Okay! I can't wait to get started!
This is a field stone barn picture taken this year. I posted another side of this gem in Falling For You.
This is a cropped section of the same picture.
I just shake my head in amazement when I see what can be if the money's there to keep the place up.
I did use the phrase "mind blowing" at the beginning of this post when I vainly bragged on Michigan's field stone buildings so I'd better come through. I will post a couple more of this next house in the near future.
P.S. For Michiganders or for visitors to the Great Lakes State check out The Western Michigan Weekly for information on out of the way, totally fun Michigan hot spots. Hey! They give away a free weekend almost every week for people that stop in! Hint: Ask for their light house poster!
One more thing please, stop back here tomorrow and check out 
!!!!!
!!!!!And for even more great barns visit the home of our new best friend,
the wonderful "Old Barns" meme at http://www.bluffareadaily.blogspot.com/
A good photo essay.A lot of that construction is called "rubble stone work". The farm family, large in those days, picked the stone from the field to clear it for crops. The stones were piled in the field and then moved to make foundations for homes, barns,fireplaces etc. I lived in S. Eastern Ont.for a while and the same construction is used there. Surprisingly it lasts for a long time. The weakness is the mortar, after about a hundred years it starts to let go. Easter Ontario where I lived was initially settled by people who left Vermont after the Whiskey rebellion(not long after the Am. Revolution.) and came to this area to settle because of free land- as I recall 200 acres for the man, and 50 for each child. The area, Northumberland and Prince Edward County(now a prosperous wine area)is on the shores of Lake Ont. and is sandy loam. It'll grow anything. The settlers could not move to the US west because of the large land development companies' ownership of most of W. New York State that blocked acess to the west, so they moved north. Interestlingly, enough when the rebellion in Ont(Upper Canada) took place in 1837 the former American settlers did not support the rebellion against the crown.
ReplyDeleteThe Whiskey Rebellion was the first time that US troops were called out and that was By George Washington to force Vermont, an independent Republic, into the new nation. What fun history is and how ironic it is.
That area of Ont looks like New England and the people still share an independent attitude. I should add that some of the early settlers were loyalist, your traitors, but now all of them fly the Loyalist flag, a Union Jack, lacking the cross of St. Andrew. So endth the lesson,and feel free to correct me where I'm wrong.
Now you know why Gary's Blog, "Me, Boomer and The Vermilon River" is one blog I never miss. http://vermilonriverwildlife.blogspot.com/ or click on the link under "blogs I follow."
ReplyDeleteThank You Sir, You just wrote the intelligent article I couldn't write. You are amazing and I'll raise a toast of Canadian Club on the rocks to you tonight!
These really are such beautiful buildings.
ReplyDeleteSo original, and so much character in them.
I love these!! They are such beautiful buildings and as holdingmoments wrote, they have so much character! Superb captures I might add. You really have caught the details that make them so outstanding! Fantastic post for the day!! Thanks for sharing! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
Excellent shots. I know in the mid west there are many old fences made up of stones gathered off the land. These barns and house are fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI like Tricia's 'Old Barn Theme' too and usually post one from out here.
Good work. MB
Really nice buildings, the roofs are awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone!
ReplyDeleteBob,
The size of that roof on top of the 100 year old walls in the first picture illustrates your point!
Small City,
I have seen no stone fences around here! Wouldn't they look cool in a photograph!
Thank you Sylvia,
I don't think these buildings could take a bad picture!
Holding Moments,
I'm so glad you like these as much as I do. I'm having a barn party tonight here on line. It's 7:00 pm est so I still have an hour before I can put this up on Old Barns meme. I guess I'm a little anxious!
I went crazy photographing barns in Indiana when I visited family...My aunt thought I was nutz...I have family in Battle Creek and Three Rivers MI, but dont get up that way very often. Wonderful photography-
ReplyDeleteI LOVE these...I love stone houses. And barns have always been a favorite...and I have a bunch on either of my blogs.
ReplyDeleteThose are great photos. Love the stone work, they really are a work of art!
ReplyDeleteThese fieldstone buildings are amazing. There are lots of barns in rural western Mass where I live but they're most all made of wood. We see a lot of old, run-down ones and even totally collapsing. Whatever their condition, I always have to stop and take a photo. There are a couple of barns out there that I've photographed again and again, in different seasons; at different times of the day.
ReplyDeleteThat last house with the uniform looking yellow fieldstone is gorgeous. I don't think I've ever seen a house quiet like that. But then again, I have never been to Michigan. :-)
Take care,
Gina
Thanks for the kind comments!
ReplyDeleteMichigan's land mass is made primarily of glacial sediment left from the last ice-age. The granite stones these buildings were erected with were ground round by the Wisconsin glaciers comings and going. These old barns can tell the stories of 10 or more decades of a farm family's history if you can hear their quiet voices. Imagine working the same land your Great Grandfather turned, opening the same doors, and living inside the same stone walls.
Dear Springman,
ReplyDeleteThis is a fine piece of field work if ever there was one... no pun intended.
France also is covered in old stone constructions some with mortar, some without, and many still standing in fine form hundreds of years later.
May I salute you, also, for you fine reference from Poe's Black Cat piece... I have answered you there.
I can see that you are indeed a blogging force to be reckoned with, and in honor of that, I shall herewith add a link in my sidebar to this very place, so as to miss fewer of your excellent efforts here...
"Nevermore" quoth the toad, shall I miss a post at Pine River.
Oh, and while in Pennsylvania in September, I explored an area previously unknown to me, along Pine Creek, and the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. Where Amish and fieldstone abound.
A toast to you !
These are fantastic! I love the stone work. Can't wait to see more of the barns in your area.
ReplyDeleteMy Barn Find
Owen is another of my blogging lighthouses. Today he does me the great honor of affirming my efforts. "A Work in Progress," could be a good name for most any journal, electronic or otherwise. It is a privilege to have the time and equipment to look closely at this spinning planet. That someone you respect notices your take on things and responds affirmatively, someone half a world away, will brighten the embers of your efforts and let imagination burn bravely on. I am blown away!
ReplyDeleteOwen's Magic Lantern Show is linked below under Blogs I Follow.
Thanks Sally,
ReplyDeleteTuesday evenings, Old Barns, it's a date!
This is an absolutely lovely blog; I'm so happy to find you. As soon as I could take my eyes off your header photo, which is amazing, I scrolled down through to the last Bird Wednesday post and enjoyed every single post immensely.
ReplyDeleteBonjour!
ReplyDeleteI came to see your reflection post and it's really beautiful but I need to say I'm completely enchanted by this set of barns! Wow they are all magnificent!
Thanks for sharing!
Léia
Old barns say so much about the people who built them and new their iportance. Beautiful stonework. I bet there were a few sore back heaving those big boulders around. So nice to see them kept up. I know all things must fade in time, I just hope not in my time.
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, the stones in the 2nd one are HUUUGE! That's incredible! Such beautiful structures & I just love the 5th pic, that place is mind-blowing!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for joining in & inviting everyone over... you're so sweet!
Oh, here's a link to the mouse over instructions... it's really fun to play around with!
Have a grrreat week!!! =)
I love this. We don´t have much left of those old buildings. From yours I totally love that yellow one. :)
ReplyDeleteThese are great shots - I especially like the red and stone house! I look forward to seeing more.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shots! The stonework is really lovely and that old barn is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThese are all wonderful examples of old homes and barns. This post inspires me to go out and take pictures of the ones around here.
ReplyDeletep.s. I like this blog a lot!