Still standing...however wobbly

We came across this scene during our one and only rambling drive...it is as far off the road as it appears in the top photo. It struck a cord of lonesomeness in me...wondering about the lives that were lived there. I wondered was it an old bachelor or was it a family. It was probably at least half an hour to the nearest store with today's travel...let alone back then.

I wondered how long they would stay on the place without seeing another soul to talk to. That would be the time when a big family would really be a blessing...imagine being an only child living there.

And with all the hills, hollers and rocks in the general area, I thought what a rough ride it would have been to go any where in a wagon. It would have jarred your teeth loose if you weren't careful. The field right around this house did not seem to have all the rocks sticking out of the ground that so much of the area had...but still they would have had to pass through it to get any where.
I zoomed in for this view...don't you wish you knew its story? And wouldn't you love to prowl around the area to see what you could find?
*****************
I went for my first session of physical therapy on my shoulder/arm. It is not going to be rough...just time consuming. And there is no danger of her making the tear in my rotator cuff worse. She really made me feel reassured in that area.

She could tell that I don't deal with stress well...told me I needed to learn better ways to deal with it. I told her I come from a long line of worriers...LOL It is easier said than done. She gave me a couple little exercises to do to help loosen up the muscles in the arm, plus a breathing exercise to help me relax. It really works if I do it right...but the way I am I have/need to do it often.

For now, I am signing off with the intent of laying down...she did say we should be able to have me sleeping better fairly soon. Right now this 2/3:00 a.m to 5:00 and 6:00-6:30 a.m. thing is for the birds. I get up then and feed the cats, then try to prop up on the couch or in the recliner for more sleep...and I do usually sleep some but it is not restful...I wake every little bit.

I didn't trespass.....

We took a rambling drive on our way home from Terre Haute today....went over through Illinois and on some back roads there. We came across this little house which was posted with 'no trespassing' signs. Well, I never crossed the fence, but I so wanted to take different angles of the house....
as well as this fence and building. I just always love fences and generally the older the better.
I did lean across the fence to take this photo of the house. And I would have taken some other angles, but the road was slush/ice covered and I did not want to get my feet wet and/or fall and break my camera, not to mention my body.

I would have loved to peak in the windows...it was too dark to see what was inside even with my zoom lens and notice, the roof line is still straight and true...

I wonder what the house would smell like now with the windows gone. Would it still have that smell of a real old house...you know the one I am talking about. Or would it just smell woodsy from all the weather that has blown through the openings.

I also wonder how old the house is...if I knew much about the siding it would give me a clue to the age but I don't know and am not having any luck finding the information I want.

Over in Illinois

I was running down a good sunset when I passed this place. I put on the brakes, took a couple minutes and shot these images.
I really would like to know the history of this place...it has been empty a long time, by the looks of it. It kind of makes one sick at heart...it looks like it was well built.
There is still a grain bin that looks like it might possibly still being used. Other than that, the weeds seem to be taking over.
I even wondered had it been on fire on the backside, or is it full of asbestos...I don't think there is a single window left in it.

Progress has begun

We first ran across this house last year--I posted about it the first time here...and I did a second post that included a photo of it here. Well, as you can see in the above photo...work has started on it. I bet it is sort of slow going. I hope I get to see the finished product someday. At least we know how to find it to check on it every now and then.
**********************
Lindy over at Mike and D's Life in the Hoosier State and Beyond tagged me to participate in this photo tag thing...she tagged me at my Time Stand Still blog, but I am doing it here. I try to keep my posts short and let the photo speak for itself.

Anyway, the rules are this:

1. Open your first photo folder and select the 10th photo.
2. Publish it and tell the details or story of the photo.
3. Link back to the person who tagged you.
4. Tag 5 friends and inform them.

With the times I have had to wipe out my computer, and reinstall my photos, then got a new computer and put my photos on there, they are so messed up in what order they are...I decided to go with the tenth photo taken with my first digital camera, my Canon Rebel. And the above photo is the result.

This is a coffee table my husband made our older daughter when she first moved out...she bought the slate tile and decided on how she wanted it laid out. My husband's friend gave him the oak wood....and this is the result. He also made her a simple little end table.

I am supposed to tag people to play along, but I know a lot of my blog buddies have done this, so am just going to invite anyone that wants to join the fun.

The view from this road

These were taken about a week ago...
the color is really beginning all around. The tree above is the one you see across the road from the church in the first photo.
Stepping past that tree and looking on down the road this farm was the view.

Going back to the first photo, there is a road right before the church that leads to this place. Still not positive I could find it again, but I know more about the place to begin looking. As you can see here, there was a camper trailer parked there this time. I think they are beginning to work on the house. No one was there...if there had been, I think we would have stopped to ask questions. I am so curious about the history of this fine old farm.
*******************
I have been being gone/or occupied with Lorelei this whole week. I am not sick, or anything...just been preoccupied with other things. I had not planned to take so long a break from blogging, or I would have warned everyone. I am going to try to start posting again on a regular basis, and get in some visits. I may not comment on every post, but I sure wonder what has been happening with everyone.

from a country drive

We went for a drive yesterday--I wanted to go because I knew today was supposed to be raining. And it has rained most of the day--a light rain. No big downpours at any time. And the sky...it is overcast but not that real dark, dreary look that we have most of the time when it is raining. But I am still glad we took off for the drive yesterday. We went north, first to see Coffing Brothers Orchard, but we had missed the blooming. Again. I have tried to several years to make it up there when the majority of the trees are in bloom, but have yet to be successful.
Anyway, we did manage to come across two or three barns I have never seen before, as well as this house. I really need to get a GPS, till maybe I can figure out where things are. I would love to know how far this place is from a town or grocery store. My husband doesn't think anyone lives here; me I am not so sure.

