Things just seem to work out

I’m not sure if it’s fate, faith or simple dumb luck, but once in a while things do seem to go your way.

Like last Sunday for instance. Dave’s phone rang and it was a nice woman in Lake O’ who said, “Hey, what are you doing today? Do you still want to clean out our barn before they tear it down tomorrow?”

“Well sure! How can we say no to that?” Ha! At 4 p.m. we loaded up the truck and trailer and got there just as fast as we could knowing that it would be dark by 7 p.m.

This conversation had started a few weeks earlier when we had heard from Dwayne at the greenhouse that the Vasquez Family (next to Union Bank on M-50) was looking for someone to take down their old carriage house so that they could build a more efficient pole barn. When we stopped to inquire, we discovered that some of their friends and family were planning to remove any doors, windows or other items that could be recycled, and then Gordy Erb Excavating was taking the building down. After looking inside the barn, Dave wasn’t terribly interested since it wasn’t post and beam construction but it was still a gorgeous old building with many assets. Oh well…you can’t win ’em all.

The building was really in very good shape, with the exception of the foundation. It was an old stone base that was crumbling badly and one corner was leaning. It’s one of those buildings you would love to see restored, but the expense was probably not justified and even after repairs wouldn’t have served the family’s needs.

Well, evidently something fell through and we were next on the list to pick through the building and see what we could find. And find we did! There were some really unique items up in the attic including almost a full case of these little egg holders. After some online research we learned they were part of an “Eat Michigan Eggs” promotion back in the 1950s. How fun!

There were also some old windows and screens, as well as trim that was previously in the house along with many other odds and ends. Overall, it was one of the best calls we’ve received in quite a while. We’re very thankful to the Vasquez Family for giving us the opportunity and we wish them well on their new barn project.

We went back a few days later to watch Gordy work his magic and take the barn down. After standing nearly 100 years, it only took about 15 minutes to bring her down…