This and that family memories from Ohio trip....

While in Ohio, we visited the farm where my grandparents lived.  Now some of my cousins live there.

The C. Herner barn, 1908. 

 My cousin had the barn repainted a couple years ago and the people who did it painted over the name!  He made them come back and repaint the name, but they did a very sloppy job in the writing.  Still from a distance it is the way that I remember it. 

Grandma's house, sort of from the front.  Didn't have a satellite dish in Grandma's day :-)  Otherwise, it looks pretty much the same.  I can remember so many things about this house from the summers and winters we had vacations there.  I always thought it was a really wonderful house.

The side yard view.  I loved the wrap around porch and the dining room bay window.  I have dozens of really old photos Dad took in the 20's-30's of people posing on the steps of the porch.  Apparently that was considered the most photogenic spot for a background.  I was glad to see that my cousins had lots of bird feeders.

The pump in the side yard isn't used any more, but I can remember carrying buckets of water to set in the pantry where a dipper was used to get a drink.

Another family barn.  This one is at the next house down the road where my uncle and aunt lived.  Now that property is being farmed by another of my cousins.

Chipmunk on the porch steps

Another important building from my past.  The little country church that my dad always belonged to.  Even though we lived in Indianapolis while we were growing up, dad never dropped his membership at this church in Ohio.  His ancestors from Germany helped found this church.  When he retired and moved back to Ohio, it became his church once again.

It was a nice day and the sky was lovely in the background.  I had to lighten the photos a little.

Above the door.

The church graveyard where nearly all my relatives are buried, starting with the two sets of great-grandparents who came over from Germany.  Just about everyone in this graveyard is a relative either by birth or marriage.

There are two unusual tombstones that are made of metal rather than stone or marble.  They don't happen to be of relatives.  I like the fact that they seem to last forever with none of the deterioration of the older stone monuments that can no longer be read.

Lots of tombstones with German on them.

This barn is next door to the church and I just liked it.  Don't know who lives there so they may or may not be related.

A vulture sitting on the roof.

I saw this little red squirrel on a feeder at my cousin's house in town.  I have never seen a red squirrel before, so I wish I had gotten better photos.  He was quick!