It really is sort of run down, but I sort of had the feeling someone might be trying to start to work on it in their spare time. It also had a satellite dish...which I will probably show in a later post. But for right now I thought I would show you this house. Isn't that porch wonderful? I would have loved one when I was a child. I can just imagine Lorelei on it.
This farm seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere...and I wondered about it. I wondered how far they had to go to get the things to build it with. Was it built at a time when they used a horse and wagon to go get supplies? I kind of wondered if they had got the brick for building from the kilns shown here....they are up north of here also.

Look how square everything still is...someone built it that knew what they were doing. Someone that can build something this beautiful is indeed an artist in my book. A master craftsman.
And this road right beside the house led to their barn which I will also show in the next few days. It was built square and true, too. I really was impressed with the place...or maybe I should say with the workmanship of the place, and hope you are, too.

Today's doings..

The following photos were all taken today...I hope you will take the time to enlarge them. The barn for its beauty....
and its colorful appeal....
And these of the house. Another of those houses that would have volumes to tell if we could only hear.
What really impresses me on some of the old houses is some of the artistic work that has gone into making them beautiful. Just look at the porch and then this window...one has to wonder what tools were available to do the work. Or are they new enough till someone just went and got them and put them in place. I don't really think that was the case, but even if it was, it still took time and effort to get them in place.
I am not sure how good this next photo is...I had to use photoshop to make it at all viewable. (Every now and then for no apparent reason I will have a photo turn out so dark that it has to be messed with...all these others are straight out of the camera. And they are all at the same stop along the road.)
First of all the top window pane has little panes of colored glass all around the edge...I don't know if you would call it stained glass or not. But it is still something you don't see very often on every day homes. And notice this window has the same work above it as the other one...but then glance on farther up at the peak part of the house...I guess that is what you would call it. The part with the clamshell work...I don't have any idea how that is done. But look all along the bottom of it...more artistic work. Not sure if this is classified as gingerbread trim or not...

I think we can safely assume that this house was well loved by someone. Don't you just wish you knew the real story and didn't need to imagine it?

You know what prompted today's travels? I think I mentioned I had to do some work on my daughter's curtains...well, in the early afternoon, I was all set to start on them when I realized I did not have the right color thread. I ask Roger if he wanted to go to Walmart with me...he needed two or three things out there so he did. I took my camera along, and after picking up what we needed, I had more plans...you might say I had an ulterior motive for asking Roger if he wanted to go.

Not too far from here is a very small town...it has one gas station and one or two tiny restaurants, plus a little place that has a drive through or you walk up and order and sit at picnic tables...and they have cheesecake ice cream. I had been craving it...so we went on up there we went. And of course I took my camera...I am getting more and more till I don't leave home without it.

Now from there, Roger wanted to go back where we went last week to this one covered bridge to see how high the water was...he is ready to start wading and fishing. But Sugar Creek was way out of the banks so that put a halt to those plans...

But it did lead us on a little drive and that was fun.

Did I get the curtains done? No, but I have a good start on them. Should get them finished tomorrow if nothing else happens. But for now, good night.

Look at Me!

Look at me. I mean really look at me. I know I am not much too look at now but at one time I was the answer to prayers. I was loved. Someone once saved and scrimped to have me, and was so happy when they could finally claim me as their own. I was one of the high points of their life. They worked and did all kinds of stuff just to have me. They planted flowers and bushes for beauty to surround me.

I had a family….I heard the laughter of the children along with their quiet talks with mom and dad. I heard the children playing on my porch and in the yard. They had a swing in the old oak tree that used to stand out to the side here. They caught lightening bugs in the dusk of summer evenings…finally, after growing tired they would settle on my front porch to plan for another day.

I was home to them...I kept them warm in the winter and sheltered them from the storms of summer. I was the place they took refuge in when life got hard. I saw them through the Great Depression, I was here when the son came home from WWII. I saw one daughter sneak her first kiss in the swing on my front porch. Another left here to be the first to go to college.
Meals were cooked in my kitchen, Thanksgiving and Christmases were celebrated, friends came and went. I was at the center of their life. My living room was a welcoming friend at the end of a long day's work. I was the holder of their dreams.

What led from then to now, happened so gradually I was hardly aware of it happening…the children grew up and married and had homes of their own…after several years the dad died, and not too long after that the mom passed….you can sort of imagine the rest. I was going through my own grieving and was hardly aware of time passing.

Now I am in this state and an eyesore to some, while a few others look at me and wonder what tales I could tell if I could talk.

From the archives.....
I always want to know the stories these old places could tell. At one time they have made someone so happy....now they are falling down.

I don't have much to say, but thought I would post a couple more pictures from my files. Near the end of October....they were taken in nearby Parke County, Indiana. It is famous for its covered bridges, 31 of them the last I heard. Every October, starting the second Friday in October there is a Covered Bridge Festival. Crafters and vendors set up in every little town in the county....there is food galore. People come from miles and miles to visit. I think the estimate is in the millions. I know one couple that come up from Missouri every year to go...she buys a lot of her Christmas gifts then.

And all roads for miles around are lined with yard sales...if you had the time you could find almost anything you every wanted...the key word here being time. I think I like the yard sales as much as the crafter's and vendor's booths. And I for sure don't have much luck with the food, though there are a couple places I always have good luck with. It is just when I decide to try something new that I make my mistakes.

The bridge picture above is older--it is a photo scanned in. In 2005, an arsonist burned it down. The people decided to rebuilt it, and with lots of donations of time and supplies, that feat has since been accomplished.