Trevi Manor Progress Update

As everyone keeps asking me "how's the farm coming along" -- I thought I might give an update!  If you come by to visit, it looks like almost nothing has happened in months, but actually loads of things have been happening... mostly in paperwork.  Jeeze, there's a lot of paperwork involved in building a barn.  Seriously, a lot of paperwork.

To start, I took the better part of 4 months, give or take a month (or two!), to create just the perfect layout.  I must have asked 20 horsey friends to review the drawings, and my mom and I have (seriously!) considered every detail of the layout -- for the horses, I was determined to maximize light and fresh air and give them a quiet and calm home with all their friends nearby. For my mom and me, I wanted to minimize every step possible to not add a single extra second to our daily routine!  I'm sure we'll have some things that don't come out quite right, but at the moment, I can't think of a single detail that isn't just perfect for how I want my barn to flow!  Katchi and Mi are going to be living in the Ritz Carlton come next year!!  I keep calling it my "6 million dollar 6 stall barn" -- thankfully, we're not at that point, but if anyone wants go that route, I have some pretty awesome ideas that could put you well on the way to that price tag!

We are also going through the obligatory paperwork of a site plan, nutrient management plan, demolition permit (for one perfectly lovely shed that is in the exact perfect location for my barn), soil and erosion plan, storm water management, and and and.  Like I said, there's a lot of paperwork.  The great news is, the end of paperwork is in sight, and I am really hopeful construction will start before the end of the year!  I'm meeting with our builder (Quality Buildings out of Pennsylvania) tomorrow to hash out the final details -- I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas to arrive tomorrow!  And then, I think past the initial excitement, and I realize when all this is really done and the barn is finished, I get to PICK OUT BARN CATS!!!!  Seriously, I may be just as excited about the barn cats as I am about the barn and having my fabulous horses just feet from my home!

And, as if I couldn't already feel the anticipation exploding inside me, then this arrives--

Golightly Sport Horses has a sign - in technicolor!!!!  A huge and overflowing thank you to Maureen Carr-York (Kerry's mom) for her bid at the 2013 Ride for Life silent auction that got me this hand crafted farm sign by David Tingley.  What a fabulous and amazing gift and what great memories I will cherish every time I come home to it! THANK YOU! It really is an incredible feeling to know that I am so very close to making this dream a reality, and having a sign ready to hang at the entrance is just about the final straw for me -- I can't take it any more - I'm going to burst!!!