Barry art studios
& gardens
Anxious to see these supplies start to take shape. Our lumber arrived today minutes before the rain started. Hoping for some dry days so our builders can get things going!
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Today we came home to the start of our beautiful new stone wall. The huge granite boulders were slightly buried so they could be positioned as end caps near the driveway. Plenty of time to plan the rest of the landscaping since we will probably be living like this until next spring! Lumber is expected to arrive tomorrow. Today we had the concrete cutter expert out to cut through the foundation. Amazing precision... when you have the right equipment and know what you are doing! If all goes well and the weather cooperates we will soon have a the excavator back on site for removing the cut away and starting the back fill around the foundation. Looking forward to hearing some hammer and nails on lumber soon.
We had a delay due to rain but now are getting back on schedule. We are grateful for the hard working crews getting the concrete done, two projects in one day!
Yesterday was the first official day of the fall season. Rather than blogging twice in one day I decided to wait until today to capture what is currently colorful in the garden. What a lovely way to spend the crisp morning, sipping coffee and taking pictures of the start to a beautiful transformation.
Progress on the detached foundation for a future structure is taking shape! Having projects going on both sides of the property at the same time is dizzying. Our building team of W.H. Smith and R. Smith construction have collaborated with us every step of the way. Not only are these guys amazingly skilled with the technical aspects of what they do but they are also creative problem solvers who appreciate our waste-not aesthetic. Saving nearly all the excavated fill and boulders as for future garden landscaping is a bonus we are thrilled to include as part of our long term plan! BEHOLD GORGEOUS GRANITE BOULDERS!!!
Over a month since the last blog post and we are FINALLY seeing the excavator parked in the front yard. Here we are past mid September... 4 months behind schedule. Who knew it would be such a struggle to get this project underway! Digging is set to start tomorrow morning and since we have this big beautiful machine parked and ready to go first thing, it feels like we might actually see some holes being dug! We have faith in our builder and we know he will do his best to make up for the time lost. Very excited for the new creative spaces.
The much anticipated construction can finally begin! Late yesterday we received word that our proposal for a new structure foundation has been approved by the Ashburnham Conservation Commission. Working to ensure all plans are within the specifications of the ACC is more than what we had anticipated, but with the dedication of our builder and the hired surveyors and site designers we finally got the stamp of approval. This means the excavator should be showing up very soon and we can get back on schedule!
We had a lovely group of artists from Greg's MFA Installation class stop by to see the gardens. The group was traveling from Boston on their way out to MassMOCA. A nice halfway point for them and a treat for us! It is amazing how much positive energy came out of these people when they entered the outdoor spaces. Delightful to hear the comments and engage in conversation about color, texture, light as well as the sounds of the garden. Thank you for visiting, Leslie, Britni, Kat, Kristen and Professor Clint! Come back soon and bring your sketchbooks!
What a wonderful summer it has turned out to be for the growth of the gardens! However, the anticipated building expansion has been a struggle for our patience. We are still on hold with approvals from the Conservation Committee and are going on 3 months later than expected to start construction. To make matters more difficult, the recent amount of rain has made it impossible for us to pin down a time for the annual garden party. Therefore, we will not have a tour this year. Although the sky is not as blue as we would like, at least we were able to click a few photos today in between the clouds and sprinkles. We have spent a good part of the summer working on adding plants for next summer, so the beds are filling up nicely with new daylily and other perennials. Hopefully the construction and new studio areas will be complete by summer 2019 and you can join us for a class or workshop!
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