tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86141810012441721272024-02-07T23:44:13.456-08:00The Barn HunterIntrepid master's student in Folklore embarks on her thesis research in southern Saskatchewan, with some trepidation. If you haven't guessed already, the subject of this research is barns. Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-84312762749867071992017-12-21T15:38:00.004-08:002017-12-21T15:43:55.049-08:00The Barn Hunter Updated<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEep9o8b3FXlm4_Hh3FmRpA5GZoS5wEyq2QTS4TiSpB2Jke-Boava80_O4ETNvtQnQbCsStBMYGRkruvBhreMb5sOjkXvK7sHpwfxgBT3zvF8GP6pg5MHKMldRUDRSE3tqYNax-FjMdw/s1600/DSC_9085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEep9o8b3FXlm4_Hh3FmRpA5GZoS5wEyq2QTS4TiSpB2Jke-Boava80_O4ETNvtQnQbCsStBMYGRkruvBhreMb5sOjkXvK7sHpwfxgBT3zvF8GP6pg5MHKMldRUDRSE3tqYNax-FjMdw/s640/DSC_9085.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once a landmark on Highway 13 just east of Cadillac, this barn finally fell some time in 2015. </td></tr>
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Yikes, it's been more than three years since my last post!<br />
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What's happened since:<br />
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The thesis? It got finished. The degree was awarded, and so all the hard work resulted in something. If you're so inclined, you can read the thesis in its entirety <a href="http://research.library.mun.ca/8420/" target="_blank">here. </a><br />
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I've been busy making my way in the working world (happily, in the heritage sector), and while barns faded into the background, I never lost my passion for them. I may not be actively barn hunting any more, but you can bet that I still take the time to admire a good barn in my travels, and once in awhile people still contact me with tales of their barn. Or ask me how they can get money to save them. For that last, the answer is, there aren't many places! In Saskatchewan this past year, the only granting agency specifically for built heritage in the province, the Heritage Foundation, lost its funding from the provincial government. As that organization works to restructure itself, there are very few dollars available for restoration work on buildings of any kind, particularly not the humble barn. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeZi4tJKxaat59m1kMijKuA3AGueGyYftdX9O1MZA1QTn2t9bR4bOLqUckIgxVMcln4EepOBBQFvMg19T4Nwj9xm0x16VIYCa3tOKSiHi1ADmDvHg-mqK7iC7uP6H6ttPEwhiP_ibK6Q/s1600/IMG_20171221_172753.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeZi4tJKxaat59m1kMijKuA3AGueGyYftdX9O1MZA1QTn2t9bR4bOLqUckIgxVMcln4EepOBBQFvMg19T4Nwj9xm0x16VIYCa3tOKSiHi1ADmDvHg-mqK7iC7uP6H6ttPEwhiP_ibK6Q/s400/IMG_20171221_172753.jpg" width="400" /></a>This year, after a couple of years of nothing really going on, barn-wise, I was called back to my role as barn hunter. First, my good friend and fellow barn hunter Meghann Jack and I wrote an article for <a href="https://nationaltrustcanada.ca/magazine/locale-fall-2017" target="_blank"><i>Locale</i> - the magazine of the National Trust for Canada</a>. Secondly, and in connection to the first, I was invited to speak about the plight of barns at the <a href="http://www.apti.org/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=2017conference-agenda&category=2017%20Annual%20Conference" target="_blank">National Trust For Canada's annual joint conference in Ottawa</a>. My talk, "What Are We Going to do About Barns?"part of a larger panel about conservation efforts around the world, was well attended, and I had some very fruitful discussions afterward. <a href="https://nationaltrustcanada.ca/" target="_blank">The National Trust </a>recognizes that barns are endangered across the country, but what will come of that understanding remains to be seen. <br />
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And what about the barns themselves? Well. Most of them are still standing, but we've lost a few. In fact, this was the main point I made in my presentation in Ottawa. Since my survey in 2013 in which I identified 123 existing barns in my study area, I know of at least six that have fallen down or been taken down. There very well may be more that have been lost, since I haven't gone back over the entire survey region. You can imagine that at this rate, it won't take long before there are hardly any barns left at all. <br />
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However, with the bad news, there is also good. In the <i>Locale</i> article, I featured two barn success stories from my area. The first, the Carles barn, has undergone a multi-year conservation process. And the Levee barn just had its first season in its new iteration as a Christmas tree store. Barns will only survive if people make a concentrated effort to save them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDMXx1nmHhyphenhyphenSFa65imeXeT_BXpnsHWIJPvMZLeQXigIGrI8Qs9LYmbrtTbhVEhkT8uo9SEdAaS2rvum_KeDrdonKtTcvUvzBPQCKT7WeKIJh0mcJgqn172Q9qJXDUboEyY2cXPYMrrIHc/s1600/20171208_160532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="360" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDMXx1nmHhyphenhyphenSFa65imeXeT_BXpnsHWIJPvMZLeQXigIGrI8Qs9LYmbrtTbhVEhkT8uo9SEdAaS2rvum_KeDrdonKtTcvUvzBPQCKT7WeKIJh0mcJgqn172Q9qJXDUboEyY2cXPYMrrIHc/s400/20171208_160532.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Levee barn has become the headquarters and shop of Traykym Trees, a Christmas tree farm just north of Radville which just finished its first, very successful season. It's been wonderful to see this project take shape, and congratulations to Kim Levee and Tracy Bain on their dream coming true (after lots of hard work). Here Tracy and her sister Brenda work on handmade Christmas decorations that are sold out of the barn. </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcvX3w5v9HeNbcaAcvGWqL8k2yox8TkFwRlkDlh8rjmWIp6X7PFrEcB-1K618xnsFT2LvQTvUK-Mu1-NxqfGnqI87E2eivJ1Ov9JaDQym9aDqrf6NWDwZSOWih-hazbYs5McrwAyUTCA/s1600/20171208_160620-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="360" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcvX3w5v9HeNbcaAcvGWqL8k2yox8TkFwRlkDlh8rjmWIp6X7PFrEcB-1K618xnsFT2LvQTvUK-Mu1-NxqfGnqI87E2eivJ1Ov9JaDQym9aDqrf6NWDwZSOWih-hazbYs5McrwAyUTCA/s400/20171208_160620-1.jpg" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqJhi4jmncOuaECSfltYOYbQq330oDIJ1kIaj27Xgtn8bYu06L9bIx42aPOoBeJ80f1XwW5ati1Kl2nwJweKN1FkrkRVLSznidh8TnE7TQbGTpTeSD7wlYv5GUrsZxuxo8grLZXOe3pA/s1600/20171208_160321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="360" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqJhi4jmncOuaECSfltYOYbQq330oDIJ1kIaj27Xgtn8bYu06L9bIx42aPOoBeJ80f1XwW5ati1Kl2nwJweKN1FkrkRVLSznidh8TnE7TQbGTpTeSD7wlYv5GUrsZxuxo8grLZXOe3pA/s400/20171208_160321.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVOIK2QnjBVih2ujeH_5o_0p4S9JG0a4AD64whc5I_-HsrwhUfH_Lue0hwRbdZFI6qHXGMR30zjjH8w38YyO-Ua0zgmmPLkYACHtc3tIyIk7fGt4rS_IfvvOK65tytq8zFJdI4rs703E/s1600/KC2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVOIK2QnjBVih2ujeH_5o_0p4S9JG0a4AD64whc5I_-HsrwhUfH_Lue0hwRbdZFI6qHXGMR30zjjH8w38YyO-Ua0zgmmPLkYACHtc3tIyIk7fGt4rS_IfvvOK65tytq8zFJdI4rs703E/s640/KC2.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roland and Darlene Carles, along with their son Carey and daughter-in-law Richelle and grandchildren have spent years (and a good chunk of change) working to preserve their barn for many decades to come.</td></tr>
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Case in point - "my" own barn - the barn which is part of a farm my dad purchased in the 1970s known as the Sidehill. Built in the late 1940s, the barn is one of the newest in the area built in the old gambrel-roofed style. It is also distinctive in that it is a bank barn - built into the side of a hill. My dad had it painted in 1980, but since then it has simply weathered the elements. It's in okay shape, but it needs work. And so, I figured I better put my money where my mouth is, and have decided to take on the responsibility and expense of ensuring that work gets done. Rather than tinning the roof, I want to shingle it with its original cedar shingles, paint it, and shore up a concrete wall. With this work done, hopefully the barn will stand for a long time yet.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsoLBrwgiaSX80lzXmcCJUjsCvNQPixJ8PEo-mBdBJbOJ3_xZ-ut9nES5yBF8yp-vEcs7iK99fi0_pYH14TCOHE4DU4MJnxy-JKdlicd1nhlLpLcA2Uu9F7l16IgF-5lbjAfNi7PHKDX0/s1600/Sept+11+Farm+074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsoLBrwgiaSX80lzXmcCJUjsCvNQPixJ8PEo-mBdBJbOJ3_xZ-ut9nES5yBF8yp-vEcs7iK99fi0_pYH14TCOHE4DU4MJnxy-JKdlicd1nhlLpLcA2Uu9F7l16IgF-5lbjAfNi7PHKDX0/s640/Sept+11+Farm+074.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sidehill barn during the full bloom of summer last year. It needs a new coat of paint, new shingles, and some cement work. I'm determined to see it through! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrO625fDGxs3dvy6TzGXg8kSRYwPxkDc1pCaWgOLPdDvxieh7NG2dzCfZmnTDy2Ia0JnsLvV9fMfJc1Nlq6w9PcYBnJ36AkwDSX9Is554onsyjDbfEAx6gv5S_L5LMnEyxoYx0zVlM5E/s1600/DSC_5870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrO625fDGxs3dvy6TzGXg8kSRYwPxkDc1pCaWgOLPdDvxieh7NG2dzCfZmnTDy2Ia0JnsLvV9fMfJc1Nlq6w9PcYBnJ36AkwDSX9Is554onsyjDbfEAx6gv5S_L5LMnEyxoYx0zVlM5E/s640/DSC_5870.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The barn in context as part of the Sidehill farm - aka the most beautiful place on earth. After the barn, maybe the house? </td></tr>
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And with that, I sign off once again. I'll keep this blog up as a record of the work I did, and will update it if I have further news to share. In the meantime, wishing you and yours a joyful holiday season! Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-45514586597838128582014-10-03T14:18:00.001-07:002014-10-03T14:23:09.990-07:00If a Barn Falls on the Prairie......and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-G0FtA9aFNpzO5ihVe3gOC300zJaht67PA174uy4W4QDgmlNVz3qsQb6HFz5ajhNzUChCF81y3Lj9dW1IbAjAPMfyZDDUPE9Lxo86XbenIF39GoU0zEJ8_rOIfwEyemMsgxW_izgS2E/s1600/Barn+grave+1+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-G0FtA9aFNpzO5ihVe3gOC300zJaht67PA174uy4W4QDgmlNVz3qsQb6HFz5ajhNzUChCF81y3Lj9dW1IbAjAPMfyZDDUPE9Lxo86XbenIF39GoU0zEJ8_rOIfwEyemMsgxW_izgS2E/s1600/Barn+grave+1+(2).jpg" height="414" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was once one of the largest barns in the district. Date of collapse unknown. North of Hardy. October 30, 2013. </td></tr>
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Saskatchewan is littered with the decaying corpses of barns. There are even more unmarked barn graves. One of the oldest barns in my immediate area was torn down just the year before I began my research. A casual passerby would never know it had been there. The barn was demolished, the debris pushed into a giant hole that had been dug for the purpose, and filled in. No gravestone.<br />
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This summer, two big barns on Highway 6 south of Regina blew down in a severe thunderstorm. In both cases, the houses were miraculously spared. But the barns, one of them painted within the past five years or so, reflecting the owner`s care for it, were destroyed in seconds. It was something people talked about. Landmarks, gone. Another barn, a less impressive white gable roofed building, on the same stretch of highway fell sometime last year. It had developed a severe lean and every time I drove past it, I knew it wasn`t long for this world. Now the roof sits on top of the collapsed barn. It was like an old horse that just lay down one day and couldn`t get back up again. I wonder if anybody witnessed the exact moment it happened, and if so, if they felt a sense of loss.<br />
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There`s something about seeing a collapsed barn that speaks to the impermanence and constant change of our existence. It also, at a more mundane level, speaks to the constant evolution of agriculture. But it`s more poignant than that. If it wasn`t, people wouldn`t be talking about the destruction of barns that had no personal connection to them in such a sad and nostalgic way, like they did a couple of months ago when I was sitting in the doctor`s office and that was the topic of choice for waiting room chatter.<br />
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On my barn hunting expeditions last year, I saw countless barns that had lost their battle with the elements, had succumbed to the fierce prairie wind. Some hang on for years in a perpetual lean, facing off against Nature, the force working ceaselessly to take them down. Some slowly rot from the inside out, their nails rusting slowly away, leaving nothing to hold the barn together. Some, their roofs bare to the sky and the rain and snow that comes from it, collapse into themselves. Still others, like the two on Highway 6, looked strong and sturdy. They had been taken care of, looked after, nurtured in their old age. And one freak wind destroyed them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5W-sGpW23NDhwGR4FYZOr1taW5nWN_zzqWgqSTweIeC_kS3QF9v4sCgCxxVvm7TL79oXJ5RhjqUglLcQrYaWNGPeizxA8k9eCWlVqiKxyx2GhQaFcrsS8ZkxldXWCtyo_y2HMXcgOAPg/s1600/Barn+Grave+2+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5W-sGpW23NDhwGR4FYZOr1taW5nWN_zzqWgqSTweIeC_kS3QF9v4sCgCxxVvm7TL79oXJ5RhjqUglLcQrYaWNGPeizxA8k9eCWlVqiKxyx2GhQaFcrsS8ZkxldXWCtyo_y2HMXcgOAPg/s1600/Barn+Grave+2+(2).jpg" height="452" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Gothic roof style is still visible. October 30, 2013. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3DU5Oe5OVBPigPo58lp1NW-LJEqNI2w7dSPhzK_siYQcmdCfXpiX9gYI5VGV44LpNVZU9okcGVPOc-d_xIy4G6LuAwWNLx8_6vhX44yX1oYjxMND6LjM_fznZhj8caLfueSa1rEizo0/s1600/Barn+Grave+3+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3DU5Oe5OVBPigPo58lp1NW-LJEqNI2w7dSPhzK_siYQcmdCfXpiX9gYI5VGV44LpNVZU9okcGVPOc-d_xIy4G6LuAwWNLx8_6vhX44yX1oYjxMND6LjM_fznZhj8caLfueSa1rEizo0/s1600/Barn+Grave+3+(2).jpg" height="468" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The overgrown trail is a testament to the neglect of this long abandoned farmstead. October 30, 2013. </td></tr>
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-68045355142427791292014-09-12T17:08:00.003-07:002014-09-12T17:08:21.062-07:00The Barn Hunter Returns...Well, it's been a few months.<br />
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Thesis status: still in progress. After all my lofty ambitions and well-laid plans, guess what? Summer happened. I got a really good job in a museum in Ogema, a lovely town about thirty miles from home. Though not a huge distance, it was far enough that I spent a lot of time simply going back and forth to work. Then there was work itself. And my giant garden. And the all-too-brief Saskatchewan summer. And so, the thesis got relegated to a back burner on very, very low heat.<br />
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I readjusted my goal and went on with my life. I completely neglected this blog, partly out of a deep sense of shame that I wasn't living up to my self-imposed standards, and partly because, frankly, I just wasn't thinking about barns all that much. Other things grabbed my attention. But they were important things, and I don't regret it. For instance, I began a new blog, <a href="http://fromthegap.com/" target="_blank">from the gap</a>, which explores my love for my home region and delves into some prairie folklore and history. <br />
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But now summer has ended. Autumn approaches quickly, and it's already been a full year since I began my barn hunting adventures. I have returned to my thesis and I'm slowly but surely getting back into a barny state of mind. My new goal is to finish the thesis by December, and I'm quite confident I can do that.<br />
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I'm not going to track my progress on here, though, like I had so foolishly thought would be successful back in May. I'm learning to let myself just work the way I do best: sort of haphazardly by-the-skin-of-my-teethly. Disorganised and jumbly and fumbly and yet somehow, I manage to get things done, and usually on time, too. So, we're going to go with that. And, instead of imposing a strict blogging schedule on myself, like I did last year, I'm going to write new posts when I feel the inclination to do so. I started this blog because it was fun for me to share all the wonderful experiences I was having. It didn't feel fun anymore when I turned it into a weekly obligation. So, there will be new posts. Who knows when, and who knows what about. I'll surprise you, and myself.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgQmkwYsYe7I_IAux_3aKcs-64rhKC26Ep5kDx_zGpjTkYdouI9teY-bsNSHNBIkJMSo7IwHCIsOTBnHdjNayIg0fjvR2UTxkLS7Tir3GmDYkETn2pFbezrHLwWeSz9qGkUDimFvo36c/s1600/Gust+barn+Nov.+1st+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgQmkwYsYe7I_IAux_3aKcs-64rhKC26Ep5kDx_zGpjTkYdouI9teY-bsNSHNBIkJMSo7IwHCIsOTBnHdjNayIg0fjvR2UTxkLS7Tir3GmDYkETn2pFbezrHLwWeSz9qGkUDimFvo36c/s1600/Gust+barn+Nov.+1st+(2).jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A barn I drive by every day. East of Ceylon. November 1, 2013. </td></tr>
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-2010881732175026772014-05-27T16:19:00.001-07:002014-05-27T16:27:44.699-07:00Barn Owls<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPgUNB20uuk5q9yqVfJd_evJ3mRrUcFsDViGRbyMlzHFye0RkGNNFIosDBAn9n59ANOOJB6ljYIqi0zH2S4CDakYE1SJzseS2uW40pH2P1iUb6M_ptMg_ooKAa2ptNr_yzJqhqTdbqEc/s1600/495px-Tyto_alba_-British_Wildlife_Centre,_Surrey,_England-8a_(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPgUNB20uuk5q9yqVfJd_evJ3mRrUcFsDViGRbyMlzHFye0RkGNNFIosDBAn9n59ANOOJB6ljYIqi0zH2S4CDakYE1SJzseS2uW40pH2P1iUb6M_ptMg_ooKAa2ptNr_yzJqhqTdbqEc/s1600/495px-Tyto_alba_-British_Wildlife_Centre,_Surrey,_England-8a_(1).jpg" height="400" width="330" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what a true Barn Owl looks like. Photo: Wikimedia Commons</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9WKGXvKZd7PnwUBKnnrqt1hJJDmKfOmUq3pJeuim7Dfp6fhkGwnvXf7HbPQ8QV898YYYKww7q-CbqFYbh4qF3I_gfY55akBvXBP8F9dpD7ckxuCPjYykpoH_QU5LEdNSPturNbTkO25c/s1600/Barn+Owl+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9WKGXvKZd7PnwUBKnnrqt1hJJDmKfOmUq3pJeuim7Dfp6fhkGwnvXf7HbPQ8QV898YYYKww7q-CbqFYbh4qF3I_gfY55akBvXBP8F9dpD7ckxuCPjYykpoH_QU5LEdNSPturNbTkO25c/s1600/Barn+Owl+2.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what a Great Horned Owl in a Saskatchewan barn looks like. </td></tr>
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I love owls. Owls love barns. I love barns. It was only a matter of time until the inevitable happened: an owl sighting in a barn. When I was growing up, there was an owl living in our barn up on a hilly piece of my dad's land. This barn owl was a legendary creature who lived for many more years than most owls do and was the father of an impressive line of owlets. When I say legendary, I mean that literally. Most of the tales we heard of this barn owl were inventions of my dad, which I only realised relatively recently. There was indeed an owl who lived in that barn for a time, but my dad made up lots of stories about him to keep us kids entertained.<br />
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I think my obsession with owls started at that tender age. I love them so much I even considered getting an owl tattooed on my shoulder in a crude simulation of the Greek goddess of wisdom Athene who was often depicted in art with an owl perched on her shoulder. I regularly receive birthday and Christmas gifts with owl motifs, such as jewellry, contact lens cases, phone cases and the like. My spirit animal would definitely be an owl. Nothing gives me more delight than to hear the 'whoo-whoo' of owls late at night outside my window. Owls are regularly associated with barns, so you would think I'd have seen one before now. Though I've seen a fair number of owls in my time, but never one actually IN a barn until just a few days ago.<br />
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Last fall during the survey, my dad and I were documenting the barn pictured above. As we got close to measure it, an owl came swooping out, a startling and exciting event. The barn, by the way, is located just a few miles west of my farm in the Gap and is an example of a "cut-down" barn. Cut-down barns are the roof and loft of a barn which has been cut down to create a smaller building. The original ground level is removed. Usually this was done to save a barn that was in poor shape, or to create a building more suitable for storing machinery when the barn was no longer in use. There are several examples of these in my study region.<br />
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The other evening, my brother and I were speeding down the Correction Line with my camera in tow en route to a photo opportunity some miles to the north involving a family of foxes. We had been alerted to this by my sister who had just seen them on her way to Regina. As we approached and passed the cut-down barn (in the blink of an eye, of course, since we were in the Le Sabre), I mentioned casually "there's an owl in that barn" and glanced back at it, only to see, you guessed it, an owl. With great excitement and some difficulty (owing to the Le Sabre's inherent speed demon nature), I slowed down, and with great care, reversed at a snail's pace until we were level with the barn. Because of the fox photo hunt, I just so happened to have the telephoto lens all ready to go on my camera. The light wasn't ideal, and the distance was still too great to capture him in detail, but the owl patiently posed for the barest of moments while I got my shots before turning and alighting silently from the window.<br />
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If there was ever a Kodak moment, this was it. I think I have to thank Athene for that one. I drive past that barn several times a week, usually so aborbed in other thoughts that I don't even notice it. But for some reason that evening, I remembered the owl sighting from last fall and happened to glance back.<br />
