Adventures in Spejunking, part 2

I finished the barn clean up recently, or at least as much of it as I plan to do for now (translation: Craig can clean out the rafters).  You may remember the before shot from my first post about the cleanup.  Now there are finally some after shots.

Before

In Progress

The pile of hay and debris in this picture is what the entire floor looked like when I got started.  It took about 20 trips with our extra-large wheelbarrow to get it all to the compost pile.  But finally it was somewhat clean and organized.  There is still work to be done before Craig can use this as his workshop, but it is a huge improvement over where we started.  Now that the house is gone, having the barn as a staging area and storage is a huge help to us.

After, left side

After, right side

I made a few more cool discoveries in the second day of cleanup.  I can't wait to redo this mirror and find a spot for it in the new house.

Mirror, mirror in the barn

These will be going on display somewhere, too.

Vintage veterinary bottles (complete with vintage medication!)

My growing collection of found bottles & cans

Cast iron dutch oven

Of course, now that I've been inspired by my visit to The Barn at Olde Homeplace last weekend, I want to renege on the workshop plan for the little barn.  I'm sure we can turn this:

Our barn

...into this bit of loveliness.  Oh sure, our barn could fit in the corner of The Barn, and I'm not planning on hosting any events in our barn, but a girl can dream.  Just imagine some twinkly lights hanging from the rafters (once Craig cleans them out).  I might have a hard time convincing Craig, though.

Not our barn, sadly.

At least I can re-create this display of rustic antiques from The Barn that I loved.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?!

old bottles: check
old plow: check
old horse collar: check
old cast iron: check

A big shout out to Mary Sue, Lee, Debbie and all the rest for extending the invite for the family reunion at The Barn.  The venue was lovely but it was nothing compared to the hospitality.  And a big thanks to Pam for letting us know about the reunion and saving me when we got lost on the way there!