Saturday, March 22, 2008

The Doors

Since moving to the farm in 2003, I have been collecting doors. I made an interesting discovery. When I started thinking about old doors, they started appearing everywhere. I found one lying in a ditch out in the middle of nowhere, another three were sitting in the trash with a "free" sign on them. Some were left in the green barn. Each of them is a treasure.


These doors are going to end up as part of a fun building I am going to build back in the pines.



This is the inspiration for the "fun" building destined for the pines.



This door has an unusual story. It used to be the back door of our farmhouse. Back in the heyday of this farm, the room we now use as a family room was the "meat locker." There actually was a rail where the farmer hung butchered cows, etc., and this door was all that was between the house and the weather!



This door was sitting just about where it is now when we bought the place. I am going to resurrect it somewhere in the green barn. Maybe I'll turn it into a Dutch door.


All of these doors used to have a home, all of them are used. One of our biggest goals on this farm is to recycle as much as possible. Recycling these doors connects me to their past and gives them a future that is not buried in a landfill.






45 comments:

MYM said...

It's funny how when you decide to collect stuff you realize they're everywhere! So true! I love that funky house...now that is cooool :)

Don said...

Hi Drowsey. Nice to have you stop by. I wish you, Ruth and I could sit down for some tea and a chat! That house is really cool. I foresee letting my artistic family go nuts on it. Maybe next summer!

chickengirl said...

That is so cool! The door to our chicken coop used to be in the house, and on it is and engraved knocker. There's also gingerbread trim on the edges.

Don said...

Chickengirl: That door sounds very nice! You need to post some pics of your coop!

freefalling said...

You're an odd man, Don.
I don't think I've ever heard of anyone collecting doors before!

You must be special!

Chicken J said...

Love the doors,all i could think about was monsters inc. looks like a great place to live and have chucks,you are very lucky,up the chicken revolution, chicken J out.

Don said...

Freefalling: I love your new Outback Farm! You definitely need to get some chickens. I can give you some unasked for advice anytime!

Chicken J: Greetings to you in Great Britain! I hope you are having an earlier spring than we are!

chickengirl said...

I took some today, and I'll try to post them.

Ruth said...

It is gonna be way too much fun to put that door building together. And don't forget, my dad started this idea. Our playhouse when we were little (I don't know if any of the kids had it before John and me) was built by my dad out of doors (not out-of-doors/outdoors - OUT OF DOORS). We almost burned it down once, so there was a little charred dent in the middle of the floor. I think I can still smell that little place.

Carl H. Sr. said...

Don,my house when I built the first part was about fifty percent recycled materials.My shed is around 90% recycled.Those are some nice doors with history that you have collected.Wood is one of my'treasures',and you seem to appreciate it very much as well.
Looking forward to more 'reports' from the green barn.

Anonymous said...

You and doors! You should have posted a blurb from "The Red Door," the best story I heard as a kid. I still have images from it in my head.

chickengirl said...

I put some pictures of our coop on my Chickens blog. Our coop is pretty much recycled, too. The roof was in our back yard, the door was in the house, and our Christmas tree is in the pen! lol

Don said...

Chickengirl: Your pics show a bunch of happy chickens! I like how we chicken coop people make them out of what we have lying around. I think they look better than a store bought pre-fab building. (Those are nice too!) What did your chickens do with the christmas tree?

Don said...

Ruth: I wish I had seen that playhouse. You all must have had so much fun out there. Did you ever camp out in it?

Don said...

Carl H. Sr.: I would love to see some photos of your recycled buildings. I think you have a couple of your shed from a distance. I'll go back to your blog and check that out. I too love old wood. Our barn has some major league hand-hewn timbers that I visit and just admire.

Don said...

Hey Peter! I wish I could remember some quotes from that story! What about the chapter called: "The faceless girl" That chapter freaked me out until I got to the part that talked about why she appeared like that.

Loring Wirbel said...