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As we have learned, barns in this area aren't used for much anymore. But they do make perfect homes for a whole host of wild creatures, as explored in the post <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/09/the-dangers-of-barn-hunting.html" target="_blank">The Dangers of Barn Hunting</a>. Barns are a great habitat for owls since they provide shelter from the elements and a quiet, dark place for them to sleep during the day. Perhaps this owl had just woken up and was surveying the scene before taking off for his nighttime hunting. Or maybe he just knew I was coming and wanted to make sure I had something to write in my blog this week. Owls are always thinking ahead.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Vous-USpw-U8xuN1ohJ-hrJDnLT2G0Pb_aehpEIrGlHXMwtDgmtX2DBQyWlxcI4sHMZWWgfbRm3H-Ka5fOnoNzNX6lSDCeAS6GxJN5FvD76Vw5h2rWlPudjUAwnO_u32eTrRGRZgfM0/s1600/Barn+Owl+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Vous-USpw-U8xuN1ohJ-hrJDnLT2G0Pb_aehpEIrGlHXMwtDgmtX2DBQyWlxcI4sHMZWWgfbRm3H-Ka5fOnoNzNX6lSDCeAS6GxJN5FvD76Vw5h2rWlPudjUAwnO_u32eTrRGRZgfM0/s1600/Barn+Owl+1.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGt2uR3HoUAY6EwseZ3ZcBdHkQSr9wRf5fOm_5BgMx14yddy5q4xlABypPOJvlRvuII4FOCLkTkIIcHk5e_fnE18aipGvFNTFz_zG44I0QvLG2VEE4oKWpw1447yfFj8OP6-yaDZi-Z88/s1600/Barn+Owl+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGt2uR3HoUAY6EwseZ3ZcBdHkQSr9wRf5fOm_5BgMx14yddy5q4xlABypPOJvlRvuII4FOCLkTkIIcHk5e_fnE18aipGvFNTFz_zG44I0QvLG2VEE4oKWpw1447yfFj8OP6-yaDZi-Z88/s1600/Barn+Owl+4.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The owl prepares to launch. </td></tr>
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<b>Epilogue</b> <br />
What's that? A question about my thesis progress? Thanks for the reminder. Did I hit my goal of 33 pages? No. Are we going to talk any more about it? No, we are not. I continue to chip away at it every day and make progress, though not as much progress as I had ambitiously hoped for in my previous <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2014/05/the-barn-hunters-foolproof-guide-to.html" target="_blank">post</a>. There are many reasons, chief amongst them procrastination, but we all knew that was going to happen. Perhaps next week I will have more promising news to report. Until then! <br />
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-83038244561585226942014-05-19T16:03:00.000-07:002014-05-19T17:04:42.029-07:00The Barn Hunter's Foolproof Guide to Thesis Writing<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOsgIQ154XYoNRhklVpikJvPE00_HZf_ZP9pWhRTTWN2yZjYKtGEN6BSny9y-rbdgoa3h1mRiOa4vep3S-2aXJyllgsUfy76YPRTmE7yzPB22tX2AFQdH-v096y4dFkNd2u4HZaexJoA/s1600/DSC_9770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOsgIQ154XYoNRhklVpikJvPE00_HZf_ZP9pWhRTTWN2yZjYKtGEN6BSny9y-rbdgoa3h1mRiOa4vep3S-2aXJyllgsUfy76YPRTmE7yzPB22tX2AFQdH-v096y4dFkNd2u4HZaexJoA/s1600/DSC_9770.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From prairie vistas...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiA1lQeinlK8X3O_CnKbCOaXzCqHcWn2514W2mxcuqY5Y-i8wpXn5aOL9b1PWFvW244HU97Hq9OYKFyJMzslBHOWN4eZYtTHWpIUVW24IxUifT9qgMm-ejo9t9379NFJyYay4f2VC0DnE/s1600/Image-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiA1lQeinlK8X3O_CnKbCOaXzCqHcWn2514W2mxcuqY5Y-i8wpXn5aOL9b1PWFvW244HU97Hq9OYKFyJMzslBHOWN4eZYtTHWpIUVW24IxUifT9qgMm-ejo9t9379NFJyYay4f2VC0DnE/s1600/Image-1.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...to Windows Vista, the Barn Hunter's daily work venue has changed. Just kidding about the Windows Vista thing, I am actually serious about completing this thesis without irreplaceable data loss along the way. </td></tr>
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I have already failed my earlier promise to write a weekly post. Last week I was planning to write a post, but all I would have to write about is how I hadn't got started on my thesis yet, and I was too embarrassed to do that. So I did it this week. But, I can also add the happy news that I finally did get started, and even made some real progress. In the meantime, I've also picked up a sweet summer job, found a thesis-writing office (thanks to the lovely Eldene Schmidt), cleaned out two closets and mastered a bun recipe. The Barn Hunter is back in business. <br />
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So, first of all, what is a thesis? I could probably use a reminder myself, so I'll peruse the <i>Oxford Dictionary of Current English</i> to see what it has to say.<br />
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<b>thesis </b>/<b>thee</b>-siss/ n. 1. a statement or theory put forward to be supported or proved. 2. a long piece of written work involving personal research, written as part of a university degree.<br />
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The thing I'm working on now is the second definition, though it must also contain the first definition. A thesis within a thesis. There's a lot of pressure invovled with these things. When I first began gradaute school, I really did not believe I had the ability to pull it off. I'm still a bit doubtful, but now that Ive started, I realise that, as difficult as it is, it's not quite as insurmountable as I had initially imagined. Really, a thesis is just five term papers all mashed together to support one main thesis. That's it. Easy. I've got the information to do it, now I've just got to do it. And that's the hard part.<br />
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I think most graduate students have lofty visions of writing an amazing thesis that will have all professors in the department falling over themselves with praise, and publishing presses beating down the door. It is seen as a sort of culmination, a cherry on top to the work of graduate school. In a way it is, but in another way it's just another exercise to slog through on the way to earning that heavyweight piece of paper that says Master on it. We all want to feel like we have actually mastered something. I'm realising that it's sort of human to feel that way, and we better give up on actually achieving it if we ever want to have some peace of mind. <br />
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My friend Teresa has said to me on multiple occasions, "the only good thesis is a done thesis." My former professor and good friend Dr. Allison Fizzard told me just recently that "perfection is the enemy of good." So, I'm learning to let go of my grand visions and simply sit down and start typing away. Which brings me to the point of this whole post: how to write a thesis, barn hunter style.<br />
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I have three excellent and brilliant friends working on their theses right now as well. They reached their writing stage before me because my trip to England last year meant my research was pushed back. Thus, I had friends who had already gone through the proposal stage before I did, friends who talked me off the cliff. These are Meghann, PhD candidate, and Noah and Claire, my fellow MA cohort pals.<br />
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Like most graduate students, I have a giant case of imposter's syndrome, and spend a lot of my time wondering why they ever let me into graduate school. I've always believed that I don't do things the proper, scholarly way. Watching my friends work on their theses made me even more convinced of that. They do things properly. They have organised notes, they read all their sources beforehand and have very neat post-it notes marking each place they want to cite, they have diligent working habits. I possess none of these skills, and was starting to really panic about it. Then, my supervisor said something along the lines of: "it's your thesis, you can write it however you want." And then the epiphany struck. When it's done, no one will know how I got to that point, so I can just write it as haphazardly as I've written every other academic paper.<br />
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And so, without any further ado, here is the <b>Barn Hunter's Foolproof Guide to Thesis Writing</b><br />
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1. Sit and stare into space for at least an hour before doing anything else.<br />
2. Mentally berate yourself for being a failed academic and a mediocre human being.<br />
3. Open your word processor.<br />
4. Fiddle around finding appropriate tunes - usually classical a la Ralph Vaughan Williams and/or Vivaldi mixed in with some flavour of the week rock/pop playlists. <br />
5. Write like a wild thing possessed by the Furies, urged on by the Muses and guided by Hermes. This will last for approximately twenty minutes.<br />
6. Assess the results: several paragraphs of single spaced drivel.<br />
7. Surf around on the internet mindlessly for no less than one hour.<br />
8. Repeat steps 5 and 6.<br />
9. Emerge into the sunshine for a brisk walk.<br />
10. Repeat steps 5 through 10.<br />
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That's my daily agenda. Also, there is to be no chronological progress. Open whichever chapter you feel like writing about, and just start typing. When bored of that particular topic, switch to another chapter.<br />
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When writing a thesis, it's important to set goals and deadlines for yourself. Even someone as disogranised as I am needs that bit of structure. When I first began, I had goals of "Chapter ___ complete by _____." But then I realised I wouldn't write like that. I just can't. I have to be disorganised and half crazy for anything good to come out. And so now my goal is simply to write five pages per day/twenty pages per week. I'm aiming for a 150 page thesis, including photos and diagrams, so that means that I should be on course to finish by the end of the summer.<br />
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<b>Goal: 20 pages per week</b><br />
<b>Progress for week of May 12-18th: 13 pages. </b><br />
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So, yeah, I didn't make it last week. But that's okay! I only actually worked for two full days last week due to some extenuating circumstances, some legitimate and some just me being a procrastinator. I am happy with thirteen pages last week. Next time I post, it should be at least 33 pages. Until then....here's another picture of a barn.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9LEPbf9kTw25Bbt8KooJd6yLosK2eDpnzvikrPAUBJA5pK8RzNYBWEBzlLAaCAvSOeoqg_Mbc-NbMKIZTt8dwATZZ6_0U57o-_KJmwFjF6okUtCifppi6sxCwQ2wEohUjVtkjOjg_Ek/s1600/DSC_1623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9LEPbf9kTw25Bbt8KooJd6yLosK2eDpnzvikrPAUBJA5pK8RzNYBWEBzlLAaCAvSOeoqg_Mbc-NbMKIZTt8dwATZZ6_0U57o-_KJmwFjF6okUtCifppi6sxCwQ2wEohUjVtkjOjg_Ek/s1600/DSC_1623.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This barn west of Radville is the only barn with an existing silo in my region. It was once used as a feedlot in the 1960s. Photo October 31, 2013. <span id="goog_1479704956"></span><span id="goog_1479704957"></span></td></tr>
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-10920886696728638682014-05-05T10:08:00.000-07:002014-05-05T10:08:02.586-07:00Return to the Hunting Grounds: Thesis Time It's been awhile. I apologize for the lengthy silence, but I was busy trying to survive winter in St. John's, my last bit of coursework, and having a bit of fun, too. But I am now returned to my native land, the place where all of my barn hunting adventures began. I have successfully passed my final course and come through the daunting thesis proposal presentation. My next task as a barn hunter is to take all of the goodies I collected and turn them into something halfway comprehensible. Then, if I'm lucky, the good folks at Memorial University will deem it good enough to let me walk away with a Master's degree.<br />
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Barn hunting in the field was rarely a lonely task. I often had a sidekick along with me, whether it was Stacy or my dad or my sister. When I was flying solo, I always had people to talk to when I drove into their yards. Even at the archives I had other people to help me out or chat with. But this part of the process is different. I have to go at it alone. I have a lot of frustration, long days and hard work in front of me. The looming spectre of procrastination is hanging over my head, grinning ghoulishly. But perhaps this blog will help make me accountable. I'll endeavour to update it weekly, as I did last fall. It may not be as in-depth as it was before, but I'll try to at least post a few new photos every week, as well as an update on the thesis progress. If I make the process a little bit public, perhaps I'll be able to shame myself into actually doing it.<br />
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Right now the birds are chirping and the frogs are singing outside my window. It's still very cold for this time of year (we even had snow yesterday), but spring is coming. When it comes, it will come fast, and it will take all my willpower not to succumb to the urge to gambol through lilac bushes all day long. Some say that writing a thesis can actually be rewarding. That remains to be seen, but one thing I can promise you is that the thesis will get done, somehow or another. I look forward to dragging you along with me.<br />
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Until next week, here's a barn photo to tide us all over.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuseV8qPtaZobJOTpTZ0ZsXbWuF-ZurEHP1bTwcRZhcxLevLWG90apxPBvHI1Jc8rzYqW45YqI5Ud59VC0pPNJpeVUYjaqxYkWtLpLAswbNP70xLncwzLm6ocb-XnXVThE16PNNGrCizI/s1600/DSC_1481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuseV8qPtaZobJOTpTZ0ZsXbWuF-ZurEHP1bTwcRZhcxLevLWG90apxPBvHI1Jc8rzYqW45YqI5Ud59VC0pPNJpeVUYjaqxYkWtLpLAswbNP70xLncwzLm6ocb-XnXVThE16PNNGrCizI/s1600/DSC_1481.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">October 29, 2013. Northwest of Ceylon. </td></tr>
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-16009385008492239802014-02-04T19:04:00.000-08:002014-02-06T12:44:28.230-08:00Oral Histories: Sharing Stories and Memories with the Verot Family <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB9zmcU38hQ4FUoxJS-RNlSpBgp6DBUyi2oHYphOT5hyRm12_Emi9r0EE4l_RbQFJ5hzSmot0yDYXgxJxw7vfCbPiPxiN18PwFi9DvKZBQ8LLeKgBgjZdSzCKZQ_FMQqc0jF-XnraTzCY/s1600/Verot+Family+Barn.TIF" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB9zmcU38hQ4FUoxJS-RNlSpBgp6DBUyi2oHYphOT5hyRm12_Emi9r0EE4l_RbQFJ5hzSmot0yDYXgxJxw7vfCbPiPxiN18PwFi9DvKZBQ8LLeKgBgjZdSzCKZQ_FMQqc0jF-XnraTzCY/s1600/Verot+Family+Barn.TIF" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Members of the Verot family in front of their barn on the occasion of the Verot century family farm celebration in 2004. Photo courtesy of Alexina Verot. </td></tr>
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My favourite thing in the world is to chat with older people, particularly seniors. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to eavesdrop on conversations and hear stories about the old days. It's a good thing I'm pursuing a career as a folklorist, then, since I get the chance to do that all the time. People's memories are precious. I recently attended a presentation by my friend and folklorist Lisa Wilson about oral history. Lisa mentioned that it is important to interview seniors not only because of their own rich store of memories, but because they also have access to an oral tradition that stretches even further back in time, stories and memories passed down from their parents and grandparents, and so on. This has changed and continues to change as our methods of communication become more technological in nature. Here is a link to Lisa's excellent blog <a href="http://folktraditions.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Folk Traditions</a>. As you browse through the pages, you will come across many examples of oral history. Lisa's work is an inspiration to me, and I am happy that I was able to conduct several interviews during the course of my barn research.<br />
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Each and every interview was special in its own way, and I left each one feeling like I had either strengthened an existing friendship or built a new one. I hope to eventually share snippets from each one of my interviews, but to begin with I will start with an excerpt of the very first interview I conducted this past fall with the Verot family about their 96 year old barn.<br />
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Sharon Verot had contacted me to let me know that her mother-in-law Alexina was very knowledgeable about their barn and that she would be great to talk to. And so on a late October day, a snowy one as I recall, I went to the Verot farm to interview Alexina, her son Dave and his wife Sharon. I knew Dave and Sharon quite well already since I attended high school with their daughter, Brett, but I had never met Alexina before.<br />
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Alexina Fradette was born in 1927 on a farm south of Radville in the Freda Lake district. She grew up speaking French and didn't learn English until she started walking to school with an English speaking neighbour. In 1945 Alexina married Peter Verot and moved to his farm southeast of Radville, in the Souris Valley area. They spent the next 35 years there farming and raising their family, experiencing many hardships along the way, including a destructive tornado or plow wind which partially destroyed the barn in the second year of their marriage. This was a devastating event since the barn was so integral to their livelihood.<br />
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I will let Alexina speak for herself now, to describe that event. All of the black and white photos in the video came from Alexina. She and her family took many photos over the years of their everyday life on the farm which are now kept safely in Alexina's photo albums. These photos are truly a treasure, and I am so grateful to Alexina for trusting me to borrow and scan them. If you have trouble with the embedded video, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dfT9s1nNOM" target="_blank">here is the Youtube link. </a><br />
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After the interview we all went out into the barn, and there Alexina lit up. Before anyone knew what she was up to, she had darted up the ladder into the hayloft. Despite my fear of heights, I couldn't be outdone by a lady in her 80s, so I slowly clambered my way up after her. Alexina also pointed out many artifacts from the barn. It was a building she knew inside and out and those memories have never left her. It was an honour to hear some of them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGuripVTFMOBrhS6kc8gTeYkAEKSDKgfv26YYF__o_YztryWzamLo26bHZ8gWHNDIp3FuH0yQWsrGpRJSuqDJLFKgaCRf1MRhXiRH1_Jh97snuCuK1TJOXO6BuDyNqrVmC1bRAhnjya4/s1600/Alexina+Loft.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGuripVTFMOBrhS6kc8gTeYkAEKSDKgfv26YYF__o_YztryWzamLo26bHZ8gWHNDIp3FuH0yQWsrGpRJSuqDJLFKgaCRf1MRhXiRH1_Jh97snuCuK1TJOXO6BuDyNqrVmC1bRAhnjya4/s1600/Alexina+Loft.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alexina deftly climbs into the hayloft while Sharon watches. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alexina poses with a cream can. The "cream check" was once a hugely important part of many farm families incomes. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDGfokFohzr-YcPS1x6nFJvNWXRJjBnX6bJtpjXDytrm2qEXMbVWRmIeyb2Ule4v9DLXl9LoyegQX_cxakcufc9rdsXKLlDlMtDmxU34UHT6N5dylRfzUtgY0pn_pKp2HQdphSkKNgqk/s1600/Alexina+Tack.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDGfokFohzr-YcPS1x6nFJvNWXRJjBnX6bJtpjXDytrm2qEXMbVWRmIeyb2Ule4v9DLXl9LoyegQX_cxakcufc9rdsXKLlDlMtDmxU34UHT6N5dylRfzUtgY0pn_pKp2HQdphSkKNgqk/s1600/Alexina+Tack.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alexina examines some tack still hanging in its place in the barn. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDS2l0P2jSIeLfxICvpM4bpGR4XtR0DIwqYgRDzbj8M7zi2NADzRp31hU64xEii5cCa0rwlQF0cPhaFn5qauc7h_zUbKaDLTDCgzttSSnBBpeJY1CLUBauG85FH9P2yvb97M8gZF-0jis/s1600/Alexina+Horseback.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDS2l0P2jSIeLfxICvpM4bpGR4XtR0DIwqYgRDzbj8M7zi2NADzRp31hU64xEii5cCa0rwlQF0cPhaFn5qauc7h_zUbKaDLTDCgzttSSnBBpeJY1CLUBauG85FH9P2yvb97M8gZF-0jis/s1600/Alexina+Horseback.tif" height="640" width="446" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alexina on horseback in 1947, the same year the barn was partially destroyed by a tornado or plow wind. </td></tr>
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Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-87160445690213476592014-01-20T17:43:00.003-08:002014-01-20T17:45:49.039-08:00The Big Reveal: Barn Count and Contest Winner<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4HZXouHGITZay8hICQNEZc68ZYNFWNeUHcn7yIsjx37b8UaWeqGwCj46y61TChwcPaGrZJGipCnx1R0IOCID7djZ27T5DgRXG4v90OCCcCt0Q8G5RvGi45YzLYPl61McmMp7ufXimR0o/s1600/Chester+Barn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4HZXouHGITZay8hICQNEZc68ZYNFWNeUHcn7yIsjx37b8UaWeqGwCj46y61TChwcPaGrZJGipCnx1R0IOCID7djZ27T5DgRXG4v90OCCcCt0Q8G5RvGi45YzLYPl61McmMp7ufXimR0o/s1600/Chester+Barn.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This barn north of Hardy still stands straight despite an almost bare roof. It's hard to say how much longer it will stand, since no one lives on this farm anymore. </td></tr>
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Well, it's been awhile folks, but I'm back at it, though from a few miles away. I've returned to St. John's, Newfoundland to finish the final course of my master's programme in Folklore at Memorial University. It's about as far from the prairie as you can get, and yet it is here in Newfoundland that my journey as a barn hunter began.<br />
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Before I came into the Folklore programme, I knew nothing about vernacular architecture (I had never even heard the term before), or ethnography or folk life or any of the concepts which have now become so much a part of my life that it's hard to believe I was ever ignorant of them. So, it's good to be back here in Newfoundland with my folkie friends and the support of the Folklore department as I embark on the next, scary step in my barn hunting journey: the thesis proposal. This is basically a paper and accompanying public presentation to convince faculty and my peers that I wasn't just going dithering around in Saskatchewan all fall, but that my research was worthwhile and that I'm going to be able to actually turn it into a thesis.<br />
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All this rambling is to say: I will be busy in the coming months, thus posts will likely be rather sporadic, though I plan to keep doing them whenever I have time. Once I'm through with my coursework and (hopefully) pass through the thesis approval process, I will begin to actually write. Before too long I will be back in Saskatchewan to tie up any loose ends, of which there are likely many.<br />
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Now, enough of this boring academic talk and onto what you came here for: the Big Reveal. You've all been dying to know just how many barns I found, and who won the <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/11/guess-how-many-barns-and-win.html" target="_blank">contest</a>. As promised, here it is. But first, a few disclaimers. This number is subject to change as I go through my data more meticulously in the coming months, due to some of the issues I've mentioned in previous <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/11/the-end-of-road-hunting-no-more-and.html" target="_blank">posts</a>, namely the difficulty identifying some barns and the very high probability that I missed a few out of sheer idiocy. Thus this number is not set in stone, but it should be pretty close. My criteria for this barn count consisted of the following:<br />
