Sheep are Coming to Little River

The students are making preparations to bring sheep to Little River Community School. The Middles have been going out to the Cornell Cooperative Extension farm on a weekly basis to learn about the care of sheep and the Olders have been working to build a shelter and pasture for the sheep. Two lambs, born in September, will come to the school around the first of November.

Heron, one of the Olders, has kept a journal on the building process.

Day One

We mowed a space to store wood and start to build. Ian, Brigid and Seba are measuring and putting in stakes. Iman is taking pictures. Florian is now outside. Heron and Ian mowed. We all took spacers from Birdsfoot to stack the lumber. We are getting lumber from the Martins. We are having a bottle drive to raise money for the logs. We might use the Olders and Middles prize money from the Energy Fair too.

Post 4 to well= 65 ft. Post 4 to school= 128 ft.

Ian, Heron and Steve went to Bob's to get wood. We are laying out the site with batter boards and string.

Day Two

At least one hole dug. Now two and a half holes dug. Wood was delivered about noon. We are now stacking it. Iris, the garden goddess, is blowing in the wind, at least her poncho and ribbons are. The Youngers and Middles and Olders worked together today. The stack of boards is getting higher. Some boards we are putting in the station wagon to go to Birdsfoot. The logs are big. We might have to make bigger holes or shave some of the logs so they will fit in the holes. The fifth and sixth holes are being dug.

Third Day

Most of the holes are dug. We still are deciding where to dig the hole for the door. We have started to cut the logs. Logs are being measured and cut. Seba and Brigid are measuring to dig the hole for the door. Ian is measuring. Steve and Florian are discussing a bow in a log. Brigid is offering people figs. I think Steve took two.

Ian and Z are cutting with the two person saw. Seba, Brigid and Iman are watching Florian dig. Florian just put Seba’s head in a hole. Z gave me tic-tacs, I took two, mints that is, not boxes. We finished the first joint. The second joint is almost done. The third one is being started.

Fourth day

Iman isn’t feeling well. She’s inside. Florian isn’t feeling well either. He went home. We are now trying to get the posts level. We are continuing to level the posts and boards.

It started to rain so we brought the tools in. We went in too. Florian came back. He doesn’t look so well though. We have three posts secured and a board across the top.

There is a person visiting for the afternoon. His name is Justin. He goes to Potsdam school.

Ian and Brigid are sawing. It stopped raining a little while ago.

Jake and Easton helped a lot. Iman is chiseling. I just finished chiseling a log.

Fifth Day

We are trying to level the next three posts and the board. The middle post was too high. Seba is digging the middle hole deeper.

Seventh Day

All the rafters are up. Two walls are done. The door is going up now. Z is starting another wall.

Ninth Day

Four walls are up and the window frame is up. The door frame is up. We might put a window above the door. We might get some roofing donated.

Eleventh Day

The door is done. Heron and Brigid started laying out the fence yesterday.

Eighteenth Day

We got the roofing yesterday! Iman has been calling a lot of places to see if they can donate roofing and yesterday she came in and said that we got roofing! The feeder is almost done and the purlins to screw the roof into are being put up. We are all working hard to get the shed ready for sheep. The sun has come out and it's not as cold as it was this morning. The sun is coming through the window making the petals of the geraniums glow.

Nineteenth Day

The purlins are almost all up. The roof will probably go up today. The sun is out. We are putting up the fence. The sky is blue. It's nice to have the sun come out today. It has been raining the last few days. We are taking a break to eat. Now we are ready for the roof

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Twentieth Day

The roof is done the window is in and all that’s left is the fence. It was fun putting the roof on. The screw gun was fun. We used a nail to put the holes in the metal and put the screws in the holes. We ran out of screws and had to get more. Seba, Florian and Brigid finished the roof after school. The shed is done!

"The Builders"