All summer long, my future husband, his mom and dad, his grandparents and my parents worked tirelessly to get us to move in before our wedding date, which was the first week in October of 2012. Our first night together in our house was Christmas Eve, we slept with a heated blanket on the bed, warmed our hot cocoa in the microwave and exchanged presents around our tree. It was cold, but perfect.
We didn’t officially move in until March of 2013. Once we moved in, we got settled and in no time, my husband was at it again, this time working on the early 1800’s barn that towered over the hillside. Luckily, he gained some practice with the tool shed that was also on the property.
Too often, when he asked for help from local contractors, they would look at the barn and just say, “it is unfixable.” or “you know, you could tear down the barn and sell the beams instead. Then you can put in a Morten building.” No. We did not buy this property just to rip apart this magnificent barn to put up a less appealing metal building. With the help of my late grandfather who was a mason, my husband laid down new sills, built a wall where the barn was crumbling, jacked up the floors, remade a mortise and tendon wall, redid the siding, and put on a new metal roof, plus painted it the iconic red. He showed them.
My husband amazes me with his perseverance, will, and stubbornness.