Change is the law of life.
And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.
John F. Kennedy

Time to close this blog.....

Don't cry.  Our life, your life, everyone's life goes on.

As we journey this road we have twists and turns that come that we did not plan.  Our cordwood house was not to be.  All the people who have graciously helped us over the months and years are true friends.  Their work will not be in vain.

The stress (including one mental breakdown), the financial burden, and the continued openness to change has led us to redirect our course.  We've moved up to Stone Table Farm in September of 2016.  The Grouse has now become a home and we have even added on some bedrooms.

The family has survived almost a year all living in the same room.  No one went crazy.  We are learning what we need in life is most of the time different than what we want.

We sawed up the timbers for the timber frame house into dimensional lumber for the additional bedrooms.  This was a blessing to have this wood available, seasoned, and ready to go.

The biggest blessing of all is the cordwood itself.  After deciding not to build our home we put an ad out on some of the cordwood building sites advertising our cordwood.  After only a few days we got an inquiry....and from our own local area!  Someone two towns over was going to build a cordwood home and needed wood!  How cool is that.  All the blood, sweat, and tears that went into that cordwood....and it ended up being used for its intended purpose - in our local area!  They just picked up the last load of it today.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey.  We continue to wonder what twists in the road ahead will bring new adventures.

Blessings to all,

The Barkers

Peeling!

Which tree is always scared?

 A quaking aspen.

Last week we took down quite a few quaking aspens for peeling.  At one point one of the kids said something along the lines of, 

"Aren't we taking down a lot of trees?  Won't there be any left?"  

Nate replied with, "Oh, we're just cutting these trees down to keep them safe."  He pointed to a piece of the tree in front of him,  "Don't worry...no ones gonna cut this tree down."

Well...we thought it was funny...maybe you had to be there.

Many thanks to Bekah, Jarron, and Mary Ellen for allowing themselves to be eaten by mosquitoes, black flies, and deer flies just so they could have the experience of peeling logs.

If you want to help us peel or cut and split what we have already give us a call or email.  We'll be up working again this weekend.

Bekah - always with a smile!

Jarron skipped out on homework to peel.  

Not only did Mary Ellen bring us some awesome food (iced tea, strawberry/water melon smoothies and quesadillas) - she also stayed and peeled a bunch of logs!

Ella - sporting the bug net and the peeling spud!

Nevin - a peeling machine!

Yes, this probably violates some child safety law...but boy!  Zane is handy with a draw knife.

Denise just kept crankin' them out.

Nate just keeps going and going.

Just an aside...the creativity of children.  Nevin put together this rickshaw out of an old trailer and some scrap lumber.  The kids in the back were the drivers and Nevin was the horse.  Loads of fun with simple stuff!  Way to go kidos! 

Time Correction for Log Peeling

PEELING UPDATE!!

If you are planning on coming up to help peel logs this Saturday (June 7th),
we've changed the time.

Because of the Beaver Camp Auction we won't be starting until 3:30pm.  Please let you friends know...and thank you for your help.