Usually it’s the same story – some equipment comes, digs a big hole, pushes the destroyed barn into the hole, covers it up, and then corn/beans are planted on top of it.

In the fifteen of so years we’ve been here, this is the sixth barn within two mile of our place to lose the turn of the century barn.

It’s the kind of snow that tends to swoosh off the barn in one giant slide.

It’s also the kind that isn’t fun to drive in.  Emma needed to be to school early, so she was off before the roads were plowed. The road had three ruts, with each lane sharing the common center rut – a semi-truck approached and as she moved over into the deep slush and the semi blinded her with a windshield full of slush, she lost control and avoided a car traveling behind the semi and ended up resting in the ditch – thankful that she didn’t collide with the oncoming car or roll as she traveled down the steep ditch. She wasn’t the only one as there were 4 vehicles in the ditch on the way to town, including a jeep that had rolled.

one year ago…”Discarded Toyota Marketing Slogans”

I’m pleased there’s just enough snow to cover the ground for a white Christmas and insulate the ground, but not so much that I’ve had to spend hours moving it.

one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #189″

I especially like the round blue and white glass balls. This is a view straight up the barn roof.

one year ago…”Kale for the Masses”

I went out anticipating that the thunderheads to the east might have some interesting illumination from the setting sun to the west, but was very pleased to see these clouds and watch as the grew and developed.

The following bit of information is condensed from Wikipedia: Mammatus are most often associated with the anvil cloud that extends from a cumulonimbus (thunderheads). Mammatus are often indicative of a particularly strong storm or maybe even a tornadic storm. These tend to form more often during warm months and are most common over the midwest and eastern portions of the United States.

Mammatus may appear as smooth, ragged or lumpy lobes and may be opaque or semitransparent. Because mammatus occur as a grouping of lobes, the way they clump together can vary from an isolated cluster to a field of mamma that spread over hundreds of kilometers to being organized along a line, and may be composed of unequal or similarly-sized lobes. The individual mammatus lobe average diameters of 1–3 km and lengths on average of 0.5 km. A lobe can last an average of 10 minutes, but a whole cluster of mamma can range from 15 minutes to a few hours. They usually are composed of ice, but also can be a mixture of ice and liquid water.

As the sun sank lower, the clouds turned from yellow to red.

It was rather exhilarating to be outside walking under this strange meteorologic phenomenon under a wide open sky!

one year ago…”Emma’s First 5K”

At any rate, the stain-splattered body tell me that she indeed make a good-faith effort before her looming trip to India!

one year ago…”Spring Lettuce”

The gentle, large fluffy flakes that lazily fall down on a calm evening.

They gently rest wherever they fall and adorn everyday objects with a new look. Whether it be a hat on top of a fencepost.

Or a symmetrical snow carbon copy on the barn handle.

And even a few moments of the fluffy flakes glinting down in the sunlight.

one year ago…”More Ice; Another Day at Home”

The doors and trim on the back need replacement as well, but that’s probably a next year item as well.

one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #141″

It seems like we’ll miss out on a bit of fall color due to the fast leave drop.

one year ago…”One Side Painted”

Here’s the latest on staining the south side. I’ve started cutting out and painting some of the trim boards ahead of making new doors. It’s still going to be a while, but progress is apparent.

one year ago…”Monarch Bed and Breakfast”