Good for another generation or two

Here on the farm we have 6 outbuildings (barns, garages, former corn crib, etc).  The "big barn" was here in 1916 when my grandparents moved in, although my grandfather added a significant portion to the front of it.  All the other buildings were built by my grandfather with the exception of the machine shed.  Buildings like these that are no longer used for their original purpose (no one having milk cows or storing corn on the cobs for shelling at some future time) usually fall into disrepair and fall down.  Driving around the countryside here there are so many barns in the last stages of collapse.  It's a sad sight but understandable - it is costly to keep large buildings in good repair and with no purpose for them, it's an expense most of us can't justify.  Metal "pole buildings" have replaced most barns and are used to house the farm equipment.  

Here on our farm we are fortunate that my parents kept the siding on our buildings in good repair after they bought the farm from my grandfather.  When it was our turn to take over the maintenance, we couldn't afford to have roofs put on them when they needed it so Pete spent many a hot summer day ripping old shingles off roofs and nailing new shingles on.  "Lose the roof, lose the building" was the old saying that kept us at it.  Eventually (when we got all the kids through college), we were able to start thinking about having some work done.  The big barn and old corn crib got metal siding and roofing a couple of years ago.  This summer, the old sheep barn and the old garage got roofed and sided.  There are two more buildings that will probably get some work done on them in the future.  But for now, the most important buildings are watertight and in good repair and should hold up for another generation or two.  They have new windows, too, thanks to Pete's ability to make new frames and windows fit existing openings!  We wanted to do our part to save the farm intact to pass on to the next generations.

Here's the old sheep barn before:

South of sheep barn, before

East view of sheep barn, before

And here it is today, with the new windows, roofing and siding.  One new door done, one in the works.

South view after

The old garage, which has beautiful tile on parts of the walls, has new siding and roofing, too.  I couldn't find a "before" picture but here's the "after".

There are still a few windows to replace in this garage but they are already here, awaiting installation.  

This is the completion of a major project on our "farm bucket list".  The buildings should be good for another generation or two.  I think my grandfather would be pleased and very surprised that his handiwork is looking so good, almost 100 years later.