- barns built <b>before</b> approximately 1960<br />
- all barn roof types and building styles<br />
- barns in varying conditions were included. Basically, if I could tell it had been a barn at one time (even if now collapsed), and had oral confirmation from a local person, I included it. <b> </b><br />
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<i>Drumroll, trumpeting, indrawn breath:</i><br />
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<b>The number of barns in my study area, which included the rural municipalities of the Gap and Laurier is: 123.</b><br />
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Broken down by municipality, there were 69 barns in the Gap and 54 in Laurier. Again, let me remind you that this number is not fixed, but is subject to revision. But it's pretty close. And it's a lot more than I had thought there would be when I started out. I didn't really know how many there were, but when I started out, if I had to guess I probably would have said 70 altogether. I'm happy that it's quite a bit higher than that. However, it represents only a portion of how many barns there used to be. I don't know how many barns there were in this area at the peak of barn building, but it was probably at least twice that number. And I am quite certain that in 10 years, there will be substantially fewer barns in the area.<br />
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And now for the winner of the contest! I am pleased to announce that Jeannette Verhelst of Radville had the winning guess with an estimate of 95. Jeanette is a dear friend of mine and an icon in the area due to her selfless devotion to the community. I had a lovely photo of Jeannette with her winnings, but wouldn't you know, it got left on the memory card of my camera back in Saskatchewan. However, I can show you what Jeannette won.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXbLWBVY4dv0VbhA8fdC-JPtEdt-4N_5UDPtpIUlUlrQ8FcWi51dNwjGYywuafBPBB3f14DpMWvNad2S062a53HA3ouQqDZihyn7xmUtodTLkayO4YhJW-zkaIuxFsIC9-PSFx_iGtWrs/s1600/IMG_00000355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXbLWBVY4dv0VbhA8fdC-JPtEdt-4N_5UDPtpIUlUlrQ8FcWi51dNwjGYywuafBPBB3f14DpMWvNad2S062a53HA3ouQqDZihyn7xmUtodTLkayO4YhJW-zkaIuxFsIC9-PSFx_iGtWrs/s1600/IMG_00000355.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeannette's prize was a gift basket containing a few of these homemade bars of soap, though I'm sure she would say the real prize is bragging rights. </td></tr>
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Thank you to everyone who entered the contest! Before I sign off, I must mention that my barn hunting partner Stacy Mackenzie had a guess of 112 barns, which was almost bang on, but I disqualified her from the contest because she had insider knowledge, and also because she had already received a gift basket for Christmas. But she deserves recognition for being a great barn hunter and an even better friend. <br />
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Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-74826213220178937702013-12-18T18:06:00.000-08:002013-12-18T18:06:06.558-08:00Happy Holidays from the Barn Hunter and Contest Update <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcO8j2ynaC9OX_PZhnOTpFJehVNY3Hm9UTPAIHn9t_9qHA1vwJS-jkGBXjzrumdCzRBxnK8XJFR-g180YoXFRQY3TLCAiZ4dec94rZmcw4ScpOGOnGhBqBbCC2BR9IYWD4mV6-c8LMEg/s1600/017.-Sears-Kit-Barn-Chester-NH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcO8j2ynaC9OX_PZhnOTpFJehVNY3Hm9UTPAIHn9t_9qHA1vwJS-jkGBXjzrumdCzRBxnK8XJFR-g180YoXFRQY3TLCAiZ4dec94rZmcw4ScpOGOnGhBqBbCC2BR9IYWD4mV6-c8LMEg/s640/017.-Sears-Kit-Barn-Chester-NH.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Christmas greeting card if I ever saw one, this barn in Chester, NH was a Sears kit. Mail order barns were not uncommon in Sasaktchewan, with a few in my study area coming from the infamous Eaton's catalogue. Photo taken from the National Barn Alliance website: www.barnalliance.org</td></tr>
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It gets a bit boring to repeat, but time really does fly. I've been busy conducting interviews and working on processing the huge amount of data I collected this fall, and now suddenly Christmas is upon us! I return to St. John's in less than three weeks' time. I have decided to put the blog on hiatus until then, for there is much work for me to do with organising and packing, not to mention feasting and enjoying time with friends and family.<br />
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I will return in January from St. John's where I will be finishing my final course in my master's program and beginning to write my thesis. I will announce the winner of the barn count contest in the new year. I'm a bit behind on my work, and so I still don't have the final count. I will notify the winner before I leave Saskatchewan and they will get their moment of fame on this blog come 2014. Thank you so much to everyone who entered a guess, both near and far!<br />
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Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season full of merriment and joy. I am so very happy to be able to share my love of barns with you, and I hope you will be back in the new year! Until then, all the peace and love of the season be with you, and here's to ushering in a new year full of love and preservation for barns all across the land.<br />
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P.S. I was honoured to be contacted by Shirley Byers, a freelance writer for the <i>Western Producer</i> to write an article about my work. For those of you who aren't familiar with the <i>Producer</i>, it is like, THE agricultural paper for Western Canada, and I was truly tickled pink when this article came out. Thank you to Shirley Byers for the excellent article. For those of you interested in reading it, it is accessible online in Flash and .pdf format through the publication's online digital archive <a href="http://www.producer.com/issue/" target="_blank">here</a>. The article is on page 38 of the December 5th edition. <a href="http://www.producer.com/issue/the-western-producer-december-5-2013/" target="_blank">Here</a> is a direct link to Flash version. <br />
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-58377636798425716032013-12-10T19:22:00.002-08:002014-03-25T06:10:24.720-07:00Branding the Barn: Finding the Marks Left Behind <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In all of my barn hunting, I have discovered one universal truth: no two barns are the same. From the road, a red gambrel roof barn may look very similar to its neighbour, but just a little investigation always reveals that this is not so. There are differences in construction, size, formation, etc., but each barn also boasts unique features, signatures if you will. Some barns are identifiable for miles around because of a distinctive exterior detail, like a date painted on the loft door or a large met ventilator, or multiple cupolas, or a distinctive weather vane. But nearly every barn I have seen also harbours many secrets inside its walls.<br />
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I quickly discovered that barns often have some sort of graffiti inside, whether a date traced in a cement floor, a cattle brand burned into the wall, or even spray painted initials of youngsters in love. Now whenever I go into a barn for the first time, I'm always on the lookout for these barn signatures. Often people will point them out to me right away, indicating that they are just as interested as I am. This barn graffiti is significant because it shows that people felt a barn was an important enough place in which to leave their mark. A good many people spent a goodly portion of their lives working in barns, so it's no surprise that they wanted to leave behind some evidence of their having been there.<br />
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And so now, for your viewing pleasure, is a selection of some of the barn art I've come across.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1ukCXaXYqw1aPEVhTW6ZRUOS6yAv-0iIZ_fhAKJoFmnUoMzIq-XbNqQI7kAqjhLJtwmLylsRz1mKeXgGKynKoYSefCEYnn43iJwjysu9EyDG15iMprZtC3wgemmG_iGH_Bq60QVbzp4/s1600/VDS+Graffiti.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1ukCXaXYqw1aPEVhTW6ZRUOS6yAv-0iIZ_fhAKJoFmnUoMzIq-XbNqQI7kAqjhLJtwmLylsRz1mKeXgGKynKoYSefCEYnn43iJwjysu9EyDG15iMprZtC3wgemmG_iGH_Bq60QVbzp4/s640/VDS+Graffiti.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A name is carved in the cement floor of a barn southwest of Radville. There might have been a date once too, but it appears to have slipped through the cracks of time. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-lckX2BqlFSQ-dSvu8HsCDsNjyPF0vYECHx4-ppoo1peJiUmYtFYOLaxyT2OAHensrcwJYvrJOVoJso_ebyHAAPo6C8nZGistz8ZQqXWARZz_gFDz8bt8IU-ptVjsCiTpbdjQdmkbUs/s1600/Verot+Graffiti+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-lckX2BqlFSQ-dSvu8HsCDsNjyPF0vYECHx4-ppoo1peJiUmYtFYOLaxyT2OAHensrcwJYvrJOVoJso_ebyHAAPo6C8nZGistz8ZQqXWARZz_gFDz8bt8IU-ptVjsCiTpbdjQdmkbUs/s640/Verot+Graffiti+1.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHVmcAo2pxPqW9h2OslRqxTDISKSk1jlKnIsN5_VhOALtmnGGt4fxunrV70ZDvAtm_ffDVw0u3ry6LF8wzEEcW1xIa_bc9d0NgP7xOpFQ4Ou_8P48wK4Oo-nKCZdg15ZVM4kneT3AYaYo/s1600/Verot+Graffiti+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHVmcAo2pxPqW9h2OslRqxTDISKSk1jlKnIsN5_VhOALtmnGGt4fxunrV70ZDvAtm_ffDVw0u3ry6LF8wzEEcW1xIa_bc9d0NgP7xOpFQ4Ou_8P48wK4Oo-nKCZdg15ZVM4kneT3AYaYo/s640/Verot+Graffiti+2.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The preceding two photos come from the Verot barn southeast of Radville. The first was the cattle brand of Peter Verot, now deceased. The "AV" probably stood for Alphonse Verot, Peter's uncle and the man who had the barn built in 1918. There was also the name "Hlavka" carved nearby, but too faintly for the camera to capture it. Peter's wife, Alexina, who was in the barn when I took these photos, remembered that they had once had a hired man in the 1940s with that last name. Apparently he didn't want to be forgotten and the barn bears his memory still, however faint. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTbIWIHSFxbSBNKGPiIbVmhi16TnLEACDmrLh999YbiJpenQQWp0NbkXtSyvLWe2wpoGKwL6IHjaCTnFq2c8QDMPbV94pp3GfsS9y5J5nhUmhEPAT4CzJQ6ARkJzt3_O1udLR6Sj5XkJ0/s1600/Verbeurgt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTbIWIHSFxbSBNKGPiIbVmhi16TnLEACDmrLh999YbiJpenQQWp0NbkXtSyvLWe2wpoGKwL6IHjaCTnFq2c8QDMPbV94pp3GfsS9y5J5nhUmhEPAT4CzJQ6ARkJzt3_O1udLR6Sj5XkJ0/s640/Verbeurgt.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another "A.V." - this one is carved in a barn southeast of Ceylon owned by the Verbeurgt family. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgaOnf1ejzFh8KxpgNFE67xdqubdIqXuhOg_64cOJUYO146GUeTJoMyarPOTGIxVbW90jnBVsmAnl6KQCl5JyPDG0dk2Qkh6i9DbPYIJDD0V3xvW0qQ2sNAnEOFBvvQragdj8M7yx8TOs/s1600/Ayotte+Graffiti.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgaOnf1ejzFh8KxpgNFE67xdqubdIqXuhOg_64cOJUYO146GUeTJoMyarPOTGIxVbW90jnBVsmAnl6KQCl5JyPDG0dk2Qkh6i9DbPYIJDD0V3xvW0qQ2sNAnEOFBvvQragdj8M7yx8TOs/s640/Ayotte+Graffiti.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Continuing with the "A" theme, this one comes from the North Star barn south of Ceylon. Allan Ayotte figured it was probably him who put it there when he was a kid during the 1950s. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThT-pw7NM-0SRimUtiESYVkaShT89IeyiurX0ZNYODxvNtwZXhyYMn8LUFK415JSXgPDukUlLQS0BJMQdQC-x8xwC3pcAcnp6oJ0xdeumIwR-kP-BqyQVa8_tIKpxouYj-ZapDQfnYEQ/s1600/Bert+Graffiti.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThT-pw7NM-0SRimUtiESYVkaShT89IeyiurX0ZNYODxvNtwZXhyYMn8LUFK415JSXgPDukUlLQS0BJMQdQC-x8xwC3pcAcnp6oJ0xdeumIwR-kP-BqyQVa8_tIKpxouYj-ZapDQfnYEQ/s640/Bert+Graffiti.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A young couple expressed their love for each other with spray painted initials in a barn southeast of Radville. </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MCEcb4DMOsEi4UWqkQxfz_HZeqoE1gG7uipUN43Tik7tT026LEVNVzbRIkQphkTH94Ayjet7WsyVlIQljoy_KxiJHzVsMGXpTsnCpPiAgR7nfwynC0Fmtd4LcDZCtAlM551yTwE6FlQ/s1600/Becker+Barn+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MCEcb4DMOsEi4UWqkQxfz_HZeqoE1gG7uipUN43Tik7tT026LEVNVzbRIkQphkTH94Ayjet7WsyVlIQljoy_KxiJHzVsMGXpTsnCpPiAgR7nfwynC0Fmtd4LcDZCtAlM551yTwE6FlQ/s640/Becker+Barn+3.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ezTit8aO9wrNNaD3nEchv7lb5UV2pNUQ7UR5_I17ETewMScWTaImpPPTtJpDJKgSY-P_qtSkLgPawxyOSqCnR2PT6d_BuEtEJ1ttkf0X8ZPkkk-ZZaOaPUIgj5Nd83Xu8dz7HrrtOpc/s1600/Becker+Barn+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ezTit8aO9wrNNaD3nEchv7lb5UV2pNUQ7UR5_I17ETewMScWTaImpPPTtJpDJKgSY-P_qtSkLgPawxyOSqCnR2PT6d_BuEtEJ1ttkf0X8ZPkkk-ZZaOaPUIgj5Nd83Xu8dz7HrrtOpc/s640/Becker+Barn+1.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnENbD_WtMJ23U2ZymjKt3vLbVe7tPGi6NiDYElfrJbv9T5BC-EQiJjpYLOOYh1n2SlDHHS7F99LKxyOjMvrVZp3CyR-aPet7Lr1ko524zokwEoGGQNvQSV8TxkX9fyHyAYipjms_4fRA/s1600/Becker+Barn+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnENbD_WtMJ23U2ZymjKt3vLbVe7tPGi6NiDYElfrJbv9T5BC-EQiJjpYLOOYh1n2SlDHHS7F99LKxyOjMvrVZp3CyR-aPet7Lr1ko524zokwEoGGQNvQSV8TxkX9fyHyAYipjms_4fRA/s640/Becker+Barn+2.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These three photos all come from the same barn southeast of Radville.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DG3wk-cE8S-MkQoSQ068RH_DWRR3_F3tQKxmrwMd5SyWUZ_FXl-2grayM12zNmusXv8b52UigAVefeVX8Lwt1VuBN_c0HkAPRskOwDfLITNSQ-wOhxUGnUJDw1tl6Vx03WywCLbHuLo/s1600/Labbie+Graffiti+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DG3wk-cE8S-MkQoSQ068RH_DWRR3_F3tQKxmrwMd5SyWUZ_FXl-2grayM12zNmusXv8b52UigAVefeVX8Lwt1VuBN_c0HkAPRskOwDfLITNSQ-wOhxUGnUJDw1tl6Vx03WywCLbHuLo/s640/Labbie+Graffiti+2.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_3D1lSosO6aymzneZ42nXkyDiKVRQ54LuExuzR5ALlGfLjLqjnR8pvMkgpg9Ymnetk29iVzjNoB6qPgt9hbTcx-gg9q0SMaE1Eg8HGwveZjMQjaCxzhIzQCEOkwuz7EP-aI7w_KWFCc/s1600/Labbie+Graffiti+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_3D1lSosO6aymzneZ42nXkyDiKVRQ54LuExuzR5ALlGfLjLqjnR8pvMkgpg9Ymnetk29iVzjNoB6qPgt9hbTcx-gg9q0SMaE1Eg8HGwveZjMQjaCxzhIzQCEOkwuz7EP-aI7w_KWFCc/s640/Labbie+Graffiti+1.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These last two photos came from a barn southwest of Radville. It was built from the boards of a barn that was taken down southeast of Radville in the '60s. The present owner thinks these paintings must have come with boards from that barn, or perhaps boards salvaged from an old house. Wherever they came from, they are an unexpected and delightful surprise, particularly this painting of a tree. The "J.D" in the top photo may be for John Deere. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuirt0bJruWtVXdzI6pGEPJqkvFGISHrzXZpiDSUIrGt7W4OtqoQaGGpQyA_zYZjvZ0u3XOq6NbA4zxWuOBQBsWwVOUL2KmT1Ryn-rs1k1dzvP8GO55xM_KF9tJD7-y4w-9_GBK3nN-M/s1600/McGrath+Graffiti+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuirt0bJruWtVXdzI6pGEPJqkvFGISHrzXZpiDSUIrGt7W4OtqoQaGGpQyA_zYZjvZ0u3XOq6NbA4zxWuOBQBsWwVOUL2KmT1Ryn-rs1k1dzvP8GO55xM_KF9tJD7-y4w-9_GBK3nN-M/s640/McGrath+Graffiti+1.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"M.M" initials carved into the wall of the chop bin in the McGrath barn southwest of Ceylon, built 1912. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKOx9vTiv_o8ltdwEhuwJqofyTnfRW6NSgwtZZ0UBYGv5ck8qBXOuELBgO2AWC8eusZwHYlRw_F3AjLpYRVCQSFmHuSyMNZpemWiCurPbo5UlsUQuwEeLcvTA5SGoSIPJoQOhdvAFDhdE/s1600/McGrath+Graffiti+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKOx9vTiv_o8ltdwEhuwJqofyTnfRW6NSgwtZZ0UBYGv5ck8qBXOuELBgO2AWC8eusZwHYlRw_F3AjLpYRVCQSFmHuSyMNZpemWiCurPbo5UlsUQuwEeLcvTA5SGoSIPJoQOhdvAFDhdE/s640/McGrath+Graffiti+2.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A larger view of the wall, which is full of carving and pencil marks, though they aren't very clear in this photo. However, I can make out "Big Cow." What can you see? </td></tr>
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-8860188708700706562013-12-03T20:37:00.000-08:002013-12-04T09:38:56.967-08:00Hay, What's all the Fuss About?Barns are often considered very impressive buildings, and rightly so. Gambrel roof barns, more commonly known as "hip-roof" barns in this part of the world, are especially impressive looking, what with their lofty height, distinctive shape and usually bold red colouring. What's interesting about these barns is that their impressive look was mostly due to the need for storage of a rather humble, yet necessary, material: hay.<br />
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How important was hay? I asked this question of nearly all my informants, and they all gave me a look that said, "you idiot." But they answered anyway, because I had forewarned them that some of my questions would seem incredibly stupid. "Real important, really important," Frank Porte emphasised, "because I can tell you about the '30s." I will let my informants speak for themselves:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Af4l3TWmYW4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe> </div>
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In case the embedded video doesn't work, check out the video on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af4l3TWmYW4&feature=youtube_gdata" target="_blank">YouTube here</a>. </div>
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<b>The Top Three Most Interesting Facts Ever About Hay in Southern Saskatchewan</b><br />
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1. Hay dictated the dominant style of barns in this region. A gambrel roof barn had a large capacity for hay, and hay was integral to the survival of livestock through the winter, particularly the work horses which were indispensable to farming prior to the 1930s. Additionally, many barns had hay slings, which was a method of transporting loose hay into the loft whereby a system of ropes and pulleys on a track pulled hay up from the hay rack (wagon) into the loft. Any gambrel roof with a "peak' (sometimes called a hay hood) invariably indicates a hay sling. Some barns without peaks still had slings - a track extending outward from the loft doors is an indication of this. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIK887fCwYOwAL_fGGXUv2qe29QKtHYTyW3lVyCiCZytdJitHnhNIU4qUBpWHF19ZvC43XmOI09L4_MZbs7UcQf1p6juZiVTzkkv56ocvqOPfG7T7XChhl9ZEbPQzHNmpcjL9v2JGoQY/s1600/K.Catherwood+-+Gambrel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIK887fCwYOwAL_fGGXUv2qe29QKtHYTyW3lVyCiCZytdJitHnhNIU4qUBpWHF19ZvC43XmOI09L4_MZbs7UcQf1p6juZiVTzkkv56ocvqOPfG7T7XChhl9ZEbPQzHNmpcjL9v2JGoQY/s640/K.Catherwood+-+Gambrel.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The peak is a dead giveaway that this gambrel style barn west of Ceylon was built with a hay sling. If you look closely, you can see its track. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUefl29Gwsav5u3DMZEi-OiQkf_wnMVBzcEbRCUQ0Mr4lqfjQ_4kaOUXJ6sBMCY-XybASFHkwR4LDO4xP9IMAN5KRNkvs5k5MpO8PizKKliQ0tVsDtribdJr4h8KvcL5OupGfv7DumqW4/s1600/Hay+Sling.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUefl29Gwsav5u3DMZEi-OiQkf_wnMVBzcEbRCUQ0Mr4lqfjQ_4kaOUXJ6sBMCY-XybASFHkwR4LDO4xP9IMAN5KRNkvs5k5MpO8PizKKliQ0tVsDtribdJr4h8KvcL5OupGfv7DumqW4/s400/Hay+Sling.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's a close-up of a hay sling track. Some barns had these even without the peak or "hay hood." </td></tr>
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2. Most hay in the region was "slough hay." For those of you who aren't familiar with the term "slough", it refers to a wetland, a body of water. Sloughs are prone to drying out in the summer. The use of "tame hay" or sown hay did not become common until the middle of the twentieth century. Most informants mentioned the '30s, a time of terrible drought in the prairies, commonly known as the "Dirty Thirties." Sloughs failed to produce enough hay, and many farmers resorted to procuring hay from elsewhere, such as Manitoba (they either bought it and had it shipped, or travelled east themselves to cut it and bring it home), or resorted to desperate methods: cutting a common weed, Russian Thistle, and mixing it with straw to feed the cattle.<br />
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3. The evolution of hay spelled the end for many barns. The original purpose of the big red barn was as a horse house and a hay house. There were usually a few milk cows thrown in there, but generally the barn was meant to house and feed the workhorses, the indispensable power of farm machinery before the tractor. Within just a few years, tractors mostly replaced horses, but still the barns were used to house horses, milk cows, pigs and calves. Hay was still needed for all of these, and so hay storage remained important. Loose hay was replaced with bales in around the '50s. The earlier square bales and small round bales continued to be stored in the loft. But the development of large round bales in the 1970s eventually spelled the end for the loft's use. Large round bales are too heavy for a loft, and their shape sheds water, meaning they can be left outside. Thus hay, the original reason for the gambrel roof barn, eventually brought about its end.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqf0s57OQvX-J3UzQiYBGHpsI2qlCgyK55odvLTfsrawHxuPvL9zw-yAOOIVpwO1GsJgnDNDxMuYDeCwKJnAIt1NjsP04eCu73tFuXc9fAP0mwOulBJuVjfLCyLsOOaV1t_TfYd2hUOww/s1600/Round+Bales.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqf0s57OQvX-J3UzQiYBGHpsI2qlCgyK55odvLTfsrawHxuPvL9zw-yAOOIVpwO1GsJgnDNDxMuYDeCwKJnAIt1NjsP04eCu73tFuXc9fAP0mwOulBJuVjfLCyLsOOaV1t_TfYd2hUOww/s640/Round+Bales.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks to big round bales like these, barns like the one in the background became almost totally obsolete. Is it just me, or do the bales seem smug?</td></tr>
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-32657991607709760862013-11-26T19:52:00.000-08:002013-12-03T16:28:36.969-08:00Barn Hunting for Beginners Part II: The Art of the Ethnographic InterviewBarn hunting may be done (although I have only just discovered two barns I missed in my survey, so my declaration was premature), but my work as the barn hunter is far from finished. Surveying season is over, but interviewing season is now just underway.<br />
My project is an ethnographic analysis of barns, rather than a purely architectural study. A bare bones definition of ethnography from the online Merriam-Webster dictionary states: "<span class="ssens"><b>:</b> the study and systematic recording of human cultures; <i>also</i> <b>:</b> a descriptive work produced from such research." Thus, my barn research does not end with counting, photographing, classifying and observing the structure of the barns. In fact, I believe that was only preliminary research. The ethnographic part, which consists mainly of interviews, is where the real story begins. </span><br />
