Go to this site and listen to my Dad....it is priceless!!!!

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Can it get any more beautiful? There are Christmas lights on the deck besides the solar lights on the posts and rope lighting outlining the barn......it must be beautiful at night. I put this picture on a coffee mug so I could look at it every morning. This picture is also my wallpaper on my phone and computer.

Last night Andrew Propp and Georgia Moodie, two journalism students from Portland, had a gallery opening for their work featuring the life of my dad, Francis Fenton. As you can see in the background there were many photos of my dad around the apple farm. The showing is located at SALT in Portland, Maine.

I talked to Mike yesterday and he is working on the inside of the barn. He is finishing up the loft and cedar closet. As soon as I get a picture I will post it. I want to jump a plane and fly right back, but the weather and the holidays are keeping me in California. Have a happy holiday!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well the barn isn't finished, but as you can see it looks beautiful. I love the red siding......and the deck is the correct size. Someone said "better to build it big"....and they were right. The steps down into the orchard are 10 feet wide. I love them! After this picture was taken the railings were installed. Each post has a solar light and dad says it will give just enough light for the deer to read by. I can't wait to see it, but I will have to. I won't be back in Maine until April. Have a happy holiday!

Someone once said, "little wood, little fire. Big wood, big fire" He was right! I loved building a fire every day in my Round Oak stove.

his door goes into the bathroom. It use to be the door that you entered when the "L" was connecting the house to the barn. If you're not from Maine you probably didn't realize that most people had an "L" on their house so they didn't have to go outside to feed the animals in the barn.....oh and by the way that is where the out house was located. The "L" was a very fragrant place. Anyway when my dad took down the "L" (because my mother wasn't having that) he saved the old door. The glass is still in good condition. I plan on putting up a curtain just in case you were wondering.

Our road was full of pot holes and my dad was tired of waiting for the town to scrape it....so he got out his own scraper and as Ken drove the tractor my dad operated the scraper. He was in "hog heaven" don't cha know.

I was very fortunate to return to Maine this month to view the progress on the barn. Wow! What a difference! The cedar shingles are completed as well as the bookcase. In the photo you can see the "stair ladder" to the sleeping loft.

Mike and Ken built the deck in 2 days!!! It is made of cedar planks and is beautiful. I wasn't able to see the railings that will go around the deck, they won't arrive for several weeks, but Mike says I will like them. Each post (there are 15) will have a solar light in the top. It should be very beautiful at night. I can't tell you how happy the barn makes me feel. Many days and a few cold nights I would just sit in the barn and think, plan and dream of our "Grand Opening".

See that crazy bench I am sitting on? Well it is all from wood that I didn't want to throw away...each piece has a story and I just love it, although you can't sit too close to the stove.

The kitchen counter is one LARGE plank......Dad wanted to keep the large planks and this was a perfect place for it.

On Veterans Day dad and I attended a ceremony to honor veterans. It was organized by Senator Tom Sauviello. My dad wore his uniform and looked great.

Yea!!!!!! I finally got this picture uploaded!!!!! The Sandy River Grange is closing so they offered this wonderful Round Oak Wood Stove to me to use in the barn. She is about 9 feet tall and I am going to have her decorative trim re-nickeled. I am so happy to give this stove a home. She will continue to warm Mercer residents. The stove has stood in the Sandy River Grange for decades. I can remember seeing it when I was young and attending a Grange dinner. I have always loved this stove and I can't wait to build a fire. Mike is putting up the chimney today.

The siding is "vinyl and final". I wanted to put up would to preserve the heritage of the barn, BUT it was more expensive and it would require upkeep in several years. So the final choice was a medium grade barn red vinyl. It matches the metal roof on the farmhouse next door so I like it. Now my barn is standing on her own four legs wearing a brand new red dress.

Kenny helped me put up these cedar shingles. It is a lot of fun to do and makes the barn smell so good. The whole front half of the barn will be shingles inside. The rest of the barn will have barn boards and sheet rock with the beams exposed.

Dan "the Man" with the electricity is going full tilt. He is all over the barn with wire, etc.

Yippee!!!!!!!! The siding is finished! Mike put the final piece on the back of the barn. I am very happy with the result. The siding matches the roof of the house and it enhances the apple orchard. My next job is to paint a quilt on the big double doors.......any suggestions?

They started framing in the bathroom today. The electricians have arrived and Lee York made me a "chandelier" from 3 old railroad lanterns and a rusty old piece of a harness from a horse and wagon.......I love it! They are also installing track lighting and ceiling fans.

Two sides down....two sides to go! The barn siding is going well. Mike brought on Ken Corson and the two them speed right along. Just like Mike says, "We're all done but for finishing".

Siding

The siding was delivered and Mike immediately started putting it up. It is very exciting to see it transform.

We just couldn't wait to have a "function" in the barn. Mike Poirier and Whitney Cunliff played guitar and sang songs to an appreciative audience. Dad's friend, Eric Cunliff (99 years) enjoyed the music very much. Today it is raining so Mike is going to frame in the bathroom and kitchenette. Dad and I have to go to the wood mill in town and pick up a load of lumber that we had planed. The wood is from our own timber.

The windows and doors were installed today. They are vinyl clad and I am proud to say they are Maine made....right in a Waterville window factory. Because they are vinyl my dad can't get a tax credit for remodeling the barn. You HAVE to use all wood. Never mind that vinyl is easier to clean and lasts longer!

This is the south side of the barn. We are putting 3 double windows that face out to the south west orchard. Next to the windows there will be a set of french doors that lead out to a deck.

We used 50 of these steel L brackets to help hold up the beans in the barn.

Here is Mike moving one of the beams with my dad's assistance.

Today Mike took the 36' long Brown Ash floor beams and cut them down to 20' to use in the floor of the loft. He lifted those beams with the tractor and then used a "chain fall" to lift them up to the loft.

Our construction supervisor, Mike Poirier, "knocked out" this little table and bench set so my dad could sit and have a picnic and watch the progress of the barn. Behind my dad will be "french doors" going out to a deck and to one of the orchards.

The barn is now standing up straight. Huge beams are supporting "her". This is where I am putting 3 big windows that open. To my left will be a door that leads to the the farmhouse.