It Really Looked Like That?

Sometimes I look at older pictures of the farm to get inspiration for a post.  Here are a few juxtapositions that others might find interesting.

The Barn...

When we first moved to the farm, the barn was in reasonable shape, but the roof was not.  Anyone who has lived on a farm knows that, when a roof goes, the building follows soon after if something isn't done.

We actually used the barn for a few seasons as the night-time shelter for poultry.  And, we investigated getting the roof fix - until we found out how much THAT would cost.  We looked into some grant and other funding ideas and just never could get it all to come together.

 Things look a good deal different now.  Of course, the first picture was during Spring and this one is before anything greens up.  The area around the barn isn't being kept up right now and we've allowed some bushes and trees to grow.  The entire West section of the barn is now down (you are looking at the East section in this photo).

Farmhouse and Outbuildings
Some changes are for the good and some can be sad.  I'm going to leave both photos near each other so you can do a "find all of the different things in the picture" puzzle with them.

2008

2020

There have been many changes for the good over the years.  As many who read the blog know, the house has undergone a transformation this Winter as we have torn off two layers of old siding and replaced it with new.  You might also notice the roof on the house.  What else do you see?

2008

One of the things in this picture that is sad is the large tree at the right of the house.  Sadly, this gorgeous tree was the result of someone letting a tree grow for decades into the foundation of the garage.  As a Silver Maple, it was a quick grower and had great potential for breaking and falling on things...  maybe not a quality we wanted for that exact location.  On the other hand, we liked the birds it brought to us - and the shade - and the feel.  But, it threatened to come down and take many other things with it - so we arranged to have it come down in a 'mostly' controlled fashion.

Over the years we have done our best to add trees and bushes.  Some of them have seemed to take pretty well to their locations.  Others, not so much.  But, we'll keep trying.  Because that's what we do.