Good Barn, Bad Barn, . . .

As a barn enthusiast (if there is such a thing), I am always on the lookout for interesting barns.  As I travel around, I take photos of barns of interest.

Good Barn

This is the round barn at the Shelburne Museum.  It was built in 1901 in East Passumpsic, Vermont.  It was relocated to the grounds of the Shelburne Museum in 1985/1986.

Okay Barn

This little barn is used for hay storage in Vergennes, Vermont.  I always liked the saddle-shaped slate roof.  It is well maintained, but the sagging roof and separated siding indicate some structural damage.

Sad Barns

This barn has lost one side and part of the roof.  In time it will collapse as water gets in and the structure gets weak.

This a another round barn, but the roof is gone and it is soon for collapse.  It takes a lot of money and time to keep a barn in good shape.

Recycled Barn

I've been watching this barn get disassembled.  My guess is that the wood is being sold to a company which reuses the wood for furniture, new construction, and flooring.  It's better to see the structure get recycled than rot away.

Springtime Yellow and White

It was going to rain later in the day, so I jumped on the bike early in the morning for a short 20 mile ride.  I went along one of my favorite roads - some good hills, marshes, woods, meadows, pastures, red-barned farms, old houses, creeks, covered bridges, and little traffic.

Along the way I noticed that the dominant colors of the wildflowers were white and yellow.

A dense cluster of Trilliums and Sedums.

Dandelions

Marsh Marigolds

Winter Cress

As the summer comes, more colors will appear.  I'll keep an eye out for the change of flower colors.  Enjoy!

The Flooding Continues

We have had several rain-free days.  Blues skies, moderate winds from the north, and high temperatures around 62 degF.

Lake Champlain is slowly receding.  After reaching a peak over 103 feet, it is around 102.5 feet today.  It will take many weeks before it is under flood stage.

Though we don't live on the lake, I am continuously confronted by the flooding.  There isn't a day when I go cycling that some road isn't closed, or a bridge has water over it.  Hundreds of homes and camps are flooded.  Our flooding is not as extensive as that of the Mississippi, but we still have a lot of damaged roads and ruined homes.

The Otter is starting to drop in level and volume.  I noticed it was more blue than brown today, though the major tributaries (like the Lemon Fair) are still brown and muddy.

Joining of the Lemon Fair with Otter Creek

There has been a lot of flooding of farm fields.  The runoff is introducing large amounts of phosphorus into the lake.  I wonder what the streams, slangs and lake will be like in the coming weeks and months.

Trilliums and Earthballs

I went for a long bike ride yesterday.  In my younger days, I would just ride as hard as I can to train for racing.  As I have gotten older and stopped racing, I find myself looking off to the woods and the streams.

Yesterday I came across tons of trilliums ("... billiums of trilliums ...") growing in the shady roadsides under the trees.  Trilliums are some of my favorites.  I jumped off my bike and took a few photos.

Just down the road I saw a strange sight.  I got off my bike to investigate.  Looks like I came across some earthball mushrooms (genus Scleroderma).  They are poisonous, unlike the larger puffball mushrooms which I blogged about before.

Always  take the time to look around.  You ever know what you will find.


Happy Mother's Day!

From the Lake to the Mountains

Yesterday was a perfect day.  The winds were calm, it was sunny, the temperatures where in the low 70s degF. Spring is in full bloom.  The grass is green and growing like crazy.  The trees are leafing out, and the wildflowers are starting to bloom.

I started the day with a bike ride down by the lake.  I was planning on riding to Rt 125 and crossing the little causeway by the lake.  However, the recent flooding had the road closed.

As I headed home I looked at the construction of the Crown Point Bridge.  It is one of the few bridges that cross Lake Champlain.  This bridge was demolished recently and is to open later this year (we hope).

When I got home, the wife an I went for a short hike into the Green Mountains.  We drove south and turned east onto Rt 125.  Rt 125 comes up from the lake, through dairy farms, and into the Green Mountains.  We stopped at the Robert Frost Trail (which I visited a few times in the winter).

We made sure to look down and take in the wildflowers.  We saw Nodding Trilliums (which I have never seen before), . . .

. . . tons of Trout Lillies, . . .

. . . wild Phlox, . . .

. . . and Fiddleheads.

We then drove over the Green Mountains, and descended the mountains for a few miles.  We came to one of our favorite areas, Texas Falls Recreation Area of the Green Mountain National Forest.  There are trails by the falls, as well as a beautiful picnic area.

 Rt 125 is one of the great drives through Vermont.  Enjoy.