FIRST, and most importantly, NO ONE DIED.

Second, it was a closer call than anyone would have liked.

Third, the foundation repairs of BOTH the Little Red Barn AND the Uncles’ House are FINISHED. Rejoice with us!

And fourth, we are SO GRATEFUL for the amazing work of our friends, Greg Jr. and Greg Sr. (aka, “the Gregs,” not to be confused with Greg-an-owner-of-Cairns-Farm who’s a different Greg entirely), the owners/operators of NW Foundation Repair, without whom death would’ve been a far, FAR more likely outcome.

Here’s the story…

Remember the skunk warrens under the Little Red Barn? Those underground dens that were *ahem* less than ideal to build upon? Those subterranean pockets of skulls and air that messed with our construction project timeline?

Well, they struck again.

This time at the Uncles’ House.

And in a rather more dramatic fashion.

For no sooner had the Gregs completed the Little Red Barn…

…and put the Uncles’ House up on jacks to do the same, a jack collapsed into a skunk warren and then all the remaining jacks collapsed in succession. The Uncle’s House fell, friends. Several feet back to the earth and ended up turned and 4 feet from its original location. 😮 While the house used to face directly east, now it looks the slightest bit southeast.

BUT the Gregs weren’t underneath the house when it happened (THANK GOODNESS), AND the house hopped right over our brand new water line avoiding breakage and a resulting flood, AND the power line didn’t fall to the ground, AND the house remained intact, AND it looks great where it landed, so we’re counting our blessings and wiping our brows and expressing eternal thanks.

Long story short, the Gregs are rock stars, put that house back up on jacks, and completed the project, securing the house, and now we have TWO buildings in the private park area of Cairns Farm with firm foundations, ready for the next steps.

Woohoo!

And speaking of next steps…

A bunch of folks have been wondering when they can come visit Cairns Farm. Frankly, most of our friends and family haven’t even visited yet. It’s been a construction zone with super deep, open trenches and buildings we, for now obvious reasons, didn’t feel were safe for visitors. And while we’re still not open or able to welcome regular visitors yet (hopefully early fall!), we ARE finally able and ready to take folks up on offers of help in the construction process.

From 10am-4pm the first 3 Saturdays in August — the 3rd, 10th, and 17th — we’ll be hosting community construction projects as we make a summer push to complete park restrooms in Uncles’ House, build decks and big barn doors on the Little Red Barn, salvage ancient barn wood for park signs, and repair fencing to allow our growing herd of goats and alpacas access to the parts of the property we need them to help maintain. Lunch is on us, of course! So if you have a few hours or a whole Saturday available, we’d LOVE to work alongside you on this crazy dream of ours. No experience necessary — we’ll have folks on hand to teach you what needs to be done.

If you can give us a heads-up you’re coming, that’s awesome and helps us plan lunch accordingly. You can let us know via info@CairnsFarm.com. If you wake up on Saturday and decide to come spur-of-the-moment, though, we’ll welcome you with open arms, too!

In conclusion, we’re making progress, and we’re REALLY excited about what comes next!

Warmly,
Beth Woolsey for Cairns Farm

And if you ever need foundation work done, we give all the thumbs up to the Gregs at NW Foundation Repair.

Highly recommend!