Barn Charm

This old relic was seen driving down a gravel road not too far from us.  These are the barns I remember from my childhood.   I was interested to read in Tricia's post that Missouri ranks 2nd in having the most barns.  Texas was first.  I was kind of surprised at the 2nd place, but then Missouri isn't a small state as it is ranked at 19 on the list for state size in the US.  I think a lot of the barns are in my county, so I should never run out of them to snap!

Zooming in, it's looks like quite a large barn.  I don't know how many times this has been said, but isn't it a shame that they are left to fall into ruin?   

Linking to Tricia's  Barn Charm

Until next time...

A Moo-ving Story

Look who is hogging the hay!
 

"Uh..oh...busted!"
   

"Now what do I do?"

"I'll just go back to eating, that's

what I'll do!" 

"On second thought, she might call

the bovine police."

"Maybe I'd better get out of here."

"Coming through!"

"I'm out.  Are you happy now?"

Thanks to my daughter who noticed this scene in the pasture across the road from our house and quickly grabbed my camera and started shooting.  Did you notice the sun was shining?  Three days in a row we had sunshine!  It was great.  Hubby was off Friday and we packed a bag and headed down the highway.  We had a fun visit in Kansas City with our son.  I didn't snap one photo, just enjoyed the company of my two favorite men.

Until next time...

Blue skies, where are you?

I want to see blue skies!

We've had too many cloudy days lately.

 My mood is turning cloudy.

Does the weather affect your mood?

Tell me I'm not alone.

I need to fill my days with cleaning out

closets or painting the beadboard for the

bathroom remodel.  We have everything

we need, we're just needing to give the carpenter

the go-ahead.  He's ready now...we're not.  There

are a few things on our end to do like get

the beadboard painted, rip off the old tiles, 

things like that.  Why are we stalling?  I think

because it's winter.  We I don't like the house in

disarray during the best of days, but winter?

Winter is gloomy enough without a huge mess to

deal with too.  Okay, enough of that.  

 I'll just have to be brave and get started, and know

that when this project is done that I will be 

so glad and the skies will be blue again.

In the meantime, let me look closer at the tree. 

 See the bird's nest?

  

It

I've been watching this nest since the leaves 

have fallen.  No matter how much it has rained

or how windy it has gotten, this little work of art

complete with the feather hanging under it 

is still hanging in there and it does appear 

to be hanging.  I'm curious which bird

crafted this nest.  

I don't think the nest belongs to this cardinal, 

but he flew onto a nearby branch just long 

enough for me to quickly snap his picture.

A bright spot in an otherwise cloudy day.

Until next time...

Barns in twilight

The old and the new.  This photo was taken in mid-Missouri just after sunset in late December. 

Linking to Tricia's Barn Charm

Until next time...

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day

 

Do you set a special table for your Valentine?  I don't know where I'd put it or if I'd ever use it, but I've always admired silver coffee and tea sets like the one above.  It doesn't really fit into our casual lifestyle, but it is so pretty.  I also love pretty dishes and stemmed glassware and have several sets.  If I had the space, I would have dinnerware and glassware in every color.

Will you fix a special meal or go out for dinner?  I don't usually do anything special for Valentine's anymore.  If it were the weekend, we'd probably go out to eat. 

This is the scene that I woke up to early this morning.  The snow is still falling and the weatherman says we will get between 2-4 inches.  I hope he's wrong! 

It's time for me to go check on my feathered friends and see if the feeders need filling.  I'll say Happy Valentine's Day now.  Enjoy your day!

Until next time...

A snack idea

 

The Super Bowl has been played, the Giants won...Yay!...snacks have been consumed.  We still have a few things left over that we're still snacking on.  One being the Spicy Saltine Crackers pictured above.  Have you made these?  The simple recipe is as follows:

Spicy Saltine Crackers

3 sleeves of saltine crackers

1 cup Canola Oil

2 TB. red pepper flakes

1 pkg Fiesta Ranch Dressing, dry

Put crackers in a large Ziploc bag or a large bowl.

