Barn Cupolas

Venting a barn with a cupola is critical to cool, stop dangerous condensation and reduce the hazard of spontaneous combustion. The small animal barn was missing its' cupola top above the hayloft, so I found a classic "Manchester" style made to order with premium grade cypress and a 24 gauge copper roof from Good Directions. They are lovely and we have installed two of them now on both parts of this barn; one with an "Avon" finial and the larger has a refurbished weather vane on Good Direction pole parts. This is a terrific company with wonderfully crafted products, and outstanding employees!

Installation was easy with expert advice.

Gardening In October

The two Toshiko Takaezu Moonpots at Old Farm are now quite impressive with the lily garden subdued and the lawn not full of leaves yet this mild October. What a lovely weekend it was to garden on the Cape and take an inspirational trip to Nantucket.

Toshiko Takaezu became famous as a potter for elevating functional ceramic vessels into fine art. Her most popular series of Moonpots (1937-2010) were closed spherical ceramic sculptures; of which Bill repaired two he was given to save from structural cracks. Toshiko taught at Princeton University for twenty-five years and Bill spent a year as her apprentice in the Clinton, NJ studio.

Bottom images are of Nantucket window boxes and a garden in October when the landscaping and houses are still swell.

So Long Summer

It was a wonderful summer full of warm days painting barns, watching the fields and napping in the hammock grove. We are lucky that it does not feel quite over...and we are still painting.

Barn Windows

Our barn windows span many years of basic design, purpose and restoration. We are now repairing the last wall of windows in the small animal barn which is part of two adjacent horse stalls. The top window of the hayloft had a heavy piece of cloth stapled to its' top and I have found the six pane window with top hinges to remount there. The bottom two windows have new pieces of trim after removing large sheets of press board nailed to this wall; protecting it from horses.

This is the last barn wall power washed and just painted as well as the last group of windows "outside" to repair. The left window slides open with iron bars behind it and the right window has side hinges and four glass panes which need a new muntin. The impact of repairing all our barn windows has been remarkable and great fun.

Best Of Bill

Some garden seats or tables and sculptures (search either in blog posts for more)...