It's been a while - how about a trip to see some old barns?

It's been quite a month - since I last posted. I have posted on my other blog - about what has been keeping me so busy - Don's open heart surgery to repair the mitral valve. He got home from the hospital (after nine days in the hospital) two weeks ago today. His progress has been nothing short of miraculous. He's had almost no pain, and what pain he has had has been in the form of muscle aches, he is walking up to 35 minutes a day without tiring, and is planning to go back to work part time (with the surgeon's permission) on Monday. He'll try a few hours at first and see how that goes - he is so excited to be going back to work.

So - in celebration - I 'll share a little trip we made not long before the surgery.

When we are out for a drive Don knows that if we approach an old barn that I simply must stop and get photos of it. I often make up stories about the barns and the people and animals that have lived there - and loved the barns.

This sweet old barn sits rigth on the road . . .

The elderberries are beginning to take over - along with some other weeds . . .

Part of the roof is gone and the doors probably haven't been opened in years . . .

Haul that hay up there - watch that it doesn't swing out too far and hit the side of the barn . . .

After chores - a few games of basketball - shall we play "H-O-R-S-E"?

Lovely old hinges . . .

And a sliding door . . . the farmer was so proud as he pounded the last nails in . . .

Down the road just a little ways is a very long, sagging barn . . .

Sagging like an old horse, ridden too long . . .

And bits of the roof are beginning to peel in the wind - it never lets up on this hilltop . . .

A lovely old barn, used for summer recreation at a county park . . .

Another old barn, lovingly restored at a living history farm - there are animals to pet and antique farm implements to wonder about and even climb around on . . . and then a picnic . . .

This barn was on the property of a house we rented when we first moved to WA in 2001 . . .
Barn owls nested in the hay loft, and students from the university would come to the door and ask permission to gather the owl pellets . . .

And that winter it snowed - quiet and soft and calm - and oh so cold . . .

Hope you enjoyed the barns - do you have any old barns around your area? Do you take photos of them too?