Briefly, years before my partner and I started working on pulling together the Carriage business...we were talking about jobs he had that he enjoyed the most. He mentioned one of the jobs he had doing carpentry and listed all the reasons he respected the boss and the work...one of the reasons was the boss's skills, commitment to restoring old buildings and his love for old wood.

After I bought the property...I was standing in the yard, looking at the sagging barn and this man's name popped into my head. I looked him up in the phone book and called him, somehow convincing him that he HAD to come see the barn. He was not only excited about helping the barn stand up again..but did a thorough evaluation of the house as well, and got excited about the 17th century part of the house. He, members of his family, some neighbors and myself worked ALL the remainder of last year,(in his spare time), on doing some immediate repairs to the house and "wenching" the barn back together. I'm told it's a Nova Scotian design......and kat found some pictures and websites of the style for me.

THANK-YOU KAT...lol

Anyway...I came home one morning after working an 18 hour shift...and he, his girlfriend and her sister were already working on the roof of the house. I plopped myself down on the tailgate of his truck, and watched the organized, competent chaos. I don't know if any of you have ever felt that you were EXACTLY where you're s'posed" to be, but that's the wave I felt watching them.

I sat there for a few minutes....soaking up the visual scene...still baffled by EVEN being there...just beginning to feel, that after ALL the hell I've been through in the last few years, I JUST might make it after all......when....on the truck radio came Stan Rogers singing "The Mary-Ellen Carter". After I got over my initial.."I Don't Believe This....." and found words(kinda/sorta)I called Paul and I think kat(??) and "babbled"......like I just did here....bg