There's something about a new barn that has me, well, indecisive. Should I put the feed bucket here, or there? Should a rack get hung here, or on the other side of the building? Should the empty space get filled by goats, or donkeys?
And then there are the bigger issues, like getting the hay out of the loft. Not so much indecision as poor decision.
Let me just say it...I'm terrified of heights, and those things that lead to heights, like ladders, and those things that come from heights, like balconies. I get dizzy. I hyperventilate. I'm paralyzed.
Nice of me to design a barn with no way to get the hay down unless I climb an exceedingly tall ladder (ceilings in the barn are 12 feet high). When we occupied the barn this past April, this didn't matter. I had hay in the old adjacent corn crib, and hay in half the garage. But eventually, we had to start going up to the loft.
Er, not "we", or that is, not me. My husband, or my border, or my husband and my daughter, all very nicely put their brave pants on, climbed up, threw down. But, if I forgot to ask, and didn't keep on top of things, I'd panic about running out. When it's cold, I feed way more hay, so it was tough to get on a schedule.
My friend J. and I tried to figure out a solution...cut a hole here, no, what about a pull down ladder there? No, not enough room. A circular staircase? Great idea, but way way way too short to work. Then I asked my contractor, who first suggested therapy for my problem (LOL), then suggested a dormer in the rear with an outdoor staircase (he must think I'm made of money).
At the end of the day, though, he did come to the rescue. A hole was cut between the attached old corn crib's second floor, and the new barn's hay loft. I now walk up the sturdy and not steep flight of stairs in the old "barn," hop up into the new hole, and wow, I'm in the hay. I mean really in the hay. I can count it, throw it, and have access to it any time I want.
With that problem solved, I'm more relaxed, but still endlessly rearranging...should I move the chickens again to somewhere more convenient with more access to electricity? Don't I have a better place to store muck buckets?
And what about all that junk?
I guess the barn is just an extension of my house. Scary thought!
Yikes - a hay loft and you afraid of heights. You'd have passed out if you saw me gathering my hay bales from the farmer's barn, I think. No ladder, just had to climb to the top of the hay using odd footholds here and there amongst the bales. And make sure I didn't toss down the wrong bale. Glad you got your issue resolved so well.
Posted by: Chris | February 08, 2007 at 02:57 PM
I'm not afraid of heights, just afraid of descending them too rapidly!
Posted by: Rebecca (eco felter in rural Ireland) | February 10, 2007 at 05:48 PM