barns, barns, barns

post #461
        Can't help it. The barns in my life seem to be mostly personality and not always efficiency.  I haven't made a study of them, but when they appear on my horizon I can rarely resist welcoming them in.  I came up with all of today's dozen or so photos just by looking through what images are in my "library" (which is definitely a digital word steal for a large collections of photos!)  
        With all the current turmoil in our American history, it may be nice to be reminded of these buildings, loyal players trying their best to stand the test of time.

1) my barn, built by previous owners, with five horse stalls, not being currently used.  (It is needing its metal roof repainted! Barns don't thrive on purely artistic considerations.)

 2) This is the barn located on the land where I used to live. The old section in front surrounds a log version from the barn's earliest moments. The back section could have been used to dry tobacco, but it ended up not being strong enough to stand up for that added weight.

a very soggy time, unlike the dryness our area is currently experiencing

I didn't know I had this photo. I love it.

3)  Barns in the neighborhood, broadly speaking:

For years, we watched this barn slowly deteriorate. But this day I just had to stop my drive to town to make this photo. The barn is now completely down and gone, but the shadow of its stalwart self has not yet left me.

 4) barns with stories:

I am including this horse barn even though it is located in Kentucky horse country. It belongs to the son of a longtime friend of mine.  I will include a photo of them here later this week but I first want to get this post out.

This barn is close by to where I live. The goats are living in style!

 One time when I was in nearby Morgan County, I stopped to make some photos of this tobacco barn -- the slats were open to even out the temperature needed to cure the tobacco hanging there.   Not long after that, West Liberty ( the county seat) was hit by an extremely  destructive tornado. This barn was in its path.  I didn't know then that this barn belonged to a fellow photographer, Dean Hill, who then used what materials he and his wife, Karen, could salvage from the building to re-purpose them into the construction of his photo gallery! On this very spot! It's amazing. I was glad I had this photo to show them once I figured it all out. 

These last two photos show Gene Binion's barn nearby. I was doing an actual photo shoot this time, for a booklet the Kentucky Arts Council was compiling featuring the quilt designs that were being painted and then attached to barns in Eastern Kentucky.  This spider quilt design hasn't stood up to the weather very well, but the barn still beckons me. I made these photos at the crack of dawn.  I have more views, but these two are my favorites.


I think these are surely enough barns for now. I will do another post someday with more of them. I am a day late posting this week, but I know I am the only one who may notice that in the long run. I do love doing these posts every week. This week it has been fun to document how what we see every day can look different when we look again. And again. Thanks to all who visit this weekly blog and, essentially, are taking another look at what I take multiple looks at..

last week the ride from the barn, today the barn by itself

post #441
          I have kind of a fascination with Gary's barn.  I've posted photos in the past from when Jonathan was renovating the building.  Yesterday -- the week after the memorial ride I posted about last time -- I stopped by to make some more barn photos. Jonathan happened to be there, after feeding all the cattle and the horses! It turned out that this had been the day he separated the calves from their moms. These calves were in the barn but not at all in the mood to have their photo taken.  But the horses were in the barn as well, and they were delighted to stand around contentedly. Perhaps my presence was like desert.... (That's a joke..)
             The light for making photos (bright sun) wasn't as good yesterday as it was before the memorial ride (some cloud cover) but anyway, here are some of my takes, so to speak.

 inside the barn, with Jonathan

The oldest horse, Tiffany but nicknamed Tiff, is around 30 years old and beloved:
 

Tiff is mom to the bigger horse next to her, and I think the dark colored horse is Tiff's granddaughter:

 

my only half decent photo of some of the calves, looking huge to me:

  The repaired roof amazes me. What a piece of work. Bravo, Jonathan!

 storage area -- the old plow, now in the rafters:

 looking back toward the shed and the house:

      The last photo, of the door on that shed, is an attempt at art -- the door has been in use for over 50 years. Everyone realizes it needs to be replaced, but it is latched in place with memories and stories:

Some things are like old friends, and we get attached and even defined by the familiar despite the changes of aging....

5th annual memorial ride for Gary Purnell

post #440
         Friends and family continue to do an annual ride to honor Gary who passed away five years ago.  He loved his horses.  Other years the ride has happened in July. Since the weather then is often fairly hot, this year they tried for September. Well, yesterday was the least hot of this current hot spell, but even so it felt like July.  
        I do enjoy making photos when I can for my friends and neighbors on this ridge in eastern Kentucky where we all live. I was there this year for the starting out of the gathering and also I made a few photos while they were on the actual "circle tour" ride. 

The preparations:

Jonathan prepares his horse.

grandfather and grandson

Gary's grandson, with a sheet cake from home

riding the four wheeler -- I'm sorry not to have the full view because I don't know the specific names of the various kinds of vehicles....

getting ready to set off for a couple of hours, making a slow circle:

Jean, Gary's wife

Jonathan's buddies

on the roads:

         More happened than I can show in the photos, but I hope I have been able to give a flavor of the time and place and the honor and the love.  Thank you all,  Ann

could have been any given afternoon

post #439
         Such is what I see just wandering around. If the light is OK, then there are many temptations.  This first photo shows the chicken yard, seen on a recent post as well.  I've now added a photo of the two ducks in there with them.  Both look happy and healthy, so it's just weird, but not harmful.  

       However, there is this pond close by where the ducks could be swimming and showing off their beautiful selves in the beautiful reflections.... O well. (Please notice the hint of cardinal flowers on the lower left of this photo.)

cardinal flower and attendants:

(R, fun to realize that we each saw the same possibilities for this same cardinal flower!)

     
        Later, along the way during a drive to visit some neighbors, I stopped a few places to explore some shapes hidden from the road:

from the family cemetery on the top of the hill along the road

different light, though only twenty minutes earlier

Back at the chicken yard (see fence behind), there's a new chair, back and all. The rest of the tree is now firewood.

           I would hope that some of the monies designated to build a useless ego-driven wall in the wilderness can be liberated to help out instead our near neighbors in the Bahamas.  They are continuing to experience such a nightmare after being under a horrible hurricane for days.  Food and shelter seem to be a more urgent and compelling use of funds. A bit of kindness in the world would go a long way.  Just sayin'.