We need to find meaning. We need to be useful. We need to know that who we are matters. I give, you give, we all give.
Mary Jamison Rupert says: Here at Dancing Donkey Farm, we have some of these little “barn dreamcatchers” gracing the nooks and crannies. There are times when it feels as though I will never get all the cobwebs – because I won’t! – but when Mother Winter delicately paints them with frost, I’m glad I missed them.
On a different note, but appropriate for “Giving Back” – have you checked out DoneGood.co? (No “m” on that last – just “co”). A website all about helping us shop and support those issues we believe in at the same time, (i.e. women/minority owned, eco-friendly, upcycled/recycled, etc.); giving back as we spend. Worth a peek. Thanks for inspiring us with lovely photos!
MaryJane says: Haven’t heard of DoneGood.co. Will check it out! Sounds awesome.
Lisa Arthur says: Ahhhh..one of the best, most precious things out there, the old red barn! Perfectly framed in this photo! ❤
Winnie Nielsen says: The old Red Barn. Once it’s walls were filled with cows diving into fresh rations of hay and a Farmer who made his lively hood producing milk. The Red Barn intimately knew the cycle of seasons, like when the windows were open and harvested hay was being hauled to the top level for these very cold months. Kitties hung around and kept the mice and rats at bay and were rewarded with plates of fresh milk twice a day after miking. What stories this place could tell of the generations who built it, reparied it, and treated it with kindness. A sturdy barn was key to keeping healthy livestock when the weather turned ugly in the deep of Winter. It was both a refuge and resource and most often the first building put up when settling into a new homestead. To own a nice barn represented a kind of wealth; almost like money in the bank.
What does this lovely American icon hold today?
MaryJane says: An old truck and other odds and ends. It’s my neighbor’s barn. A real beauty!
Winnie Nielsen says: I have your box ready to ship tomorrow. It is small flat rate so be on the lookout cause it won’t be enjoying your cold cold temps!! Hehehe, are you curious?
MaryJane says: Very much so:)
terry steinmetz says: Love the barn. When I saw it, I immediately thought,”I wonder what’s inside?”.
Janis Ward says: I remember riding behind my Grandpa on his tractor, calling old Bessie the milk cow in for milking. We’d get to the barn, and watch the proceedings with great interest (we were city kids). Grandpa always had a passel of kittens in the barn, which was warmer inside and smelled of sweet hay. My cousins and I would play in the loft, jumping into the bales of hay and ending up with it in our hair, and clothes. At the end of the day, tired and dirty children were called in for baths and supper. We knew we were loved.
Winnie Nielsen says: Questions, questions……what is inside??? Inquiring minds want to know!
Winnie Nielsen says: Grain silo? I like the look of the lettering on the grey siding. Just simple and to the point like farm equipment always is.
MaryJane says: Yes, grain silo. More and more people are turning them into homes once they’re abandoned. I fashioned our facility after a metal grain silo for two reasons, actually three. I didn’t want to chase a paintbrush the rest of my life; the flickers make holes in anything wood or even composite wood around here; and I think it fits the vernacular architecture of our region perfectly.
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
A peice of the past…lovely patina on an age old farm/agricultural item…you dont find that lovely detail and solidness in today’s throw away society..great decorative advert for a country garden.
What is this mysterious thing? I can’t make out what is says on the front but I love that rusty patina!
Winnie, it looks as though it says, “grain drill”. I love old farm tools. New ones, too – just in from pruning apple trees with the nice pruning blade my husband bought me for my cordless saw.