SANDY CREEK BRIDGE - 1921

DORENA LAKE, ROW RIVER - COVERED BRIDGE

CURRIN COVERED BRIDGE

SWINGING BRIDGE HAS MORE BOUNCE THAN SWING

MOSBY CREEK with BONUS SWIMMING HOLE

I BET THE TREES USED TO BE SHORTER

ROCHESTER BRIDE GOES TO OAKLAND

I LOVE BARNS!

BARN ROW

VINATGE BARN

WINTER BARN

LOVE OF BARNS

I've always loved barns - no real reason why, but I do. I ran across these pictures tonight of some barns I photographed a couple winters ago and thought I'd share. They are all so different and yet so welcoming.

The Calm Before the Storm

This last one is my favorite with all the stone and warped barn wood. I love how the doors were hanging askew too.

 

I was able to capture these yesterday while it was spring like. Just look at all that grass peeking through.

It's hard to believe that the next three pictures are of the same farm. I just love barns!

Look close at picture above and you will see there is a ghost hanging in the loft window. A Halloween leftover?

History of a barn and the hope of a greenhouse

Many have asked so I'm now doing pictures and a bit of the history as I know it that surrounds our barn. We are 'in town' technically, but we have one of the last standing barns, It's in great shape as it doesn't leak and the floor and inside walls were made of half logs. It was built in 1850 according to the real estate information. The only thing the previous owner left behind of any value was an abstract Title that spelled out the history of the property, a story for another time.

The last owner had used it for storage and had it packed so full you couldn't see all 4 walls at the same time. When they moved they took most of their things, but did leave behind a 60 yard dumpster full of junk (you know things like 60 year old vacuums, broken high chairs, plastic one gallon jugs, broken coat racks, etc... I could go on for pages.

We were not told that it is 'sliding' off its foundation by the previous owners, but the previous previous owner has told us it is. He said he shored up in the early 90's before selling. Now we're told the next guy put skirting (we were told it was for drainage) around the shoring to disguise it. This summer we'll take off the skirting and see where we stand. Hubby is thinking about turning it into a workshop. Once we cleared away the debris we found a pretty neat barn. The building itself is about 28 x 30 and has a large attic area. There is a wood burning stove and old brick chimney. The sliding carriage doors (I couldn't get a picture of these today - too many mud puddles) no longer slide open as that side is braced from the ground up, but look neat anyway. The graffiti is leftover from the local high school students. In the 80's our barn was used to construct the homecoming float in each year and became a hangout for the kids. Someone replaced one of the windows with a vinyl slider that looks really out of place. Right now hubby uses it for mainly storage.

And this picture is especially for Barbara. This is the south west corner where you can begin to imagine the greenhouse made from our old sash windows. This spring we will be planting lilacs of various colors along the outside of the chain link fence to create a hedge to hide it and add a touch of privacy. You also have to imagine the yard is green. If you look close, there are still a few small patches of snow here and there. In that corner will be the greenhouse. The door will open towards the yard. I may even set it on an angle for a touch of charm. Now imagine on either side a 3 tiered flower bed made from railroad ties and full of LOTS of color.

WINTER SNOW TIIME

I posted the Fall color pictures, so I thought I'd post Winter too and then Spring and Summer to depict an entire year here in the North Woods.

A snowboarder catches a gust on Teal Lake while a herd of deer check out the offerings on top of the paint river recently frozen over.

During the summer, Whiskey could stand on her hind legs and snatch a fresh apple from the lower branches of the the obviously endless apple tree (it's February in the U.P. and I still have apples!!!!!!). Now, she just stands there and waits for them to fall or digs with her snout in the 3 feet (that's a 4 foot fence behind her) deep snow for the ones that have recently fallen. Gunner just wants someone to play ball with him.