Barn Charm - Iowa State Fair 2013, Pioneer Hall

Today's "Barn Charm" is from our visit to the 2013 Iowa State Fair. Livie and I were riding one of the Sky Gliders (a ski lift type of ride high above the fairgrounds, providing a wonderful bird's-eye view of the grounds) when I got this photo with my iPhone camera (no Instagram app this time). I was glad I'd been able to snap a photo of this "barn" now known as Pioneer Hall (currently a museum). We were descending at this point as we were approaching this great, historic building, but still had a good angle to get most of the building in this shot.

You can click on the photo to get a larger view.

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Barn Charm - An Illinois Farm in June

Back in June, my family and I drove to Chicago with my mom so we could visit my brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. Livie, by the way, had a BLAST with her cousins!

As Andrew really likes driving when we go on road trips, I let him drive; during that time, I was able to snap some photos using the Instagram app on my iPhone as we drove along I-80 and I-88.

Here's an Instagram photo I was able to take of a farm in western Illinois (it may have been while we were still on I-80 heading east, or it may have been just after we got on I-88 heading east).

I love the two (partially) red barns side by side, the fluffy clouds, the farmhouse, green crops early in the season, and the two birds of prey circling overhead.

"Barn Charm" is hosted weekly by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the "Barn Charm" button below to view the rest of this week's fantastic "Barn Charm" entries. (The link-up will be available later this evening).

Barn Charm - Another Living History Farm Barn

Wow! It's been a while since I last posted, hasn't it? I guess the summer has really gotten away from me. I've been trying to keep Livie busy, and in doing so, I've been completely unmotivated to write or do anything creative (aside from using my Instagram app on my iPhone). I've hardly even felt like reading, and that is SO unlike me.

Or maybe it's just that I've gotten to used to having a break from academic reading and writing (or any reading and writing) after an unexpected semester off from grad school. Ah, well. I'll get back into it.

I do, however, have quite a few barn photos saved up, having taken a number of barn photos throughout the spring and summer - whether traveling within Iowa, or in Illinois - for the sole purpose of sharing them with "Barn Charm," even though I've not felt like getting on the computer to post anything lately.

Anyway, here are a couple photos I took with my Instagram app. These were from Memorial Day weekend when we were in Urbandale, IA. This was our second family trip to Living History Farms, and again, it was over Memorial Day weekend; seems like this may become a new family tradition - going to Living History Farms on Memorial Day.

It had been a rainy, obviously overcast, and somewhat chilly day when we visited. But I got a couple cool barn shots, anyway. (You can see my other barn photos from this same trip if you click here and here.)

This wonderful, huge red barn was in the 1900s section of Living History Farms. I just LOVE red barns, and this one is certainly a handsome one, don't you think?

Livie loved going in this barn only to find that there was a horse eating hay in his stall.

By the way, I love that Livie is in her bright yellow rain gear (rain jacket, rain pants, rain boots) and her bright yellow is such a great contrast against the red paint on the barn.

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the button below to view the rest of this week's great "Barn Charm" entries:

Barn Charm - Williamsburg, IA

This photo was taken over Memorial Day Weekend, 2013. It was another one of my "drive by" shots, using the Instagram app on my phone.

This barn and farmland are just outside of Williamsburg, IA, on the north side of I-80. (You can click on the photo to see a larger version.)

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Barn Charm - Inside 1850s Americana

Last week, I shared a fantastic barn from Living History Farm's 1850s farm (you can click here to see it). This week, I thought I'd share the photos I took of this barn's interior. I used my iPhone camera, as my digital camera's memory was full. (Oops!) I didn't use the Instagram app this time, just the camera.

As you can see in both photos, this particular barn's purpose is (was) to store farming equipment. 

Sorry, I know this second one is a bit blurry. But you can see that they've got tobacco hanging from the ceiling to dry. (I don't know if this used to be a big crop for Iowa, or if Living History Farms has it in here for "show." I should look up Iowa's main crops from the late 19th century.)

And on the floor, is a yolk for oxen.

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the "Barn Charm" button below to view the rest of this week's fantastic barn entries (the link with this week's entries will be available between 6 - 7 PM Central time Monday evening):

Barn Charm - 1850s Americana

Last week, my family and I were in the Urbandale, IA area for Memorial Day weekend. While we were there, we went to Living History Farms (as it seems that's now our new Memorial Day Weekend tradition).