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<span class="ssens">Like any other skill, learning to be a good interviewer is a process of learning from others, reading about how it's done, and a lot of trial and error. I have a lot of experience interviewing people, since I once worked as a newspaper reporter. But ethnographic interviews are a bit different. Last year in my graduate field school in Keels, Newfoundland, I learned a lot of new skills about how to conduct interviews properly. For starters, remember that an ethnographic interview (which can also be called an oral history interview) is not necessarily just for your own reference, but could end up being a historical record available for posterity. So with that in mind, here is my quick and dirty and not in any particular order manual to the art of the interview. </span><br />
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<span class="ssens"><b>1. Get the best audio recorder you can afford and learn how to use it properly</b></span><br />
<span class="ssens">There's all sorts of fancy audio recording technology out there, many of it running in the thousands of dollars range. I can't afford that, but it is important to get the best recorder you can afford. <b>Do not</b> use your cell phone, thinking it will be "good enough." You never know where your recording will end up: archives, radio, television. So don't cheap out. I learned this important lesson from Dr. Guha Shankar of the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/folklife/index.html" target="_blank">American Folklife Centre</a>, and he is an expert who seriously knows his stuff. The same goes for photography and/or videography.<b> </b>Ideally with an interview you will use external mics, but I really couldn't afford that much equipment. I bought a basic model of a respectable audio recorder brand, and I learned how to use it.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJUDtn4YMgQxCLGhzMLQGxyMM3Q9RKZQxErhZOARokwzxmDYKDNV1YWwEIaBxndyGy4QqVYXjR7ILsK4kgW_eTJ5UFKlote9DjCkScsBWoi_2CFBlavNK4RGfIEBCJY8mKdcb_wXXaCZ4/s1600/Tascam.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJUDtn4YMgQxCLGhzMLQGxyMM3Q9RKZQxErhZOARokwzxmDYKDNV1YWwEIaBxndyGy4QqVYXjR7ILsK4kgW_eTJ5UFKlote9DjCkScsBWoi_2CFBlavNK4RGfIEBCJY8mKdcb_wXXaCZ4/s320/Tascam.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My friend the Tascam DR-05, available from Amazon and other purveyors of electronics. </td></tr>
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<span class="ssens">- Read the manual and test it out with yourself several times from different angles and at difference settings to be comfortable with it. It's embarrassing to be fumbling around with your equipment at an interview, so figure it out before it gets to that point. </span><br />
<span class="ssens">- Always record in the highest quality (.wav vs. .mp3 for example). It will take up more space, so always promptly upload the files onto your computer and then <b>back it up religiously</b>. Losing an interview is devastating. </span><br />
<span class="ssens">- Always bring extra batteries. ALWAYS. </span><br />
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<span class="ssens"><b>2. The interview is not about you. Be a good listener. </b></span><br />
<span class="ssens">The first time I ever heard a recording of an interview I'd done with an informant, I almost died of humiliation. Seriously, my face heated up to dangerous temperatures. I was constantly interrupting my informant (this is how we in Folklore commonly refer to the people we are interviewing) with little anecdotes of my own, finishing their sentences for them, and generally being a loser. Your job as the interviewer is to stimulate conversation, and then to let the informant talk. Keep your own commentary to a bare minimum. Trust me, the first time you hear yourself on tape, you will vow never to speak again in an interview. </span><br />
<span class="ssens"><b> </b></span><br />
<span class="ssens"><b>3. Don't be an interrogator. Keep it as casual as possible. </b></span><br />
<span class="ssens">I used to go into every interview with a long list of questions. This is fine, but I found that it distracted me too much and sometimes distracted the informant. Now, I just take in a short list of keyword reminders. I still prepare for the interview and think about what I most want to know, but I'm not married to a sheet of questions. Start out with a few basic questions and you will usually find that the conversation spins off in all sorts of directions. Let it.<b> </b>Many times the most important information to come out in an interview will not be in response to a question you had, but will naturally emerge from the memories of the informant. </span><br />
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<span class="ssens"><b>4. Brief the informant before the recorder is turned on</b></span><br />
<span class="ssens">Sometimes the audio recorder can be like an elephant in the room. Conversation is going great, the informant is a fountain of knowledge, and then suddenly you bring out the recorder and the temperature suddenly drops in the room. Recorders can make people a bit nervous, so be as casual as possible. Never record without the informant knowing. Breaking trust is not only a shady move, but is unethical in situations like these. See #5. Explain what sorts of ground you want to cover in the interview and let them know that if they ever want the recorder turned off, you will do immediately. Don't ever break that promise. </span><br />
<span class="ssens"><b> </b></span><br />
<span class="ssens"><b>5. Obtain oral or written consent before beginning the interview </b></span><br />
<span class="ssens">As a university student, I am required to pass a rigorous ethics review before beginning my research, and this includes drawing up an informed consent form which informants must sign before the interview begins. The form basically ensures that both parties know why the data is being collected and what is to be done with it. In my case, this includes obtaining permission to use the data in my thesis, on this blog, and to submit it to the archives. There were lots of shady ethnographers in the past who collected data from people and then used it for their own advantage without ever obtaining permission. That was totally lame and made lots of people suspicious and rightly so. </span><br />
<span class="ssens"><b> </b></span><br />
<span class="ssens"><b>6. Enjoy the process. People want to tell you their stories. </b></span><br />
<span class="ssens">Despite all of the serious talk above, seriously, enjoy it. For me, interviews are the best part. A lot of people get nervous before interviews, and I still do get a few butterflies before each interview, but I truly enjoy it. Each interview I've done so far has taught me more about barns, but has also been a great few hours. Often after the recorder is off, I end up staying around for a bit to look at photos or let the conversation drift into other matters. People want to share their stories. You are giving them the opportunity to do that, and it is truly a gift on both ends. </span><br />
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<span class="ssens">For more information on interviewing, including a handy checklist and some videos (everyone loves videos)</span><br />
check out these two posts from my friends at the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador <a href="http://doodledaddle.blogspot.ca/2013/02/12-tips-for-better-oral-history-or.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://doodledaddle.blogspot.ca/2012/03/top-four-youtube-resources-for-oral.html" target="_blank">here</a>. An excellent and hilarious manual for interview skills is <i>The Tape Recorded Interview: A Manual for Fieldworkers in Folklore and Oral History </i>by Edward D. Ives.<br />
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<span class="ssens">Here are the wonderful informants I've had the privilege to interview so far. I will be sharing some of their stories in more depth in future posts, so check back!</span><br />
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<span class="ssens"><b>Dave and Sharon Verot and Xina, Radville, SK.</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Verot barn southeast of Radville, built 1918. </td></tr>
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<span class="ssens"><b>Roy Levee, Radville, SK</b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx_eDnZRB3fJyYspTyxMrJ5qu9qSNCuRsyFUZ_7QAfRINb4YBDx-vyZ8ZS2E2I_devJz-hDiWf08lX-ygHr6vkV68Cs7y1dMTWqhG1lU7arAd2FqNlcoOOq2x8uDsi3p7-oRqo89btoE/s1600/Levee+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx_eDnZRB3fJyYspTyxMrJ5qu9qSNCuRsyFUZ_7QAfRINb4YBDx-vyZ8ZS2E2I_devJz-hDiWf08lX-ygHr6vkV68Cs7y1dMTWqhG1lU7arAd2FqNlcoOOq2x8uDsi3p7-oRqo89btoE/s640/Levee+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="ssens">The Levee barn, just north of Radville, was moved
to this spot probably in the 1920s from its original location in the
present ghost town of Brooking 8 miles to the west. It started out as a
lumber building (built around 1910) and has just undergone its latest
renovation. </span></td></tr>
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<span class="ssens"><b> </b> </span><br />
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<span class="ssens"><b>Frank and Eveline Porte, formerly of Radville, SK, now living in Weyburn, SK</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eveline and Frank. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank showed me his beautiful woodworking during the course of the interview. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCp5WnEa_2sHnxQW36ULwlfd0s_qgB_DCG0Ph2b9-XY3-4ikz1ys4zwliFonD-qKrjFDOmoT7xL9AwxMUAKVtxCgi1vn2Rp9A-JwuK-6DM5EQBVwLzQa2P7X1KO3QIHUAwvNQsiPHWZw/s1600/Porte+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCp5WnEa_2sHnxQW36ULwlfd0s_qgB_DCG0Ph2b9-XY3-4ikz1ys4zwliFonD-qKrjFDOmoT7xL9AwxMUAKVtxCgi1vn2Rp9A-JwuK-6DM5EQBVwLzQa2P7X1KO3QIHUAwvNQsiPHWZw/s640/Porte+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The former Porte farm, south of Radville, built 1926. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span class="ssens"><b> </b><b> </b></span><br />
<span class="ssens"><b>Roland Carles, Radville, SK.</b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqrKC4gN8B_uE0wLyD-dJWq4cP3NiqOjEZlHGu-vbmaJQWbz1NK6Le4AvPRv1-RPCmmOn1ZFZTKdb5GLMyUWJwM5xOqVt-8Q1hrZzN9rbJSOKSOO5ju1SRgVEFkWGSP8JjKJbgOivs08/s1600/Carles+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqrKC4gN8B_uE0wLyD-dJWq4cP3NiqOjEZlHGu-vbmaJQWbz1NK6Le4AvPRv1-RPCmmOn1ZFZTKdb5GLMyUWJwM5xOqVt-8Q1hrZzN9rbJSOKSOO5ju1SRgVEFkWGSP8JjKJbgOivs08/s640/Carles+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Carles barn, built 1925 (despite what the paint say!) is southwest of Radville, just a few miles north from the Porte barn. <br />
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<b>Stafford McGrath, Ceylon, SK.</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8cPn4GL75Z3DIBxHF4lBcC29e39k4-wPhNvJtIn70UuZIFSh-jb5l_apv3wXctiApONn7XIDAQ98GgmJCQfVMGMUFC6JtHdCcaBB8Kd7kMO6Gfv9_USninL1GIaYsDSduUlxz4hT7BY/s1600/McGrath+Barn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8cPn4GL75Z3DIBxHF4lBcC29e39k4-wPhNvJtIn70UuZIFSh-jb5l_apv3wXctiApONn7XIDAQ98GgmJCQfVMGMUFC6JtHdCcaBB8Kd7kMO6Gfv9_USninL1GIaYsDSduUlxz4hT7BY/s640/McGrath+Barn.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The McGrath barn southwest of Ceylon, built 1912. </td></tr>
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<span class="ssens"><b>Allan and Edith Ayotte, Ceylon, SK</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNM1UTyZc05XjEKapztXkrNClnlDgWUd_J0g_kGd6ZPbE0E1jYYt8sJHVHLx1GCgmvB0HbYj1gMOGvSqYXFfy1LmOvAoutczg2ByejOdP2c9CsmCEdP630ysnXyzjOFHq2QGni3a5c1wg/s1600/The+Ayottes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNM1UTyZc05XjEKapztXkrNClnlDgWUd_J0g_kGd6ZPbE0E1jYYt8sJHVHLx1GCgmvB0HbYj1gMOGvSqYXFfy1LmOvAoutczg2ByejOdP2c9CsmCEdP630ysnXyzjOFHq2QGni3a5c1wg/s320/The+Ayottes.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9EIfYFwVuRtoJQtWbuEyyjxecU2fJ-xFXgsrK3ghyphenhyphenZWnmNs3CTfM_N3uenPS2gRntSd8lfsqXK5SuV8xIrAAEVzYSwUZq0O-vZhqVl9jQznh-Bz3pHwiXgd-S6odyj6nMSC9ZlVhuvPk/s1600/Edith+Dshing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9EIfYFwVuRtoJQtWbuEyyjxecU2fJ-xFXgsrK3ghyphenhyphenZWnmNs3CTfM_N3uenPS2gRntSd8lfsqXK5SuV8xIrAAEVzYSwUZq0O-vZhqVl9jQznh-Bz3pHwiXgd-S6odyj6nMSC9ZlVhuvPk/s320/Edith+Dshing.JPG" width="314" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edith demonstrating how the butter dasher was used. How is this connected to the barn? The milk came from the cows housed and milked in the barn just outside! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigUR-uANsUOPneeTdY7aNqgCZAqwfCoFToPeVqsOJ2PjzamH876w51y1hyphenhyphenozyq02F-hqgcmKijeM_kPJAR-7v5klYAfhyEleouhWqi0HwcscM-eadYymtFk31iPN4FQ5kTYp90hGnl4iM/s1600/DSC_0838+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigUR-uANsUOPneeTdY7aNqgCZAqwfCoFToPeVqsOJ2PjzamH876w51y1hyphenhyphenozyq02F-hqgcmKijeM_kPJAR-7v5klYAfhyEleouhWqi0HwcscM-eadYymtFk31iPN4FQ5kTYp90hGnl4iM/s640/DSC_0838+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ayotte barn, known as the North Star Barn, south of Ceylon, built 1916. </td></tr>
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Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-91919667003034733742013-11-18T19:07:00.001-08:002013-11-18T19:07:57.037-08:00Guess How Many Barns! And Win!As I mentioned in my previous post (click <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/11/the-end-of-road-hunting-no-more-and.html" target="_blank">here</a>), I am just tallying up the final number of barns I have found in my survey. Rather than just boringly telling you, I want you to guess! Email me your guess to k.catherwood@mun.ca. The guess closest to the actual number will win a homemade gift basket from yours truly. So put your guessing hat on!<br />
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<b>Contest Rules:</b><br />
1. Email guess to k.catherwood@mun.ca by <b>December 15, 2013.</b><br />
2. The guess closest to the actual number will win a gift basket of homemade goodies (if you live within a reasonable and deliverable distance). If the winner hails from further away, you'll get a gift certificate from <a href="http://www.betterworldbooks.com/" target="_blank">Better World Books</a>.<br />
3. Limit of one guess per person.<br />
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<b>Hints:</b><br />
- This number will be the total number of barns in <b>both</b> the R.Ms of Laurier and the Gap. <b> </b><br />
- This number will include barns built before approximately 1960 (no rigid-frame buildings, steel buildings, cattle sheds or calving sheds will be included in this number).<br />
- This number will include barns of all different roof types, not just the common "hip-roof" barn.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8DS0wFY0hXw1optPj1iJf9J8Ez5bY9YSS6cwQhkN_NVPln2pmxFQM1UrT1eGu5NJiSlMLBMpD5CZRsdL_YY72I1XVB0B-rJTBL8oRF2_5LEPG2qb-z_o7Q2DZ9FQF16rCyQOnb8NUPEg/s1600/DSC_1869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8DS0wFY0hXw1optPj1iJf9J8Ez5bY9YSS6cwQhkN_NVPln2pmxFQM1UrT1eGu5NJiSlMLBMpD5CZRsdL_YY72I1XVB0B-rJTBL8oRF2_5LEPG2qb-z_o7Q2DZ9FQF16rCyQOnb8NUPEg/s640/DSC_1869.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now you know there's at least one barn in the area. This is one of the biggest and best preserved in the region and is located west of Radville. </td></tr>
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-314018333579333522013-11-18T19:06:00.001-08:002013-12-03T16:29:25.839-08:00The End of the Road: Hunting No More (and a contest! yay!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a couple weeks of silence, and I'm sure some of you may have been clamoring for a new post. I assume that's so, even though I haven't had a single person ask why I haven't written a new post in awhile.<br />
Where have I been, you ask? Well, I've been finishing up barn hunting, of course! And I can now say with confidence that I am pretty much done the survey (there's a couple I have to photograph still). <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdhDeJ1Z2_UbXLIY0OBW61AyPwMAhx6MB42ET9PGSdjlKpoLXDTIOuhwrN-Xiy2mJMrKaZce3EXNSyEoXs3T1cQfatyEGQatol2g_402cw4hK7vh2EJI0A5tylJ_oABWHGMA6hRvpBNM/s1600/Shadow+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdhDeJ1Z2_UbXLIY0OBW61AyPwMAhx6MB42ET9PGSdjlKpoLXDTIOuhwrN-Xiy2mJMrKaZce3EXNSyEoXs3T1cQfatyEGQatol2g_402cw4hK7vh2EJI0A5tylJ_oABWHGMA6hRvpBNM/s640/Shadow+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Late afternoon shadows paint an intricate deign on this barn south of Ceylon that only nature could create. </td></tr>
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The barn survey is the true hunting of a barn hunter's trade, for this was where I actually got out on the road and attempted to count and document every single barn in my study area. For more info on this aspect of my study, you can read my post <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/09/barn-hunting-for-beginners-part-i.html" target="_blank">here</a>. I can say now that I have driven every single driveable road in the R.Ms of the Gap and Laurier and seen every single farm, whether still occupied or not. As much as I wish I could say I have captured every single barn, I know that it's quite possible I missed a few, whether because of roads that were too impassable even for the Le Sabre or because I'm a faulty human who is apt to make mistakes. But, as far as I know, I got the vast majority of them. And right in the nick of time, too, the day before our first significant snowfall which doesn't seem to be going anywhere soon. <br />
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The survey, which I originally thought would be a fairly secondary part of my study, became a herculean task. To say it was a learning process is an understatement. I learned not just about barns, but about how to properly and thoroughly conduct research, how to stop on a dime on a gravel road, and how to tell the time of the day by the sun and shadows (seriously). I learned so much, spent probably the most enjoyable few months of my life (despite the expected setbacks and fatigue), and experienced the countryside in a truly meaningful way.<br />
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Now all the sappiness aside, what were some of the most important takeaways from the barn survey experience? I learned so many things, it would be impossible to list them all here, so I'll just stick to the big ones.<br />
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<b>1. I'm not sure what a barn actually is.</b><br />
There are a few buildings in my survey which are classified as unverified barns, because try as I might, I simply could not tell whether they had been built as a barn, were at one time used as a barn, or are a barn now. Some good indicators are a loft door, but in my early, ignorant days of barn hunting I sometimes got confused by openings that looked like loft doors and classified granaries as barns. Another indicator is the presence of cattle corrals, but those are often removed or fall down so it's not a sure bet. So, long story short, barns aren't always straightforward.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwFuZNyr-f5kX_PtA7OzOtsknELu4MV1nQyfyeHARFHIGS-gPTEtToVMl8Yz0uocYaeW2s3po6r2J5e0UbjsPviTuMwtTDx4XjXMPNaF40g9ZLrkIg-b_TnB-vYUtX6JQhsrp6_mE8Lx0/s1600/Unverified+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwFuZNyr-f5kX_PtA7OzOtsknELu4MV1nQyfyeHARFHIGS-gPTEtToVMl8Yz0uocYaeW2s3po6r2J5e0UbjsPviTuMwtTDx4XjXMPNaF40g9ZLrkIg-b_TnB-vYUtX6JQhsrp6_mE8Lx0/s400/Unverified+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is this a barn? I really don't know. Any help would be appreciated!</td></tr>
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<b>2. No seriously, what is a barn?</b><br />
When I first started out, I wasn't including "new" barns, that is, barns built in the past 20 years or so. Then I thought I should. Then at some point I realised that what people may call a barn is actually a calving shed, and is that technically a barn? Also, a lot of people I met with think that barns with gable or "peaked" roofs weren't "really" barns, even if they were built before 1960 and housed a milk cow and hay at one point. So, it gets confusing. I'm still working out exactly what a barn means in the context of my study area, but my tentative hypothesis is that a barn was meant for livestock (usually work horses and milk cows) and hay storage for animals. Sounds simple, but it's actually not. The point is, barns were and are living buildings, and went through a variety of changes of use and form as agriculture changed and individuals' farming practices changed, whether by personal whim or because of the influence of outside forces.<br />
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<b>3. Barns are good at hiding</b><br />
There were several barns I hunted during the survey which were located in places I have driven past numerous times, and yet I somehow missed that there was a barn there. Also, some barns really are concealed by the landscape features, whether trees, hills or man-made features. One barn I found was in a yard right along Highway 6 that I have seen a thousand times in my life, but the barn is mostly hidden by large steel granaries. So, barn hunting ain't no fluffy past-time, you gotta track 'em down.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LFksBjhdkofSf_8D6_kcJJomjjrsxG8m24U-nxuAC5LOjVSr7oFgU7jTu6zF81qh6V8hFtEslaJLEaU26aGlopx-hRcuo20YHK5R7ooZu9e3pv2_BWg0pxyVcKXWXgWXgNTgwAZ7nNw/s1600/Surprise+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LFksBjhdkofSf_8D6_kcJJomjjrsxG8m24U-nxuAC5LOjVSr7oFgU7jTu6zF81qh6V8hFtEslaJLEaU26aGlopx-hRcuo20YHK5R7ooZu9e3pv2_BWg0pxyVcKXWXgWXgNTgwAZ7nNw/s640/Surprise+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one really isn't hidden at all, located just a few miles east of Radville on a busy road, and yet I somehow didn't really notice it until I was barn hunting. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1MdZ3LeRMWETzaPTbKGjld3F4uAyZtWR01ffcH-CxbKWirlZJWRZxQY_CkbVBRS97Sh4BPOAvKatMvxDvznTfYTKTNtHLx6_5EcO3USnv3IA3f65s0FvzG8mwspW4lke9qH5bIU1S9s8/s1600/Barn+Hunter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1MdZ3LeRMWETzaPTbKGjld3F4uAyZtWR01ffcH-CxbKWirlZJWRZxQY_CkbVBRS97Sh4BPOAvKatMvxDvznTfYTKTNtHLx6_5EcO3USnv3IA3f65s0FvzG8mwspW4lke9qH5bIU1S9s8/s640/Barn+Hunter.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This barn is hidden on an abandoned farm deep in the hills, and the barn itself is deeply built into one of those hills. </td></tr>
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<b> </b><b>4. Barns can tell us a lot about the past.</b><br />
