Tag Archives: barn

So many glasses.

February 21, 2021 Rivergirl 29 Comments

When we travel and drink, the husband likes to get a glass from the bars and restaurants he’s enjoyed. Since we used to do this quite often… we’ve amassed a large collection of glasses. Some of them are in the house but most of them have migrated out to the barn. And though we’ve stuffed the freezer compartment of the beer fridge with frosty ready to fill receptacles….

There was still a large portion waiting for a home.

And a whole lotta paper destined for the fireplace.

Sadly the husband’s aborted little two foot shelves don’t offer much useable space.

And once the double tap kegerator is installed things will be even tighter.

Roy Scheider was right.

We should have built a bigger bar.

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The shelf war.

February 20, 2021 Rivergirl 37 Comments

We started with these 3 foot long shelves under the bar.

They’re floating shelves… and while they technically don’t float, they are an absolute pain in the ass to install. So when I told the husband I wanted two more on the adjacent bar wall, he was less than thrilled but agreed they were necessary. Of course then the stupid electrician put the new outlets too high up on the wall to install 3 foot shelves at the same height as the others. That’s when the war began.

I was fine with moving the bottom shelf higher.

The husband was not. Which resulted in a major kerfluffle.

We disagreed on placement…. and though I had won the 4 versus 3 custom liquor bottle shelves battle, this war ended differently.

Busy with other things we put this chore on the back burner… or so I thought until the husband disappeared one afternoon and I found him under the bar. Removing my 3 foot shelves and all their contents.

Unbeknownst to me, he had returned my 3 foot shelves to the store and come home with the 2 foot versions instead. I told him I didn’t want 2 foot shelves. That it would look off balance and not provide enough space.

To which he paid no attention and proceeded to install the stubby 2 foot shelves. He was determined they fit right into the corner and ripped out the nice trim piece I had our contractor install. When I looked displeased, he assured me they would line up perfectly with the existing shelves and look great.

I think you know how that went.

They didn’t line up, despite the numerous hours he ~~cursed like a drunken sailor~~ tinkered with them.

No matter what he did, the new shelves rose slightly above the older ones and wouldn’t lay flat.

His solution?

A few pieces of too thick moldy old wood from under the baby barn…. to bring them together.

Which makes me wonder what part of the invisible bracket floating shelf aesthetic he didn’t understand.

I’m hoping once we get the double tap kegerator in there the unbalanced shelves won’t be quite so noticeable.

But either way, there’s still not enough room.

😒

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Scrabble and the inaugural cocktail.

February 19, 2021 Rivergirl 28 Comments

Now that my ~~seemingly endless supply of liquor~~ bottles were strategically arranged on the custom made shelves…. it was time to get down to business.

Cocktail business.

We have a favorite restaurant in Kennebunk that we haven’t visited for over a year. *insert audible sigh here* (The bartender is an old client of my husband’s and he’s been known to have a liberal pouring hand. I like that in a man.) My very favorite drink is made there and seeing that it’s won awards, I’m clearly not the only one who loves it.

Calling it the nectar of the gods doesn’t begin to describe it’s mood elevating goodness, but trust me… it’s close.

So when our barn bar was being planned, built and outfitted? This divine concoction was never far from my mind.

Having never made one, I searched the web for a recipe but only came up with an ingredient list. Being out of Triple Sec I substituted Grand Marnier… and not knowing their homemade sour ingredients, I had to settle for bottled.

The results were satisfying… if nowhere near the ambrosia level of the original.

Bad Martha grudgingly approved, but said it still needed a little tweeking.

* side note – my iPhone’s spellcheck changed tweeking to twerking three times… to which Bad Martha thoroughly approves. *

Cocktail in hand, it was time to whip the husband.

At Scrabble! My name is not Martha.

Game number one gave me a series of disastrous letters…. but I prevailed.

And the beginning of game number two?

Didn’t begin much better.

( To answer your inevitable question… yes, I drew a ‘c’ Yes, I used that word. And yes, the husband added an ‘ed’ because in the end? He knew he was. )

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I think we knew it was inevitable.

February 18, 2021 Rivergirl 23 Comments

The last booze shelf was added in the Barn Mahal.

I know the husband didn’t really want to, but as I kept finding more liquor bottles stashed all over the house ( what, you don’t keep gin in your linen closet or spiced rum in the china hutch? ) it turned out to be a necessity.

And besides, it’s his fault that they’re lopsided. My original plan was for two shelves on each side….

He’s the one who had to have the microwave on the end of the bar.

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Success.

February 17, 2021 Rivergirl 24 Comments

Praise the God of Tequila! The man cave in the Barn Mahal is toasty and warm once more.

A brand new ( to replace the almost new 3 month old ) exterior heat pump unit was installed yesterday afternoon. It looks exactly like the other one, but it damn well better last longer.

I asked the installers what the error codes showed was wrong with the first one and received a long detailed explanation. It went something like this…..

Refrigerant. Blah blah blah. Coil. Blah blah blah. Build up. Blah blah blah.

The section of explanation that did translate clearly? The fact that the manufacturers say what went wrong was a one in a million occurrence.

Yay us. We have all the luck.

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Flashing lights are never good.

February 16, 2021 Rivergirl 23 Comments

Danger Will Robinson!

There’s trouble in the man cave.

I walked into the barn this morning and noticed it was a wee bit nippy.

We keep the new heat pump ( 3 months old ) set at 68 and with all the sun coming through the windows… it’s always been warm and toasty. But today? The temperature was rapidly dropping.

Lights were flashing and the unit wasn’t running. After spending an extremely annoying half hour troubleshooting with the owners manual, we broke down and called the guy who installed it… who also happens to be the son of my best friend.

He had me check the error codes and did some research. Then he called back saying he didn’t have the parts he needed to repair it in stock, and couldn’t get them right away… so he was sending his crew over this afternoon to replace the whole exterior unit.

Now that’s what I call customer service.

A path has been shoveled and we currently await the new unit.

While it’s true we like our beer and cocktails cold, we usually prefer to be well above freezing ourselves.

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It’s all about priorities.

February 11, 2021 Rivergirl 20 Comments

Last week during the N’Or Easter, the husband went out to shovel before it turned over to sleet.

He shoveled a path to the man cave.

He shoveled the man cave porch for bar access.

But the driveway?

It looked like this.

Priorities.

It’s all about priorities.

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Things I may have to buy.

February 10, 2021 Rivergirl 24 Comments

I saw a list of things you should buy your significant other to show how much you love them yesterday. And while none of these products fit that bill…. they did make me chuckle at the thought of owning them and putting them in the barn bar.

Come on, you know that will come in handy someday.

Bar mascot? It could be.

Maybe if I get the husband one of these he can practice on pizza for his next remodel project. Eating those mistakes will be a lot more enjoyable than staring at his construction errors for the next 20 years.

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And then there were shelves.

February 4, 2021 Rivergirl 26 Comments

Along with the 120 year old reclaimed barn wood chairs came 120 year old reclaimed barn wood shelves. Problem was the side you’re supposed to display was so dark it looked awful against the light walls and didn’t blend with the bar or chairs.

Solution? We flipped them upside down.