Thinking about the Barn

On the schedule for this winter is to clear cut the back 10 acres of Tree Ring and thin the front 13.  The clear cut will extend from our neighbor's 40 acre pasture to the clearing where the shelter is.
 

Once the clear is complete, we will begin the site plan for a barn and cabin.  We will build the barn first.

The barn we would like to build is reminiscent of Majorie Kinnan Rawlings' barn.  One of my favorite books is Rawlings' Cross Creek which tells the story of her move to Florida in the 20s and what life was like back then.  Her homestead is now a Florida State Park and we went to see it a few years ago.  We both fell in love with her barn.  Though it was reconstructed in the 90s due to the original barn burning down, we loved the look and design.  

Since we really aren't farmers, it's all about the look right?

Here is a photo of the barn taken in 1965:

Here is a photo of the reconstructed barn from the Florida State Parks web site:

We switched the sides and our barn will be smaller:

The door will open to a workshop that will have a bathroom at the back.  

Since Retro Man will be constructing it by himself, he wanted to build a model first to plan how all of the pieces will go together:

The model is constructed 1 inch = 12 inches, or 1:12 scale.  We purchased a doll that is also 1:12 so we could understand the scale better.

We call him Little Man.

Unfortunately I gave away City Girl's Bulldozer, which might have given us an idea about how much space a tractor would take up, so now I'm on the lookout for a 1:12 scale tractor.

I would like to have the site plan complete and water/electric put in by the time summer sets in.  That way, we can come to Tree Ring in the summer and be able to shower if we want and even use the air conditioner in the popup.  We would build the barn next winter.

Speaking of the popup, even Retro Man is admitting it is getting a little long in the tooth.  We think it is nearly 40 years old.  Once the barn is in, we may replace it with something a little more substantial for a few years while we plan the cabin construction.