Add other ingredients and turn frequently at least

a couple of hours.  The longer you turn them,

the better they are.  

Note:  The crackers are pretty 

crowded in a gallon size bag, 

but that's what I use.

* * * * * * * * 

Thanks for all the suggestions about my commenting problem.  I downloaded Google Chrome and I am now able to comment on the blogs that I couldn't before. 

Until next time... 

Red roofed Missouri barn

Red roofed barn somewhere in mid-Missouri, photo taken in December last year.  Another angle of the same barn below.

Linking to Tricia's Barn Charm 

 
Re: Not being able to comment on some blogs.  Several suggested that I switch browsers if I were using Internet Explorer.  I have been using Firefox for a couple of years now.  Maybe I will try Chrome next and see if that will take care of the problem.  

Until next time...

A long awaited sighting

Last week I mentioned a little road trip that we had taken.  My lineman hubby had told me recently of seeing something in this area while patrolling a power line.  Something that I'd been wanting to see.  It was a nice, sunny day as we headed down the highway.  After a few miles through the countryside, we turned down a small gravel road that runs along the Missouri River.

The gravel road was very close to the river, as you can see.  All the sand you see is from the river having changed its course.   I was standing beside the car as I took this shot while asking Hubby "where are they"?   He spotted one right away, but it took me a bit to find it so I could zoom in.  Finally, I spotted a black dot on the sand across the river.  The place where we stopped was one of the few spots that didn't have trees in the way of a clear view of the river.

 

Here he is!  I was pretty excited to see my first Bald Eagle that wasn't flying over my house such as the pair we saw last summer.   Let's get a closer look.

Isn't he a beauty?  Sorry my shot isn't more clear, but I was just a bit excited and it was hard to hold the camera still with the lens zoomed for the closest shot that I could get.  

There was only one Bald Eagle to be seen that day.  He stood still for as long as we were watching, presumably watching the water for a fish to nab for dinner.  It was a short, but sweet road trip.  I got to get a shot of my very first Bald Eagle!

 

I'm still not able to comment on a few of my regular blogs that I read.  I don't know why.  So if I haven't commented on your blog lately, sorry, it's because I can't!  

Until next time...

Winter dreaming

A real friend is someone who takes a winter vacation on a sun-drenched beach and does not send a card.  ~Farmer's Almanac

I wish I could say that the view above was taken from my hotel balcony recently, but in fact this photo was taken by my son on a December business trip to Destin, Florida.  I love the way the reflection of the morning sun shining through the clouds looks on the water.  

We have had some wonderful weather so far this winter.  This time last year, we were in the middle of a big blizzard and could only dream of being somewhere warm and beautiful such as in the scene above.  Some of you live on or near the water, others live with mountains nearby, maybe you live in the midwest like I do and enjoy the rolling countryside.  If you were taking a winter vacation would you head for the beach or enjoy warmer weather in the southwest?  Are you California dreaming or would sitting before a roaring fire in a ski lodge be your cup of tea?  How about just being content to be at home enjoying nice weather this winter?  That's what I'm doing.  However, I might have an occasional thought or two about walking along the beach or sitting on a balcony with a view like the one above.
 
Until next time...

A Missouri barn

This week's barn is at home on a farm in mid-Missouri.  It looks to be sporting fairly new doors.  Let's zoom in for a closer look.

The doors are definitely newer than the barn.  Peeking inside, you can see that it's a working barn, housing large round hay bales.  

You still see a few of the small square bales in hay fields from time to time, but most farmers, at least in our area, bale their hay into large round bales.  

That brings me to mention the elevator that was seen in a previous barn photo I shared a couple of weeks ago.  Someone asked what it was used for.  Farmers would stack small hay bales on a wagon and haul it from the field to the barn and would unload on the elevator which would take the bales to the hayloft.  You can see the elevator here.  My dad had such an elevator at one time and if I remember right it was hooked up somehow to the tractor to move the bales along.
   
Back in the days before the large round baled hay, boys old enough to hoist a hay bale could make some pretty good money during the  summer hauling hay.

Linking to Tricia's Barn Charm

Until next time...