Backwoods Farm, drawing, 2016

The deadline for the colouring book was approaching and I was having difficulty finding just the right reference for this theme I'd set my heart on.  There are many old farms with log buildings in the area but none had grabbed me until I was visiting a friend and saw this barn next door. The owner turned out to be a real old-timer who told me all sorts of interesting stuff about the area from as far back as the 1940's.  He has kept his log barn with its metal roof neat as a pin.  The tan and white horses are some special type that have extra hair on their manes.  My teenage daughter says I made them look weird.  What can I say? I was never one of those people who could draw a perfect horse! These three were heading off the next day to be in the pulling competition at the Coe Hill Fair.

The flowers are black eyed susans and the grass is timothy. Many a time when I've felt anxious, a walk in nature has relieved "that aching dim discomfort of the brain" as Archibald Lampman says in his poem "Among the Timothy".