Living History Farms is a great "living museum" of what life was like in midwestern America in "the olden days." (I've posted about Living History Farms before, so when you have the time, check out my other LHF posts. You can either click the label entitled "Living History Farms" beneath this post, or go to the upper left of the page and search for "Living History Farms.")

Anyway, while we were there, I was able to take some fun Instagram photos of barns as they would have been during various times in American history.

This barn photo that I'm sharing this week is a typical rustic barn from the 1850s time period.

(You can click on the photo to see a somewhat larger view of it.)

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Barn Charm, Historic Ushers Ferry Part II

Last week, I shared a photo I took at Ushers Ferry Historic Village. This week, I'm sharing the remaining two Instagram photos I'd taken of that same red barn.

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please check out the rest of this week's fantastic "Barn Charm" entries by clicking the "Barn Charm" button below:

Barn Charm - Historic Ushers Ferry

Last Friday, Livie got to participate in a Girl Scout activity at a local historic "museum" called Ushers Ferry. It's a representation of an early 20th Century town - what a small Iowa would've been like at the turn of the century.

While Livie and the other Girl Scouts were busy with their activities, I was able to walk around a little bit. Having never been to Ushers Ferry (only Living History Farms in Urbandale, IA), it was nice to see another example of "living history" in our area. And of course, while I was wandering around, I noticed the barn - a red barn, no less! - bathed in the golden light sunset casts. I was excited to have another subject for "Barn Charm"!

So, of course, I just had to snap a photo. Again, I'd used the Instagram app.

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please check out the rest of this week's fantastic "Barn Charm" entries by clicking the "Barn Charm" button below:

Barn Charm - Mother's Day Adventure

Hi everyone. I know my posts have been few and far between lately. I always come back, though.I'll get back into a more regular writing "groove" this fall, when I'm not taking a semester off.

Like today, as I've got a "Barn Charm" post to share.

Yesterday (Mother's Day), Andrew, Livie and I went out on a special Mother's Day adventure. After going to church and to Mother's Day brunch, we headed to the Wapsipinicon State Park, near Anamosa, IA; it was about a 20-25 minute drive from our house. (Be on the lookout within the next couple days for a post about this adventure.)

Today's "Barn Charm" entry is (yet another) drive-by shot, (again) using the Instagram app on my iPhone, taken around 2 PM on our way to Wapsipinicon State Park.

(You can click on the photo to see a somewhat enlarged version.)

As you can see, I didn't quite time it just right (at 50-55 MPH) to get the whole barn in the shot. Ah, well. There'll be other barns to shoot on other days, so I'll get another chance to get a whole barn in the shot one of these days.

(I was in the front passenger seat (Andrew was driving), by the way, so we were completely safe.)


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Drive-By Barn Charm

This is another "on the go" photo from our trip to the National River Museum and Aquarium a few weeks ago. We were somewhere near Anamosa, IA.

It's obviously a bit of a red barn, and a shed (or another barn?) that's seen better days. I took this photo with my iPhone, and used the Instagram app to edit it.

I'd actually wanted to get a photo of the red barn itself, but being in the car (heading down the road around 55 MPH) and trying to snap the photo at just the right time . . . well, this is what I got.

"Barn Charm" is hosted weekly by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the "Barn Charm" button below to view the rest of this week's fantastic "Barn Charm" entries:

Red Barns, Blue Sky, Barn Charm

Here's a farm with lovely red barns. It's somewhere east of Anamosa, IA. I think it was roughly 20-25 miles east on Highway 151.

I used the Instagram app on my phone and captured this "on the go" shot as Andrew and I were driving back from a field trip with Livie's first grade class; we'd gone to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, IA. If you're ever in the Dubuque area, I would highly recommend visiting this museum/aquarium. This place is a big hit; children especially love this place.

(Click on the photo for a larger view.)

Please visit the rest of this week's "Barn Charm" entries (hosted by Bluff Area Daily) by clicking the "Barn Charm" button below:

White Barn

Here's another barn located somewhere between Des Moines and Coralville, IA. This photo was taken about a week before the first day of spring. I used the Instagram app on my phone. (I don't remember which filter I used.) It's another one of my "on the go" photos I took out the car window as we were speeding down going the speed limit on I-80.

(You can get a bigger view of this photo if you click on it.)

