A Few More Barns

I'm getting quite captivated by all the different barns around the landscape here in the valley, now that I've started collecting photos of them.  And there are enough to keep me going for quite awhile.  They're such a big part of the farming landscape here, and they tell us a lot about the farming that has gone on.

These first two are on the drive up the 7th Line to Meaford, taken on that bright sunny day when I photographed the ice along the shoreline.  I think this is my favourite, both in terms of composition, with the tree framing the barn, and because it's a gambrel or hip-roofed barn.  Until I started taking these pictures I didn't realize these were so unusual.

A nice red barn that I drive by frequently, until recently the home of a small herd of beef cattle.

These pictures are on a more typical grey December day, and are all just around the corner from us.  I must have driven by this barn dozens of times - and never noticed!  Take a close look at that silo!  I don't know why this farmer collects the big cranes.

More commonly the barns around here are simply weathered barn board, unpainted.  They seem to last just as long as the painted ones, but perhaps aren't as attractive.  These are two simple bank barns, joined at the corner to make an 'L'.

And here's a restored barn - notice the new barn boards on the east side, rapidly weathering to grey, and the low horizontal line of windows across the wall.  It's always nice to find rural residents maintaining these barns, and best of all, using them.

Hope you enjoyed more barns around the valley; to see more, check out The Barn Collective.