Yeah, the weather hasn't been nearly warm enough lately to heat the pool. I was outside all day yesterday chipping up a giagantic bush I should have cut down about 5 years ago. I would have enjoyed a pool of anything but ice water after that!

Yep, I like making things grow. I am an heirloom plant fan so that is what I concentrated mostly on. I was part of the Hamilton County Mastergardeners until it got to be too much of a hassle since I no longer worked in Indy. I helped design and implement the gardens outside the Westfield town hall and was on the design group for the Hare House in Noblesville.
I have lots of interest and dabble in many of them.

The water was warmer Sunday. The solar cover does make a big difference.

Any new news on the barn?

Yeah, the side is done except for pegs. I will start the other side in the next evening or so. After getting the other side done then the rest will come together rather quickly. The rafters will be pretty easy to do. I will probably get in to see Brandon tomorrow and see what kind of tiny dowels he has.

OKOKOK, 2 more days. Lets see.

Pool is up to 75. Spent this afternoon in the pool.
Note to self, buy nose plug.

Got lots more work done last night but nothing new to show pictures of. I got most of the second side done but it is a mirror image of what I have already done. I did get all the rest of the beams cut. Hopefully over the next couple of days I will finish off the side and get a good portion of the middle done by the time the weekend is over.

I have been getting some more work done on this and there is finally something different to take pictures of. The middle beams aren't glued in yet. Man are they a pain in the butt to get set! I had everything cut for the end beams and realized that since I am going to add a door in the maw that I can't build it the way I built the other center beams. I will have to modify it up some. After I get the last end built I will glue it all together and add the last of the bracing. Then it is on to cutting stripwood. Lots and lots of strip wood. Oh, and rafters too...
I have decided that in order for this barn to have survived as well as it has that it would have had some reasonable maintenance over the years. This farmer knows what he has so it will be well cared for now too. I think I am going to put a raised seam roof on it and it will have a reasonable paint job. Like many well cared for barn in the area that have been in the family for a long period, it will bear the family name and the date the barn was built. CIOR doesn't know it yet but I am moving the family to his layout. To "sign" the work, so to speak, it will be the Banks Family barn and we'll fudge the date a bit and apply an 1888 date to it. While the paint won't be last week fresh, it won't be very old either. I haven't decided how to do the mail pouch ad yet. I don't know if it is going to be faded out or relatively newer. Any thoughts from anyone on it?

Sorry the one picture is a bit blurry. I think you can still get the idea of the piece though.

That'a a masterpiece in the making.

How are you hollowing out the timbers? (Mortise)

Philip

That part was actually surprising easy. Once I know where to make the mortise, I outline the cut with the knife. I then use the blue file in the picture that has a 1/16 drill bit instead of a file in it. I find that the easiest way to get them is to lay the bit on the timber at about 30 degrees from the timber and then drill the length of the mortise. It grabs on and removes the material quite nicely. If I drill staight down then I have a lot of cleaning out in the hold that has to be done. Once I have drilled in one direction then I turn it 180 and drill the other direction to clean the area up missed by the 30 degree incline. I just cut all the tennons a bit thick at 1/16th of an inch.

Oh yeah...I forgot to mention...the height of the barn will be more than what is seen here. The foundation is going to be stacked stone and will be 2 or 3 foot tall. The internal beam will sit on cement walls, a modifaction done later due to the tendency for beams to rot at the bottom.
The bay on the left of the door will be some storage and a corn crib. It will pretty well be closed off so there won't be much need for a lot of detail. The middle will hold an old tractor and the bay on the right side will have a cattle and a horse pen.
CIOR's layout is set in the modern so I will be getting a 40's era john Deere and putting it in the center bay with a tarp over part of it. I have to figure out how to make HO scale ears of corn for the crib....

Ok, once again here is how I do most of my signs.

Use very thin typing paper. In your paint program fade the sign as you wish, you can even weather it if you want. Do it several different ways and then print, then pick the one that looks best to you.

Apply with elmers glue and with your finger tip and a paper towel press on the sign a get most of the glue that may ooze out. Let it almost dry and then lay another peice of paper over it and burnish it if it is on brick. On a wood wall like shown here when almost dry I use my exato knife an do down eash board, if some edges don't lay in the cracks you can use water/glue mixture and work it in.

When all is dry you can use chalks to weather more if you wish. Then Dull Coat.

That's it

Thanks for posting that because it will save me having to look it up. It is indeed the process I am going to be using. I am not sure how much to fade it out though. I have seen a couple of them repainted for nostalgia purposes, I suppose, but I also like the really faded variety too.

A quick bit of research and I found that folks were painting these ads for the company until 1992. That is perfect as it would certainly have some fading but would be THAT bad either....

Do you need some Mail Pouch Signs?

If you have some that would be great!

Look through HERE
first and see if there are any you like. (Bunch)