I wanted to make myself a little gardening shed. I found one on the farm last summer, but this summer I found out that I was getting evicted when Ron and John decided to move it.
Although my landlord, Ron, was evicting me he also kindly helped me take the barn quilts off so they could be kept near the house. All in all, I’m happy to see this building go. It had a tree growing up the backside that sort of pushed it off-kilter and bugged my OCD.
On a side note, I wish the old, scary, critter-infested house in the background of the above photo would disappear next. I’ll show you a close up just so you can see what blocks my view of the lovely Dakota sunsets.
(John and Ron if you are reading this PLEASE: Tear. Down. The. House. It scares away small children and invites skunks. I know you are both capable of trapping and shooting the skunks, but please…let’s skip that step and put the old gal to rest. How about a bonfire? Don’t men like crushing things in big tractors? Let’s do that.)
Back to my Eviction…
My stuff was a disorganized mess in the original building anyway, so I wasn’t too heartbroken over the eviction notice. Plus, I didn’t have much inside and it took me about ten minutes to clear out my garden-related belongings.
Here’s what I had!
Time for Plan B
I set my sights on a funny little building we call: the outhouse. It is an honest to goodness outhouse. Literally, used by the Blachfords until Ron was a sophomore in High School.
It was built by the WPA in an effort to end the Great Depression and get folks back to work.
There she sits, right behind the man on the left.
Anyway, Ron and John finally moved her last summer too (they seem to have a habit of moving random buildings) and she was cast aside and sitting awkwardly under this tree. Interstate removalists Perth provided prompt, efficient and hassle free services. I had to look at this thing out of my bedroom window every morning & it drove me crazy.
I figure if I have to look at something every day, it might as well have a purpose and look loved.
Yes, there is a kid size stool and an adult size stool. How convenient!
Soon, I’ll post photos of the after! I’m very excited about the finished project. I think Ron & John are happy too, so I don’t think the outhouse is going to be moved again anytime soon.
Do the men in your lives rearrange the buildings quite frequently? (Mine do.)
Do you end up with random outhouses in your yard? (I did.)
What do you use for a gardening shed?
Hi Sierra,
Three of the four houses that I lived in as a kid were moved and one of them was moved twice–the smallest one. One of them is a two-story farm house and the other is a split-level house. The fourth one was torn down so none of the houses of my growing-up years is where it once stood. I though that this was true of the West since whole buildings seem to be fairly commonly moved.
Laurel
Hi Laurel – This is very interesting about the houses you grew up in! I’m glad to know it isn’t just on this farm that buildings seem to get moved around a lot. John has also mentioned before that his grandfather hauled in a majority of the buildings on the farm – maybe alike 11?? I need to double check that number. This is definitely not a common practice or tradition in Missouri. I think it might have something to do with the abundance of trees in Missouri compared to the prairies and the west. In SD, it has become part of the culture to “hoard” buildings because tress were such a scarce resource. I don’t see that same practice in Missouri – do you? Missourians seem much more likely to tear things down and rebuild fresh. This is just my personal theory 🙂
My Dad and Grandpa use hog houses for shade in our pastures. They call them hog houses, but to clarify they are short lean-to structures that are built on skids for easy moving. Growing up my Grandpa used them for his cattle and Dad used them for our sheep. I’m not sure how many of these we have in the family but they are always being moved around and put to new uses (dog houses, chicken coop’s, and storage). Sadly none of our multipurpose movable buildings look as pretty as your redecorated outhouse.