Grounds Work

Well the carpenters decided to take the week off and attend to their real jobs so I spent some time cleaning up around the job site.  I had only a crying newborn and a frazzled wife to worry about so plenty of time to make some good headway.    The first order of business was the elimination of two ground hogs that had taken up residence too close to the house-then I did cleanup work so we could have a nice grassy area around the shed. 

Pic of burning brush pile.

Pic of site after thorough raking, trimming, seed, and straw.  Now just waiting for rain!

Tree Work Video

Here's a quick video of some recent progress at the Blacksmith Shed.

BigPerm's first blog post

Another productive weekend on the shed.  We put several dump truck loads of sand and gravel on the driveway and made good headway on the roof painting.  I hope to have the lot seeded this week.   

Hudson's Video

In addition to working on this project, our families are also growing and building the next generation to enjoy the farm for decades to come. We were blessed to welcome our newest member, Hudson Byrd Holloway, February 26th 2012. We are sure that he, like his father and namesake, will grow to love and cherish this piece of land. Andy, loving uncle, made this video for his new nephew so that Hudson would be caught up to speed on the project so far. It is suitable to catch you all up to speed as well, so enjoy!

The Introduction to Our Journey

Blacksmith Shed 2012

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I have spent a lot of time over the past few weeks missing my husband and wondering what was so enticing with this project. After a lot of frustration and sadness, I figured the best way to get Andy back was to embrace the madness. So here I am...


I am sure Andy will fill us in on the project to date with absurd amounts of pictures, videos and words of beauty. I, on the other hand, will interject randomly to remind those interested of the real progress and overviews from an on-lookers point of view. I figure the best way to help him fulfill the dream of the restoration is to support him in the background.


So, how did we get here?


What does this project mean?


To a passerby, it appears to be run down shed by a field on an old farm, neglected by man and worn by time and weather.


 To Andy, it appears to be symbolic of some man code.  A place to come together to toast and converse post hunt is almost a sacred thing. A timeless place of pure male bonding. A reprieve from the stress of the "real world" and an outlet away from wife/baby/house/career duties.


To me, the project means a family bond and progress.


Forge: To form, make by concentrated effort
            To progress steadily


The blacksmith shed is definitely being formed (or re-formed) by a concentrated effort and is progressing steadily towards greatness. Some may say that the project is years from being complete. Some may also say that this blog is too late. Maybe the progress is already complete. Maybe the bond has surely been made and the goals clearly achieved just by the project existing. One cannot visit the project and view all the men working hard without realizing that we are viewing something special.

The purpose and goals of this project are different for each player, but regardless the story should be interesting. So here we go....Let's forge on together and follow along.