Fruit...

I remember growing up enjoying the many different fruits that my grandparents grew.   Today we go to the store and pick our fruit from shelves...paying quite a bit to enjoy the sweetness of berries, grapes, apples and such. But... as I was growing up, when we wanted a fruit to eat we would go into the backyard to pick fresh grapes, figs, cherries, pears, raspberries, currants, apricots and gooseberries. These fond memories not only included the fun of picking and eating these fruits...they also include the great care my grandparents gave these fruit plants, bushes and trees to ensure they were healthy plants and produced wonderful harvest of fruits!   At the time of growing up with these fruit trees, I think I took it for granted that these wonderful fruits would always be part of my backyard.  But as years past my parents yard and then my own yard changed and the fruit trees disappeared.  But I still remember...  all the wonderful fruits right in my own backyard as I was growing up.  I am thankful for this childhood experience.   "When eating fruit, think of the person who planted the tree." Author unknown.   

So what do you build with Barn Wood?

Will had several projects that he completed for a small business. Here are some of his projects...

Barn wood.....

A new adventure took my son Will and me searching for barn wood. A request had been made to craft   several boxes from repurposed wood. So where do you go to get barn wood?  Why to the countryside.  As my husband and I drove through the country we observed several farms with old broken down barns.   You wood think that you could just go up to a barn and pick a few pieces of old wood....with owner's permission.   Not so easy....come to find out farmers have a lot of attachment to their old barns.   As if they are part of their family....with many important memories. So after a few failures of talking directly with the land owners...and a gentle remember from a state policeman...I decided to take a different approach.   I advertised that I was looking for barn wood.   Who would of thought that barn wood would be so expensive....many wanted $5 a foot.   It almost seemed hopeless until a response came from a person named Jason.   He said he was going to be taking a barn down close by and he would be willing to help us get some wood.  So in the dead of winter Will and I drove  to met meet Jason.....sure enough there sat a very large barn...very old and half fallen down.  Will walked around with Jason and picked out the wood he would like.  Took a couple of months for the barn to come down.....piece by piece.   So one day....the call came and off we went with a circular saw to cut barn wood for some projects.  Here are some pictures of our adventure of  "barn wood".