Taking a Walk on the Farm

Since I was a little girl my grandparents have lived on the farm that I now live across the street from. I spent many of my childhood hours playing on the magical 10 acres. This morning, I slung my camera around my neck and took a walk across the street to wander around the farm again.

I start off walking down our driveway which is so long it's almost a walk by itself.

The first thing I notice when walking onto my granparents' property is my grandma's flowers. She loves flowers and has six different flower beds overflowing with colorful beauty.

There are some beautiful wildflowers too.

My grandmother's upper garden is full of strawberries and sweet peas. The red, white and blue planter is to celebrate her birthday, the 4th of July.

An apple tree threatens to overtake this long abondoned horse trailer. It is one of three on the property.

In the covered garden area there are several of these stone animals, both deer and bears. When I was a little girl they were in pristine condition and my cousins and I would pretend they were real and take care of them. Our favorite was the fawn.

The old wagon parts in the front yard add great atomosphere to the farm.

This is the staircase that leads down from the house to the back pasture and barn.

Though this truck seems old and dilapidated, my grandma assures me it still runs.

The barn, still in use today.

My grandfather built this play cabin for my mother when she was a little girl. She used to sleep out in it during the warm summer months.

Another old truck on the property. This one, I am quite sure, does not still run. But grandparents refuse to throw anything away, so here it sits.

Down by the pond my grandma is growing pumpkins for my children. They can't wait to pick their pumpkins and carve them.

Blackberries hang ripe and juicy. I took my kids down a couple days ago and we picked enough to make a pie. It was delicious.

My grandparents have eight mules. This is Bell. She's a beauty and she loves children. My kids would spend all day stroking her soft fur.

My grandfather built this pond. It used to be much fuller when water was siphoned from the nearby creek. The city put a stop to that though and now it's almost dried out. We used to fish in this pond in the summer and ice skate on it in the winter.

Perhaps at one point this old rowboat actually floated.

My grandpa built this stagecoach. He then broke both his heels jumping off it when he had a run away team. He's recovering quite well though. My grandma told me he stood up by himself today.

Part of a chipper. I love the color with the rust.

All around the farm you can find old pieces of machines. Memories of the good old days or remnants of a time forgotton, depending on who you talk to.

This is part of the lower garden. My grandma doesn't believe in a garden without flowers so she adds them even to the vegetable garden.

Her tomatoes are thriving. My boys love to eat them right off the vine.

This mule was enjoying the steady rain. I however was not thrilled by it and decided to mosey on home.

But as I walked back, there was a beautiful Blue Jay. I guess he was camera shy though. I followed him for a while but only managed to get off one shot.

All in all, it was a nice walk.