Home › #gallery › BARNS OF THE VALLEY – A FUN PHOTO CHALLENGE

BARNS OF THE VALLEY – A FUN PHOTO CHALLENGE

By on • ( 45 )

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Houses and/or Barns

Living in a rural area, we have a lot of barns. Houses too, of course, but barns are so interesting. Here’s a selection of them from Northwest hither, to South Yon.

Inside an old barn in Uxbridge, Massachusetts.
A small window in the wall of an old barn
Built 1720
‹
›

Categories: #gallery, #Photography, Blackstone Valley, Cee's Photo Challenge

Tags: , , , , ,

45 replies

  1. Joe Owens
    05/11/2017 • 21:32

    So many gorgeous structures.

    Like

  2. Raewyn's Photos
    10/26/2016 • 15:30

    Such iconic barns – at least for me. Great selection

    Like

  3. Alice
    10/26/2016 • 15:10

    I can’t quite put a finger on why–or words to describe how, but barns like the ones in the photos touch something in me. Art, function, weathering, all of it.

    Like

    • Marilyn Armstrong
      10/26/2016 • 17:06

      I think they are part of our collective memory of rural America. We didn’t really (most of us) live it, but we’ve read it, seen it in movies, heard about it. It’s a very deep part of our culture and history. My forebears comes from very non-rural eastern Europe, yet I have the same reaction.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. swo8
    10/26/2016 • 14:04

    My grandparents had a farm with a huge barn. It’s also part of Canada’s culture. There are a lot of things we share.
    Leslie

    Like

  5. Cee Neuner
    10/26/2016 • 12:27

    As always beautiful photography Marilyn. 😀

    Like

  6. genusrosa
    10/26/2016 • 10:08

    Gorgeous textures! What a fun trip for my optic nerves this morning!😊Thank you

    Like

  7. Judy @ NewEnglandGardenAndThread
    10/26/2016 • 06:58

    I absolutely love barns. My grandparents had one. We had a brand new one in the midwest. And, we have an old one now. This post made me smile so thank you for that. 🙂

    Like

    • Marilyn Armstrong
      10/26/2016 • 13:36

      I wish we had one, but this house isn’t an old farmhouse and there’s nowhere flat enough to build much of anything. I’m looking at canvas portable garages. That’s as close as I’m likely to get 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      • Judy @ NewEnglandGardenAndThread
        10/26/2016 • 17:00

        Canvas portable garages = no cleaning of the vehicle in the coming months. Anyone our age who lives up here in this neck of the woods knows that is a really good thing. 🙂

        Like

        • Marilyn Armstrong
          10/26/2016 • 17:16

          Not even expensive, but my son’s partner broke his shoulder last week in a motorcycle spill. My son can’t put it up alone, so he’s making sure he can find a couple of guys to help him put it up. He’s got two of them, so he knows how its done. Garry is mechanically challenged. I’m just tiny and not very strong. I’m not going to buy it unless I know I can get it up before the snow flies. It would really improve our quality of life here so I’m hoping it’ll be a go. What a pleasure that would be to NOT have to scrape the car every time it snows.

          Liked by 1 person

  8. Caboosemama Little Pleasures
    10/26/2016 • 05:58

    Very nostalgic! I miss the snow.

    Like

    • Marilyn Armstrong
      10/26/2016 • 13:35

      I would be glad to send you OUR snow! All of it.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Caboosemama Little Pleasures
        10/26/2016 • 14:18

        For Christmas please! 🙂 Thank you!

        Like

        • Marilyn Armstrong
          10/26/2016 • 17:02

          Now, you see … if we could get a lovely snow on Christmas Eve that would politely melt immediately after New Year’s Day? I’d be fine with that. It’s that snow shows up usually well after Christmas. Within six weeks, we get ten to twelve feet of ice and snow and the weather laughs at us as we try to break through the glacier that is our world. So we can … y’know … go anywhere.

          Liked by 1 person

          • Caboosemama Little Pleasures
            10/27/2016 • 01:43

            I know what you mean as I am originally coming from a Northenden country.When I was a schoolgirl we used to have a lot of snow I remember some winters the piles of snow were as tall as I was but then bqqqq.Last winter I took my child to my country to see some snow to feel the real Christmas spirit and you know what there was no snow!!!!Only last few days before our departure it snowed a bit.Basically disappointment.

            Like

  9. Covert Novelist
    10/26/2016 • 02:33

    I love those shots! There’s tension, and interest, juxtaposition. WOW Really loved these photos.

    Like

    • Marilyn Armstrong
      10/26/2016 • 13:35

      Thank you. It’s a good place for a landscape photographer. A little hard on Garry as I yell “Stop the car! I see something!” 😀

      Like

      • Covert Novelist
        10/26/2016 • 14:47

        LMAO that’s always how it works. Haha, it’s just suddenly, “there”. I used to do the same once upon a time. Something fascinating catches your attention and blam, that’s it! hehe

        Like

        • Marilyn Armstrong
          10/26/2016 • 16:58

          I’m better these days about being alert and having cameras that I can grab and don’t need any prep. I have learned not to stop and ponder if maybe I should change the lens … or use a different camera. Grab and go is my motto!