The "fun building" has the potential to become another Mystery Spot!

chickengirl said...

Thank you! The pre-made ones are pretty nice, but home-made look...homier! The rooster, Cole, actually roosts in it sometimes!

Carl H. Sr. said...

Don,i like how you answer folks' comments right on your blog.Good idea.

Carl H. Sr. said...

P.S.That shot is me in my recycled shed.

Don said...

Loring: Isn't there a Mystery Spot up by St. Ignace, MI? Perhaps every state has been blessed with one?

Chickengirl: Home-made is always better, and Homier!

Carl: You do look a bit TOOOO comfy in that shed. It makes me think we all need a shed like that.

Loring Wirbel said...

Santa Cruz was the original MS, then St. Ignace, then Sylacauga, Ark.; Helena, Ark;Cave City, KY; and 20 or so others. It's a tilted-house racket.

Anonymous said...

Collecting doors sounds - almost reasonable ( ;), they could have plenty of stories to us - they could be a strong limit or a tempting invitation and so on. . .

When I was a child after WWII, my father bought sweet, yellow, peeping chicks and we took them in our kitchen, they were in a big basket made by wood shingle. It was fun in my mind especially then, when I took them on the floor and they run all over in the kitchen, my parents disagreed, I remember. .
Unfortunately only three of them were chicken others were cocks. I cried, when mom made food about those cocks, I did not understand , WHY. .Do you :)

Don said...

Leenam: I love memories! Yours is a very nice memory of a time when things were so clear, yet so confusing. I have similar memories of animals whose lives touched mine and added to who I am. How can a little chicken do that?

Don said...

Loring: Now you have me interested in finding out more about these mysterious mystery spots! When I was a kid, we drove all over and my dad had to stop at all of these kinds of places. We stopped at Wall Drug in 1967 and had to see the six foot tall rabbit with antlers. There is a slide of my sister and me hugging it. hmmmm

Ruth said...

Don, Leena is the friend from Finland who had a bear follow her to school. Her neighbors watched in fear, but she was fine.

I remember TRYing to sleep out in that playhouse, but I don't remember if we lasted the night. John and I took sleeping bags out there. It was awesome. (Said like Chris Farley.)

Ginnie Hart said...

I remember reading "forbidden" comic books in Dad's playhouse, Ruth (and Don). HA. It was a private little sanctuary. But NO, I do not remember ever sleeping in it. Don, your assortment of doors was totally worth this fabulous post. I am so excited about all the plans you have in your head about that farm of yours. You should plan a door-building party one day and get the family in on the fun...unless you think we might mess up the plans! :(

Loring Wirbel said...

Wall Drug, I was there in 2001, so unless it's gone under since then, it's still around!

Don said...

Ruth: You and John had some great times together. I cansee you playing your little games out there!

Ginnie: Forbidden comics for most people conjurs up "dirty pictures!" But for you guys, they were Archie and Jughead and maybe Richie Rich! Poor Preacher's Kids!

Loring: Did you get some free ice water while you were at Wall Drug? I got a free metal Wall Drug sign when we were there in the 1960's. It's hanging out in a shed.

Loring Wirbel said...

Hey, Wall Drug still has a web site, they live! www.walldrug.com of course.

If Ginnie means those EC comics that were produced around the time of early Mad magazines, someone just wrote a book about the great forbidden-comics scandal of the 1950s. It's been reviewed in the last few weeks several places. If she means the 1970s X-rated underground stoner comix like Zap and Bijou, they're all worth lotsa money now - and most of the artists have gone upscale into "graphic novels" or "manga" or whatever. I still like Zap. That's where Robert Crumb got his start. And most of the buildings he draws looks like your silly-house.

Bob Johnson said...

Hey Don, very cool idea, we got a couple of leaded glass doors years ago from a church they were tearing down, made my wife a doll cabinet out of them.

Don said...