Duh, right? I mean, I won a grant for my research based on that argument, so I should have that figured out by now. I always knew that barns had a lot of knowledge embedded in them, but I didn't realise how very deep and broad that knowledge is until I was in the middle of my survey. I have learned so much about this place from studying its barns, and not just about farming, but about family ties, settlement patterns, social existence, gender roles, and on and on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhHQabVTgx59wDbWDa8yGR_a-ABNTgd90UIf4bunbzM7Cuvm-sB45_8rbD_LuZxtalmxUHaTXU-7dMD8tFZL0-TPtLYsYYfPFvYmS8aAKIPeUWuMh9hPFRt12piDyM8R7K7-ofGSLQZc/s1600/Diagonal+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhHQabVTgx59wDbWDa8yGR_a-ABNTgd90UIf4bunbzM7Cuvm-sB45_8rbD_LuZxtalmxUHaTXU-7dMD8tFZL0-TPtLYsYYfPFvYmS8aAKIPeUWuMh9hPFRt12piDyM8R7K7-ofGSLQZc/s640/Diagonal+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the last barn I officially hunted. Located in a field southeast of Radville, it is unique in my region. I haven't come across another barn built with diagonal boards like this. </td></tr>
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<b>5. There are a LOT of barns out there.</b><br />
One of the things I hear most is, "gee, not too many barns left." If I hear that one more time, I will spit black bile. I used to agree, but now I say "You try going out and seeing them all, then come back to me!"<b> </b>Every day I went out to survey (so, pretty much every single day), I thought I had an idea of how many barns were in the area I was going to survey that day. Every single time, there were more than I had anticipated. You'd think I would have learned, but I never did. It happened even on the very last day of my survey. Now I know that compared to what there <i>used</i> to be that there aren't many barns anymore, but really, there's a lot left. Which just reinforces the importance of barns, because possibly only a fraction survive of what there once was.<br />
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This leads to the second most common thing I hear, which is the question "how many barns are there?" I actually didn't know, because I wasn't counting as I went along, just collecting all the data and taking the photographs to compile later. I'm in that compilation stage now, so I will soon have the final tally (excepting those few pesky unverified barns). And this brings me to an exciting announcement - a CONTEST! I'm not just gonna give away that hard-earned number. I want you to guess. <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/11/guess-how-many-barns-and-win.html" target="_blank">Click here for those details</a>.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU</span></b></span></span></span></div>
I have learned so much during this barn hunt, and I know I'm just scratching the surface. It's now time to do interviews, and that's where I will put the meat on the bones of this particular barn saga. The hunting is over, but the barn hunter still has a lot of work to do. And all that hunting would never have happened without the help of a lot of wonderful people, some of whom I'll mention here. Every person who was home when I drove into their yard was a huge help to me. I can't name them all. There were also people I ran into in the street who gave me helpful suggestions. I've also had a number of people directly call me to give me help, and they will be listed elsewhere. For now, I want to publicly thank those who actually came barn hunting with me. Their local knowledge, driver's licenses, and ability to wrangle with Bob the Tape Measure were an invaluable help. Thank you to my long-suffering sister, <b>Janelle Catherwood</b>, my brother <b>Shawn Catherwood</b> who came barn hunting with me last spring when I didn't even know what I was doing at all yet, my best friend <b>Teresa Whiteman</b> who also came with me in the very early days and whose encouragement is better than any medication, and my old friends <b>Mitchell Bert</b> and <b>Ian Larsen</b> who knew better than to put up with me for an afternoon but helped anyway. Thank you also to <b>Michelle King</b> and <b>Kenton Fisher</b> who got roped into helping against their wills but were good sports about it. Very special thank you to my partner in crime <b>Stacy Mackenzie</b> who loves the hills the same way I do and knows more about barns than I ever will (also shout-out to Mehson and Hyden for a fun afternoon of barn hunting). And finally, the biggest thank you of all to my dad, <b>Ken Catherwood</b>, who has been teaching me folklore my whole life and is the best barn eyeball-measurer I know. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTdpYMLiL_sm4IoY0p78OIFMHI8Tq-Erf6h7vb2h47rSm203OWCx2bDwShQF046mYF5SeNTDqNzDZMFDwfIbuFFpavhtEjCiZZaMCrIocezaeY2_TLWoZ-fH4TZXQ9oLQ76gTFVO6DWwQ/s1600/Sunset+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTdpYMLiL_sm4IoY0p78OIFMHI8Tq-Erf6h7vb2h47rSm203OWCx2bDwShQF046mYF5SeNTDqNzDZMFDwfIbuFFpavhtEjCiZZaMCrIocezaeY2_TLWoZ-fH4TZXQ9oLQ76gTFVO6DWwQ/s640/Sunset+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sun sets over a barn just west of my farm. </td></tr>
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-21133517558222784362013-11-04T20:31:00.000-08:002013-11-04T20:31:17.622-08:00Barn Hunting Across the Pond: British Barns Part I<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Due to my many <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/10/barn-hunting-blunders.html" target="_blank">blunders</a>, you might assume that I am a barn hunting novice, but I actually cut my barn hunting teeth this past summer in Great Britain.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2D4zoK2tHXlUdRkviEU3tatO4xEFmPq8DxwAt-gH8NhELevykY21XHvo-lYjzTdxjjJitpqaajlp8eaAu4Sjve7lZQ1Ei9dV3cDNJcb_8lud2BeoEBwt9sisrX9CUgXiOBUYdaDLzd2Y/s1600/Coggeshall+Grange.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2D4zoK2tHXlUdRkviEU3tatO4xEFmPq8DxwAt-gH8NhELevykY21XHvo-lYjzTdxjjJitpqaajlp8eaAu4Sjve7lZQ1Ei9dV3cDNJcb_8lud2BeoEBwt9sisrX9CUgXiOBUYdaDLzd2Y/s640/Coggeshall+Grange.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though its exterior esthetics are sort of humble compared to Saskatchewan barns, this is one of Britain's most famous barns, Coggeshall Grange Barn, which was built more than 700 years ago, making it one of the country's oldest surviving barns. </td></tr>
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My research there wasn't as inclusive and far-reaching as my current barn study, but it was a start in barn hunting. This past summer, I was fortunate to spend six weeks in Essex, England participating taking a course which consisted of study trips around the country, in addition to my own research on barns which was also part of the course requirement. So, this barn hunter ain't no rookie. <br />
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British barns are completely different from western Canadian barns. The word <i>barn </i>itself is derived from the Old English <i>bere</i> (barley) and <i>ern</i> (house/place), thus the word itself originally meant "the place for barley." Historically, barley and wheat were the two most important crops in Britain. Nowadays, agriculture is just as industrialised as here in North America, but prior to about 1800, crops were sown, reaped, and threshed by hand. The barn was an incredibly important building in that it was a sheltered place where the grain could be processed throughout the winter and stored. In that era, every single grain was precious. Failed crops meant famine. To see how grain was threshed by hand using a flail, check out this short YouTube video with accompanying cool English folk tune.<br />
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Thus, the barn was vital to the entire functioning of society. Very few barns from the medieval era (roughly 1000-1500) still survive, and those that did tend to be exceptional barns, ones that were built as store houses by religious orders, such as Coggeshall pictured above.<br />
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One of the informants I interviewed in Britain, upon hearing that I was from Saskatchewan (he just so happened to have taught here in the '70s) remarked "your barns have got the doors in the wrong side." <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-gdImw4FdwDuWn9yp3H6_oV_Gaw1gBmjZXOlSFdViSP8oibY1vAXyYn9foOGkJoypmqjbTHZCRHw1j8N6QE9vY71yU7QDvSjsFO2vhx43aK-4lIQjV4lWifDsFgtwbtLjgGWVmGxS20/s1600/Upminster+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-gdImw4FdwDuWn9yp3H6_oV_Gaw1gBmjZXOlSFdViSP8oibY1vAXyYn9foOGkJoypmqjbTHZCRHw1j8N6QE9vY71yU7QDvSjsFO2vhx43aK-4lIQjV4lWifDsFgtwbtLjgGWVmGxS20/s640/Upminster+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this photo of Upminster Tithe Barn (ca. 1450), which is now a museum of nostalgia, notice there is a door in the long end. All British barns have doors like this.Note also the thatched roof, which desperately needs to be replaced at a cost of close to $200,000. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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He was referring to the fact that most barns here have the doors in "short side." This is because barns in this part of the world were primarily meant for horses and other livestock. Thus, stalls run both sides of the barn, necessitating an alley in the centre for care of the horses. British barns were intended for a completely different use. They are divided into bays, sometimes alternating between threshing floors and storage floors. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgaQNxns8yii-eh4lZ98IXM9dgBPBCMiCpmE00ZNpe1tjQD3ySgAcIhJv1IwlNDy-cNk5bK5lromHT1z-81azvIM7n2IwsBFy5kSsfNX24toE3VP8mY4mkwVGXMdq5wNsD1FXecWURvp4/s1600/kc_ecl13_015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgaQNxns8yii-eh4lZ98IXM9dgBPBCMiCpmE00ZNpe1tjQD3ySgAcIhJv1IwlNDy-cNk5bK5lromHT1z-81azvIM7n2IwsBFy5kSsfNX24toE3VP8mY4mkwVGXMdq5wNsD1FXecWURvp4/s640/kc_ecl13_015.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coggeshall Barn is dressed up for a wedding, but you can make out the bays, which are the spaces between trusses (the squarish things composed of posts and beams which support the entire building). </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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The doors were in the long side because carts loaded high with grain were driven in, relieved of their burdens, and driven out again. The doors were often left open to allow a draught to blow the chaff away. Interestingly, the doors on one side of the barn were often taller than their opposites. This was because the cart came in with a high load, but emptied out, didn't need such a tall door on the other side.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTyr3zthMdblQmGuc1hpS-Oo23UgU4n55NQuYzVGmI4dnjKtJvLF0tQepRxBbQsviStNM5GaXqJ_DMDoOlFUbTqOsrO7v3zl6TyaY9fnJqiiPQ8oKEpWMONbi9FFuST_p4qvJYr__h68/s1600/Grain+cart+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTyr3zthMdblQmGuc1hpS-Oo23UgU4n55NQuYzVGmI4dnjKtJvLF0tQepRxBbQsviStNM5GaXqJ_DMDoOlFUbTqOsrO7v3zl6TyaY9fnJqiiPQ8oKEpWMONbi9FFuST_p4qvJYr__h68/s400/Grain+cart+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carts like these (displayed in Coggeshall Barn) hauled precious loads of grain from field to threshing floor. </td></tr>
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The comment about doors, and the ensuing explanation, demonstrate how widely buildings can vary according to their intended use. Some Saskatchewan barns are still bring used for what they were originally intended, but no British barn is. The focus of my paper in England was the adaptive re-use of British barns. I will discuss this more in a future blog, and if there are any lessons Saskatchewan barn lovers can learn from the Brits in terms of preserving and/or re-purposing barns that are doomed to neglect.<br />
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You may have noticed the gigantic size of these barns and the huge timbers that were used to build them. When I showed my dad the photo below of the timber in Upminster Tithe Barn, he remarked, "Ten million dollars!", meaning it must have cost a fortune to build. They did even in their time, but now such timbers like that (all oak) simply don't exist anymore, especially not in England.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofI7iscoTqGMlP7IBl8ux3NVCI-4hx9f-7Eed2Whw3rwb5StWgpAp7VO8yWT1l0jvbOBwwmqCJ5OYRB1JGDFuGfqibeWR1zXpFWC59fZpqpOITIZiMk8wv9SNMeXdJJ5jo_BfqoLTYvI/s1600/DSC_6215+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofI7iscoTqGMlP7IBl8ux3NVCI-4hx9f-7Eed2Whw3rwb5StWgpAp7VO8yWT1l0jvbOBwwmqCJ5OYRB1JGDFuGfqibeWR1zXpFWC59fZpqpOITIZiMk8wv9SNMeXdJJ5jo_BfqoLTYvI/s640/DSC_6215+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ten million dollar trusses? These ancient oak timbers are a treasure, and many Brits are passionate about preserving these buildings in part because of that. Truly, they make the posts and beams in Saskatchewan barns look rather spindly in comparison. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKhKmN1KEK_9Ts9PcCIZLYY2AbvB4aLDMQv_qOaswgsSHYLNBCIwYCkrTO1qwWQ56KdxfcrkiQvuyzIUBHIXYi6JpocHyocUcU5_qPWuqL_sQp0C3W84WACLtHVhPTTNavdGaavel3Mqc/s1600/kc_ecl13_014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKhKmN1KEK_9Ts9PcCIZLYY2AbvB4aLDMQv_qOaswgsSHYLNBCIwYCkrTO1qwWQ56KdxfcrkiQvuyzIUBHIXYi6JpocHyocUcU5_qPWuqL_sQp0C3W84WACLtHVhPTTNavdGaavel3Mqc/s400/kc_ecl13_014.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Timber-framed barns in Britain employ joints like these to hold the timbers together; there's not a nail to be found. Vernacular architecture fanatics get really excited about joints like these, because they can help date buildings based on knowledge of joinery techniques of different eras. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCnje3YD0cx8ry88PAbT7jm0SB4LR6l1k0ocM42YBGz-FTdHF4Tt3EwO-J1lO3pAxhwS0UR9ow__kOC08LYydXRMOj0ge8U8szFjpKOfP1kn_J4kUTWxchVCakdpqaStngo69LI-3RMc8/s1600/Barn+Moor.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCnje3YD0cx8ry88PAbT7jm0SB4LR6l1k0ocM42YBGz-FTdHF4Tt3EwO-J1lO3pAxhwS0UR9ow__kOC08LYydXRMOj0ge8U8szFjpKOfP1kn_J4kUTWxchVCakdpqaStngo69LI-3RMc8/s640/Barn+Moor.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not all British barns are built of timber. Architecture varies widely in England depending on local materials. Here in my ancestral home in the Peak District near Glossop, barns were built of stone. This is a later barn (by British standards) from the 18th or 19th century. Its roof type and shape look more like what we're used to in Saskatchewan. </td></tr>
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Now that you know what British barns were originally intended for, I will follow up this discussion with another blog about how British barns have been re-purposed for use in the 21st century, at some point. You'll have to check back here multiple times every day to find out when! In the meantime, I'm hoping for one last gasp of nice weather so I can finally finish up my survey. One R.M. down, a fairly vast swathe of the other to go!<br />
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-26010528390816231252013-10-28T18:11:00.000-07:002013-11-04T20:41:00.658-08:00The Barn Hunter Brags, or Why Barn Hunting MattersWhen I first began this project a few months ago, I assumed that I would be toiling in obscurity. I started this blog almost as an afterthought, and more as a way to keep myself on track than with the hope that anyone besides my thesis supervisor, a couple devoted friends, and maybe my dad would care (he only learnt of its existence last week, by the way). But for some reason, a few people actually seem interested in my work, and that makes me happy. For those of you who have been following my ramblings, THANK YOU!! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61yKkQJSZVk" target="_blank">You're the best</a>. <br />
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Thus, it's time for a bit of <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/09/welcome-to-barn-blog.html" target="_blank">shameless self promotion</a>. I warned you it was coming.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmEhwIT7cCna14DK9rizS6wEJWtM99SU7bJwluBaH4N_oSrdvNFa9-6cWTIcHRxV5d6KCGBf4iQlsDFHEKZucVO8HD3PhuqQqZ5BLp2z7roXniQwfcw_T5knOKcnl12GjAyQEGaoGVqE/s1600/CBC-Radio-Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmEhwIT7cCna14DK9rizS6wEJWtM99SU7bJwluBaH4N_oSrdvNFa9-6cWTIcHRxV5d6KCGBf4iQlsDFHEKZucVO8HD3PhuqQqZ5BLp2z7roXniQwfcw_T5knOKcnl12GjAyQEGaoGVqE/s200/CBC-Radio-Logo.jpg" title="CBC Interview" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/morningedition/episode/2013/10/22/the-barn-hunter/" target="_blank">Listen to my interview with Sheila Coles</a></td></tr>
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My wonderful alma mater, Campion College at the University of Regina, included me in its most recent edition of its alumni magazine <i><a href="http://www.campioncollege.ca/news-and-events/alumni-online-magazine.php?newsid=5" target="_blank">Brag</a>. </i>The lovely folks at the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador uploaded <a href="http://doodledaddle.blogspot.ca/2013/10/newfoundland-folklorists-in-prairies.html" target="_blank">an interview</a> I did with folklorist Lisa Wilson in Edmonton about the importance of <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/09/a-barn-hunting-break-discussing.html" target="_blank">intangible heritage</a> and my personal feelings about it, and most recently, I did two interviews with CBC Radio: one for Saskatoon Morning with Leisha Grebinski and one with Sheila Coles for the Morning Edition in Regina. You can <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/morningedition/episode/2013/10/22/the-barn-hunter/" target="_blank">listen to the latter here</a>.<br />
<b>Update (November 4, 2013): </b><span class="userContent"> CBC Radio One played my
Saskatoon interview on "The Story From Here," which means
that it was heard nation-wide! This is a different interview from the
one I did for CBC Regina, so check it out!<br /> To listen, click the link for "Oct. 30 Part 2" and my interview starts at about 13:30.<br /> <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/thestoryfromhere/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.cbc.ca/thestoryfromhere/</a></span> <br />
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I am very pleased about these developments, not just because they flatter my ego, but because they draw attention to this project which I hope has an importance beyond my own measly master's degree requirement. Barns are disappearing from the landscape. This is indicative of a much larger change in rural Saskatchewan: the increasing industrialisation of agriculture, the rise of agri-business and the deterioration of the traditional family farm. With any such change comes both advantages and loss. For the most part, barns are on the losing side.<br />
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In Saskatchewan, there is virtually no protection for barns and extremely limited grant funding available. All of the pictures of pretty barns I've published on this blog are examples of private individuals putting a lot of money into these structures simply because they care about them. The photos you've seen of deteriorating barns are not necessarily examples of barns that nobody cares about, but perhaps the owners simply can't afford to fix them up. <br />
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There will never be enough money available for every barn to be saved. But just recording the barns that still exist is a start, which is basically what I am trying to do in my study. I can only cover one proportionately tiny area in this vast province, which is why I hope there will be more barn hunters in the near future. On that note, I will take this opportunity to share with you some links related to barn conservation and preservation in other parts, mostly the United States. It is my mission to help initiate some similar sorts of projects here in Sasaktchewan, most notably a province-wide survey. <br />
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<a href="http://barnalliance.org/" target="_blank">The National Barn Alliance</a> - "We provide national leadership for the preservation of America's
historic barns and rural heritage through education, documentation,
conservation, and networking." Yep, Canada is in need of a similar organisation.<br />
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<a href="http://www.barncoalition.com/" target="_blank">The New York State Barn Coalition</a> - "The New York State Barn Coalition is a non-profit organization formed
for educational purposes. The coalition is dedicating to promoting the
appreciation, preservation, rehabilitation, and re-use of historic
barns. The organization seeks to promote a broad understanding of the
educational, economic, historic, symbolic, and aesthetic values of
historic barns and farmsteads in order to revitalize communities and
promote pride in New York's cultural heritage. The coalition's members
include preservationists, students, teachers, government employees, barn
owners, farmers, architects, engineers, contractors, craftsman,
historians, and general enthusiasts." - This is just one example of a state level barn preservation organisation. Saskatchewan, and every other province, should have something similar.<br />
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<a href="http://michiganbarns.org/" target="_blank">Michigan Barn and Farmstead Survey</a> - This is a group of barn hunters! This flagship survey project is what I hope will happen in Saskatchewan one day soon. <br />
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All of these examples from elsewhere illustrate the possibilities for barnophiles here in Saskatchewan. There are lots of you out there; I've met quite a few just driving into yards. Committed residents in the Indian Head area created the<a href="http://bellbarn.ca/" target="_blank"> Bell Barn Society</a>, which is now a tourism site. "Google" Saskatchewan barns, and will you find oodles of beautiful photographs. There's also <i>Barn in Saskatchewan</i> by Dave Aldous <i>Barns of Western Canada </i>by Bob Hainstock. I'm sure there's a lot more out there than I know about right now. The point is, there are a lot of people who care about barns out there. If we were to unite, imagine the great things we could do. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0tSvwh1Lui8TnyG_GLby9Q3qSEF2mTLrEuqkeUOdNoBghXZV9kjOuCpOKbSIncbCawHxZHjm3QFWTlfrQzwNrfD5UMVQfDYd65fp_YZZ86ggd_iyA2eoy4abZp_UDgI4e5PZ01o00LY/s1600/Roughriders+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0tSvwh1Lui8TnyG_GLby9Q3qSEF2mTLrEuqkeUOdNoBghXZV9kjOuCpOKbSIncbCawHxZHjm3QFWTlfrQzwNrfD5UMVQfDYd65fp_YZZ86ggd_iyA2eoy4abZp_UDgI4e5PZ01o00LY/s640/Roughriders+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saskatchewanians are known for their passionate dedication to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Imagine a province full of Saskatchewan barn hunters! It would be a formidable army. </td></tr>