Please visit the rest of this week's "Barn Charm" entries by clicking the "Barn Charm" button below:

Brown Barn Charm

I haven't been blogging much lately, so it's nice to jump back into it by participating in "Barn Charm" with my version of being creative. 

Here's a farm somewhere on the south side of I-80, somewhere in between Des Moines and Coralville, IA (we were heading east). It was about a week before the first day of "Spring" (though it seems winter's still holding on tight in Iowa).

This is one of those "on the go" photos I took out the (grimy) car window using the Instagram app on my phone. (I don't remember which filter I used.)

(You can get a better view of the photo if you click on it.)

Please visit the rest of this week's "Barn Charm" entries by clicking the "Barn Charm" button below: 

Barn Charm - An Iowa Red Barn on I-80

Here's another photo I took on the road, with the Instagram app on my iPhone. This was over the holidays in December 2012. If I remember correctly, I took this on Christmas Day. It was on I-80, somewhere between Coralville, IA and Des Moines.

I love red barns. And I always love seeing this one on our way to/from the Des Moines area.

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Barn Charm - Iowa Cattle

Here are a couple shots I'd taken with my iPhone (but without the Instagram app). These were taken on Christmas Day along I-80, somewhere between Coralville, IA and Des Moines.

I'm including two photos this week, because both "barns" are similar in structure. They're not "barns" in the traditional sense, but they both serve the same function - as a shelter for livestock or farming equipment.

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Barn Charm - Mile Marker 216

This photo was taken on the road in the middle of Iowa on Christmas Day, 2012. I used the Instagram app on my iPhone. (There is a little bit of window glare, but it really couldn't be avoided.)

We were headed to my parents' place in the Des Moines area. As you can see, we were at mile marker 216, on I-80 heading west. That's somewhere between Coralville, IA and Des Moines.

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Barn Charm - Coralville, IA

Okay, I took this drive-by photo last week on my way home from school (Nov 28th, I think). It's in the Coralville, IA area, just north of I-80 and just east of the I-380 interchange.

I've always admired this barn. Sometimes there's a chestnut horse in the pasture. I didn't see him (her?) on this particular day.

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Barn Charm - On the Road

This photo was taken with the Instagram app on my iPhone. It was just about dusk, Tuesday November 20, 2012, heading west on I-80, somewhere between Iowa City and Des Moines.

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Instagram Barn Charm

I know I've been away from Under the Desert Sky for a long stretch, but I've been so swamped by my school work this semester - more so than any other semester thus far.

While taking a break from the books this past weekend, Livie and I went back to Bart's Farm and Pumpkin Patch so Livie could have another pony ride (which they offer on Saturdays and Sundays in October). Plus, we needed to get a couple more big pumpkins. 

Anyway, while we were there, I thought I'd take a couple more photos for "Barn Charm" since I haven't participated for a while, and I really wanted to get another blog post up!

But since I hadn't taken my camera with me, I used my iPhone. And to make it a little more interesting than your average "phone photo," I used the Instagram app.

So here are my two "Barn Charm" photos from Bart's Farm: 

Main barn, view from pumpkin patch.

Another barn on the property.

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the button below to view the rest of this week's "Barn Charm" entries (viewable Monday evening between 6-7PM Central Time):

First Weekend in October Barn Charm!

I absolutely LOVE autumn!! And I'm so glad October's here. Anyway, over the weekend, we went to a local farm to pick pumpkins and let Livie enjoy a pony ride.

And, of course, while we were there, I had to take some photos of the barn, specifically for "Barn Charm."

This is Bart's Farm in Marion, IA. (Click here for a heartwarming story about the family that runs the farm). And this is their barn.

During the autumn, you can pick pumpkins of all sizes, either by going into the field and picking your own, or choosing from the scores of pumpkins they've already picked and have waiting in rows in the yard. They also have decorative straw bales for sale, as well as gourds, "Indian" corn, and such. 

Plus, there's a paddock where they give pony (and horse) rides. Over the weekend, Livie rode a palomino horse named "Hulk" (you can see him in the second photo). In previous years, she's ridden a small pony named Princess and a Quarter Horse named Duke.

Anyway, it's a fun outing, which we all look forward to every year. Our first year visiting their farm (2008), we'd just learned about it by chance; but since we'd had such a fun time there, it's become an annual autumn tradition. That's where we get our autumn/Halloween pumpkins every year!

A bit of texture on the photo!

Some of the pre-picked pumpkins!

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