The Barn

The barn on my acreage is no longer being used for any real purpose; it houses some junk, hundreds of five gallon pails, and other miscellaneous items which I have not yet been brave enough to investigate.

West side of the barn.

I'm a bit unsure what I shall do with this barn; my options are to paint it in its original colors and do some minor repairs, leave it just the way it is, call the local volunteer fire department and have them burn it down for teaching purposes, or sell it and have it moved it off the property.  The last option seems a bit unrealistic as I doubt it could withstand the physical demands of the move.  I'm most likely to leave it the way it is for a year or two while I concentrate on the house and then, if it is still standing, paint it and do some minor repairs.

On the south end of the barn is a rather large pile of dirt which I believe came from when my father dug the basement for the house with his own loader.  My sister-in-law frequently drives over with her garden tractor and fills her birthday present (a large shiny black wagon) with soil for use on her yard.  Its a good thing its a big pile because I think I'd like to use some of it myself.

South end.

As far as landscaping and the area around the barn, my mind has gotten as far as cleaning the area around the barn and being able to mow right up against the barn.  What you can't see in these photos is that the front, or east, of the barn has Manitoba Maple trees growing right up to the foundation of the barn.  Those trees will be among the first on the yard to be removed. 

There is also remnants of a rabbit hutch on the front of the barn that will be completely removed.  It used to house my grey rabbit, Fluffy, when I was a pre-teen, but its long since been partially removed.  

In general, I'd like to open up the area around the barn, and make it more of a showpiece than an eyesore.  

If you've got any suggestions or pointers, I'd love to hear them. 

Basement Windows and Air Conditioning Unit

The exterior of the house is acceptable the way it currently is; however, I would like to be able to freely open the basement windows to let in fresh air without fear of small rodents and large insects/spiders crawling in.  That's gonna require a bit of work, and that's just fine by me. 

Basement Window

The window and window well you see to the left are on the north side of the house.  There was a random elm tree growing just to the left of the window well, as you can see by the miniature stump.  That was one of the first things I took care of when I started working around the house.  It's branches were covering the window well and I needed to see the window in its entirety.  The roots are still there and will be removed soon.

Air-conditioning unit

On the the right is a photo of the back of the house, or the west side.  There are two windows in the back of the house, one is completely without a screen, the other has a torn screen.  Replacements are required on all four basement windows, I believe.  This is a task that I believe I can complete on my own, no contractor required for this job.  

The air conditioning unit is also visible in that picture, in the bottom center of the photo.  It is as old as the house, if not a few years older.  Does anyone know the life expectancy of an air-conditioning unit?  Do I call a contractor to come and look at it or can I evaluate its safety and efficiency on my own?  There is so much I don't know!

Too much shade?  Tree too close?

On the left is a photo of the south side of the house and another basement window minus the screen. As mentioned previously, that is a task easily enough remedied.  What is of concern to me, however, is the lilac tree planted right up against the house.  It is my opinion that it is too close to the house and needs to be moved or destroyed.  It is  not covering any windows but the roots could be causing issues with the foundation.  

Slightly out of range of the photo, but slightly visible in the top right corner are two large trees that are providing shade to the south side of the house.  One of them is a Manitoba Maple, the other is a Maple Tree also, but a different type, the only one of its kind on the yard.  The Manitoba Maple will be cut down promptly as there are at least 2022 (frustrated exagerration) of them growing unbidden on the yard.  They have invaded every hedge, every garden, every foundation, every everything!!!!  They grow everywhere under any circumstances.  

That sounds to me like it could be a topic for another post!  I've been frustrated with Manitoba Maples ability to proliferate since I first took note of such things.  Their numbers shall decrease greatly and I will dance with glee and celebrate every one that falls prey to the chainsaw!  

Okay, I'm done now.  Deep breath . . .

Yes, the basement windows and their accompanying window wells need attention so I can open the windows and allow fresh air to flow freely through the house.  There is a mold issue in the basement that needs to be taken care of prior to me moving in so it is crucial that I am able to open the windows.  

More about the mold in another post. 

