munch...

in-laws home

One of seven(?) outbuildings.

Some of our junk we have no room for, sits behind a shed. Our sign shop rents this out, but I kind of like the way it says "hey, check out this garden shed, everybody!" Not that this is visible from anywhere but the side yard.

You'd think they'd have room for our crap in here! ha!!

Mom had horses when she was younger.

Small garage. Hubster and I were married on that spot, lower right. :o)

 

On our photo-drive Friday, TLC and I ended up at my in-laws' home in Milton. It's the childhood home of my mother-in-law, and she and dad are fortunate to have been able to keep and maintain it. The sad thing is, like many farms, it was once on the edge of town, but now it's dead center. When I met my husband 19-20 years ago now, it was already on a well-used road in town between the high school and the library, but there were still fields along the side and woods behind it. Now it's all suburbs. I'm not sure how many acres they have remaining. You can see in the first two shots, they kept enough foliage to have some privacy. Still, this whole progress thing is kind of sad.

I love that beautiful willow. Mom said it wasn't there when she was a child.

I guess time has some good factors too.

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Linking up to Barn Charm

for spacious skies

 

It's hard not to pull over when the barn is giving you "the look." Honestly, a barn like this one is a pretty common sight around this area, but the clouds sweetened the deal for me.

Once we got out of our car, their dog started barking. Even from a distance, we could make out that happy tail so we just kept shooting. I took a series of shots as she came to check us out, with these two as my favorites. I sat on the road while she circled allowing us to pet her while staying on the go. TLC managed to get a capture with her tag in it, and messaged me later saying "Her name is Josey!" :o)

But the hard part was getting her to stay! She wanted to go home with us! I ran along side of her, saying "come on, girl, let's go home!" and she followed me to the driveway. Then we had to tear out of there! She tried keeping pace for 20-30 yards, but I watched her slow to a stop in the rear view mirror. Thanks for the sweet meet and greet, Josey. The pleasure was ours...

round(ish) barn

One of our goals on our photo-drive was this octagonal barn. I'd driven by some time ago glancing up the driveway, shouting, "hey, that's a round barn!" to no one is particular, because I was alone in the car. When I got home, I did some googling and found this amazing site which lists not just Wisconsin's round barns, but all kinds round and octagonal buildings across the US! Although, I believe he's missing at least one I know of. ;o)

So, nearly two years after finding this place, TLC and I made the four mile trip (yeah, tell me about it) to take some shots. We hit the jackpot as the couple who live there were out in the yard tidying up from the storm the night before. Chris was happy to take a break and walk us around the barn.

The Gilley-tofsland Octagonal Barn is listed on the National Register and according to Chris was built in 1906. She and her husband rent the property from the owner who is now 92. I mentioned I'd probably put a little art studio up in that center dome, and she said that the silo sits in the middle of the barn. Pretty unique! I peeked inside but it was fairly dark and cluttered. Plus, we were at basement level and couldn't view any further up the silo. The outside was clearly more photogenic.


Chris also informed us that the Victorian house was once the location of the township of Stebbensville post office. She and her husband were doing a nice job of up-keeping the home and surrounding out buildings. The final capture is that of her husband's workshop. As with any of my photos, clicking them will take you to flickr where I put them on the map.

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Hope each of you is having a peaceful Memorial Day here in the states...

mom and grampa, locating the enemy