Barn Tour...Part 3...the Exterior

I showed you the upstairs and downstairs in the barn.

Today is a look at the outside.

I took these pictures last summer.

The beauty of the weathered wood is always fresh to me.

Even abandoned and alone, I think she is lovely.

She does not seem sad to me.

She seems strong and settled and happy.

When I come to visit here, I usually wait for my husband right here.

He knows when he pulls up in the truck that there may be a pile of goodies to load for home.

Sometimes it's just a little pile of walnuts or scrap wood.

This is the old implement shed.

This winter, part of the roof fell in.

My daughter had her senior pictures taken here.

She said she had a lot of sweat equity in those pictures.

We came 2 times to clean out brush and trim back branches and grass.

The pictures were gorgeous.

We loved that the photographer came here to take them.

This place means something to my whole family.

I know that pole barns are so much easier and cheaper to build.

These sweet old buildings are slowly dying away.

Even though she is old and overgrown,  I think she is lovely and charming.

This is a look from the outside in that small animal room I showed you before.

If you turn and look the other way at the door, you see the scene below....

We just don't make things like this anymore....

This is what was left of the farm house last fall.

It is very overgrown.

I am curious to explore it but it is not safe.

You could fall through the floor into the basement.

Or get beaned by something falling from above...

So I usually try to get as close as possible and look.

Living in the country has so many benefits...

Fresh air.

Lots of space.

Nice, hard working people.

Critters and birds.

Beautiful places.

Do you have somewhere you enjoy like this?

Thanks for stopping by...

Barn Tour....Part 2...the Ground Floor

Last week I shared one of my favorite places with you...

My neighbors barn.

Today I wanted to share some photos from the ground floor.

Let's head down from the hay loft...

At the bottom of the stairs is a small livestock room.

A relative got a lot of reclaimed house salvage pieces and stored them here. 

You can see them on the floor.

When you turn around, you can see the stairs to the hayloft that I just came down.

I love the white washed walls...So rustic...

I always end up touching the wood...

Running my hands along the walls and thinking about who else did the same while they were working.

You can see the small stall in this room.

Probably used for pigs.

I think goats would climb out.

Maybe a little donkey.

Looking out the window...

To get to the rest of the barn, we go out here...

There is another door into the barn but is is blocked with doors that relative left.

I love that exterior weathered wood...

I do not have as many pictures of the downstairs because the space is more filled with the reclaimed doors and such.

I love the ceiling and beams.

That white wash is gorgeous.

There is a big open side where the animals could come in.

Our neighbor told me when they bought the farm it was so full of manure the horses could barely walk.  

It was a couple feet deep.

My neighbors worked hard to muck it out.

There are lots of critters that take refuge here...

I find animal skulls and bones.

There are several groundhog holes in the barn floor. 

 Pretty smart groundhogs. 

 Out of the weather...

 very few people actually come here to disturb them....

You can see someone stuck a pillar in one of the holes.

It wasn't me.

I so love this place.

See those cool old hinges?

I am not as limber as I should be so when I try to crawl from area to another it is not a pretty picture.

I do it anyway.

I always take home some sort of treasure...

An old glass bottle.

Some walnut shells.

A rusty bolt.

Someday when this place is gone, I want to remember.

Join me again later when I show you around the outside.

Thanks for stopping by...

Do you have a favorite place?

Barn Tour....Part 1

I want to take you on a tour of one of my favorite places...

We are lucky enough to live in the country....

Our neighbors own a working dairy farm.  

Part of the farm includes another farm.  

The house is no longer standing.

But the barn is. 

 I love the barn.

This is a tour of the upstairs of the barn.

It is primarily empty, but I think it is a wondrous place.

There is something so magical about the way the sun streams into the hayloft.

Almost spiritual.

I love the architecture and am amazed at the engineering behind the roof.

This is a view into the field from the hay loft.

There are places where the floor is a bit spongy so I stay close to the stairs and just enjoy the moment.

We had such a hard winter.

 My husband and I were worried the roof may not hold.

You can see the holes in the tin.

But she is still standing.

If I won the lottery, I would buy this barn.

I would have her fixed up and turn her into an antique retreat.

A shop. 

A place to hold classes.

And parties.

She would be filled with laughter and love.

The hayloft I would leave open and spacious with a few tables.

Room to dance.

Room to move.

Whenever I am here, I feel the tension leave me.

Actually just looking at the photos does the same thing.

I think about the work that has been done here.

Hot,sweaty work.....

 putting hay up in the heat of the summer.

I imagine the farmer's wife joining him here in the evening after the work is done.

Leaning together, they look out at the land.

  They assess all that they are growing.

The crops.

Their farm.

Their family.

I imagine their kids playing hide and go seek among the stacked bales of hay.

I imagine their daughter, now a young woman, stealing a kiss from her sweetheart here one evening.

This barn has stories she keeps. 

Another time I will show you more of her.

Thanks for stopping by.