Barn Star
So Roy has Pennsylvania Dutch on his side of the family. Several years ago we went to his family reunion in PA. Talk about beautiful rolling hills and farm land! I was especially taken by the hex signs and barn stars that were hanging from barns and houses (or painted on).
Hex Signs are geometric patterns that have meaning (read about their history here). Barn stars are more for luck or just to look nice. Barn stars are also much cheaper to purchase than hex signs! So we bought a few little hex signs for inside our house (above) and a moderate barn star to go outside on a building.
And then it took us four years to hang it up! But here is documentation of the official Barn Star Hanging Ceremony!
First Roy prepares the scaffolding (a pallet on the tines of the scoop attached to a tractor).
As I prepared to take the above photo, I said, "Are you sure you can jump up that high?" and Roy responded, "If not, we'll call this photo Before the Accident.'"
Holding breath . . .
He made it. Whew. Now to the serious part.
"Is it centered?" I am so the wrong person to ask that of. Roy is the person who can eye the center of something perfectly, but I'm all guesses and hunches and in the end I just close my eyes and hope for the best!
So, is it centered? "Yes, no, move it right . . . turn it clockwise, back a little . . . up more . . . no wait - Yes!" I hope.
Oops, I ,missed pictures of the dismount, but all you have to do is look at pictures 1-3 in reverse order!
Tada! It's up!
And we stood there for a while trying to determine if it was really centered.
 |  |
Hex Signs are geometric patterns that have meaning (read about their history here). Barn stars are more for luck or just to look nice. Barn stars are also much cheaper to purchase than hex signs! So we bought a few little hex signs for inside our house (above) and a moderate barn star to go outside on a building.
And then it took us four years to hang it up! But here is documentation of the official Barn Star Hanging Ceremony!
First Roy prepares the scaffolding (a pallet on the tines of the scoop attached to a tractor).
As I prepared to take the above photo, I said, "Are you sure you can jump up that high?" and Roy responded, "If not, we'll call this photo Before the Accident.'"
Holding breath . . .
He made it. Whew. Now to the serious part.
"Is it centered?" I am so the wrong person to ask that of. Roy is the person who can eye the center of something perfectly, but I'm all guesses and hunches and in the end I just close my eyes and hope for the best!
So, is it centered? "Yes, no, move it right . . . turn it clockwise, back a little . . . up more . . . no wait - Yes!" I hope.
Oops, I ,missed pictures of the dismount, but all you have to do is look at pictures 1-3 in reverse order!
Tada! It's up!
And we stood there for a while trying to determine if it was really centered.
Posted by Susan at August 14, 2009 
Categories: Rural Living
Tags: pennsylvania dutch amish barn hex sign barn star
Categories: Rural Living
Tags: pennsylvania dutch amish barn hex sign barn star
Looks great! I like your photo documentaries. They make me feel almost like I am there watching!
Reply to this