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-16803103225760457282013-10-21T14:54:00.000-07:002013-10-21T17:59:20.044-07:00Barn Hunting with the Old Man: The Importance of Local Knowledge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf94BHm_tUgMS0ssNiLHnaR-g-8BExVEB9OEe5nD6Y8uo9RzJ15l9oxLnj6IdpS3L8qwXNcLkCaY8D0PzYp1d1io5RHoWEAcFLstewBkPnMAZda1_hzhnb9XEzPGSbf6R9KT98LrpYjaA/s1600/North+Star+Barn+2+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="497" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf94BHm_tUgMS0ssNiLHnaR-g-8BExVEB9OEe5nD6Y8uo9RzJ15l9oxLnj6IdpS3L8qwXNcLkCaY8D0PzYp1d1io5RHoWEAcFLstewBkPnMAZda1_hzhnb9XEzPGSbf6R9KT98LrpYjaA/s640/North+Star+Barn+2+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
The other day my dad went barn hunting with me. There was a particular barn he had wanted to see, and that I had been saving for him. Now that harvest is finally over and he has some free time, we made the trip south of Ceylon to the North Star barn. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYGM0gm2lBzuaMRGQp4YAN-8NbMWDsOoPsTiEoa0omXRUjyZXLEmH8z2Qevri4gGV6qCBNcKIZLX8Um2zY_1z53D3jAM1Bvnbro-1OH1A1up9JELp5Tcu0SX-z46Z2yYwdtEhkdeTFIw/s1600/North+Star+Barn+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYGM0gm2lBzuaMRGQp4YAN-8NbMWDsOoPsTiEoa0omXRUjyZXLEmH8z2Qevri4gGV6qCBNcKIZLX8Um2zY_1z53D3jAM1Bvnbro-1OH1A1up9JELp5Tcu0SX-z46Z2yYwdtEhkdeTFIw/s400/North+Star+Barn+(2).jpg" width="400" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The North Star barn</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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As excited as I was to be barn hunting with my dad, I had a few small worries about bringing him along, simply because I know him so well. Sure enough, soon after we had settled down for coffee with our hosts, my dad started reminiscing, interrupting my barn questions with memories of his own, random talk about farming, and musings on the weather. I was a bit frustrated, since the barn hunter is on a tight schedule these days (as I write this, there is snow on the ground). But I soon realised that my dad was drawing out information about this barn by asking questions I might not have thought of. For example, in reminiscing about his own experiences growing up on a farm, he said to our host, "loose hay was before my time. Do you think the loft could hold more hay when it was loose, or in bales?"<br />
<br />
That was a very good question, and one I had never thought to ask before. Soon after, my dad entered into a good-humoured wager with our host over the width of the barn. The barn owner said the barn was 26 feet wide, but my dad politely suggested he thought it was 28. With glee, we all headed out into the chilly afternoon air with Bob the tape measure to see who was right. We measured it twice, just to make sure, and it was 28 feet on the nose.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdB6oDbEUuWzJaz4yzap5U4oLtxtomeXczVfxKos9ptSBt2XSiIYHnJFKcaNAoTCb7vMmCMlguHMPBKvSIhGt4d44QKton_kk4EaS9GJqdxzlOracGo9FihkDsqmrLSFI9cs9gWNMWrVU/s1600/DSC_0821+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdB6oDbEUuWzJaz4yzap5U4oLtxtomeXczVfxKos9ptSBt2XSiIYHnJFKcaNAoTCb7vMmCMlguHMPBKvSIhGt4d44QKton_kk4EaS9GJqdxzlOracGo9FihkDsqmrLSFI9cs9gWNMWrVU/s640/DSC_0821+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My dad inspects an antique Cockshutt tractor in the North Star barn. After barns and cookies, his great love is tractors. </td></tr>
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Later that afternoon we went surveying, and my dad's local knowledge was an invaluable help, as well as his uncanny ability to eyeball the measurements of barns. Though I had seen his prowess in action, I was still a bit skeptical. "How do you know that, Dad?" I asked after he estimated the measurements of one barn. "I've been looking at barns all my life, I can tell," he responded with some irritation, as if I weren't really sharp enough to call myself a barn hunter.<br />
<br />
My dad also knows about many barns that were once there but are now gone. As we drove through the countryside, he pointed out various abandoned homesteads that had once had barns. Though I know that many have vanished over the years, I would be hard-pressed to say with any authority where and when they had gone.<br />
<br />
This expedition with my dad reinforced the importance of <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/priority-areas/links/" target="_blank">local knowledge</a> in a study such as this (which is part of that whole <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/09/a-barn-hunting-break-discussing.html" target="_blank">intangible cultural heritage</a> thing I've been going on about). I have been asked several times why I chose to do this study in my own area. There are many answers: free rent, being in the place I love most, reunion with my cat Rufus, etc. But I also truly believe that a study like this is dependent on local knowledge, and since I am a local, I've already eliminated a lot of work. But as much as I know about my area, I still know next to nothing compared to someone like my dad. I can only imagine the difficulties faced by a stranger coming in to a rural area and attempting to find all the barns, make contacts, etc. all in a limited time frame. It can certainly be done, and is done all the time. I did something similar myself last year when I participated in a field school in <a href="http://munkeelsfieldschool.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Keels, Newfoundland</a>.<br />
<br />
Some would even argue that doing a study in one's own area is a bad idea because of the inherent pre-conceptions and biases one brings into her work. This is a legitimate concern. But we have biases and pre-conceptions no matter where we go. Awareness of these, and acknowledgement of them is very important.<br />
<br />
But for all the potential cons for doing this work in my own area, I believe they are heavily outweighed by the pros, especially the free rent one. In all seriousness, I believe my knowledge of this place will lend a depth and richness to my study that would not be possible otherwise. This is not to say that I will only ever do research in my own area; to the contrary, I love diving into a new place and trying to immerse myself in it as much as possible. But for my master's thesis, I wouldn't want to be barn hunting anywhere else but here. Every time I go out, I end up driving down a road I've never driven down before, seeing farms and barns I didn't know existed, and meeting people I previously only knew by name, or not at all. I've discovered so may amazing things about a place I know so well. It begs the question: how many secrets are waiting to be discovered in <i>your</i> own backyard? <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uGd1p7K6iEKMkTKHZhulfObys7GmRYNKTp4qiEjXOClYWt-i3Cej1BlSMlk1Sp7LptIPubxWVaYb_qn8cIcyL214rgYrZrSKB25LKgs5WoIBbwMs3n9eNu58mWSC_UmccVf-OP6MHvM/s1600/Betches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uGd1p7K6iEKMkTKHZhulfObys7GmRYNKTp4qiEjXOClYWt-i3Cej1BlSMlk1Sp7LptIPubxWVaYb_qn8cIcyL214rgYrZrSKB25LKgs5WoIBbwMs3n9eNu58mWSC_UmccVf-OP6MHvM/s640/Betches.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A magnificent barn I knew nothing about, but of which my dad and our North Star barn hosts knew the location. It is situated far from any main road. My dad said he had always wanted to see it, as it is somewhat legendary in the barnlore of the region. </td></tr>
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-18478837165332014472013-10-16T12:54:00.000-07:002014-03-25T06:22:17.795-07:00Barn Hunting BuddiesEveryone loves cute animal photos, right? Fair warning: this post
contains copious amounts of them. If you're one of the few soulless,
cold-hearted people in the world who despise photos of cute animals,
please leave this blog right now and don't ever return.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUU_Kt4gF_JvX1gmwcUsFLolrhAYevJCCD_pyWp4nzMig_yocJLVjNQqVsG0VxdpILp4ndWOESMCxKIqRaR3YU43Ly5RYHrzqLax8MDjWH8lnPjqUz8xjB0XmErV_dhKmlcy8BgwZAFo/s1600/Animal+Barn.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUU_Kt4gF_JvX1gmwcUsFLolrhAYevJCCD_pyWp4nzMig_yocJLVjNQqVsG0VxdpILp4ndWOESMCxKIqRaR3YU43Ly5RYHrzqLax8MDjWH8lnPjqUz8xjB0XmErV_dhKmlcy8BgwZAFo/s640/Animal+Barn.JPG" height="432" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This lovely little barn SW of Radville is home to several creatures including goats and kitties, </td></tr>
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I have mentioned in a previous blog post, <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/09/the-dangers-of-barn-hunting.html" target="_blank">The Dangers of Barn Hunting</a>
that encounters with animals are par for the course in a barn hunter's
fieldwork. And while I've had to deal with slithery snakes and sinister
spiders (as well as the promise of revolting rodents), I've also had my
fair share of adorable animal encounters. There have been so many, in
fact, that it's become dangerous in its own right. For these encounters
sometimes eat up large amounts of a barn hunter's most precious
resource: time.<br />
<br />
When I drive into a farm yard when I'm doing a survey, there is always
the risk of cute animals to distract me from my true, no-nonsense
purpose of barn hunting. For instance, last week while Stacy and I were
out surveying (we should have been measuring, but I had forgotten the
scale at home, just another <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/10/barn-hunting-blunders.html" target="_blank">barn hunting blunder</a>),
we stopped in at one yard with a tiny barn and a host of animals. Upon
opening the door of my dad's truck (the Le Sabre was out of commission),
three excited dogs came to greet us, and two of them actually jumped
right into the truck and sat on my lap. Needless to say, the usual ten
minute stop stretched out to about a half hour at that farm. At another
farm on a different day, I left my vehicle to take some photos of a
barn. When I returned, a cat was curled up asleep on the driver's seat.
How he got in without me noticing is a mystery. I've yet to encounter a
mean or scary dog or a vicious cat, but maybe that's just because once I
retire from barn hunting, I have a future ahead of me as a dog and cat
whisperer. <br />
<br />
In addition to dogs and cats (so many cats!) there have also been
sightings of pigs, goats, donkeys, ponies, horses, chickens, turkeys,
llamas, sheep, and of course, cows. When we're working on measuring a
barn, which is an all-day, usually multi-day affair, we get to really
mingle with the local animal-folk. I'm surprised that I haven't smuggled
any kitties home with me yet. Just yesterday we were measuring a barn
where a brand-new calf is in residence, and Stacy and I discussed how we
might sneak him into the trunk of the Le Sabre and take him home, and
then what could be done with him once he grew into a full-sized bull.<br />
<br />
Encountering animals during barn hunting is not just cute and fun, it's
also exciting because it provides us with a sort of glimpse into the
past. In decades past, all Saskatchewan barns would have housed animals
of some kind. Most barns in this area were built to house the horses
which were needed to work the land, and the cows which provided milk for
the family. Animals were always a part of farm life, but what was once
common has become exceptional. Most yards that I drive into now don't
have any animals save for a dog and maybe some cats. The majority of
barns I've investigated are not housing any sort of livestock. Many of
them are still inhabited, but by swallows, mice, flies, and perhaps
cats, in short, not the sort of creatures these great buildings were
meant to house. <br />
<br />
Thus, when I come across a barn that is still used for its original
purpose, or even partly for its original purpose, it's exciting. This is
a barn in its original context, this is a glimpse of the past.<br />
<br />
And now, without further ado, are the cute animals. This is but a small
selection of the many dozens of animal photos I have taken during my
time as a barn hunter, and most of them were taken at two farms that
still have barns in use as animal houses.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEpITCNCQ5I-5ORZTTOxc7RjuZ1Q6lfouW-IYrNcps1WjQ10ReDGqvXssu1gF357PrJlb6J67Pl6n7b1aILplLymEqXPhdRkjA3ESALVQgq_RnP7tGovXVmkl8Aaq-f6HcdzR9OKQjuk/s1600/DSC_9825.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEpITCNCQ5I-5ORZTTOxc7RjuZ1Q6lfouW-IYrNcps1WjQ10ReDGqvXssu1gF357PrJlb6J67Pl6n7b1aILplLymEqXPhdRkjA3ESALVQgq_RnP7tGovXVmkl8Aaq-f6HcdzR9OKQjuk/s640/DSC_9825.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This barn south
of Radville has a somewhat unusual design in that there is no hay loft,
but rather a mow in the centre which holds the hay. The leans on each
side contain stalls for cattle and horses. The mow is also home to
several cats. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjviJgXf1NdcoJvA4QgKI6VVPKVvosgNd9VyyIoMWOtqhb8cpcgW7xm4WaWmnftShOxgPdx3FtOMHFIjfdewOxC3Gm-0GgQ-_o8uUj0cvU8Pj81qlTM-0Hl3iHd5BmyQUlF2cTblXRO040/s1600/Jerseya.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjviJgXf1NdcoJvA4QgKI6VVPKVvosgNd9VyyIoMWOtqhb8cpcgW7xm4WaWmnftShOxgPdx3FtOMHFIjfdewOxC3Gm-0GgQ-_o8uUj0cvU8Pj81qlTM-0Hl3iHd5BmyQUlF2cTblXRO040/s640/Jerseya.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> A jersey milk cow and her brand new calf. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVUfmeemtWccGfh2X_kfKGW6xkuFKlLcCvBiRttfvrbzqZrPAiZzXGxmxNQyeoK2_-trX0sYlSGeDklsbblyFAwD6oBWe95yr0TGn3xniAiPXStGXtm6b32vNCB4pcMIXX-ow-9bS317c/s1600/Jerseys2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVUfmeemtWccGfh2X_kfKGW6xkuFKlLcCvBiRttfvrbzqZrPAiZzXGxmxNQyeoK2_-trX0sYlSGeDklsbblyFAwD6oBWe95yr0TGn3xniAiPXStGXtm6b32vNCB4pcMIXX-ow-9bS317c/s640/Jerseys2.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mama and baby head outside for the calf's first glimpse of the sun. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit5QSUYuNd6TlGXMMLFnpiCT98IO2T4816oMgERHJ3YyhXAX8efDF-A91_eC40BUocEJ-6XY-p4qQUvLINS8QVJ6TM6BfPlDTS1YtB413tu0J5020Tc5k8WSFnxX-1UaK7n0XR7mvftbU/s1600/Trough+Kitty.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit5QSUYuNd6TlGXMMLFnpiCT98IO2T4816oMgERHJ3YyhXAX8efDF-A91_eC40BUocEJ-6XY-p4qQUvLINS8QVJ6TM6BfPlDTS1YtB413tu0J5020Tc5k8WSFnxX-1UaK7n0XR7mvftbU/s640/Trough+Kitty.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat in a feed trough, nonchalantly. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizDc1GyTdGre-qr7rx0BRRK4XXzUHfXHX45D-2ljTetSMka-0gTAl1ig9CT_0ne2APzUcSTdXKkyh7eRF4TplilO7B24Pz5eZPmwNY2_G_b-0hTkU7bY6H8Zyhwm5I73Ds49q1Sx-eeeU/s1600/Elegant+Cat+%282%29.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizDc1GyTdGre-qr7rx0BRRK4XXzUHfXHX45D-2ljTetSMka-0gTAl1ig9CT_0ne2APzUcSTdXKkyh7eRF4TplilO7B24Pz5eZPmwNY2_G_b-0hTkU7bY6H8Zyhwm5I73Ds49q1Sx-eeeU/s640/Elegant+Cat+%282%29.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat in a hayloft, elegantly. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLY-o2dVhvOOXxe8KfUPUfd0i1Ss1t8zsDui-zNiy4OupDmopSD2CP9qgleEi6gMVBjjAaxKhsyCeySAlzcSpk9118lGFtQ6LQqMVz-YM6hxqMdUqLxl_h-2sGPJL6-oc3tZnFPAGky4E/s1600/Chicken+Post.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLY-o2dVhvOOXxe8KfUPUfd0i1Ss1t8zsDui-zNiy4OupDmopSD2CP9qgleEi6gMVBjjAaxKhsyCeySAlzcSpk9118lGFtQ6LQqMVz-YM6hxqMdUqLxl_h-2sGPJL6-oc3tZnFPAGky4E/s640/Chicken+Post.JPG" height="579" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hen poses glamorously in the shadow of a fence post. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAvIgg0d_oWxW2ByUxiS5OJdICsa6WzdmeV1EoUYlbwftVRITwHQI50ulqT5G6NFoy_EGHujKYI2GUfAajaOqa-5Ki9QKpe1uQGnYrv1S6NmcNMYKzZQOaLFM31lHKIQZF_AQHRIUiSao/s1600/Goats.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAvIgg0d_oWxW2ByUxiS5OJdICsa6WzdmeV1EoUYlbwftVRITwHQI50ulqT5G6NFoy_EGHujKYI2GUfAajaOqa-5Ki9QKpe1uQGnYrv1S6NmcNMYKzZQOaLFM31lHKIQZF_AQHRIUiSao/s640/Goats.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goats frolicking! And a chicken!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0mBOqTjnGbCuYWYhy6s_gHAO6EEBcX92GAkL99pAoYFv1b2VO6lsYXtPLGliwhDcfxfjBzCl7raxXxRuwsvNVRkIK6dySlYCOl-EoU2y1zLQGregWz1QhNvVSuMUDQOYWSZpTj9USPTU/s1600/Goats+and+Chickens.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0mBOqTjnGbCuYWYhy6s_gHAO6EEBcX92GAkL99pAoYFv1b2VO6lsYXtPLGliwhDcfxfjBzCl7raxXxRuwsvNVRkIK6dySlYCOl-EoU2y1zLQGregWz1QhNvVSuMUDQOYWSZpTj9USPTU/s640/Goats+and+Chickens.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chickens grazing! And a goat!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-AWfG4GuIW8MGcFncvmNNp_Amxhn_6bfBUjDZA_MzHFDcY7RE2BmL3unuu8-N_9MFCaky7uWr7rTr6VUiDIAkVljue5hmdQDJjkYAGczQfrcY3DsB4oi9XxBYsD5uY4Kn_OzVxuclI_w/s1600/Fall+2011-Winter+2012+089+%282%29.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-AWfG4GuIW8MGcFncvmNNp_Amxhn_6bfBUjDZA_MzHFDcY7RE2BmL3unuu8-N_9MFCaky7uWr7rTr6VUiDIAkVljue5hmdQDJjkYAGczQfrcY3DsB4oi9XxBYsD5uY4Kn_OzVxuclI_w/s640/Fall+2011-Winter+2012+089+%282%29.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My cat, Rufus, who is afraid of leaving the house and can't even imagine the privations of living in a barn. </td></tr>
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Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-87485818059870662662013-10-06T23:01:00.001-07:002013-10-06T23:01:56.141-07:00Barn Hunting BlundersIf I've given the impression thus far on this blog that I am a barn hunter extraordinaire whose barn hunting prowess is unmatched, please don't be fooled. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzSvlGMBXYGgIfBoV14ItDiLZHdemzF5QulXNthKhPj-Uh6OuLJKs6mqUFyalotnnXbstDQyZGaaMiOKbFpymcyjswh6nvHB66fSCX48eswbge1OroPmCSvTRTVMzUUF2K-9eHBBU91k/s1600/Barn+Hunter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzSvlGMBXYGgIfBoV14ItDiLZHdemzF5QulXNthKhPj-Uh6OuLJKs6mqUFyalotnnXbstDQyZGaaMiOKbFpymcyjswh6nvHB66fSCX48eswbge1OroPmCSvTRTVMzUUF2K-9eHBBU91k/s320/Barn+Hunter.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stacy's creativity makes me look like a cooler barn hunter than I actually am. Photo by Stacy MacKenzie</td></tr>
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Truth be told, I kinda suck at barn hunting, or at least I've been feeling that way lately. It's natural to encounter setbacks during any quest worth its salt, and barn hunting is certainly no exception. Discouragement comes easily to some, myself included, and I've been feeling a bit mediocre as a barn hunter lately, mostly because of my some of my many flaws as a human being.<br />
<br />
I am clumsy, I am forgetful, and I am careless. Ask anyone who knows me at all well, and they will agree wholeheartedly with the above statements. Don't ask my sister though, because she'll make me sound worse than I actually am. My forgetfulness causes no end of headaches in my life and in my barn hunting. I'm one of those people who will frantically search for my keys, only to realise several minutes later that they've been in the ignition the whole time, and that the Le Sabre is actually running. I'm also clumsy, with a chronic case of the dropsy (not the old-fashioned word for edema, nor the modern definition of a fish disease). I drop things constantly. The sound of small items clattering to the ground is my constant background noise. Maybe I should record myself for an hour or so with my audio recorder so I can create my own barn hunting soundtrack. Though perhaps not, because it would be riddled with expletives. I'm also careless in that I will set things down without thinking, thus leading to the forgetfulness of where I put it, and usually some clumsiness is thrown in there when I drop something else while trying to find the thing I misplaced in the first place.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFceUDiyio4FCgQ0ptczX41Z8_zT047xMao41Mi_7b_mY2BexCk8kq0VbuT-8_rixi2-qpKhi7I3YfpbtdCYvs-uKkYHm9DOvEsjwqQJQsHrpSJPJCjbgchhG8Th6lAPNXDhrH3eDCxs/s1600/Cat+Barn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFceUDiyio4FCgQ0ptczX41Z8_zT047xMao41Mi_7b_mY2BexCk8kq0VbuT-8_rixi2-qpKhi7I3YfpbtdCYvs-uKkYHm9DOvEsjwqQJQsHrpSJPJCjbgchhG8Th6lAPNXDhrH3eDCxs/s400/Cat+Barn.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's a random photo of a cat on a barn. Have I mentioned that I'm a crazy cat lady?</td></tr>
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So, long story short, I am really thankful that Stacy hasn't left me yet to seek tedious, unpaid employment elsewhere.There have been many occasions where she has told me a measurement, only to have me ask thirty seconds later what it was again, because I have already forgotten. The other day we were held up for some minutes while I frantically searched the Le Sabre for one of my drafting pencils (you may remember the importance of these from the post <a href="http://thebarnhunter.blogspot.ca/2013/09/barn-hunting-for-beginners-part-i.html#comment-form" target="_blank">Barn Hunting for Beginners Part I</a>. Notice the caveat of "guard these with your life." My life should be forfeit). I never did find it, and had to make do with an inferior, standard mechanical pencil. There really is a difference.<br />
<i>I finally found the missing pencil, lying innocently and smugly in an obvious location. </i><br />
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Even more egregious was the other day when I headed out for a few hours of barn surveying. I picked up my sister, Janelle and her friend, Michelle along the way to accompany me. I thought they'd be excited to see me. Along the way, I somehow got temporarily lost despite having an R.M. map right beside me and despite having lived in this area my entire life. By the time we reached our first barn, daylight hours were already dwindling (it really is getting dark earlier these days). I soon discovered that my camera battery had died and that surprise! I had left my spare at home, in the charger. This is one of a folklorist's worst nightmares (not quite as bad as recording a lengthy interview only to realise that the recording was erased, malfunctioned, or that you forgot to turn on the recorder altogether, but almost). An integral part of the barn survey is photographing the barns I find, so it was a really dumb mistake. I went ahead and spoke to the owner, took basic measurements and recorded it on the map anyway, but I have to go back to photograph it now, which is a huge waste of valuable time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixOo-L3zdTzx_8JqPOHLkVeTQRfdQfcG0R0dy72t5KSDTpjy1L2nomoYn4X8Zlprn7SRNqZk0TFLKXfrwRz783OdCRRxJNLebTHvRMK-cQUFHbZw5gwvXyf8ITGe_e1EVAtJWCmFUZskk/s1600/Swans.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="409" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixOo-L3zdTzx_8JqPOHLkVeTQRfdQfcG0R0dy72t5KSDTpjy1L2nomoYn4X8Zlprn7SRNqZk0TFLKXfrwRz783OdCRRxJNLebTHvRMK-cQUFHbZw5gwvXyf8ITGe_e1EVAtJWCmFUZskk/s640/Swans.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I probably drained my battery taking photos of these trumpeter swans and their duck slough-mates. But aren't they beautiful?</td></tr>
