Granary Step 1 and a Little More Rhubarb

With summer basically here and my cousin with a few days off, we set to work on the little granary. The past few days have been pretty wild for my husband, so my cousin (CS) worked on his own in the searing sun and heat. I’m afraid I sent him back to his wife awfully red and crispy. I think I’d better stock up on more, higher SPF sunscreen! Maybe it was worth it as I did however make his favorite dessert: Rhubarb Custard Pie- and it was fantastic. Recipe to follow below post.

Before the new roof can go on, we needed to deal with some rotten boards around the edges of the building and we also needed to cover up the holes in the roof where the grain used to be augered into the building. These were small sounding items to complete, but in reality it took two days, lots of measuring, cutting and running for construction materials.

For the roof holes, CS used large pieces of paper and traced the openings. The kids then cut the template out, laid the template on the MDF and with CS’s help and guidance, jigsawed the circles out. Using a screw for a handle, I then held the circles in place while sitting on the roof while CS anchored them with 2 x 4′s on the inside. We’ll leave the steel granary holes (which can easily be opened and closed) on the roof until right before we replace the roof. That way everything remains nice and dry. We are going with a steel roof and I’m hoping for red. A friend did note to be careful with red as if it fades in the sun- it will become pink! With that in mind, I’m choosing a darker red color than I previously anticipated.

I think it might be fun to document the cost of this project to, so I’ve decided to keep the receipts and I’ll share that information with you. The materials for this step were $54.88. That included 6, 16 foot 2×4′s  (we only used 5) and two pounds of hex or star head screws (have leftovers here too).

I have to say it was pretty cool working with my cousin and having him around the farm. It was like when we were kids.  We spent countless hours together as we lived only a few miles apart. Holiday meals, Sunday School, playing a game called “The Russians are Coming”, almost drowning in the water pit (him, not me!), CS chasing my sister and me with a shed snake skin, picking raspberries and potato beetles at his farm, and one memory that I vividly remember was riding our Shetland pony over to his farm. My sister and I rode Cinnamon on the prairie roads, bareback, wearing a long golden wig we had made out of yarn! I’m not sure if we fought over it or shared it happily, but for some reason that yarn wig that went to my waist has stuck in my mind! I can only imagine what his mom thought when we trotted into the yard looking like that! Only farm kids!

The next step will be to get the roofing materials ordered and installed and trench power to the building and get it wired. I have a feeling these two steps will be a bit more expensive!

RHUBARB CUSTARD PIE

1 baked pie shell

3 egg yolk beaten (save whites for meringue)

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. cream

1/3 c. milk

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

2 c. cut up rhubarb

 Mix together preceding ingredients and boil until thick. Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Pour in the baked pie shell. Cover with meringue and brown in a hot oven. (I just used a meringue recipe for pies from my Betty Crocker cookbook.)