The Blog That Saved a Barn

This is the picture that started it all. You see, last spring, we had a record breaking hail storm. The storm also knocked down several trees. There was so much damage in the area that the Red Cross came in. My poor little pickup had more than twenty dings on the cab alone and my Sweet Hubby's car was in worse shape. We figured we were lucky.

A while later, some vultures decided to take a break on the barn roof and I was lucky enough to get this picture. I was concentrating on the birds. When my Sweet Hubby saw the post, he said, "What is wrong with the barn roof?"
This picture, I call it "Peace" was on the top of the side bar of my blog for a long time. I love our old barn and this is such a peaceful atmospheric picture of it. We compared the two pictures. Peace was taken well before the storm and when you compare the roof, you can see the damage.

This is the back view of our smoke house. When we checked, we discovered the roof on it and the summer kitchen were also damaged.

You may have seen this picture before, I posted it in the autumn. I love it!, the damage is there, but hidden by the leaves. The roofing companies were busy all summer repairing roofs on houses. (Our house roof is fine, no leaks). So we had to wait for them to come to us. One thing these pictures don't show well is the sheer size of the barn. It is a two story barn and it is huge. We don't know how old it is but from the inside you can see many of the most support beams are "Rough Hewn" (there have been repairs over the years) and the old hand made nails were used, just like in the house.

Remember this one? The Summer kitchen does not look very summery here. My understanding is that the summer kitchen was used for cooking in the summer to keep the heat out of the house. Remember, back then they did not have central air and it gets hot here in the summer.

This is a close up of the barn with snow on it. I can imagine the animals that used to live here. This was once the heart of a working plantation and the barn may be original. It is hard to imagine when you look at all the trees, but they raised cotton here.

The smoke house with it's proud new roof. These buildings were all here when we arrived and are original to the place.
We keep seasoned fire wood here, close to the house for days like today. A solid roof keeps the contents dry and will help keep the building standing.

The summer kitchen with it's new roof. I love the way you can see how these buildings were constructed. It gives clues to the parts of the house you can't see. Notice the summer kitchen has a raised foundation and floor, the smokehouse has a dirt floor.

The barn looks quite proud with it's new roof. I was a little worried that a new roof would look out of place on an old barn, but my Sweet Hubby picked just the right materials.

From a distance with my Daffs in the foreground. This was taken Sunday. Today it is snowing again. Two snow storms in one year is a lot here. That is fine with me, the fire is crackling behind me and none of us have to go anywhere.

My Sweet Hubby stepped outside after I went to work yesterday and took this one for me. He did not want me to miss it. Isn't it the prettiest view?
Hopefully the new roofs will keep the main support structures dry and our old buildings will last for years to come. I feel like I am living with history and I love it!

Have a lovely week and stay warm.

Kat