Near Stouffville

[vaneramos]

After visiting koobear's café at Stouffville Market yesterday afternoon, I drove through Uxbridge en route to Lindsay to drop off Marian and pick up Brenna, just back from summer camp. The drive reminded me of long summer days growing up in the country, although this farmland is much more rolling than where I grew up.







Vicia cracca
The gravel road of my youth was bordered with purple vetch.

Comments

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Would the buildings look different?

[apel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they would. In Sweden the buildings would have been dark red, to begin with. The roof angles are about right for Sweden, on the other hand. At least if the lower building is relatively new. In the UK you don't see many buildings with broken roofs like the large one.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

The low barn in this picture is relatively new, probably prefabricated metal. The larger barn is more traditional, a few decades old. Traditionally they were painted dark red, but this one has faded to the natural grey-brown of weathered wood. The roof appears to be a new one, but of course it is the traditional shape for hay barns across North America. The farms in this area look relatively prosperous and the buildings are in good repair.

In some parts of Ontario where the land is poorer you can see all kinds of dishevelled, picturesque barns and abandonned farmhouses. If I had more frequent access to a car I would love to drive around photographing them.

When I was a teenager, Dad and I used to go on pen-and-ink drawing expeditions to find old barns. Many of the ones we drew have been torn down and replaced now, because that too is such a fertile and prosperous region.