Barn cleaning

We own a barn. It is a nice size barn 28′ x 60′. Originally it was a wooden barn. The owners prior to us put on red aluminum siding. From what I have learned from our neighbors there haven’t been many animals housed in the barn. One stall has a man door and is enclosed with chicken wire. Apparently pigeons once lived in that stall.

Currently there is a 7+ year old sow and two piglets in the barn. Our neighbor’s daughter shows the piglets at the Yamhill County Fair and then sells them. Pigs are cute and all but boy do they STINK. I didn’t say they smell bad or that they are unpleasant smelling. This barn REEKS. I almost threw up when I went inside.

Needless to say cleaning the barn was very high up on our list. We spent a total of five days working on the barn. The boys mucked out stalls, I removed all the junk and worked on the walls and ceilings. Michael hosed out everything.

We had to dress appropriately to clean the barn. Eye protection from the dust and debris. Face masks so we are not inhaling all that dirt….ok, since we were all breathing through our mouths we didn’t want to swallow any either…or smell that SMELL. Yuck.

Nicholas is all geared up.

I required head covering. Notice how dirty the face mask is.

Sigh, gone are the beautiful suits and high heals. I chose this life?

Here is the view as you approach the barn. Pretty innocent looking. Nothing egregious about this barn.

Until, you open the door.

Ok, so I’m not a professional photographer.

Just a lot of junk right. Nothing wrong with that.

Or is there….

I really thought cobwebs like this (reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark) were just a figment of Hollywood’s imagination. Nope. It felt like a really bad nightmare. Michael was working at his paying job so I knew it would be up to me to clean the whole ceiling.

All the places the boys couldn’t reach.

They got to clean stalls. Not stalls with pigs in them. Just old filthy stalls. We took a lot of junk out first. Huge pile right outside the door. This stall had a lot of junk in it but we took most of it out.