          Liked by 1 person

          • Covert Novelist
            10/26/2016 • 17:03

            Awesome!!! lol, love that! Its a wonderful passtime, but more, it’s a wonderful “capture of time” essence, beauty, and creates thoughtfulness, interaction and great joy! For you, those with you, and those viewing. So thank you.

            Liked by 1 person

  10. angloswiss
    10/26/2016 • 02:28

    Barns are part of the American culture. Everone seems to have a barn somewhere, and there are some really nice barns. I don’t know how the Swiss managed without them. We have barns, but nowhere near the architctural constructions that America has. Even when they begin to fall apart, they have their charm.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Marilyn Armstrong
      10/26/2016 • 12:29

      You are half right.

      In the country, everyone does indeed have a shed, a barn or some outbuilding(s). It’s where you keep stuff — lawnmowers, snowblowers, leaf blowers. Rakes, snow shovels, and garden tools. If you can’t put stuff in a shed, you will have to keep it in the garage and then your poor car lives outside all winter. Which, as someone without a garage, I can tell you is a real bummer.

      Barns are for farms. This is a rural area, like yours. Almost all barns not only shelter things, but house cows, goats, or/and horses. And a tractor and tools and Christmas decorations and furniture no one is currently using. Many barns look rickety from the outside, but are surprisingly sturdy, having been reinforced many times through the years. People may knock down their house and build a new one, but they almost NEVER knock down a barn that can be repaired. I wish we had a barn or at least a bigger shed. Our shed is on its last, dying legs and Owen says he has to tear it down before winter … which is soon. The roof is gone, almost rotted through with lichen. One heavy snowfall will probably turn it into a pile of broken boards.

      There is a LOT of stuff in that little shed including, a couple of sleds and toboggans from days when we used play in the snow. Fortunately, with no one living downstairs, we can turn at least the old shop area and one other space into storage. It will be good to have the snowblower INSIDE so we can use it to move the snow away from the door after a storm. We’ve always had to forge a path from the house to the shed in bad weather and if there’s a really BIG storm, that’s not easy.

      We NEED a garage and a TRACTOR. Maybe we can get a push blade for our jeep so we can clear our own driveway. But they are expensive and doing that is not as easy as it looks (I’m told), so I’m unsure. My kid’ll be here soon. I need to find out what we can do with the winter coming on fast now. It’s definitely cold today.

      Anyway, most Americans don’t have a barn but wish they did.

      Liked by 1 person

      • angloswiss
        10/26/2016 • 13:19

        We are certainly lucky to have the local authorities clearnng our roads of snow and so do not need tractors and such. . We do not seem to have the need for barns here, just the farmers. We have a garden cupoard, a cellar and also a laundry room, as well as an extra room known as our hobby room. The car is in the underground garage with the other cars from the people living in our complex.

        Like

        • Marilyn Armstrong
          10/26/2016 • 13:34

          They do clear the roads … mostly, though with the amount of snow, the roads seem to get rather narrow by the end of the winter. Our driveway is the problem. It’s long, sloping, and entirely on our own property, so it’s our responsibility. I wish someone else would do it!

          Like

  13. lifelessons
    10/26/2016 • 00:14

    These are fabulous photos, Marilyn, and such variety. Hard to pick favorites, but I’d have to say the one with chains is hard to beat and the two that come after that photo are favorites as well. Good work, my girl!!!! The camera is thy tool.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Marilyn Armstrong
      10/26/2016 • 00:34

      That barn with the chains is around the corner, but what’s more interesting is that the barn was built in 1720, as was the house. They have completely restored both the barn and house and it is absolutely glorious. If you didn’t know it was 300 years old, you’d never guess by looking at it. They also have goats and miniature donkeys. And chickens.

      Liked by 2 people

      • lifelessons
        10/26/2016 • 00:35

        What more could a girl want in a neighbor?

        Like

        • Marilyn Armstrong
          10/26/2016 • 01:15

          I don’t know them. I met the woman of the house once and asked her permission to take pictures, which she gave. Along with a brief history of the house and barn. People here are friendly, but it’s New England. People will chat, but don’t usually get too close. We had a few good friends, but they died and we haven’t had the energy to find new ones. All our friendships go back many years. At least 40 years. I worry about them. We are all so fragile.

          Liked by 2 people

          • lifelessons
            10/26/2016 • 02:03

            I know. We need to keep making younger friends or we’ll run out of them.

            Liked by 1 person

            • Marilyn Armstrong
              10/26/2016 • 12:02

              I find it hard to make much younger friends. It’s all about history and context. They are still busy with kids and work and things that once were a major part of my life, too … and they don’t remember the world that shaped me. They don’t seem to know much of anything that happened before 1980.

              We’re much more now-centric in retirement. We need at least a few common interests to get moving. Merely living conveniently doesn’t do it. Also, they are a lot busier and more structured that we are, which is part of being that age with those responsibilities … but while I understand, I don’t want to live like that. Not now. So, we’ll just roll along and see what comes our way. We are far from friendless, but they don’t live next door, is all.

              Liked by 2 people

      • Garry Armstrong
        10/26/2016 • 13:04

        They built them well “back in the day”.

        Like

Trackbacks

  1. BARNS OF THE VALLEY – A FUN PHOTO CHALLENGE | SERENDIPITY – Sarah's Attic Of Treasures