There’s been a lot of activity just outside the chicken yard. The vegetable garden and fence came down and a four-foot deep, 12 x 20 foot hole has been dug. I’m getting a new barn!

At first I considered buying a 200 year old granary. You can buy such things from salvage companies. But it seemed like a lot of trouble and expense. And I’m on a schedule – I need the barn for a photo shoot in March for a new project. Then I found what seemed to be the perfect solution. Country Carpenters makes timberframe barns. The building comes delivered in pieces, like a Lincoln Logs kit. A simple 10 x 20 barn like the one I selected can be installed in a week.

But isn’t it always the questions you don’t know to ask that create the stumbling blocks? There was a bit more to site prep than I imagined. It turns out that in our town, you need two land surveys, a building permit, a site inspection and a 4-foot concrete foundation. It also turns out that the only good spot to erect the barn was right over our septic line. So, first the excavators had to hand dig down to the line and move it. Then use the backhoe for the big hole. Then the concrete foundation guys come. Then we need a different concrete crew to do the flat work.

My husband, Steve, has been taking care of these details. I very much appreciate that he’s dealing with all of the aggravation. What am I doing? Well, last week I went to the New England Bantam Club’s poultry show and came up with a list of breeds to buy once the barn is in place.