Building a Barn- Final Blog!

As I sit out here at sunrise with coffee in hand, gazing upon the beauty of this place (and how far we’ve come) I felt the need to include one last blog to piggyback on the series I began several months ago, “Building a Barn.” In “Pt. 3” I shared the importance and need for flat, hard-surfaces surrounding the house, casita and newly built garage-style barn. We needed everything flat so that we could create accessibility for my husband. Now that the project is complete, I wanted to share our thoughts and the motives behind our madness!

Life is interesting and for many, it can be very challenging. For those of us who are “able-body people,” (people who can walk and don’t have any difficulty getting around) life is a breeze! Being married to Chance has taught me so much. You may have read in our love story, (click Hardy’s tab above) that 20 years ago after an ATV accident out in the California desert, Chance became paralyzed. Since that time, he has obviously learned to do life in a completely different way. When I chose to marry him, I too learned a new way of life. I wouldn’t say my life is drastically different but I would definitely say I’ve: become more patient, understood the importance of thinking things through, learned to ask for help, compromise and more than anything else, seek to modify.

Modifying one’s lifestyle comes in many forms. For us, attempting at all costs to avoid places where lots of stairs are present, is a must! A hotel that boasts a five-star rating, features incredible food and offers breathtaking, panoramic views but is dotted by stairs and hills throughout its property, then it’s nothing short of a nightmare! If I begin to plead my case and attempt to persuade my husband to say yes to a certain place, he starts in with his normal rebuttal, “honey, have you seen a wheelchair guy, trying his hardest, to physically wheel up and down hills!! It’s not good!” I won’t write in this blog what my husband’s complete response to that kind of vacation would be- Haaaa!!

There are so many variables we consider when choosing a place to vacation, restaurants to frequent, the homes of friends or family we can visit and even cars we purchase! I remember a short time ago, my best friend who lives up the road had a chat with her husband about our inability to be able to come to their home. Getting into the house was (and still is) impossible. But Melissa’s husband Joe, designed and incorporated into their landscaping, a couple beautiful modifications that made our visits to their beautiful backyard, possible. It’s the little things in life, like a smooth, flat surface that make life so much easier for people like us.

I share all this to try to paint a picture in your mind of the importance of the decision we made here at our little ranch for all the hard scape. When we started our project, there were lots of voices chattering in the background, “why are you adding all this hardscape? …My goodness this is a lot of concrete …Are you sure you want to have a deck this big?” The comments, suggestions and ideas of others go on and on. To answer all those questions and more, the answers are simple, “yes, yes and yes!” Whoever visits The Lucky Horseshoe, will not be concerned about stepping up or down, tripping over an uneven surface or not being able to get to a certain area of our property. Chance designed everything strategically with not just himself in mind but others as well. Now our property is kid friendly, ADA accessible (and compliant) and is absolutely beautiful! In this last blog entry for this series, I’ve included some pictures to remind you of the drastic transformation! We hope our journaled efforts have encouraged you too to dream, conspire and confidently create something beautiful of the place you call home!