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Then there are the many mistakes I make in my scaled drawings. These aren't necessarily caused by my own character flaws, but rather by my poor understanding of mathematics and the tendency for barns to be a bit on the crooked side. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMcWx2At23mHQdM2BJg8rxfPtHVBJqEGVoKCfdc46QKoKl8EwB-bgAZ9oeKkTSFHo831gxfels82f776Cx197sJaBjrAWGwcYyuqgMiH22MN3gSCEXhs7byRj1v6V84CZEXfw9s8zUns/s1600/DSC_0227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMcWx2At23mHQdM2BJg8rxfPtHVBJqEGVoKCfdc46QKoKl8EwB-bgAZ9oeKkTSFHo831gxfels82f776Cx197sJaBjrAWGwcYyuqgMiH22MN3gSCEXhs7byRj1v6V84CZEXfw9s8zUns/s320/DSC_0227.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stacy dubbed this the "Bermuda Room" after the Triangle. We got lost in there, math-wise. </td></tr>
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And there is the archive, where I live once a week, and which is my own personal vortex of distraction. My archiving adventures will be chronicled in more detail in a future post, but you can be sure that you'll be on the edge of your seat when the time comes. <br />
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Barn hunting is an endlessly exciting pursuit, and a rewarding one, but I am committed to honesty in my reports .Last week you learned about the dangers of barn hunting, and this week you're learning about the potential setbacks that can be caused by a blundering barn hunter. But if this quest didn't present a few challenges along the way, it would hardly be worth doing, would it? <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmcyOXNhISrITVrDiIxwnqb2rLJsZcJVe0NLsVpw099VI5RTTCy8F-m1nfKvT0iMhPreAYhfBpcvSaB1A9qQlZhP8XNkn4aYIqWeVnvVAGsy-RwjvI8X0t2fvEZ3Y0Ra1UktXFKt-4iY/s1600/McGrath+Barn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmcyOXNhISrITVrDiIxwnqb2rLJsZcJVe0NLsVpw099VI5RTTCy8F-m1nfKvT0iMhPreAYhfBpcvSaB1A9qQlZhP8XNkn4aYIqWeVnvVAGsy-RwjvI8X0t2fvEZ3Y0Ra1UktXFKt-4iY/s640/McGrath+Barn.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home of the infamous "Bermuda Room," this 101 year old barn is well-loved, and though I curse its crookedness, I love it too, just like I love all barns. After all, I am the Barn Hunter, blunders included. </td></tr>
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-36803225162980720682013-09-30T22:42:00.000-07:002013-09-30T22:42:17.892-07:00The Dangers of Barn Hunting<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRq3BZuYoqVEGt-pFTOpO62eHaHcPzrrgiJ1WkE7TaTjj-ElBD7wxECduw_W_zkShRVbv9tvKS8YfAfkgjl5ki5fqDuCxGiM8u9_p0aFVsFyVdXJGrevrFIqhayrYPfjIfwDmLGMHQRcE/s1600/DSC_9999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRq3BZuYoqVEGt-pFTOpO62eHaHcPzrrgiJ1WkE7TaTjj-ElBD7wxECduw_W_zkShRVbv9tvKS8YfAfkgjl5ki5fqDuCxGiM8u9_p0aFVsFyVdXJGrevrFIqhayrYPfjIfwDmLGMHQRcE/s640/DSC_9999.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This barn and those chickens south of Ceylon look innocent, but are they? Photo by Janelle Catherwood. </td></tr>
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Barn hunting is not for the weak of heart. When I first set out on this perilous quest just a few short weeks ago, I knew I would face many dangers, that I might have to risk life and limb to hunt down all the surviving barns in the R.M.s of the Gap and Laurier. Now that I've battled my way through some risky situations, I thought I'd share some of my wisdom, so that would-be barn hunters know the risks of this hazardous, yet highly admirable, task.<br />
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1. The wilderness<br />
I have mentioned before that a true barn hunter will not be dissuaded by seemingly impassable roads. Abandoned homesteads sometimes harbour long lost barns. However, sometimes these "roads" peter out in the middle of trackless wastes with nary a barn in sight, and nothing for it but to carefully turn around and bounce back down the trail whence you came.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZNOK2cOSF10lh0VQBLUZ0OvKRc8l177DkBYKBSHs1vBoQZNZcs5VhaXTTSTFLgBsPavErW3mC6ckSUfkevwYgWVWNwGRuxr4r5K5JDHutSNBAoaMgTWoOPFAw2mRY4Z-FN552c99Biw/s1600/Nowhere+Road.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZNOK2cOSF10lh0VQBLUZ0OvKRc8l177DkBYKBSHs1vBoQZNZcs5VhaXTTSTFLgBsPavErW3mC6ckSUfkevwYgWVWNwGRuxr4r5K5JDHutSNBAoaMgTWoOPFAw2mRY4Z-FN552c99Biw/s400/Nowhere+Road.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">While picturesque, I wouldn't want to be stranded in these environs. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoI1vAKfNg5e7QbhFh2nZjIfu9T9DKjba5_8y-7r_eEpFpuuWfDgEkI86MX5u27hE4-R-Z2eGAdVIOCvM2NK4WGhxZ1VoIi3E-9rvL1l1VwLqTZVzBoPjT7fbQM3wPs6ybf3w_h22FGCM/s1600/Hostile+Cows.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoI1vAKfNg5e7QbhFh2nZjIfu9T9DKjba5_8y-7r_eEpFpuuWfDgEkI86MX5u27hE4-R-Z2eGAdVIOCvM2NK4WGhxZ1VoIi3E-9rvL1l1VwLqTZVzBoPjT7fbQM3wPs6ybf3w_h22FGCM/s320/Hostile+Cows.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These cows quickly dispelled any delusions of grandeur we may had with their unimpressed stares. </td></tr>
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If one's Le Sabre were to break down out in the middle of nowhere, you better hope your cell phone battery hasn't died, or that you aren't in a low spot where reception is patchy. With the danger of becoming stranded comes the possibility for coming across locals, who may or may not be friendly. Saskatchewan is home to plenty of wildlife. Most of them are content to go about their business if you go about yours, but there's always the potential of crossing paths with a belligerent badger or a malevolent meadowlark (if such a thing exists). In addition to wildlife, there are domesticated animals to consider, such as territorial cattle.<br />
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2. Creepy crawlies and slithering things<br />
Spiders and barns go together like Buick Le Sabres and speed; that is to say, they go together very well. Fortunately I'm not too afraid of spiders, but some of the webs they weave in barns are truly daunting, so arachnophobes beware.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHhKzUyN9URZ8vjvJjVZgJdibaPoV_1w5EYAeqoZ5YRy69jbpABPIUD147pefpxml9qhd-2dmCdwyvLwPU2UIMOmhh-_XpgfnafdR0z7dKn_I8NTIbcpIu2J3UIhvxCGFv8J0CGPO3V6Q/s1600/Stacy+Spider.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHhKzUyN9URZ8vjvJjVZgJdibaPoV_1w5EYAeqoZ5YRy69jbpABPIUD147pefpxml9qhd-2dmCdwyvLwPU2UIMOmhh-_XpgfnafdR0z7dKn_I8NTIbcpIu2J3UIhvxCGFv8J0CGPO3V6Q/s320/Stacy+Spider.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stacy courageously strikes forth despite the giant spider's web in front of her and the straw teeming with who-knows-what below her. </td></tr>
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As well as spiders, barns can harbour slithery creatures like snakes. I don't mind pet snakes, but wild ones are heeby-jeeby inducing, especially because they always appear so unexpectedly.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhzbFH2QqugJ4l-_Suz6BsbCvLU9-ntIbqmKts8O3q1-qtBuvRf_p4Z6f7FvuO61reggGLCmulHEFsQ6p8KHLqc31nj5upMuZ4gPoWUnGujNeRHmAydJEpnwiCJQM3QY58QLDWClZorI/s1600/Snake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhzbFH2QqugJ4l-_Suz6BsbCvLU9-ntIbqmKts8O3q1-qtBuvRf_p4Z6f7FvuO61reggGLCmulHEFsQ6p8KHLqc31nj5upMuZ4gPoWUnGujNeRHmAydJEpnwiCJQM3QY58QLDWClZorI/s320/Snake.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one's for you, Meghann. </td></tr>
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But the worst of all creatures that barns harbour is rodents of any kind. I hate mice, I hate them. And rats shall not be mentioned. So far, rodents have known better than to show themsleves in my presence, but I know I won't be lucky forever. I am always wary about being around straw and hay ever since a childhood episode when I fell into a bale pile teeming with mice, one of which had the audacity to run across my hand. <br />
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3. Wells. While investigating an addition to the barn we're currently measuring, Stacy ventured inside the dilapidated building to take a measurement. Upon discovery of a large hole in the ground, she quickly vacated the premises. We were both obviously relieved that this episode can be filed under "near-miss."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnxXuP-6Iru2NRxl4eVpe5JIDhrggSp9ZNTTqwoPN5lXwsFJuWadJIht91vEAqv1NTrdFuPXvGJKOmgb9YuCSNsnvyqd5syI4TY9CFLmh4jEo2zowsj1m4oZguupGIk67E3WzUKZwRGw/s1600/DSC_0048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnxXuP-6Iru2NRxl4eVpe5JIDhrggSp9ZNTTqwoPN5lXwsFJuWadJIht91vEAqv1NTrdFuPXvGJKOmgb9YuCSNsnvyqd5syI4TY9CFLmh4jEo2zowsj1m4oZguupGIk67E3WzUKZwRGw/s320/DSC_0048.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Probably best to leave the loft alone. </td></tr>
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4. Haylofts, ladders, etc. I used to be deathly afraid of heights. After ascending the half decayed staircase of a burned out house, shimmying up ladders in windmills and climbing into the rafters of cathedrals in the past six months (thanks to Jerry Pocius, my professor and thesis supervisor), this fear has been downgraded to 'nauseating.' I don't like it, but I can do it. However, I always make sure to ask the owners if the loft of a barn is sound before I make the climb. If in no doubt, stay on the ground floor, no matter how cute the kitties in the loft are. <br />
<br />
5. Data loss<br />
Perhaps the greatest threat of all is the loss of precious data, whether that be tea spilled on a drawing (this almost happened when a gust of wind knocked over my thermos in the vicinity of the drawing board), a marked R.M. map eaten by sparrows (this hasn't happened yet, but I'm on guard against it), or a camera memory card that suddenly and inexplicably loses photos, probably due to some bumbling but inadvertent mistake of the barn hunter. This is highly dangerous, not to the physical well-being of a barn hunter, but to her psychological wellness. Barn hunters tend to exist in a fragile state of mental health, and the loss of data is more than enough to tip the scales to full-blown mental breakdown. To preserve the few threads of sanity remaining to her, the recent loss of several dozen photos will not be discussed in this blog post, or possibly in any blog post to follow. <br />
<br />
This list is partial and ongoing. There are plenty of other dangers inherent to barn hunting that have not yet been experienced firsthand. Barn hunting is only for the brave, the reckless, and/or the stupid. I'm still trying to decide which group I belong to. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzHGGigOk8FyiXoprugdbPCIdeGBEktSPQdmgCibTDa-yFhlv6fX3JcPmjcyBOFmyWRu0bNsOM5vzZLx-_UP11SyyH54eI2B1rTiwDWNagix98SXyr5iQiUH0TyavV3eBW_oS5Jo6Y_E0/s1600/Duck+Xing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzHGGigOk8FyiXoprugdbPCIdeGBEktSPQdmgCibTDa-yFhlv6fX3JcPmjcyBOFmyWRu0bNsOM5vzZLx-_UP11SyyH54eI2B1rTiwDWNagix98SXyr5iQiUH0TyavV3eBW_oS5Jo6Y_E0/s640/Duck+Xing.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danger lurks everywhere for the barn hunter. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-30912100418387118302013-09-25T21:26:00.000-07:002013-09-25T21:26:29.284-07:00Badlands Barns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9kUYZor33lqfpad-fhyPkIkXJq_rTA2uiDQ15OnjmoBUX4SPrEpumD3uzP1dqSCftrLaPEgPHh6mNGMMvZ3Q6OPUzoLshyphenhyphen8VA87Z92q1XI2dpCdTdpvZSjIu58q1ALK4WfFG_QsCCVzw/s1600/Martin+barn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9kUYZor33lqfpad-fhyPkIkXJq_rTA2uiDQ15OnjmoBUX4SPrEpumD3uzP1dqSCftrLaPEgPHh6mNGMMvZ3Q6OPUzoLshyphenhyphen8VA87Z92q1XI2dpCdTdpvZSjIu58q1ALK4WfFG_QsCCVzw/s400/Martin+barn.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A barn in the process of being reclaimed by nature. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A few weeks ago my friend Teresa and her son accompanied me on a surveying excursion in the deep south. The south eastern corner of the R.M. of the Gap dips into the Big Muddy Valley, one of my favourite places in the world. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUMMkwePGio0UlTjpxc7OR8Hx92z8i9MKdsAKIUg_n1C0M2AO92srF4DbzjqorbtaUfJsYnSL0jgS5lVEBtFUAEzUhdUMNR6YzT2fP0-cO46Gx1YH3DZX0B2bh1qhqax1aMCqmyOgbc8/s1600/DSC_9488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUMMkwePGio0UlTjpxc7OR8Hx92z8i9MKdsAKIUg_n1C0M2AO92srF4DbzjqorbtaUfJsYnSL0jgS5lVEBtFUAEzUhdUMNR6YzT2fP0-cO46Gx1YH3DZX0B2bh1qhqax1aMCqmyOgbc8/s200/DSC_9488.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Littlest Barn Hunter squints in the Sask sun. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This area, also known as the Big Muddy Badlands due to its general unsuitability for farming, has long been a region of mystery and intrigue. It is the home of prickly pear cactus, the odd rattlesnake and thousands of acres of unbroken prairie cut through with coulees, streams and draws.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYGysZ-toPaglKsZAn9Q_WluaGl_8wo0RZgk6mdbu6352ywSvoXGaC6JnYdpkZPRnvwGtCuqVYhw4O2NPsx7t1PkieykOtyJqJWL9Evv49nm-XyElKBeYA8o662JY-_zreJPHtXDY6v0/s1600/Big+Muddy+Hills.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYGysZ-toPaglKsZAn9Q_WluaGl_8wo0RZgk6mdbu6352ywSvoXGaC6JnYdpkZPRnvwGtCuqVYhw4O2NPsx7t1PkieykOtyJqJWL9Evv49nm-XyElKBeYA8o662JY-_zreJPHtXDY6v0/s400/Big+Muddy+Hills.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These rolling hills soon drop into the Big Muddy Valley to the south. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For thousands of years it was inhabited by great roaming herds of bison, and First Nations people left their mark with hundreds of teepee rings as well as a turtle effigy and a bison effigy, apparently the only extant of its kind in North America. Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people to victory against George Custer in 1876 sought refuge just west of the Big Muddy near the present day towns of Wood Mountain and Willow Bunch. When the Canadian government compelled them to return to the United States in 1881, Sitting Bull and his people rode through the Big Muddy on their way back across the border.<br />
<br />
In the past century it was the haven of outlaws like Dutch Henry and the Wild Bunch, the Sam Kelly Gang, and was even stop number one on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's infamous Outlaw Trail, a series of stops modelled on the Pony Express where outlaws on the run could procure fresh mounts and a bit of grub from friendly ranchers.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf14_3G3-sn7n2ONtW50tkh7A93cSw0PddU3hIEfSsXVCwkVd2Zeg3BMzqDmBw2LjZl0lbbYKx7zQii3DFAvZDaoJz18zP0mLVcD_VwB8_LiaO7Di2mCMF6oURqphKRDLR-5fjZl4fkbk/s1600/Big+Muddy+Lake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf14_3G3-sn7n2ONtW50tkh7A93cSw0PddU3hIEfSsXVCwkVd2Zeg3BMzqDmBw2LjZl0lbbYKx7zQii3DFAvZDaoJz18zP0mLVcD_VwB8_LiaO7Di2mCMF6oURqphKRDLR-5fjZl4fkbk/s400/Big+Muddy+Lake.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big Muddy Lake, which gave its name to the surrounding region, has long been a landmark in the region, and was used by outlaws to evade Northwest Mounted Police officers. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1VKzm0xy79YTlcaYWFXhjv7fDxfLLkpSYunJ16iATOAHeaJX3ztatQdHvHW0wHSbcSwkGpwJGcOXjF7UVzE7_oPP3IvXAjcCr7Cn7FMzTA4l1563tqUCNY2_eQ86OW-Ywm194I1lpYcQ/s1600/Big+Four+School.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1VKzm0xy79YTlcaYWFXhjv7fDxfLLkpSYunJ16iATOAHeaJX3ztatQdHvHW0wHSbcSwkGpwJGcOXjF7UVzE7_oPP3IvXAjcCr7Cn7FMzTA4l1563tqUCNY2_eQ86OW-Ywm194I1lpYcQ/s320/Big+Four+School.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The barn hunting crew found other historic buildings of note, including this one-room schoolhouse, "Big Four" School in the southernmost reaches of the R.M. of the Gap. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There are plenty of legends about these men who rustled cattles and stole horses, making use of the international border to do their dirty work in both Canada and the United States, often managing to elude law enforcement officers on both sides of the line.<br />
<br />
After increased settlement and a stepped-up Northwest Mounted Police force in the area forced the outlaws out of the region, the Big Muddy settled into its new incarnation as the home of pioneer families, most of whom adopted a ranching way of life since the rough terrain is not well-suited to farming. It has always been a sparsely populated area, but still many people call this area home.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuIpP9ObEjNuBM7hWRLlZPVYO5bxbPI1qjNOtGwEvowPAeTS1ercpO8CwDrUcpjE60R-drd_Z7lIEXmFGuPODtJOVoHypjuNUJucnQe810SwBjS8TMs7wOmd9DbdadFr68cEyL2rrJVqk/s1600/Decaying+Barn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuIpP9ObEjNuBM7hWRLlZPVYO5bxbPI1qjNOtGwEvowPAeTS1ercpO8CwDrUcpjE60R-drd_Z7lIEXmFGuPODtJOVoHypjuNUJucnQe810SwBjS8TMs7wOmd9DbdadFr68cEyL2rrJVqk/s320/Decaying+Barn.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This big beauty of a barn slowly decays in its badlands surroundings. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The barn hunting crew surveyed the parts of the Gap that lie within the Big Muddy region, and then we explored a bit further afield in the R.M.s of Surprise Valley and Bengough to do a bit of sightseeing not strictly related to barns. As we traversed the badlands, I was struck by how diverse is the landscape within my study area. As I mentioned on a previous post, I am attempting to survey all the existing barns, no matter their current state in the rural municipalities of Laurier and the Gap, an area of 324 square miles. This is a huge area, no doubt, and every time I venture forth on a surveying trip I lament its vastness. But it is still just a small area of Saskatchewan, which demonstrates how diverse this province is, and how much work is out there for would-be barn hunters! <br />
<br />
We found just a few badlands barns on this area, and their styles are not unique to the area, but rather indicative of what I am finding to be a fairly homogenous barn style. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlM4gCVoOqa1UG3bn2UPikqwERgEGiEKSxkwiJ8ndFFGWIoBclMEuYyfOusk-8_se3ksSwWr4lA9DIUu4GYeJ6mDurDAQXjA4maVtxc217ld-E4mb4iCjrd96B9WK3SOG9cXP9UmD59D0/s1600/Big+Muddy+Barn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlM4gCVoOqa1UG3bn2UPikqwERgEGiEKSxkwiJ8ndFFGWIoBclMEuYyfOusk-8_se3ksSwWr4lA9DIUu4GYeJ6mDurDAQXjA4maVtxc217ld-E4mb4iCjrd96B9WK3SOG9cXP9UmD59D0/s640/Big+Muddy+Barn.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This barn, and the farmstead to which it belongs, seem comfortably nestled in their little corner of the badlands. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There are some exceptions, but so far in the area I have survived, by far the most popular barn type is the gambrel roof style, what locals refer to as a "hip-roofed barn." These are the barns that everyone recognises as barns. As I survey more barns in the area, continue to measure, and conduct research in the archives, I am coming to a better understanding of why this type of barn is so predominant in this region. But you will have to wait for a future blog post to find out!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHi9k_vaL1jsa_IH-4nFD6fPA1StHEBicRCXiyf_K5S4_PDOwMh1c8z4sTGQ4MYBtfCrPZ8549pU4POOifMlVwqlk2sN94eXX_W3J5zOHEUkLJtSQNCHx8VUyomPbk1JcVF6bLVCaKfTI/s1600/Salt+box+barn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHi9k_vaL1jsa_IH-4nFD6fPA1StHEBicRCXiyf_K5S4_PDOwMh1c8z4sTGQ4MYBtfCrPZ8549pU4POOifMlVwqlk2sN94eXX_W3J5zOHEUkLJtSQNCHx8VUyomPbk1JcVF6bLVCaKfTI/s400/Salt+box+barn.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An exception to the predominant gambrel style, this gable roof barn was no doubt the centre of its farmstead in years past. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>Note: The Big Muddy Valley contains many fascinating natural and manmade features, not to mention much intangible cultural heritage in the form of stories and legends. However, much of the Big Muddy is under private ownership. To learn more about these sites and how you can visit them, please visit http://www.townofcoronach.com/tours-badlands.html. I have participated in this tour and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the Big Muddy. </i><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxP92NgULBmTdK15xI5yooNrg982YMYieB3ziww3fQHvfZlNtjSAkG95A6Jx6U1Z2yXoX09Ol9oxAIhtHJaTNsg2MCDOB-f4Spy5R0TqthIxVDuMYGXSaVRXjhI5y1xb8dCFqQR4pc30/s1600/Castle+Butte.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxP92NgULBmTdK15xI5yooNrg982YMYieB3ziww3fQHvfZlNtjSAkG95A6Jx6U1Z2yXoX09Ol9oxAIhtHJaTNsg2MCDOB-f4Spy5R0TqthIxVDuMYGXSaVRXjhI5y1xb8dCFqQR4pc30/s640/Castle+Butte.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crown jewel of the Big Muddy is Castle Butte, located south of Bengough. Though out of my study area, it deserves special mention anyway due to its badlands grandeur. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-29296477867189632112013-09-23T19:19:00.000-07:002013-09-23T19:35:11.495-07:00A Barn Hunting Break: Discussing Intangible Cultural Heritage<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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There’s been a bit of a hiatus here on the barn blog. I just
returned from a five day trip to Edmonton for the Alberta Museums Association
annual conference. I thought I was leaving barns far behind as I embarked on
the 900 or so kilometre drive to the conference, but I found myself scoping out
barns along Highways 11 and 16 and talking about barns an awful lot while I was
at the conference. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmduoVoekZr84Wrr2KihvpGOmXtpwJx8B1dzhqdi_PuZ5qyTx6Hc8p8k8QSpFfig3MpNywmfRl0xhpyciCdDH9qiC2o2qzRJ8iJbZehisPyq9CF3p9_NT3UUvt4UWAlgtFeqRmCBB6F8E/s1600/Cadillac+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmduoVoekZr84Wrr2KihvpGOmXtpwJx8B1dzhqdi_PuZ5qyTx6Hc8p8k8QSpFfig3MpNywmfRl0xhpyciCdDH9qiC2o2qzRJ8iJbZehisPyq9CF3p9_NT3UUvt4UWAlgtFeqRmCBB6F8E/s400/Cadillac+Barn+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near Cadillac, SK, this barn intrigued me enough to stop on the road to photograph it. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
The theme of the conference this year was Intangible
Cultural Heritage, often referred to as ICH. It’s a mouthful to say, and can be
a bit hard to understand at first. Basically, ICH considers as important those
aspects of our cultural heritage that are difficult to pin down. It is defined
by a UNESCO Convention which reads, in part, that ICH “includes traditions or
living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our
descendants, such as <a href="http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00053">o<span style="color: black;">ral
traditions</span></a>, <span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00054">performing
arts</a>, <a href="http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00055">social
practices, rituals, festive events</a>, <a href="http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00056">knowledge
and practices concerning nature and the universe</a> or the <a href="http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00057">knowledge
and skills to produce traditional crafts</a>” (“What is Intangible Heritage?”
www.unesco.org).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Thus far more than 150
countries have signed on to the convention, which was created 10 years ago.
