The Road Less Traveled - Part 6

So. We decided to build a barn.
Had you guessed that?  I would never have guessed it myself. 

Better yet: We're going to live in said barn.

{This is Part 6 of the Feeding Pickle Ltd story, telling where it started and revealing where we're headed.}

When I say here that being creative is about being a problem-solver, I'm really serious about it. Feeding creativity here is truly fed off of the "What ifs?"
Like, what if we built a little barn to live in to maximize our life and minimize our payments, maintenance, and material possessions? (Remember the toy box from a few weeks ago?)  With the major job change and life changes we had experienced, we stood just one year ago where my great, great uncle's house once stood, and we decided it was time to try something different.

Long long ago, I had seen a metal barn at a pumpkin patch...it had a copper roof and galvanized metal sides...and I told my husband I could totally live in that.
Well, almost ten years later, ours has gray siding and a white roof.

;)

We determined to minimalize things in our life to hopefully create some freedom to not work as many jobs and pursue some bigger dreams. We had to get creative in our thinking.

So a 24'x32' steel barn with a basement and half loft suddenly became the topic of many late nights of sketching for me.  My civil engineer brother put my space-maximizing pencil scratchings into a possible reality with realistic measurements and requirements on the computer to make this barn-house come to life.

The minimal toys and living that we had experienced (and were offering in Feeding Pickle Ltd through our drawing packets and hanging pods) were on their way to becoming a more permanent lifestyle for us. Not just temporary solutions.

Oh did I mention that I am not a builder; I sew stuff? I can create music. But I only ever drilled holes when I wanted to hang shelves and pictures?  I had built a few benches in my day, but a house?  What were we thinking?

Thankfully, my dad and brothers came along beside us. Obviously, my husband had to keep the two round-the-clock jobs going to keep us afloat. But days off combined with the hard work of my dad and brothers got our barn constructed.
And another generous friend did the electrical work. And the plumbing. And I can now personally dig some amazing narrow pipe trenches.  Yes, I usually got the grunt work tasks.  But when you have a goal, those tasks are a privilege.

That is about a 12 month encapsulated summary right there, 

Of blood (my husband nearly lost his finger, but thank God they sewed it back on and he has restored function), 

sweat (my dad and brothers put in some long hot laborious hours to get the building up!) 

and tears (this may have been mostly my department as our basement flooded, twice, to the top before we had electricity on the property!)

There are days that creativity felt (feels!) like it was (is!) maxed. I have learned more about houses and construction than I would have ever imagined and am now much more comfortable with a tape measure and saw. I didn't say I was good with them, just more comfortable. ;) The Pickles here have also honed their construction skills right along with me.

This last picture, with the ladder? This is the space dedicated to Feeding Pickle Ltd. Though our entire space is dedicated to always Feeding Pickle(s), that is the corner for encouraging Pickles everywhere to keep feeding their creative potential!

Next week we'll see the connection of how our small house and the Feeding Pickle Story culminate into our new product! I'm so excited to share with you what I've been working on for the past year!

When have you ever taken a road less traveled to solve a dilemma creatively? I love out-of-the-norm ideas!

You can find the rest of the Feeding Pickle Ltd story from the beginning here .

Always be creative,
Marie Winfield