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

BRRRrrrrrrr!, but Cozy.

We have had some truly awsome sky's lately. I just can't stop taking pictures. I am not sure what I will do with them, any suggestions? This is one of the clearest. Perhaps I should do some scrapbook pages with sky and clouds. this one is on the way to Augusta.

Bit of a surprise this morning. My Sweet Hubby informed me when I woke up, that it was snowing. I didn't believe him at first (He likes to tease me). He wasn't teasing this time. I got dressed as fast as possible and ran outside with the camera.

I am glad I didn't have to
go to work this morning, it is so pretty. I don't worry about the drive, even in the worst of weather. My "Trusty Steed" will keep me safe (love that little pickup).

At one point the snow flakes were so big and fluffy I managed to catch a photo of them falling. Here they are against the Smoke house. There was a fat and fluffy little bird out next to the buiding also. As I approaced the building, I heard a rustling noise. I
came around the corner and it was sitting on the saw horse. Now usually I would have had the camera
ready for the shot, but, I had the lens cover slid shut to keep the lens dry. As you can guess, by the time I got the cover open and the camera aimed, my little birdy was no where to be seen.

I walked around to the front of the house. There were a couple of birds playing under the magnolia. They were too far away. As I walked around the tree, they hopped in the opposite direction. After circling for a few minutes, I gave up. I did take a couple of photos of a little bird next to my pickup.
They are also too far away. Guess they don't feel like having their picture taken.


The Gargoils didn't mind having their photo taken (they never object to anything). I have two, one on either side of the walkway. Both were wearing a light coat of snow this morning.

The thermometer on the porch reads just below freezing, but it doesn't feel that cold. It is January and here in South Carolina, this is the deepest of winter. I don't mind. I don't like the cold, but I love
to be cozy. We have plenty of wood cut for the
fireplace and my sweet Hubby makes a great Teddy Bear.

Just in case the cold depresses or winter seems like it will stay, Mother Nature has provided a promise.
Little shoots of Daffodils, there are hundreds of them under the old pecan tree. Some are just peeking through, some are almost ready to bloom and some are already making a corner of my living room a bit warmer.