Mom! I'm Hungry!

Mom and her hungry baby.

Mama blue jay has been a regular visitor to my balcony for about four or five years now.  When her young ones are able to fly she brings them over for a meal of peanuts and a drink of water.  Her "twins" from a few years back still make frequent visits and seem to be inseparable...when one shows up the other is right behind.

I really enjoy them coming 'round and their various antics.  They're an endless source of entertainment and joy.

A baby is a big responsibility.

This one is only about three months old.

Photographed on July 8, 2019.

Country Houses

June 2, 2017

A small collection of abandoned houses from near and far.

Above and directly below is a large abandoned house on the outskirts of Empress, Alberta.  The east side of Empress is on the Alberta/Saskatchewan border and this house lies just two hundred feet inside the Saskatchewan boundary.

June 2, 2017

July 31, 2017

A long abandoned house surrounded by golden-coloured rolling hills near Richmound, Saskatchewan.

November 30, 2016

An early winter view of a tiny abandoned house in Comrey, Alberta.  The cold and frosty morning made for a bone-chilling yet captivating view all around.

January 29, 2017

The same house as above but just two months later on a bright and sunny winter day.  The sunshine makes for a completely different take on the scene.

February 18, 2017

A big old square two storey house just east of Burstall, Saskatchewan.

When I was a kid I can remember visiting a married sister who lived in a house much like this one though in much better condition.  Her father-in-law used to grow tobacco and would hang it up in the attic to dry.  It was quite a thrill for me as a ten-year-old to go up the stairs and see the year's crop hanging from the rafters.  Her mother-in-law made batches of Belgian beer which was even more exciting.  (No smoking or drinking were allowed at my house.)  Eventually I got to sample both...and both met with my approval!

November 27, 2017

November 27, 2017

A summer home for the birds near Virgelle, Montana.  Some kind soul had created a nesting spot for osprey during their breeding season "up north."  Nice to see this.

June 18, 2017

June 18, 2017

A pastoral setting north of the Cypress Hills a little west of Eagle Butte Road.

December 15, 2018

A two-storey house with a spacious veranda near Roth, North Dakota.  For the time it was unusual to have such a large window on the second floor.

February 26, 2018

A winter view of the "spooky house" near Leader, Saskatchewan.

June 2, 2017

A storm is brewing just south of the big brick "spooky house."  It was so windy when I took this photo that it was hard to keep the camera steady.

You can see more "country houses" here: Nobody Home

Tunstall

This concrete bank vault is all that remains of the village of Tunstall, Saskatchewan.

The big slab of concrete in front of the vault must have been the front step into the bank.

This looks kind of ominous.

Tunstall has inarguably achieved "ghost town" status. 

Photographed on July 30, 2019.

A Closer Look

Driving down a road allowance near Fox Valley, Saskatchewan I noticed something (just below centre in the upper photograph) that deserved a closer look.

Looks like a juvenile hawk or falcon.  Handsome bird.

Photographed on July 30, 2019.

Goose in the Cattails

An eye-catching headstone of granite and stained glass in the Lake Road Cemetery near Consort, Alberta.

The stained glass goose and cat tails appear unusually bright and vibrant on the polished black granite.  This effect is attained by backing the glass with a silver mirrored finish and really brings the image to life.

As an added bonus the reflection of the snow on the dark granite creates an optical illusion...the foreground reflection blends with the snow behind the marker to become one unified image.  Visual delights.

Photographed on November 25, 2018.

Aquilo the North Wind Warrior

A fascinating sculpture I found on the grounds of the Eastend Farmer's Market in Saskatchewan.

Aquilo was built by local rancher and artist Grieta Krisjansons from scrap pieces of iron collected from old homesteads, farms and ranches in the Eastend area.

The eye on this side is a mirror.

Photographed on July 11 & 12, 2019.

Elkhorn Township School

This country school is northwest of Fortuna, North Dakota and just a little over two miles south of the Canada/U.S.A. border.

Elkhorn Township is about sixty square miles in size with a population of less than thirty people.  The feeling here is much like Comrey, Alberta or Marienthal, Saskatchewan...wide open spaces and miles and miles of miles and miles.

The last photo was taken from Oslo Cemetery, about half a mile west of the school. 

Photographed on October 27, 2017.

Near Eastend

A big blue sky above a yellow field along a gravel road near Eastend, Saskatchewan.

Every year this same scene "looks like new!"  

Photographed on July 11, 2019.

Geraldine Milwaukee Depot

After touring the back roads of Montana for a day I checked into the Grand Union Hotel in Fort Benton for the night (it's always a treat to stay in a hotel built in the early 1880's).  The following morning, being well rested and fed, I decided to take a little detour to the town of Geraldine before I headed back home.

There I found the historical Geraldine Milwaukee Depot.  It has been well preserved and looks much like it would have when it was built over a hundred years ago.

Quoted from the National Register sign located at the depot:

"The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway completed
its line across Montana in 1909 as soldiers began to
populate rural areas under the Homestead Act.  In
1913, a branch line stretching from Harlowton to Great
Falls was nearly finished.  Midway between Lewistown
and Great Falls, the brand-new town of Geraldine,
named for the wife of Milwaukee Railroad financier
William G. Rockefeller, anticipated a bright future.
The Geraldine Review reported that Milwaukee officials
planned to make the town 'the show place of the new
line.'  Workers put the finishing touches on the only
custom-built depot on the central branch and a gala
New Year’s Eve dance ushering in 1914 christened the
building.  Its hardwood maple floors were pronounced
'splendid.' The special design, described as 'a rustic
bungalow of the California pattern,' featured two
waiting rooms, a ticket room, freight room with scales
embedded in the floor, nickel-trimmed hot-blast
stoves, and a ventilating system that changed the air
every five minutes.  Geraldine was a busy stopover
serving two daily passenger trains and freight crews
until passenger service ended in 1965. All the other
depots were sold and, after the Milwaukee’s demise in
1980, salvage companies removed the rails from the
Great Falls-Geraldine section.  The nonprofit
Geraldine Historical Committee acquired the depot from
Central Montana Rail in 1995.  A model of expert
workmanship and quality materials with most original
details intact, the depot is still Geraldine’s
centerpiece and central to the town’s history."

Drop off your freight here.  I'm sure lots of milk and cream cans passed through this door.

Get your bill of lading for your freight here...

...and purchase your passenger tickets at this wicket.

A map of The Milwaukee Road train services.

All of the original wood is intact.  The maple floor really is 'splendid' (as mentioned in the quote).

Each mail box has two combination dials and a little window to see if anything is inside.

Everything you need...including farm machinery.

Money orders were the way to pay for many things in the day.

The original semaphore train signal.

The Geraldine Historical Committee has done a wonderful job of restoration on the depot.  This was well worth the detour on the way home.

Information courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, the United States Department of  Interior and the Montana Historical Society.

Photographed on April 19, 2018.