Old Stuff is so cool

My cousin, Paul Petersen, and his wife of 26 years Maggie, purchased and have lived in the house that my grandfather built for many years now.   Most of the time when you buy a house, you make it your own and in some ways, try to delete the previous owners from the memory of the house.  Paul and Maggie did it differently.  They have always honored the memory of Ansgar and Frederikke and the Johansen kids who helped build, and later lived in, that little house in Luck, WI.  Paul and Maggie even hosted a Johansen 1st Cousin Reunion group for coffee, one afternoon years ago, so that some of Ansgar & Frederikke's grandchildren, who live far away, could see the house and grounds.  They were always so kind of my Aunt Ane Marie, and included her in many Christmas Eve celebrations with their own family.  

These things in life are priceless.

Recently, I ran into Paul and Maggie at the West Denmark Hall and they told me that they planned to tear down Ansgar's barn as it was becoming unsafe and really in a state of rack & ruin.  But they wanted me to have some of the barn wood if I wanted it.  Of course, I said I did.

Through emails, Paul had let me know that he thought it would be around Labor Day before the barn would be knocked down.  I took a drive out one July afternoon in the rain, and snapped a few photos.  

I wanted to see it one last time before it was a goner.

The barn looks good from this side, but the backside is sagging badly.

Cement blocks for this building were handmade by Dad and his siblings.
There are a couple of signed blocks in the foundation.

The silo is solid and will stand many more years.

This past Saturday morning, Paul called me to say that he had been starting the deconstruction of Ansgar's barn and there were some items he thought we Johansen kids might like to have.  I had reason to get to Luck anyway, so I headed over to have a look.  Sister in law, Lois, and I drove out to Paul and Maggie's home.  For Paul and Maggie to think that anything in that barn belonged to the Johansens is the perfect description of what nice people they are.  Trying to be mindful of the fact that NONE of this stuff belongs to anyone but the homeowners, I was eager to cart off a few things that have been stored in this barn since my Grandfather lived on this property.

We are hoping that these signature cement blocks can be saved during the demolition!

Just in case, I wanted to have some photos.

These old wheels off a Model T are pretty cool

Another of the signature blocks.
One more faintly says "Wally 1940"

The original corrugated tin off the roof is in very good shape.

From the back of the barn, it's hard to know that there is a barn under all these vines.

These horse hook ups were used by my Dad and sparked his memory of dredging out the hold for the basement of the barn using a horse and scrape.

A true Ansgar Johansen artifact.
This tool was used by my Grandfather to dig post holes for the power company back in the '30s.
He was paid 50 cents per hole and often had to walk many miles to where the work was, carrying this very long handled tool as well as a lunch bucket.

We don't know about this tin box, but I took it and it will be used.

The barn doors are very interesting and certainly will be used for something.

The original exterior door to the barn is solid and such a fine item.

As you can see, the deconstruction is moving along.
I'm going back to get some of those little windows you see, I'm hoping to build a cold frame for starting plants early in the spring and these windows will be fun to re-purpose.

There was a pile of old horse bridle, harness, etc and I took that home as well.  Maybe some of the rings and clasps can be saved.  The barn wood is great and I have a nice stack of that here to be used for projects.  Glenn plans to make some picture frames for Ansgar & Frederikke's photos.

A twin bed head and foot rail was split between Lois and I.  I remember that Ansgar and Frederikke had twin beds in their bedroom, likely this is one of those beds.  It's rusty now and will now likely be used as a garden trellis or some other decorative use.

In true Danish tradition, our visit to Ansgar's barn ended with coffee and Peach Pie on Paul and Maggie's porch., just feet from my grandmother's kitchen window, where more often than not, she would wave the hay haulers in for coffee as they made an afternoon trip back to the barn to unload.

Life is Good.