Autumn Barns and Bridges

We took a little vacation last weekend down to Gettysburg.  We took the long way down, backroads, rolling hills, the changing seasons.

The leaves were really starting to change...

We came across a farm with a whimsically painted silo!

There were a wide variety of well-cared barns about the Gettysburg battlefields . . .

One of the most stately is the Maclean Barn.

I really like the way the doors are painted.  I also have seen this in Ohio.

 The Trostle Barn is very unique - it is built of brick (note the cannon ball hole in the gable end...).

We read about the Sachs Bridge.  With the assistance of a GPS, we were able to find it.  It is the most famous covered bridge in Pennsylvania.  It is quite picturesque.

And yet another stately barn.

The weather was perfect, as was the scenery.  It is good to just travel about and enjoy the simple views of countryside.

The First Coating of Snow

We've had snow flurries and some blustery weather the last few weeks, but not enough to really stick.  We got about an inch of snow yesterday.  I know a lot of people don't like to see the first real snow, but it makes me happy.

The creek is running well.  The water is too warm to start freezing yet . . .

The lichens on the rock wall by the ramp to the hay mow seem just fine in the cold . . .

The old barn sleeps peacefully . . .

The garden beds are also asleep.  We planted garlic bulbs in late October and were surprised they already sprouted!  We had warmer-than-normal weather in early November.  I'm sure the garlic will be fine next spring.

The temperatures are expected to rise over 50 degF the next few days.  I like to see the snow.  It helps set the mood for the holidays . . .

Red and White

We spent the last few days visiting our daughter and her family in Indiana.  The drive out there took us through rolling hills and farmland across New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.  A good opportunity for some casual barn spotting.

I was amazed at the differences in the barns in Ohio and Indiana.  Most of our barns are red, though there are a few white ones, like this beauty which is about 5 miles from our place -

This white barn is found in Ohio (isn't it obvious!).  A classic gambrel-roofed barn.  I like the state pride the owner demonstrates!

More white barns . . .

This is not to say that red barns weren't around.

Though most of the red barns were older, there were some new ones.

There was a trim detail on many of the older barns I noticed.  Here are two examples that have it.

Do you see it?

If you look closely at the doors, you find that they are trimmed in a circular white pattern like a Paladium window.  I have never seen this here in New York!

It seems the white barns in Ohio and Indiana where typically newer than the red ones. I wonder if new manufacturing methods drove the greater availability of white paint?

Roaming Around

I felt like taking a drive and stopping on the side of the road to capture some photos.

People are surprised by the number of maple sugar shacks about.  There are quite a few sugar maples in the area.

I have never lived in an area with so many farms and barns.  I read somewhere that there are more barns per square mile in this part of the country than anywhere else in the USA.

Many of these building are slowly decaying.  This building was covered at some point with asphalt shingles.  My barn was covered this way.  I never quite understood the benefits of this type of siding.  It tended to fall off over time.

Other structures are racked and will succumb to the pull of gravity . . .

The tamaracks (American Larches) are at peak.  These trees will be the last to drop their needle-like leaves. This stand really popped against the hillside not that all is left are 'sticks'.

I came across an abandoned truck in a tall stand of knotweed.

It was a 1960's era REO.  They combined with the Diamond T company in the 1970's to form Diamond REO.  REO was named for Ransom E. Olds, a founder of the Olds Motor Company (later Oldsmobile). Diamond REO is now defunct.  I wonder how long this truck has sat there?

Paint, Paint, Paint

With an old farmhouse (with porches), a garage, old chicken coop, and the barn (with the attached dairy shed and gym), there is always something that needs to be painted.  I always have a gallon of paint that I am dipping a brush into most weekends in the summer.

Lately I've been touching up the trim on the front of the barn.

I finished scraping and painting the deck.

I need to work on the trim on the garage, as well as finish the windows on the barn.

We're almost in August.  The summer draws short and soon my painting time will be over.

What never-ending chores do you have?

Start of Another Year

Got up.

Made a pot of coffee.

Went to the auction house.

Did some shopping.

Decided to clean out the barn...
  -  Yes, it is nearly 50 degF outside.
  -  Opened the doors to the hay mow.

  -  Opened the doors by the stalls.

  -  Nope, the owl doesn't keep the bats away~

  -  Yep, I had to sweep up a lot of bat poop!  (I cheat - I use a leaf blower!)

The rain is coming in.  It will cool off over the next few days. A little snow is predicted.

Happy New Year!

Playing Around

I found a new application for the iPhone / iPod Touch which allows one to easily stitch together photos into a panoramic photo.  The application is called Photosynth.

I put together a few photos of our property (from the street, and back behind the barn by the creek.

There is some fish-eye effect when shooting close, but the application worked fine.

Enjoy.

A Christmas Tale...

T’was the night before Christmas.

Pay heed to my yarn

About the strange happenings

Around my old Barn.

I went to the Barn

To check on things there

Hoping that all

Was tidy and square.

The rush of the water

In the rain-swollen creek.

Was all I could hear -

But then there’s a "squeak".

I went to the hay mow

To find it was still

Not a varmint about

In the cold winter chill.

The stables were empty

The barn was all dark

Not a chirp or a peep

Or a growl or a bark.

When rounding a corner

I was taken aback!

Someone had sharpened

My saws and my Axe!

To the workshop I went

And climbing the stair

To find someone had

Been cleaning in there!

And looking about 

I startled myself

Off in the corner

I saw a Barn Elf!

He scurried about

And kept cleaning the place

I couldn’t keep up

With his very quick pace.

He suddenly stopped

Once he was all done

He was smiling a lot

(I guess he had fun!)

He spun ‘round three times

And then pulled his beard

In the blink of an eye

He just disappeared!

I heard a faint noise

As I turned out the light.

"Peace be to all ,

Be safe, and Good Night!"