Battens, Bats, Bonfires, and Bees (well, wasps, really)

In the run up to summer activities at The Barn — the Professional Refinisher’s Group gathering in June, the Parquetry workshop in July, Planemaking with Tod Herrli in August, hollows-and-rounds and advanced planemaking, and the Boulle Marquetry workshop in October (there are still spaces for all workshops) — there were many high priority housekeeping issues.  High on the list was the fact that there were still sections of the siding that provided no impedance to the encroachment of nature.

Last month my pal Tom and I cut probably a thousand linear feet of battens to close up the gaps between the siding boards, and that project continues as a filler between every other of the 12, 691 top priorities in my life.  Combined with a generous application of spray foam insulation/sealant in the multitude of cracks I have noticed a dramatic drop in livestock already.

I was also really nervous when I saw tons of wasps buzzing about last month, but since I have robbed them of many nesting places, they seem to have moved on.  Three summers ago they built a paper nest literally the size of a bushel basket.  Not something you want visitors to be concerned about.

And finally, since the Barn has been a non-stop construction site for almost seven years there is a mountain of construction debris that just won’t go away no matter how many trips I make to the dump.  Well, I recently spent several evenings with a roaring bonfire, so even that nuisance is receding.

The results were most gratifying.