Some words in These titles mean nothing.
- July 14, 2023, 1:47 p.m.
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- Public
Oh I have lots to say.
Somebody finally came to look at the barn.
And then they finally called back with an estimate for straightening it up/keeping it from falling over, and tinning the walls.
$27,000.
It’s the only big barn left on our road. Its almost twin down the valley’s been gone now for a long time.
I’d rather straighten it up, replace the windows and paint it, but that’s not practical.
I suppose we’ll do it. It won’t be perfect but it will still be there.
So. And what else?
The sunrise.
The creek.
A couple weeds.
A big healthy looking lamb’s quarter. They’re supposed to be good to eat but I’ve never tried one.
A wild mustard.
.
A plantian - a white man’s footprint.
So called because it followed the white man across the continent.
I watched a couple versions of Tennessee Williams - “Small Craft Warning” on you tube the last few nights.
I have a picture of a picture of the second husky along with Stinky on the porch - a lot of years ago.
‘ll
They lived an interesting life. Stinky had a face - it just doesn’t show up as well as the husky’s.
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I think there is a blood drive in the town next door today. I thought of going but I guess I won’t. I guess giving blood is something I used to do but don’t do anymore.
Life gets full of things like that.
Next week should be the writers group - I haven’t a thing in mind to write. I suppose I’ll go since it’s all I do anymore.
I haven’t added up my money yet. It was something I liked doing but it doesn’t seem worth the effort either.
Funny the things that weigh on our shoulders. The things we could do if we wanted to. The things that add up day to day, month to month, year to year.
The fair is next week. I never go.
I might go see my sisterinlaw. It’s been kind of a game of phone tag, except we do it on Facebook messenger.
She’s written a book, her life story. She has a copy for me. I’m interested.
Purple Dawn ⋅ July 14, 2023
I pick lambs quarter when it's quite a bit smaller than that but yes, it's just like spinach. I call it pigweed though. It's everywhere around the farm :)
Your barn looks amazing now, I can only imagine how beautiful it will be when it's finished.
We don't have a place around to donate blood, I think it is mostly in cities or I wouldn't mind doing it.
Take care, I'm enjoying your lovely pictures.
A Pedestrian Wandering ⋅ July 14, 2023
I enjoy your pictures too, even the pictures of pictures. Of wild mustard here in California, it is said that the Spanish cast it for forage for their horses and pack animals along the trails they created as they explored the coastal lands. The predominant species is invasive here and darned near chokes everything else out.
Just Annie ⋅ July 15, 2023
Lovely photos!
NorthernSeeker ⋅ July 15, 2023
There were plantians at 'Ksan when we visited there many years ago. $27 000 is a big investment but you'll have the only big barn on the road. Where do farmer's put their farm things now?
woman in the moon NorthernSeeker ⋅ July 19, 2023
Funny thing about farm buildings - in the US anyway- they get obsolete. It turns out you can depreciate their cost on your income taxes- sort of anyway. It's a money game I guess. But often the buildings only have a limited useful life. The way we do things changes over time. The purpose the building had in 1930 has been past for a long time by 2023. Kind of a deep thought.
Say! I just read a lovely thoughtful great very pretty card you sent me in a February several years ago. Jamie had just visited you and you and Mark had just bought season passes to Burkart gardens. I refuse to look up how to spell that name. The card was big and had a bird on the front. I had taped it to the end of a book case with other cards from you and maybe someone else but the tape had come loose and I was using it as a bookmark in a used college literature book with Hemingway and Chekov and a David Ives play - Ives is a new writer I will have to audition for my stable. Anyway it was just a great card and what you wrote was so great and your handwriting was so real and legible and I'm so glad I know you and you sent me the card and I kept it and I found it tonight.
Ain't life great? It isn't always but it can be surprisingly so sometimes. You were in Victoria - well sure with the garden pass. You'd bought a fancy pizza. YOu wrote over a span of several days.
Beret ⋅ July 16, 2023
That's a beautiful barn and they aren't built like that anymore. I hope it can be saved.
noko ⋅ July 18, 2023
As always, love the light. Particularly in the creek shot. So true about not doing particular things anymore. Today for me it was a rally. I didn’t go. I sent emails instead. We voted in a new city charter and the commissioners are trying to change it.
ConnieK ⋅ July 24, 2023
Maybe contact Barnwood Builders? Owners provide materials, the show pays for the labor. Conversely, ANY woodworker in town would salivate over those boards. If it were me, I'd level it out and make it an events place: weddings, reunions, etc. Farm themed weddings are still a big deal and it would be passive income.
Serin ⋅ July 25, 2023
Is that a reasonable price for a barn rehabilitation? I have no idea, but I can't imagine those things are cheap.
woman in the moon Serin ⋅ July 25, 2023
Oh it's like anything else. It varies. We put a new roof on it maybe 10 years ago. I can't remember what that cost. $8000 maybe. This includes putting metal siding on the barn which would costs at least that much. I've forgotten what all we 'get' for this rehab. It involve some bracing and 'straightening'. The cost is always part of the reason there aren't there that many of those big old barns left.
Interestingly my son put about that much money into his own teeth last year. He'd gotten money from Covid relief and there were other positive financial factors so it wasn't a struggle. But which is better, fixing a building that is more history than a present asset or fixing your teeth for another thirty or forty years?
Jim says that aside from he and me - and those barn loving cousins who come 'round every ten or so years - no one cares about the barn. And I sure won't be here in 40 years and he probably won't be either.