reality!
Friend and neighbor, Russell Beck helping us move hay into the new barn.
