Baths, Barns & Balls

These Simmentals are very fastidious animals.  Every 10 minutes they are giving each other baths.  Gracie (on the right) gives all her family members a bath frequently.

Even when it is -10 degrees,  or  in a blizzard, she gives baths.

She gives her aunt,Wanda, a bath.

Wanda loves it.

Gracie gives her mom, Google, a bath.

As the sun sets, Gracie bathes her baby boy, Guy, for the 6th time today.

I had a busy week travelling all over Vermont and up to the Canadian border.

I got to see a lot of landscape..and barns of every size.

In a rural village I saw this unusual building and inquired about its history.

It was originally built as a barn by the earliest settlers in the early 1600's.

The livestock lived below and the humans upstairs.

Then it was a tavern.

Now it is a storage for supplies for the nearby general store.

As I was walking around this beautiful 300 year old building taking photos and touching the old hardware, I was being watched:

Notice the cow in our state emblem.... a red one....


There was also another set of eyes watching every move I made:

I headed North and into "BarnLand."

The roof was ripped off in the Match blizzard and repairs were underway.

A newer barn with a great view.

A very busy dairy farm.

The milk truck is backing in to pick up all the fresh milk.

I rounded the bend and found this fatality of the winter.

Hundreds of barns collapsed in each New England state this winter.

New ones, old ones, red ones and blue ones.

The milk house collapsed from falling ice from this barn.

Luckily, this barn remains for another season.

This barn remains too.

A small dairy farm with a nicely designed, efficient barn.

I would like to have a barn like this.

A newer barn.

This is the Crown Jewel of barns in this area:

Round.

For the true Round Barn lover, there is a list of ALL the round barns in Vermont:
http://www.dalejtravis.com/rblist/rbvt.htm  ---- with photos!!! Including photos of this barn (Irasburg).

This is a very scenic barn on the Connecticut River and has been featured in many Vermont magazines and calenders.

They raise red and white Ayrshire dairy cattle.

Another old barn that I first saw last fall covered in colorful leaves.

I went to visit a friend on the way home and saw that a large maple tree had fallen on her strawberry shed and her chicken coop.

Roof damage.  At least the windows didn't break.    No chickens inside.

I see many unusual things in my rural travels, and this is the winner for the week.

The Ultimate bowlers lawn ornament:

Hope you have enjoyed the tour.