1/2 century, bicentennial farm, millennial kingdom, eternal living...

WOW! What a landmark in time for my life this year. This is the BIG 50 for me. And I am SOOO glad.

For years I have always enjoyed the idea of getting older. I welcomed the gray, the pains, and the seasoned attitude about life. I am not sure why, but I have always liked the idea of becoming an older man. And now the time is here. I can actually say that I am an "old" man.  And I like it! As a result, some of my students at school call me grandpa now, and I am growing to like the endearing term.

Meanwhile....back on the farm. My newest work has been to restore the barn doors that were taken out years ago for the beef operation that was in operation here. A new neighbor friend needed a barn taken down, so I am helping by salvaging the doors and adding them to my barn. I am trying to keep the look of the barn the age that it is by not adding new material to it. This next spring I will be cutting them apart, and adding hardware to make them Dutch Doors.  YEAH!

 This is the back side of the machine barn that I was able to build a door for as well. I just attached it with a few screws for now, since it is so cold out, and come spring, will attach it to the track.

 And in the weigh station I created another needed door to to keep some of the wind out of the barn. Last summer I had the scale area filled with dirt, and now use this area to park the big van.

 And the inventing is still in swing. Since I freeze practically everything, I came up with this structure that would hold a ziplock bag without using my hands. I am able to set the bag on it, pour what I need into it from a pot, a pan, or the sink, and it holds itself up. The day after I made one I took it to school and sold EIGHT of them to teacher friends. My next stop.....SHARK TANK! :)

 And a few weeks ago I created Scarlet, another one of the sassy pigs I have been working on at school. She is a librarian fit with hipster glasses and a nose stud. The next one, Fong, is already started, and I am finishing her hair when I return from break.

 Phone photo from my back porch of the pond a few weeks ago. Did I mention that I love living here on the farm?