Progress on the bike barn/man cave

[Nabeaquam]

The back of the barn. Notice the cable for my electric hoist that lifts the bikes into the loft/attic. This bike has the frame roped ready for lifting.
View attachment 587279

I forgot to post an outside photo. It’s a small barn and workshop, but it’s one cement block higher than standard and has a very tall attic. There is a lean to wood shed attached on the left side partially hidden by the trees. I built it myself, took years. First year I had a friend with heavy equipment prepare the site. Next year I had the cement pored and did the blocks. The next year I framed the downstairs. I bought paint from a paint store that went out of business. 6 gallons of white, two quarts of black, one pint of red and a half pint of yellow. It was mixed in a big plastic basket tub and pored back. I bought what they had. Every payday I bought two sheets of siding an painted with 3 coats of primer and two top coats. I’d hang them. Then it was another payday. I found a used door in the trash. The next year I had attic trusses made and delivered. It took another year to put them up and put on roll roofing. Five years later the roof was shingled. I think it would gave been cheaper to pay to have it built all at once as inflation kept the prices going up over the many years.

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

Is that a little pellet stove for heat?

It's a small wood burner. I tend to run it on wood for about 30 minutes to get the place heated up. After that 4 or 5 lumps of coal go in and I close the air intake to just a small slit. The coal then glows for about 6 or 7 hours and maintains the temperature. The heat output is quite powerful and it uses very little fuel, so the way energy prices are going I may have to live in there next winter.

 

[mk one]

It's a small wood burner. I tend to run it on wood for about 30 minutes to get the place heated up. After that 4 or 5 lumps of coal go in and I close the air intake to just a small slit. The coal then glows for about 6 or 7 hours and maintains the temperature. The heat output is quite powerful and it uses very little fuel, so the way energy prices are going I may have to live in there next winter.

The way all prices are going we may all be living in there next winter

 

[bagpuss]

Battery farming here at Bagpuss towers.


Full house . by rebalrid, on Flickr

Bolt hole .....

Shed time. by rebalrid, on Flickr

 

[Nabeaquam]

Battery farming here at Bagpuss towers.


Full house . by rebalrid, on Flickr

Bolt hole .....

Shed time. by rebalrid, on Flickr

Really nice, but way too organized for me. I prefer to have parts and tools in my bedroom, on my outdoor work benches, in my shop, in my shop attic and on the floor. Most of the time I either can’t find a part or tool or forget that I already have it, so I buy it again, several times. Every time I get organized chaos and entropy take over. Much of that has to do with our bad weather, 9 months of winter and three months of bad sledding (actually the three months are pleasant, except for black flies, mosquitoes, ticks, stable flies, horse flies and deer flies, that come in overlapping waves). We still have a lot of snow and the lakes are frozen. The snow will be gone by the second week of May. I tend to work on something and toss tools and parts on my attic floor until the weather warms up, then I’ll organize it. Here is a photo taken June 1 on a local Lake Superior beech.

 

[bagpuss]

and to think about the moaning bout weather this side of pond !
as for me been tidy , I have to, or bikes start sneaking into the hose .
Mr Kirk lives up stairs most of the time .

 

[Nabeaquam]

and to think about the moaning bout weather this side of pond !
as for me been tidy , I have to, or bikes start sneaking into the hose .
Mr Kirk lives up stairs most of the time .
View attachment 621541

It‘s unfair I say, your 10 degrees farther north and are, almost two months ahead of us in warmth. Continental climates are way different. In 2014 my wife and I went cycling in the UK during a bank holiday, when ever that is? The bank holiday was about 4 days before we flew home. Your strawberries were in and it seems like that was a month before ours come in around July 4th. So it must have been late May and early June? We only had two days of rain in two weeks. There were a few occasional sprinkles or intermtent showers, usually on top of the big hills, but that did not stop us from riding. We went hiking during the pouring rain, which was fun, WWII bunkers, different birds, gardens, village and sea shore walks. As the hippies used to say “the parties all in your head”. I would like to go back again for the third time, but the pandemic is messing travel up. It’s easy as almost everyone speaks English, friendly helpful people and the food and cider are good. In the north we tried to buy a train ticket and they didn’t understand us and we couldn’t understand them. A lady from London, who was going our way, got us our tickets and saw to it that we made all the confusing train, train, bus and tube connections. The train was so packed we had to sit on our packs in front of the loo. Not inconvenient as we have no public transportation of any kind where we live. No Uber, taxi, buss or train. Air ports are hours away and the planes are small and are under contract to major airlines to bring passengers to large city hubs. So sitting on luggage is way better. Your climate is wonderful. My bikes are always in the house during the cold. Here is my bedroom today. The wife decided to sleep upstairs until it gets warm. Other indoor projects. Painting is done outside in summer.

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

Yes, we're 51 to 56 degrees North here, depending on where you are, but the north atlantic converyor current sea drift thing moderates our climate, keeps the summers cool and the winters mild.

Of course, when the ice caps melt and the changing water salinity stops the ocean current then we'll boil in the summer and during the winter months everyone will be huddled round my wood burner.

 

[Nabeaquam]

Yes, we're 51 to 56 degrees North here, depending on where you are, but the north atlantic converyor current sea drift thing moderates our climate, keeps the summers cool and the winters mild.

Of course, when the ice caps melt and the changing water salinity stops the ocean current then we'll boil in the summer and during the winter months everyone will be huddled round my wood burner.

46 to 47 here. Unfair and cruel I say again.

 

[The History Man]