Joe’s stories – old, new, mostly true
Thanks to the many folks who commented on my Barn Cat story, which appeared in the July 30, 2023 issue of this publication. This is a follow-up to bring you up-to-date on the cat’s status.
A few months ago, I made a comment that since the cat is aging, I probably should be looking for another one. Our granddaughter, Emily, heard that and, a few weeks later, obtained two kittens for us. They were also placed in the barn, which definitely upset the older resident there. Although they checked each other out, she decided it was time to move out. I tried to tell her we still loved her, but it is hard to communicate that to a barn cat.
She apparently went apartment shopping and took up residence in the former pig pen, where she is shown in the picture. There are a lot of hiding places in the four pig stalls and the old rabbit coop in there, so like the barn, I have yet to see where she hides out. She does still have access to the hayloft on the second floor of the barn, which she can enter via the outside ladder. The interior access has been blocked off, so the new residents can’t get up there.
The pig pen itself has a story. It was built in the early 1940s by my father and friends, who wanted us to raise pigs, for pork, for them. Although a young boy at the time, I distinctly remember one of the men forming and finishing the drain trench in the wet concrete with a one-quart beer bottle (empty, of course). Besides watching, my job was to get them things they needed, which included more beer. That was plentiful since at least one or two of them worked at a brewery.
The three-inch-wide board siding is old boxcar lumber that could be obtained from the railroad shops in East Rochester where boxcars were rebuilt. When it was first put on, there were paint markings that identified which railroad line it came from. It has served us well for one purpose or another since it was built. At some point, we decided to raise rabbits, so a rabbit hutch was built in one corner, and for a few years, we raised and sold rabbits to folks who wanted them for eating. It was around 1975-76 when we last had pigs in there.
Now, the pig pen serves as storage for some old farm implements, empty produce crates, and a variety of scrap wood and other still useable items.
Maintenance has been limited to replacing the old sheet tin roof with new painted metal roofing.
