Out Behind the Barn

Hi guys! I have been soooo bad lately about posting! I have been busy working on some pieces to submit to one of my fav magazines, Somerset Life. If you haven't seen any of Stampington Company's gorgeous magazines, hie yourself to the book store ( or internet www.stampington.com)! More on that later. This odd looking pic above is one I took on "vacation" at my folks this summer. When I was little, the grain elevator in town was the tallest thing for miles around..still is! You can see it from my dad's farm and I was always comforted to know my grampa and gramma's house was just a few blocks to the south of it. When you say "elevator" in South Dakota, this is what you are talking about. The only people elevator was (is) in the court house that is all of 4 stories counting the basement. It was a big deal as a little kid to ride that elevator whenever we happened to be in the building. I seem to recall a crabby little old lady who worked there giving us the stink eye. Anyhoo..I still have a soft spot for the GRAIN elevator and took a few pics.
The cement part was the original part but they have added some huge metal bins in the last 10 years or so.
They are just so big and silver and purdy! LOL This below is the back of my dad's barn. It used to hold lots of sheep and the occasional cow and calf but now that they are retired it holds barn cats. They tinned this back side quite awhile back..it takes quite a beating from the north winter winds. There is a big door under that tin at the top. We spent many hours in the hayloft building forts out of the bales and swinging on the rope swing. It has a ladder mounted on the wall in one of the bunks and you have to climb up, open the trap door and make a leap of faith as you transfer your grip from the ladder to a crack in the loft floor and hoist yourself up.
Not for the faint of heart or the "little kids". If you were too chicken to do it, you didn't get to come up. The climb down was even a bit more nerve wracking as you had to drop yourself back down the trapdoor and back onto the ladder. I had one sister who would get up there and then always wanted us to "go get daddy" to "save" her. We spent hours playing in this barnyard and the pasture out behind it playing "Laura Ingalls" and Little House on the Prairie. I always got stuck being Mary who was either bossy and Miss Perfect or blind depending on the story of the day. We always had 2 Laura's if my cousin Becca was over ..neither she or my sister Janet would give in and NOT be Laura.
My mom and dad have resided most of this barn themselves just lately and it makes me nervous as hell to hear my mom talk about it..they are 74 and 70!
Some of the new siding..
The front. I love this one and the next one..I need to get them enlarged and framed.
So many memories! My dad's shop is the sliding door to the left. I always have to go in there and poke around when I am back and just SMELL things..that unique scent of barn, wood and grease.
This used to be the chicken coop back when we had chickens and there is also a grainary section. It has sort of been let go and dad was making noises about knocking it down but I told him noooo! We used to go up in the grain bins on hot days and play in the wheat. It was always cooler and we buried each other in it like we were at the beach. You didn't play in the oats bin..way too itchy!
I was messing around with weird angles.
My mom used to feed the barn cats in here and one of my nephews when he was about 3 came into the kitchen and loudly announced with his 3 yr old speech impediment that gramma "Had titties in the titty barn!" My brother's in law all laughed and asked here what kind of place she was running!
This one is a fave too. Tomarrow I leave for the Sturgis Bike Rally. All 5 of my younger sisters are going also and we are going to camp and go to concerts and laugh and drink and tell and re-tell stories . Girls trip only! I will be away from home for 10 days and am both excited and dismayed to be leaving my husband and kids at home. I have never been away from my grandson who just turned 3 for more than a day! It will be a rude awaking for the rest of my crew I believe. I think they think I sit about eating bon bons all day. I will take pics and I shall return with stories to share! Hope you have a great week! Til next time. Julia