12 Euros per liter for paint?

Today was wall-building day in the barn, and you'll think I'm crazy but I had the notion that we could both cut, paint, and hang the boards in one afternoon. HA! I would have tried to talk my man into hanging still-wet boards on the wall, but he was exhausted from fighting with a table saw for hours.

I am shy of heavy loud machinery, so I pleaded with him to trim the boards. Hm. Trim. That is an understatement. It was one-inch think hardwood, and I mean really really hard. The kind they make shovel handles from, Mr. S told us. The table saw was smoking, and the boards were burning as they were being cut. The metal blade was struggling so hard to get through them, it was almost on fire. The cut ends of the boards were pitch black and tonight Joerg's clothes smell like campfire. I kept praying he wouldn't lose a finger or more as I saw the barn lights flicker every time he turned it on a piece of wood. In the end, Mr. S came home and checked on our progress, and Joerg said, "I feel a little guilty, your saw is malfunctioning." Mr. S said, "No problem, but the blade is probably loose." He tightened it, but Joerg only had one more piece of wood, so that wasn't the best timing.

I couldn't believe how much fun painting my new barn wall planks would be. I was outside cuz the saw was so loud. I was painting away my frustration, trying to forget the price of that paint. Someone on a blog recently wrote that you can buy a gallon of paint in America for $5.00. I seriously don't want to know - don't tell me - if that is the case. Cuz today at Germany's "Home Depot" - we paid 12 Euros for a liter. (That works out to way over 50 dollars per gallon.) I wanted to cry, I had no idea paint could be so expensive. This was the cheapest paint in the store, too. A simple water-based acrylic, eco friendly. (We only got the eco-friendly cuz it was the cheapest.)

I don't know when I'll get my chance to go back and put those boards up, but I'm thrilled that Mr. S is letting us use his drill and electric screwdriver, screws, nails, everything we possibly could need for such projects. For now, my lovely black shiny boards are leaning against the wall, slowly drying. I got so excited, painting was so fun, I even painted the border of the outside barn wall (around that mesh) to make it match that pretty black and white Fachwerk* on the adjacent workroom (which will be my man's study, not my nice heated tack room....but, I think he'll let me put a wet saddle in there if I need to: )).

(* - Fachwerk is the traditional European facade style of white mortar framed by black wood. We copy that in America and I just love it - we call it "tudor")

I am just so happy. I can't even describe how wonderful it feels to be working on my own barn: ) Tiny, but adequate. My OWN barn: ) I can't believe it!!! I waited since I was 10 for this, ever since my parents almost bought a horse property, but then it fell through and we continued living in the city the rest of my life. Finally. A 27 year long dream.

Here is the "before" pic, still daylight out. You can see a tiny bit of the Fachwerk on the left side of the barn.








Here is the "after" pic from tonight, that is, after I painted the frame. You can see the dormant grape-vine growing on the mesh. I am so thrilled to have a grapevine, I've always wanted one. This little plant holds such promise for me! And if any grapes grow through the mesh, I think it will be OK if Baasha eats some too. (That's OK, right?)



I hope these details aren't excrutiating to read...I just really want to document this process and right now I'm in the inspirational phase. We'll see if that changes by the 10th fencepost I have to put in! hehehehe


Next, after the wall is up, and the electrics are covered properly, we'll order posts and start building a fence. As soon as the fence is up, I'll build a Geotextile area near the barn to carry the gravel that will keep my horse's feet out of the mud. Oh, and of course, mats will go in over the concrete in the stall. And the bedding will be that awesome German pelleted stuff that is super amazingly absorbent, dustfree and odorless. Sadly, I have to use bedding cuz my horse is a pig in a stall. You can tell he was born in a barn. *sigh*

If anyone has horsey home-building tips, I'm anxious to learn!