In my spare time

[wbvs58]

My wife Pam and I are building a block of stables for our daughter Jo who has made the farm her home now which I am very pleased about. The structure is a kit shed and is described as an American barn. 100% steel construction as all sheds in Australia are. The centre section will have leanto's on both sides with four 4 x 4 metre (13.12'x13.12') stables down one side and the other side will have feedroom, tackroom, hosing bay and parking for Jo's horse float and a 4 metre centre allyway.
I have bought a bandsaw mill and will be milling eucalypt hardwood to fit out the inside along with a bit of conveyor belt on the outside walls. We poured the concrete ourselves 16 m x 12 m (52.5'x 40'), we did it in 6 pours of 4 x 8 m (13'x 26'). We weren't after a mirror finish, wanted pretty rough broom finish but flat and level which we got.
Pam thinks we are getting a bit too old for this (68 & 67), probably right, maybe my swansong. I have a lot of other projects I want to get on with, I don't think I'm going to live long enough to do all I want to do.
I had Jo help me stand up the first two portals and Pam was helping for the 3rd, Jo was away. I said are you sure you can lift it, she said yeh, if Jo can do it I can. They are hinged with bolts to the strirrups bolted to the concrete, we get halfway up and she says I can't do it, there is no way back as the temporary stays dig into the concrete and you can't go back. I had to get the whip out and drive her to get it up then her job was to stabilise it until I got some purlins across the top, I use the truck with some heavy ply on top for my scaffolding. I am up the top getting the first screw in when I feel Pam's side slide forward and look down and see Pam just slowly going down on the concrete, she fainted. I had to yell out to her to get up and pull the column back vertical. I am a bit of a hard task master, some say a bit of an ar$ehole but over the years Pam and I have done some incredible things construction wise with improvised materials and tools but we always get the job done. Pam is used to me and a great help, she will put her body on the line to get things done.

Ken

 

[Bright Raven]

That poor lady.

You better be careful. I am your age, got you by one year (69). Getting hurt now can be a life changer. Having said that, I still do some dangerous stuff. Mainly sawing trees.

That is an amazing accomplishment.

 

[Redgully]

Nice work. It's amazing what you can do with a bit of thought, i covered a triple span hothouse with plastic on my own, took me 12 hours. That was after getting an $6000 quote to do the job. No one could work out how.

Looks like it will be a very useful shed. I really hope one of my children want to share a property with my wife and i.

 

[ccr]

don't know why anybody would say your a ar$ehole. just trying to get the job done.

 

[wbvs58]

don't know why anybody would say your a ar$ehole. just trying to get the job done.

Yeh, the stables are as much for Pam as they are for Jo. She drives me as well making sure I don't take any shortcuts.

Ken

 

[Ryder]

Ken, you and Pam did a good job.
Why did Pam faint?
As to age, you can get to thinking you are "too old" and you probably soon will be.
Fellow I know made 50 and said, "I am an old man now". He has been an old man now for more than thirty years.
He wanted to be old and he got it.
There was an article in the paper here about a lady better than a hundred and running in races.
Diference in attitudes.
Take your pick.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Project looks awesome. Lucky Jo. Poor Pam - is she OK now?

 

[wbvs58]

Yes Pam is fine now. I think it was the exertion in getting it lifted and then steadying it in the full hot sun. She is impatiently waiting for me to finish "breakie" and get out there now to finish off the strap bracing and roller door jams, we had a lay day yesterday as the wind was too strong so she is champing at the bit now.

Pam has a long history of throwing herself at these jobs an example was as a young girl she was at a horse sale with her father, he was a bit of a horse dealer. He sold some horses and bought a Clydesdale cross home, he loaded it on the truck and it must have been loosely tied and Pam and 3 men lifted the tailgate up and halfway up the horse started coming out. The 3 men let the tailgate go but Pam stayed with it thinking she could take the weight of the tailgate and the horse herself, she ended up with a broken ankle and arm. She came home with her father in the truck and he said to her just walk up the ramp into the house normally so you don't worry your mother so she had to pretend nothing was wrong. They took her up to the hospital the next day as she couldn't get out of bed. I have to watch her carefully when we are working together that she doesn't throw her body on the line, she is a very gutsy lady.

Ken

 

[herofan]

As to age, you can get to thinking you are "too old" and you probably soon will be.
Fellow I know made 50 and said, "I am an old man now". He has been an old man now for more than thirty years.
He wanted to be old and he got it.
There was an article in the paper here about a lady better than a hundred and running in races.
Diference in attitudes.
Take your pick.

This has always been an interesting subject to me. I’m not arguing with anything you said. As you mentioned, it’s about attitude, but I think some take it a bit far. Some say “age is only a number.” Well, not really. I can almost assure you that there is a difference in an 80 year old body and a 30 year old body just due to the aging process. There are adjustments and changes that come with an aging body. I’m 51 and in good health; however, I’ve noticed I’m not 20 anymore. I tire a little easier than I once did, and it doesn’t take as much to get the muscles and joints to aching as it once did. No big deal yet, but I see a difference. I’m sure if one is 85 and in good health, that’s different than 85 and in bad health, but Injuries and sickness is usually a bigger burden as one ages. Anyway, I’m just rambling, but I just don’t get it when people say age is just a number. I guess it goes both ways. Some say 50 is the new 30, and I think 30 is the new 18. A lot of people still trying to act like they’re 18 at 30. Most people in my generation had been living the adult life for quite some time at 30; these days a lot of people are still trying to “find themselves.”

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

With age comes more responsibility to keep the body in good shape. Strong believer in the old saying "use it or lose it". Sit on your butt and be content and pretty soon, that's all you can do.

 

[herofan]

With age comes more responsibility to keep the body in good shape. Strong believer in the old saying "use it or lose it". Sit on your butt and be content and pretty soon, that's all you can do.

That’s true, which shows that age isn’t just a number.