Year Three Begins!

3/2/2021

February of 2019 saw Gil moving to Tennessee from Colorado to live in a pop-up camper while beginning renovation on a 120 year old farmhouse in serious need of TLC. No livestock, no pets, and no family.

February of 2021 saw the whole Carter family (minus Dylan who moved back to Colorado last summer) moved in. New roof, insulated walls & ceilings, reinforced floors, additional windows, complete electrical system overhaul, and two HVAC units to heat & cool. Whew! We’re also stewards of 2 1/2 cows (one is pregnant), 5 2/3s goats (two babies here and two expected), two pigs, 15 chickens, 4 dogs, and a cat.

Covid has certainly slowed progress in may ways, with groups being unable to converge on the farm and accelerate projects. However, it has allowed us to focus our efforts and enjoy having individuals and family or small groups join in the work. Although the “to do” list will be with us for a while, many jobs are nearing completion. This is particularly exciting since Covid will hopefully be fading and more “in-person” opportunities for ministry will be available. We are eager to get to that part of ministry and launch building projects that will host both spiritual and civil first responders here at Crossroads Farm.

With the heating system in place, the last “big” projects are:

Bathroom renovation/repair (Summer 2021)
Kitchen renovation (Fall 2021)
Front porch replacement (Spring 2021)
Overall Floor TLC (TBD)
Building a workshop in the livestock barn (Ongoing)

We have been encouraged to hire out for some of the projects we have on the drawing board. One such was getting a professional to install our donated HVAC DIY units. We asked for quotes and were dismayed to hear what we considered to be outrageous fees. One HVAC person told us it would take about fours hours to install (given Gil had already run the electricity) and would charge us $2,000. We had all the equipment already so paying someone $500/hour seemed poor stewardship since we could do the work. While it took us longer than the quoted 4 hours to install, we now have heating and air conditioning. This has not dissuaded us from hiring out for other projects, we are looking forward to having teams come out to help in the near future.