I made the initial landscaping base from builders foam. Before going further, I went ahead and ran wiring for the barn since the landscaping will be put in place over it.
I used my floral lead wire that I had installed when I glued the floor board to pull one final wire and one scrap wire through the hole. Once those were through, I taped the final wire to hold it in place and used the scrap wire to bring another final wire and the floral wire back through the hole. I used the floral wire to bring one final wire back through. Why not do them all at once? For some reason, it never fits. I end up with the same amount of wire through the hole at any given time, but it never wants to budge. :D
I opted for three wires though I am figuring on needing only two in the barn. I can always pull the extra out in the end or leave it curled in the sea chest in case inspiration strikes later.
To protect the wires, I taped aquarium airline tubing to the main board near the end and over the edge. I don’t usually do this step, but there are so few wires that will come out of the building, and I wanted to make sure they didn’t pull or get damaged. I usually have a lot more wires.
I did need to make a channel in the foam for the tubing and wires going into the foundation. I dabbed black paint onto the tube and then pressed the foam over it.
I cut where the paint line was. :]
I glued the front lower foam piece to the landscaping board using Weldbond glue. I applied glue to the foam with a scrap of foam core board and then pressed it into place.
I painted the pieces with gesso. I had left the pieces closest to the building removable since I didn’t want to risk getting gesso or paint on the foundation.
Once dry, I painted them with a mix of black and brown. I won’t bother touching up the base trim until I’m done with the landscaping prep work. I glued the remaining pieces of foam in place.
I added some stucco patch to fill in the gaps between the pieces and to even out the ramp. It will be easy enough to touch up the paint once it dries without marring the foundation.
I added stone near the front edges where I hadn’t been able to apply earlier. This completes the stone foundation toward the front of the barn.
We need a rabbit hole, of course. :D
