Barn Envy

I want a barn more than anything. When I was a kid we had a barn. Not a very big one but a barn nonetheless. I spent hours in it with my animals. I have a reoccurring dream that my animals are still back in that old barn and I need to get there to feed because they haven't been fed in about.....35 years. Actually it sounds more like a nightmare.
My small farm has a few nice 3 sided sheds that we have built over the years as livestock shelters but a barn they're not. I have told my family that if they are at my funeral and I have never owned a farm with a barn then I have died unfulfilled. I'm that serious. Life has just gotten in the way of my barn. It seems like there is never enough money to build one and let's face it, Hubby doesn't really like to build things and if I had a barn I would want the doors to close.
On my walks down to the farm, I pass by many lovely barns. The neighbors like to flaunt their barns in my face.
Some very grand...



Some very traditional...


Some quaint. This small barn houses a cute pony and a miniature donkey. I love the siding with the green windows and doors...wait a minute Hubby put the siding on this little barn several years ago. They must have paid him.


Our weather is not helping my barn envy. It is raining pigs and goats. We are in the depressing season here in Washington, which usually last about 9 months. A barn would be just the thing to get me through the winter. I'd hang out in there. I'd sweep my floor and stack my hay. I'd have a radio like I did when I was a kid. I have a memory of me, in my barn, listening to the radio and singing at the top of my lungs while trimming my goat's hooves. The song on the radio...The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia (you know, the night they hung an innocent man). The year...1973.

Most of my friends have barns. One friend told me that when she got her barn she would take her breakfast out there and eat with her horses. I would do that. Even if the goats did fight me for my toast and spill my coffee. Another friend has a beautiful white vintage barn that's all barn-shaped and sits on top of a hill. I wonder if she knows how lucky she is? Talk about barn envy, not only is it a barn but a vintage barn.

I plan on remedying this one day and owning a proper barn. I don't need a big barn. Just enough room for a couple of kidding stalls, a small stack of hay, and a place for my milking stand. So far I have three green windows taken out of the white vintage barn. I love them and it's a start.

But if you come to my funeral, many years from now of course, and I've never owned a farm with a barn, shed a tear for me...I've led an unfulfilled life.

Have you hugged your barn today?