Northwest Corner

 

As I mentioned in the initial post, this yard is quite large, 3.1 acres.  There are corners and little nooks and crannies hidden all over the yard. Instead of attempting to convey the grandness of this yard in just one post, I will write several shorter posts.

The picture to the right is literally facing northwest, as the title hinted at.  The dryish grey area you see in the foreground is the 2010 garden.  When I was a child, the garden was twice as wide and twice as long.  Plus, it was one of two gardens on the yard. 

Each year it seems to get smaller and smaller and each year Mom seems to be less and less interested  in its production.  This year there was some corn that did not produce cobs longer than four inches and has only begun producing those now.  They are delicious, but tiny.  There were some tomato plants, some peppers, and some dill.  You can see the dill in the background of the garden on the right.

This photo is facing slightly more directly towards the northwest and is an "after" photo.  The bottoms of these shrubs were previously covered in offshoots, and low branches that inevitably hit me in the head as I mowed around the trunks.  I used the pruning snippers and pruning saw and cut off anything that would injure me, including several blunt ended previous trims by Mom. 

So far she hasn't complained about the pruning of these maple trees, but she sure has complained about the pruning of the elm tree in the next picture.

She seems to prefer the au natural look of unpruned trees to that of pruned trees.  We disagree on this issue.  Since this is her yard, I will not be pruning any trees so dramatically anymore.  Perhaps ones that are further from the house, but this was right outside her kitchen sink window.  Silly me.  Should have known she'd catch me!

I've removed about 5-6 trees which had grown wild right up against the house.  She wasn't too keen on this idea, but I explained to her about the risk of roots eventually damaging the foundation of the basement and then she was okay with it.  One was an elm tree already grown to half the size of the one on the left.

The last picture was taken from the steps on the west side of the house, looking west and a smidge south.  It is the cement pad of an old outbuilding; the building itself was torn down several years ago but the foundation left in place.  It is becoming fragile and is not in use for anything except the trees that are growing through the cracks in the cement.  I trimmed the lower branches so I could mow right up against the foundation on the outside.  My plan is to eventually get rid of those trees altogether and rent a jackhammer to break the foundation into pieces.

In place of this foundation I'd like to build some raised garden beds to grow vegetables for my little family.  Since I've never built anything before in my life, something tells me I may have my work cut out for me!

My Future Acreage

East Side (Front)

The reason I refer to it as "my future acreage" is because its my Mom's home and I have every intention of purchasing it when she moves out.  In the meantime, its hers, and we want her to stay living there as long as possible and are helping make that possible because we know that's what she wants.  

The yard itself is 3.1 acres and every bit of it is mowed or treed.    It is a high maintenance yard to say the least, with a lot of potential fixing up for me to do once I'm there.  


I almost feel guilty because I've already made a list of things I'd like to change when I take possession.  There are no major changes, just trimming a tree here, planting a shrub there, planting raspberries in the old garden, etc.  Its not like I'm going to take possession and level every tree to the ground and start from scratch with landscaping. 


In the past few weeks I've been spending my days off there with her, assisting her with mowing lawn, raking, burning piles of branches, etc.  Its been lots of fun even though she gets mad at me sometimes for pruning too many branches off the trees.  That's been our sticking point ever since we got pruning shears when I was 19 years old.  I'd prune the lower branches off so I could drive under the tree with the garden tractor without whacking my head.  She'd get mad because she thought I was taking too much off. 

The yard is directly at a dead end corner, the driveway has white fencing on either side of it.  There is a lot going on in the yard as it was designed around an old square house on a different basement than the current house.  Thus, there are hedges and shrubs in what appears to be odd places, but made perfect sense when the old house was still there.

West Side (Back)

Some of the old buildings remain on their foundations; there is an old red barn which I love to photograph.  It will be remaining intact, but may perhaps require a fresh coat of paint.  There is an old red shack which may have formerly been used as a chicken hutch; that will be torn down and burned, as it is nearly collapsed now already.  

Those are just a few brief ideas that I've had about the yard; I've also got a list for the inside.  That will wait for a later post.