All the King's Horses ...

Randy purchased a barn at a sale on Saturday. If only the little Fisher-Price barn could replace the real McCoy.

Just the day before the sale, we discovered that the old barn at the County Line was falling down. It wasn't really a surprise. After a  2015 windstorm, the front of the barn was bowing deeper than a curtsying dancer.

April 2015

But, this time, there was no big windstorm. We heard no dramatic crash. The cupola and the hay loft simply gave way to gravity. Randy joked that it must have been the 0.60" of rain that fell Thursday and Friday.

As of this month, we've lived in our home for 31 years. We moved here when I was 8 months pregnant with Jill. The house was built as a wedding present for James and Katherine Johnson in 1938. But the farmstead itself was settled in the 1880s. We don't know when the barn was built. Back when the Johnsons lived here, they raised Hereford cattle and pigs. In its day, it was a grand old barn with lots of different stalls and compartments.

Randy started renting the barn and corrals just before we were married. Last year, after we witnessed the demise of a 100-year-old stone barn in the neighborhood and saw the damage to "our" barn, we decided it was time to put up a calving shed. 

 

For the 2016 calving season, our ladies-in-waiting heifers and newborn babies were housed in the new accommodations.

But, even though it was past its prime, the old barn had sheltered mamas and babies during snowstorms  and cold weather for many years.

We still planned to use the barn as an alleyway to load out cattle. And, so far, the roof hasn't fallen into the barn itself. But I think we need to come up with a Plan B sooner, rather than later.

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Kind of like those makeover shows, but in reverse, here's the before ...

 

 ... And the after. 

The old barn has been a backdrop for lots of sunrises on the County Line.

 

While we didn't house the kids' 4-H animals in that barn, the show box and other supplies were kept there, so the kids were frequently in and out of heavy wood door as they cared for bucket calves and steers.

Just like in the picture books, the barn has been a landmark for Kinley and Brooke as they have visited us at the farm.

May 2014 - Kinley & Randy

We're picking up the girls tomorrow for a short visit. But a trip to the barn won't be on the agenda.

Grandpa does hope they will enjoy playing with the new-to-us toy barn and silo he purchased at the downsizing sale.

Someday soon, the old barn will just be a memory for all of us. Old friend, it's been good to know you.