Winter Country Photos (duw)

I took these shots today around the farm; they seem to all have the same lonesome winter feel to them. No snow at this time of year is very odd for our area; things seem to be exposed that should be covered in white, such as dead grass, dead thistles, etc. Here goes..

At the gate: the entrance to our pasture.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...atthegates.jpg

Feel like I am being watched.. out near the horses' run-in shelter
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...horserunin.jpg

I call this our "Tree of Life" and I love its gnarled branches. I need to figure out what type of tree it is; it's over in the swampy area that we don't get into that often.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...treeoflife.jpg

Maple on your pancakes?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...largemaple.jpg

The sad old barn, now almost completely demolished by nature.. it was a huge dairy operation, then part was converted into a sawmill.. Now, stripped of anything useful or worth anything, it just sits and seeps into the earth from whence it came.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ve/barnonr.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...e/oldbarn2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...vive/silos.jpg

This was a little storage room in the barn.. now it is open to the elements, the door flaps in the wind and it is deteriiorating.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ive/hoommm.jpg

My favorite shot: the old roof on the wing of the barn that still stands. We took off most of the lightening rods, but you would literally be risking getting sliced open by the sharp edges of metal roofing to get this sucker!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../metalroof.jpg



The haymow is always a nice cozy place.. it is ground-level but it's still a haymow to me. :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../thehaymow.jpg

Home Sweet Hole
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../homesweet.jpg

That coucludes your tour. Please wipe mud off boots before getting back into your vehicle. :)

Great pix Jen! I love the one of the Maple!!!

Thanks! I need to get a shot of it in the fall, with all the colored leaves.. it is an awesome tree. We were thinking of trying to tap it for maple syrup in the future..

looks nice and peaceful! fresh air and a view!!

i bet stargazing is nice up there.


vaughn

Some nights, it is insane how many stars you can see. It actually kinda frightened me, when I was used to city living, that there were so many stars! Our neighbor has a telescope, and Mark wants to get one soon too.. but you can see a lot with just the naked eye.. and there is actually a small observatory at a nearby park that's opened to the public sometimes.

YOU SHOW OFF----I WANT A BARN!!!! :sabduel:


Nice pix!!

You don't want this one! It is truly a shame how it was let to get in this horrible shape; it is just a sad byproduct of larger megafarms putting smaller dairies out if the biz. It was not really a huge dairy operation; maybe 50 head if that. I do know that this house and farm were abandoned for about 10 yrs. after a farmer died in the one silo from methane fumes; the house was completely futted and updated in the early 80s (or late 70s?) though. The barn didn't get such a fortunate fate, but luckily the little barn we keep the horses in, is in great condition; polebarn. Mark had to redo one wall, that was it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...littlebarn.jpg

And he built this shed/garage by himself! He had no idea or prior experience, just built a frame, and put up paneling and painted.. awesome! You could live in it if it were insulated.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...newershedd.jpg

Some great places for wild snakes there. I love the country!


~mike

Oh yeah! Lots of garters; some of them are just huge. We have also seen red-belly racers.. haven't found any green grass snakes, but that would be awesome; I found one years back roughly 45 minutes from here.