Canada is one of the few countries in the world that has not. However,
Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec have implemented the programme at a provincial
level, and I’ve been fortunate to work with the concept hands-on during my time
as a student in the Folklore programme at Memorial University. Other provinces
are beginning to follow suit, and it is my hope that western Canadian provinces
will soon adopt similar programmes modelled after the successes in Newfoundland
and Labrador and Quebec. </div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEmO9lwMqiMxIxEm6ZgtcdiU6Vz7dFVAcgsI9g-1grBJZh0QgPEpTNKwJ-_fOWBMcPcqM25RurY4uOJ0Edomy_-or5tLJPSLCyxAIF9LzOXpizF2Cj_FtmgUiIf3uOQrlKKWGunl94s0/s1600/Highway+13+Barn+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEmO9lwMqiMxIxEm6ZgtcdiU6Vz7dFVAcgsI9g-1grBJZh0QgPEpTNKwJ-_fOWBMcPcqM25RurY4uOJ0Edomy_-or5tLJPSLCyxAIF9LzOXpizF2Cj_FtmgUiIf3uOQrlKKWGunl94s0/s400/Highway+13+Barn+(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This barn is on its way to becoming intangible as it slowly decays on the prairie. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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So, where do barns come in? If intangible is “unable to
touched, not solid or real”(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Collins
Dictionary of Current English)</i>, then tangible is the opposite, and if
anything is tangible it’s a building. Barns are tangible heritage, albeit in a
fragile form as their original uses have become redundant. However, my study of
barns does not include just the tangible. If it did, I would simply document a
bunch of barns and call it a day. But my somewhat guilty confession is that the
tangible heritage of barns interests me only as a means to an end. The building
itself, with its boards and nails and cement is just the beginning. It is the
intangible that intrigues me, and though barns are very much tangible entities,
there is a great deal of intangible cultural heritage interwoven into their
existence. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Take for one example a hay sling in a barn. These were a
common feature on many Saskatchewan barns and were used to facilitate the
movement of hay from the ground level where it was brought from the fields on
carts or wagons and then hauled up into the loft. The hay sling is a tangible
object. But the knowledge around how to actually use the sling is intangible. In
many cases it only exists in the minds and memories of those who actually
worked with them. The process may have been written down at one point, however
it would differ from barn to barn, from person to person. It is only through
speaking to what we folklorists call informants or consultants that the
intangible can be teased from the tangible. And hopefully I’ll finally
understand how a hay sling actually works, because just from seeing it, I
cannot picture the operation.
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<br /></div>
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The intangible is the stories and memories about a place,
the knowledge of how to use certain things, how to complete certain tasks, how
to interact with the local environment. I apologise for the use of a rather
overused simile, but it is an apt one here. When it comes to studying the past,
and how the past lives on in the present, tangible heritage such as buildings
are like the skeleton, the bare bones of the larger picture. Only when the
intangible is considered does the bone house come to life, stories and memories
being the lifeblood of it all, its beating heart. Once we start to examine
intangible culture, we begin to understand that heritage is a living thing. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj203xgk_kC_LZUaphvlkDCm4kpbzn23o0gj36D5wxFpSXQk1YT9_ELSUk6NK71mbmdQo6ruit3SAw_MzW5PxL4-g39XKzrj6zVWMJwTAP0Zy6tM8_LxPiKoKKAM-cRpLYpfLH8QI-zDK0/s1600/Ceylon+barn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj203xgk_kC_LZUaphvlkDCm4kpbzn23o0gj36D5wxFpSXQk1YT9_ELSUk6NK71mbmdQo6ruit3SAw_MzW5PxL4-g39XKzrj6zVWMJwTAP0Zy6tM8_LxPiKoKKAM-cRpLYpfLH8QI-zDK0/s640/Ceylon+barn.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This barn near Ceylon, SK certainly has many stories to tell. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-23336507455038664612013-09-15T15:18:00.002-07:002013-09-15T15:41:54.240-07:00Barn Hunting for Beginners Part I: Measuring and Surveying <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Just how does a barn hunter go about barning? This post will tell you everything you need to know about two of the most important tasks of any barn hunter worth her salt: measuring and surveying. The surveying should really actually go before the measuring, but in my case, it happens whenever I have some extra time. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The "why" of measuring a barn and then creating scale drawings of it escapes me on most days. But the simple answer is: it creates a record of that building in all of its minutiae. If nothing else, just recording that data is important for the historical record. In terms of thesis-writing, the measuring and drawing help me to focus on the building more thoroughly, to "read" it in a way that would be impossible by just showing up and standing around looking at it for awhile. With the "why" out of the way, let's get on to the "how." It's just as glamorous as you have been anticipating. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><i><u><b>Measuring</b></u></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Tools of the
trade</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">- 1 stack of grid
paper of a size and brand that makes it difficult and expensive to procure.
This is an esoteric enterprise and one must be outfitted accordingly</span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">- drafting
mechanical pencils. Guard these with your life</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">- drawing board.
Staples doesn't have them, so don't waste thirty minutes of your life in there. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">- *1 100 foot reel nylon tape measure. Only after you have measured one barn and
got halfway through another will you realise it is an engineer's tape and
measures in tenths of a foot rather than inches. This will be discussed in more
detail later. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">- an assortment of
other tape measures in varying lengths which may be forgotten when they are
most needed, namely when inappropriateness of main measuring tape is detected.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ylQjHxE-TcZ9C-Av5xLRrpePLAuGI1FNUXqFhvHH3wzsrigAlkye5hL8PwosIHiztncbQ9gDrEdb2djyx29AL_r3Y9t7td-y_vkrZvRCoDMK1Sw0-TYUvYilz6LZVWfhqRXymPEODRM/s1600/Tool+kit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ylQjHxE-TcZ9C-Av5xLRrpePLAuGI1FNUXqFhvHH3wzsrigAlkye5hL8PwosIHiztncbQ9gDrEdb2djyx29AL_r3Y9t7td-y_vkrZvRCoDMK1Sw0-TYUvYilz6LZVWfhqRXymPEODRM/s320/Tool+kit.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Barn Hunter's Toolkit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">- scale</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">- 1 powder blue,
rusty Buick Le Sabre, ca. 2001 with three faulty electrical windows and missing
cupholders. This vehicle should rarely be washed and thus in a constant state
of dirtiness which endows it with a mystique of ruggedness appropriate in a
barn hunter</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">- *in lieu of a Le
Sabre, or in the event of a breakdown, borrow a 2012 Ford F-150 from your father</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">- 1 secondhand Nikon D60 with broken autofocus. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">- </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">1 awesome barn
hunting partner who is willing to endure hours of tedium and sporadic profanity
laced outburts from the barn hunter for no pay and few benefits. Enter Stacy, in this case Stacy Mackenzie. She deserves a blog of her own. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">*Optional </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>Note: This list could also be called "Barn Hunting on a Budget", but this would be redundant in the case of graduate students, who are always on a budget. </i></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxaK1HTS0mHwVONomMI1m6ui8iRPrwCCC6S7tX_-J5rj0yt9Dp4V_srvX0Nzx_QnVQOtFDM81YqhcuGd7znGm1J6GCq_lNkDA-0A4GdN9MKv0ibdILtlOt-YwhiDmy2RDSelq8lNVxcpA/s1600/Stacy+Compost.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxaK1HTS0mHwVONomMI1m6ui8iRPrwCCC6S7tX_-J5rj0yt9Dp4V_srvX0Nzx_QnVQOtFDM81YqhcuGd7znGm1J6GCq_lNkDA-0A4GdN9MKv0ibdILtlOt-YwhiDmy2RDSelq8lNVxcpA/s640/Stacy+Compost.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every barn hunter needs a Stacy, pictured here on top of the compost pile next to the barn we're currently working on. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Procedure</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">- <span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Show up bright and early. If not a morning
person, or if extenuating circumstances prevent a dawn-ish arrival, be prepared
that it’s going to take a lot longer than you think and you probably won’t get
done in one day.
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>- Measure the exterior walls, and painstakingly and
with much erasing, use the scale to draw the barn on your expensive grid paper. </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">-</span></span></span> - Stop often to complain about how difficult it is
to see the tiny notches on the scale, to remark on the loveliness of the
surrounding countryside, and to chat about topics completely unrelated to
barns.
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>- Climb anything worth climbing in the immediate
vicinity, whether or not it is related to the task at hand. See the above
photo. </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLfL-4uWHB11NvjPmQucYkauCOwoAGfkAKTGQhzVi46wUWv8achm4EiSxEZzVCmA3vQ6cgwqoniENco8IHaaFngMlnTlcA_SZBVVRachek4HZQHDg9twvRLHVzwz2ClIwkbGcUAfR2_JU/s1600/Salamander.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLfL-4uWHB11NvjPmQucYkauCOwoAGfkAKTGQhzVi46wUWv8achm4EiSxEZzVCmA3vQ6cgwqoniENco8IHaaFngMlnTlcA_SZBVVRachek4HZQHDg9twvRLHVzwz2ClIwkbGcUAfR2_JU/s320/Salamander.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This barely discernible salamander values the ongoing usefulness of these lovely old structures. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
- Photograph the barn and any interesting features, including reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds that may happen to be around. </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">- When the exter</span></span>ior has been finished, go inside.
Once it is realised how much there is to do in there, be both grateful that so
much of the original structure remains and intimidated by the amount of
measuring and drawing there is to do.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
- Commence measuring the interior, including each
and every exposed stud, stairs, wall mounted ladders, windows, doors that have
been boarded over, etc.<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"> -</span> </span></span></span>Take a kitten petting break.<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>- At some point, Stacy will realise that the
measuring tape does not have an 11” or 12.” Scrutinise the measure with great
concentration, as if the force of your willpower alone could change the fact
that this tape is completely inappropriate for your needs and not in sync with
the scale you have been using. Once you have failed in this, approach the verge
of a mental breakdown. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-lTGTUI43Y0uVRUHSBH-CEHqMoZnIpsjnwzFXUHcmu-6zZYD3EKM8kmt73QY0mPlcrWkd_71c_C9GXB2vcQjO2wywKdwQ-R2lNmT04bl7N7Ij14dWuKxNplgeW_IQ4xEXVx7kffl72Qw/s1600/Measure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-lTGTUI43Y0uVRUHSBH-CEHqMoZnIpsjnwzFXUHcmu-6zZYD3EKM8kmt73QY0mPlcrWkd_71c_C9GXB2vcQjO2wywKdwQ-R2lNmT04bl7N7Ij14dWuKxNplgeW_IQ4xEXVx7kffl72Qw/s400/Measure.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The offending engineer's tape measure, abandoned in a posture of ignominy after its uselessness was discovered. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>- Allow Stacy to talk you out of abandoning the
project altogether. Devise several different theories for how to get around the
faulty tape measure without having to redo everything you’ve already done. </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> <span style="font-size: small;"> - </span>
</span></span></span>Accept failure in this regard. Find another tape
measure. Make sure it uses inches. Get back to measuring. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And re-measuring. </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> <span style="font-size: small;"> -
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scale drawing of it. Fun, right?</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Surveying</b></i></u></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-q17UnQtfYqLhl48iN_OAtxK56w_M398WHqDkpyzO3EHWO8Vn7zLA-VKFN7PODxWvCXDMrZEk7mUZnvo91c_fWI0hT8rU9oyqcNYXC6GEVj5_vcXVFN-98szOQt0bcQQaqjxM51ZOO5w/s1600/Le+Sabre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-q17UnQtfYqLhl48iN_OAtxK56w_M398WHqDkpyzO3EHWO8Vn7zLA-VKFN7PODxWvCXDMrZEk7mUZnvo91c_fWI0hT8rU9oyqcNYXC6GEVj5_vcXVFN-98szOQt0bcQQaqjxM51ZOO5w/s320/Le+Sabre.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The barn hunter's vehicle of choice. </td></tr>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b>Tools of the trade:</b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Similar to above: Buick Le Sabre, camera,
pencils and notebook. One important addition is R.M. maps appropriate to the
survey area. </div>
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"> - 1</span> </span></span></span>loyal and devoted friend or grudging family
member<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">. </b><br />
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Procedure</b></b></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
</b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">- Drive down every road it is possible to drive down within the chosen area. If a road looks goat trail-ish and impassable, give it a try anyway. That’s what the Le
Sabre is for. You can always laboriously turn around if necessary. </span></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
</span>- Using the map. mark down every single barn that is still
recognisable as barn, no matter what shape it is in. Photograph the barn. Classify the barn. Admire the barn, or disparage it if you must. Accept any psychic premonitions about the barn that may come your way.<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">- Repeat until all 324 square miles (metric-philes, do your own
conversion) have been covered. </span></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">- At the end of this process, which will take a long time,
count how many barns there are altogether and classify them into types.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvuh1BmyzZMDHIruJwG7APHeP_bb6oh9W1oxS6nHTKZTuEQ1IWhwWwEmXyDtY0p_8mUuTK5R4rXtz_brLm4Est9Be2PiNx8awCv2V7lINFQSBeD8RkVZn2Xc2AkCHF5fQeI-d6eLwDti0/s1600/Trail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvuh1BmyzZMDHIruJwG7APHeP_bb6oh9W1oxS6nHTKZTuEQ1IWhwWwEmXyDtY0p_8mUuTK5R4rXtz_brLm4Est9Be2PiNx8awCv2V7lINFQSBeD8RkVZn2Xc2AkCHF5fQeI-d6eLwDti0/s640/Trail.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This trail may turn back even the most expeditious explorers, but no true barn hunter would let it prevent her from fulfilling the task at hand, for she spots a barn in the distance, and it must be documented. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
</span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Congratulations,
you’ve just created a historical record! What are you going to do with it? That
remains for another blog to tell. </span></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgduZQUE48GYj44hq2m3kjiAWEWEasJAohDuHUQH-K5l-qaHfNTzIPBCIlVg9U2pOmAAqxMnNvcbr3TV4SJM_EguZz4cYxiPN_qhhoTx7g5DjO90xJla2kkOCfDiGH3-CHHgmLySODxaV8/s1600/DSC_9329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgduZQUE48GYj44hq2m3kjiAWEWEasJAohDuHUQH-K5l-qaHfNTzIPBCIlVg9U2pOmAAqxMnNvcbr3TV4SJM_EguZz4cYxiPN_qhhoTx7g5DjO90xJla2kkOCfDiGH3-CHHgmLySODxaV8/s640/DSC_9329.JPG" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Obligatory barn photo. This beauty is the one Stacy and I are currently working on. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614181001244172127.post-43616781261321373672013-09-11T17:40:00.001-07:002013-09-11T17:40:50.146-07:00Welcome to the Barn BlogHi, my name is Kristin, and I am the barn hunter. That sounds very dramatic and perhaps even a bit cheesy, but if it gets your attention then it worked. Why "the barn hunter"? Because it sounds a lot more interesting than "the barn researcher", that's why. Just like Storage Wars sounds better than "People Competing to See Who Can Make the Most Money at a Garage Sale of Other People's Things." You get the idea. It's all about marketing, and I find myself in the business of promoting barns. Well, maybe not exactly, or at least not yet, but that's where I'm heading.<br />
I have just begun my thesis research on barns in southern Sasaktchewan, specifically in the rural municpalities of the Gap No. 39 and Laurier No. 38. For those of you unfamliliar with Saskatchewan's municipalities, that's the areas around the communities of Radville and Ceylon. For those of you unfamiliar with the geography of this area, here is a handy map:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1ixnXxYHMN6A7tPBNzypJcWW9ntlVRk95feHktCY-LvPCOhJAu_mt95OAkdmCPQSr3D0pT3xkPEQUZk_H3rGN1ROUMHYwsY01KJ3XaJ8sa5Xhr22Mo0JCcrH2b2Xj_iVlLzGCCEmXPc/s1600/radville.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1ixnXxYHMN6A7tPBNzypJcWW9ntlVRk95feHktCY-LvPCOhJAu_mt95OAkdmCPQSr3D0pT3xkPEQUZk_H3rGN1ROUMHYwsY01KJ3XaJ8sa5Xhr22Mo0JCcrH2b2Xj_iVlLzGCCEmXPc/s320/radville.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Here is a less detailed map which shows Radville's relation to Regina:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdjhb_v-pceP5mtwFOhZ7Iw3GVM7z5F6_fb8jwFxMJV_zjhfXWoUNF9dj8iSSVY2ewST_LprHZJAoehXrMz6T-bTQ0JsneGlW4T5wQxwFvE3DQ-3Or5bFX0iYUdjv1LxlWIJDJXDhGAco/s1600/map_so_sk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdjhb_v-pceP5mtwFOhZ7Iw3GVM7z5F6_fb8jwFxMJV_zjhfXWoUNF9dj8iSSVY2ewST_LprHZJAoehXrMz6T-bTQ0JsneGlW4T5wQxwFvE3DQ-3Or5bFX0iYUdjv1LxlWIJDJXDhGAco/s1600/map_so_sk.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
If you still have no idea where any of these places are, you're on your own.<br />
<br />
Why am I studying barns in this specific area? Sometimes, especially after particularly long, frustrating days, I ask myself the same question. But when I'm in a better mood, like right now, I will say, in point form in no particular order, that this is why I am studying barns in this specific area:<br />
- because I needed to study something and barns seemed like fairly straightforward option (this has been disproven).<br />
- because barns are a major part of Saskatchewan's agricultural landscape, and are disappearing at an alarming rate due to their redundancy<br />
- because my thesis supervisor, Dr. Gerald Pocius as well as the head of the Folklore department at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Dr. Diane Tye, encouraged me to<br />
- because I wanted to undertake my research in my home province<br />
and last, not least, in fact most important:<br />
- because I love the place where I am from and I believe that barns are one key to learning more deeply about the traditional knowledge of the people who settled and still farm in this area today.<br />
<br />
That in a nutshell is why I'm here.<br />
<br />
I don't want these blog posts to get too long and boring, so I'm going to cut it short for now. I know you'll be waiting with bated breath to see my next post, which will be about the "how" of this research project. Before I go, I'll just tell you a little more about me and what you can expect from this blog.<br />
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I am 24 soon to be 25 years old, born and raised on a farm near Ceylon, Saskatchewan which has been in my family since 1905. I earned a bachelor's degree in Classical and Medieval Studies from the University of Regina in 2012. I then switched my path and commenced studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland in the Folklore department. I have now returned home for the fall of 2013 to undertake my thesis research. I love farms, I'm bad at math, and I am a Virgo. This will all become important as my research and this blog progress. Here is what you can expect from this blog:<br />
- sporadic posts<br />
- a slow deterioration of enthusiasm for this project<br />
- unbridled gushing about the beauty of the prairie landscape<br />
- lots of barn photos<br />
- lots of talk about barns<br />
- shameless self-promotion<br />
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Until next time!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwh9y14CMFDa_g7-7Y4M3JC-RqgypmKd6buKrGd3j52qfMuKUzCVh0Ps0MmQPoKf15OZsQ3R2-mw0z1Fp78u3cdSwOBCGpWychSYgFM5Qa4WlpY1YjAflrIpMbvngqQoupjBEGTfiDgH8/s1600/Sept+11+Farm+074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwh9y14CMFDa_g7-7Y4M3JC-RqgypmKd6buKrGd3j52qfMuKUzCVh0Ps0MmQPoKf15OZsQ3R2-mw0z1Fp78u3cdSwOBCGpWychSYgFM5Qa4WlpY1YjAflrIpMbvngqQoupjBEGTfiDgH8/s640/Sept+11+Farm+074.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"My" barn, located on my father's land south of our home. Built ca. 1945, its design and gambrel roof is typical of the region, but it is unusual in that it is a bank barn. Its design takes advantage of the hilly terrain, as can be seen by the loft door. </td></tr>
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<br />Kristin http://www.blogger.com/profile/07429446116556549329noreply@blogger.com2