Loring: I sure wish I had all of my comics from back in the day. I had the first five spiderman comics! I think they ended up under a puppy.

Bob: That must be very beautiful and holy!

chickengirl said...

We're going to the local salvage today to look for a gate for our ducks' new pen that we're building. Has anyone ever raised ducks? Any tips on housing them?

The Unusual Farmchick said...

so many beautiful doors. I too am a lover of the old doors. especialy when they still have their hardware attatched. We have a few in our home i tell the Captain we must take with us when we move. especialy the one with the skeleton key hole!
Old doors have more charachter in my eyes. They are so inviting.

Don said...

Chickengirl: You may need a new name!! The ducks may feel snubbed.

Don said...

Unusually Unusually: My G'Pa had a cabin at Houghton Lake and he had a skeleton keyed front door. I remember playing with a big key ring of his that had at least 10 other skeleton keys on it. Now I wonder what those keys were for? I love mysteries. Are you moving??

sandy said...

Can't wait to see your project finished. Funny thing about thinking about something and then you see lots of them. That happens to me all the time. Mine has been turtles...I drew one and now all I see are turtles...turtles everywhere.

can't wait to see your project complete...

Don said...

Sandy: Turtles? Now that is a nice thought. I need to start fixating on something like that. Maybe I'll start thinking about owls.

chickengirl said...

Yeah, I can see it now: "PoultryGirl- owner of every sort of poultry known to man"...that may happen someday. But, if you read my blog, you'll see what happened to them...:-(

Don said...

I read your post about the dogs and their dirty work. I don't think dogs should run free, they can be nasty in packs.

chickengirl said...

Yeah, there are leashing laws here where I live. And at least three dogs just around us are allowed to roam. But the saddest in one dog named Molly, who spends her life teathered and never walked or played with outside of her teather.

Unknown said...

i can't wait to see that building! it's going to be amazing.
you should paint one of them red.

happy birthday!!!

Don said...

Chickengirl: That's sad! I think some people who have animals shouldn't.

Lesley: RED?!! It'll always look like Christmas around here. I think the Atelier needs painting tho.

chickengirl said...

One of our neighbors walks his dog through our yard, but it's fine because the dog pays no attention to the chickens or ducks! I wish all dogs were like that... It'd make like so much easier for poultry farmers like us!

sexy said...

p一夜情聊天室,一夜情,情色聊天室,情色,美女交友,交友,AIO交友愛情館,AIO,成人交友,愛情公寓,做愛影片,做愛,性愛,微風成人區,微風成人,嘟嘟成人網,成人影片,成人,成人貼圖,18成人,成人圖片區,成人圖片,成人影城,成人小說,成人文章,成人網站,成人論壇,情色貼圖,色情貼圖,色情A片,A片,色情小說,情色小說,情色文學,寄情築園小遊戲, 情色A片,色情影片,AV女優,AV,A漫,免費A片,A片下載

情色,A片,AIO,AV,日本AV,色情A片,AV女優,A漫,免費A片,A片下載,情色A片,哈啦聊天室,UT聊天室,聊天室,豆豆聊天室,色情聊天室,尋夢園聊天室,080視訊聊天室,080聊天室,080苗栗人聊天室,免費視訊聊天,上班族聊天室,080中部人聊天室,視訊聊天室,視訊聊天,成人聊天室,一夜情聊天室,辣妹視訊,情色視訊,成人,成人影片,成人光碟,成人影城,自拍

A片,AIO,AV,日本AV,色情A片,AV女優,A漫,AIO交友愛情館,線上A片,免費A片,A片下載,情色A片,微風成人,嘟嘟成人網,成人,成人影片,成人光碟,成人影城,成人交友,愛情公寓,色情聊天室,情色貼圖,色情,色情影片,做愛,情色,哈啦聊天室,聊天室,UT聊天室,豆豆聊天室,尋夢園聊天室,080視訊聊天室,080聊天室,080苗栗人聊天室,自拍,性愛