Using Whatcha Got

 What time is it when 2 - one ton horses play in a rickety cow barn not built for them?

 

Time to put it back together until we can take it apart and remove it so that no horse gets hurt.

the following is a blog posting I wrote in 2009 about the initial building of said "cow barn". Many things have changed since then but the homestead advice remains the same - 

Use Whatcha Got. And so we did.

 I Knew We Saved Those Garage Doors For A Reason!

OK I’ll admit it. We’re scroungers. We collect stuff. We can’t drive by a trash pile without scanning it for treasures – and my husband has an eagle’s eye! Our home is mostly furnished with items we’ve either gotten from freecycle, garage sales or curbside. It’s amazing the things people throw away! My husband is a home re modeler, so oftentimes his customers will offer him furnishings that they are replacing – once it was an entire kitchen cabinet remodel complete with dishwasher, stove and microwave! You should see it, it’s gorgeous! I’ll tell you the story some time!
  Anyway, as a builder, my husband keeps “miscellaneous building components” with the promise that  ”He’ll use them some day.” I figure that if he allows me my fetishes, I can do the same for his. Thankfully, we have 40 acres on which to stash these so-called “treasures”.
About 4 or 5 years ago we replaced our garage doors, and they made their way to the farm, where they’ve sat, out in the weather, ever since.

 And two years ago, after rebuilding hurricane damaged fences, an entire trailer-load of 6 ft privacy fence made it’s way from Houston to our farm in Florida.

Well, low and behold, this weekend we decided to section off part of our pasture exclusively for our cow. She’s been living quite happily with our goats, but she’s due to calve in Feb. and then she’ll need to be milked, so she needs a little privacy.  Don’t you know, true to his word, my wonderful husband built Lily a cowshed and he used the garage doors and fence panels! And it’s not so bad. Believe me, I know white trash when I see it. I like to think of this as a politically correct  cowshed – “being green” and using what we have. Lord knows, we’re not financially wealthy, but we are BLESSED!  My husband can fix anything, build anything, reuse anything, and for that I am so thankful! Even if I do have to overlook garage doors leaning against a tree for four years!

 You know, I think I’d like a bigger goat shed in our breeding pen…and I’m sure, just last week, I saw our neighbors’ garage doors out for the trash.

 End of story.... Or was it?




 And You Thought I Was Kidding!