Saturday, February 12, 2011

Barn Work

I knew before sunrise that it would be warm today. I got up before dawn to let our old dog out. When I stepped out on the deck, the sky was ink blue and the stars were bright as embers with no clouds in sight.
After coffee, I called my nephew Haven and he agreed to take his trailer down to the saw mill early to pick up the wood to repair the barn. If the weather cooperates, we'll get started on repairs by mid-week and hopefully we'll be through by weeks end.
You can't tell by this picture, but it's actually a beautiful old barn and it's stood strong even through years of neglect.
Repairing the barn has been on my todo list forever, but writing it on a list and actually doing the work is a horse of a different color, as the old saying goes.
When people come to visit us, they always want to walk around and look at things. Our little place seems to send out good vibrations.
The old house and the barn look as old as time itself. I'm not sure if it's the giant oak and hickory trees, or the house and barn that were built with rough cut lumber, but they look like something from an old cherished picture.
I bought rough-cut lumber to do the repairs, and I'll repaint the barn once I'm through and then it will be up to father time to put the patena back where it belongs.

7 comments:

  1. There is something about old barns. They remind me of older times when things seemed simple and a farmer was looked at with awe. I know people up north who travel throughout PA to find old barns to take pictures of them just because they love them. Father Time is a wise old man.

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  2. You seem to live in the most idyllic of places!!! Old barns, new creative spaces, lots of trees and gorgeous wildlife at your doorstep!! It's nice to know there is a little corner in this world so lovely for you and yours to enjoy! Take care
    x

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  3. Do you have more pictures of the barn? It would be fun to see the changes as you put on new wood and make repairs.

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  4. Hey TechnoBabe,
    Took several photos earlier in the summer. They can be viewed here:
    http://dorahighschoolalumni.blogspot.com/2010/07/barn-photos.html

    I focused in on the defects so that I could do a before and after.

    I have other pictures taken in different seasons that are much more flattering.

    @ Barb, I love old barns too. I always try to stop and capture photos of the good ones.
    @Old Kitty, Jilda and I feel blessed to live here. The day job I worked at for so many years was 50 miles away in one of the richest zipcodes in Alabama. People always asked why I didn't move in to that side of town. It was hard for me to explain. But when the financial meltdown hit a few years ago, many of the folks who moved over there in the "HighDollar" neighborhoods, lost their homes.
    Our little place is paid for and that's why it's taken so long to put it right again.
    But it's quite here and we look forward to the changing of the seasons. To us, it's home.

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  5. I wish I could stop in with my hammer and carpenter's apron to give you a hand with your renovations, but it's a mite far to commute. Anyway, yes, more photos of your progress. And I always look for old barns when we travel as subjects for watercolors.

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  6. I like to fix and repaint old things myself, so I guess you feel enthusiastic about repairing the barn.
    May your repair job be easy and pleasant!

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  7. Old barns are amazing! A friend from the Marine Corps sketched his family barn for me while we were overseas. It was right after my Grandmamá die. I was very sad, he wrote "This good old wonderful things hold memories that surpass time and death. She washes you." I was taken by the gift itself, that I didn't really look at it. Then about 5 years later, I looked at it and there was a tiny silhouettes peeping from behind the shadows. One of my most precious possessions, and it is a nice old barn.

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