Images converted to B&W

This old house above stands across the road from the bottom photo shown in this post.
And the photo below is from right beside the cows in that same photo.

It is a lonely place....but I imagine at one time this old two story home was full of kids....and that there was a lot of living going on here. Did the children get tired of living so far from everything or did they simply want a different way of life than what they had? Or is it possible there were no kids, and the old folks died...and some other farmer on down the road bought the place. I would love to know just how long it has been since anyone lived lived here...I have been passing this place for at least 6 years, and no one has been there.

At least it has not been sold and divided into lots to sell. Yet. I know people have got to live somewhere, but it sort of upsets me to see places that were farms sold and turned into a subdivision.

I go home to Tennessee now, and the places I used to play have homes on them...oh, it is not a subdivision...I/we had a BIG playground. We knew all the people that owned the neighboring farms and were free to roam their land as well as our own, plus the a national park bordered part of our property.

We were not allowed to just run all the time. We all had chores...from a fairly young age. I think I started washing dishes in about 3rd grade...and of course for me there was making beds and sweeping and dusting...though mom was not big on dusting...but the beds were made every day, and the living room and kitchen were swept at least once, and I think the front porch was swept most days....but I cannot remember that for sure.

My brothers all had chores, too...depending on the season....there was wood to cut, and wood and coal to be brought in--first for the stove, and later we had a wood/coal burning furnace. When we got the furnace, I remember really feeling it was something to not have the stove standing in the middle of he living room....

Also, I usually had about three pair of socks to last me a week in school...and I washed them out by hand at night and laid them over the vent from the furnace. Back then everyone wore knee-highs...I don't know about anyone else but me and some of my friends used rubber bands to keep them from sliding back down our legs. We would put the rubber band about an inch from the top...and fold the top down over the band.

Back to the subject...there was work galore on a farm. My brothers did the heavy work...and there was lots of it. We didn't have all the equipment for baling hay, so my brothers always helped other neighbors/friends put up their hay and in return we could use their equipment to cut and put ours up. Usually someone else would run the haybaler...not because my brothers weren't capable, but because their muscles were needed to load and haul the hay in. I can remember one time I think my two older brothers along with someone, maybe my other brother, driving the tractor and wagon...I remember it as they put up 1500 bales in one evening/night..I am saying night also cause they didn't come in till about 10:00 or 11:00...they had worked long after dark.

I am afraid I cannot imagine a 3 boys under 25 yrs. of age doing that this day and age...there are probably a few but sure none that I know. I just remember even back then being so impressed by them doing that. I don't think Neal remembers it, and not sure about George. They had did the field there by home...and the field that belonged to my brothers...so I am pretty sure I have the number of bales right.

Anyway, when we did have time, we were allowed to roam at will...and like I say we had a big area. I was going to get a map from google, but in looking I just could not do it justice on here.

A face in the tree....

Roger noticed this...not me...someone's homemade version of those eyes and noses you buy to put on trees. Do you know the ones I am talking about...go here, scroll and see some samples of what I am talking about. Who would ever dream of making these things and them selling? I have a friend who has a face on her trees, and I have seen other just cannot think where.

I am tempted to get some or have Roger make some to put on the crab apple tree. The same crab apple tree I vow to cut down every year, but every year I let it to another year. Yet it never gives me the blooms that my mom's always had, and even though it is never loaded down with blooms, there are still plenty of the apples to be a mess.

We have two chainsaws and both are hard to start...so hard that I cannot start them. Even Roger has trouble with them. One is a dream to saw with once it is started...it is balanced just right. The other was from Sears....and it was always so easy to start till we let someone borrow it. Ever since then, I have had problems starting it. Prior to that it was a darn good saw, too, and has cut a pile of wood in our younger years.

Anyway, the point of the story is if I had a chainsaw that would start, that tree would have done been down. I make up my mind to do it, but Roger won't be here when I come to that conclusion. By the time he is available, I have put it on the back burner to think about a while longer.

The way....

This is what the roads looked like north of here...we had just come up this road. I stopped to take photos of cattle, and old farm house, and could not resist shooting the road.

We ened up in Covington, a small town north of us about 30 or 40 miles...we ate at a little restaurant there, and went in a couple antique shops just to look. I always like looking at old things...some of them bring back memories for me....while a lot are older than that.

In both shops we stopped at, we talked to the owners...had fun visiting with them.