Saint Mary's near Endeavour

Saint Mary's Ukrainian Church and Cemetary near Endeavour, Saskatchewan.

Just inside the gate.  Look at all the animal tracks in the snow. 

A side view.

The little cupola is confidently pointing straight towards heaven.

In the background surrounded by trees...

 

...is the bell tower.

A small grouping of gravestones.

The graveyard dates back over a hundred years and is still is use.

On my way back to the church I noticed that all those animal tracks lead right to this hole under the front doors...

...and then on my way back to the car was this skunk burrowing in the snow.  

I would never have known about this one if a local hadn't stopped to have a chat while I was taking photos of another church in the area.  That encounter led me to following him back to his mom's house...he was off to work but his mom and I had an amiable visit while enjoying a fresh cup of coffee accompanied by her delicious homemade oatmeal cookies.  Some history and a few laughs later I was off again, but this time with a zip-lock bag of full of those homemade cookies.  The kindness of strangers, chance encounters...I'm all for it.

Photographed on March 19, 2020.

Near Miss

Photographed in Candiac, Saskatchewan on May 19, 2021.

Foster S.D. No. 388

A stone schoolhouse near Abernathy, Saskatchewan.

It is one of the oldest surviving school buildings in the province.

Photographed on May 18, 2021.

Happy!

Ox-eye daisies are, if nothing else...

...happy flowers!

Photographed in the Cypress Hills near Elkwater, Alberta on July 9, 2021.

Saint Michael's near Montmartre

Saint Michael's Ukrainian Orthodox Church is near Montmartre, Saskatchewan.

The tall oversized cupola dominates this otherwise simple country church.

The free-standing cross in the cemetery is something more often seen in Ukrainian Catholic cemeteries making this an unexpected treat.  The grounds are surrounded by a caragana hedge interspersed with spruce trees, box elders and various volunteer trees.

I like the way the clouds seem to just hover and sway above the grounds.

Isolated from the main cemetery are these two headstones with the church in the background.  True to form, the brick chimney is painted white from the bottom of the wall to the eave of the roof.

Outside looking in...each of the windows is complete with an arch of yellow, blue and green coloured glass giving the church that little touch of grace.   

Photographed on May 19, 2021.

Christie Biscuits

A vintage advertisement for "The Purest of all Pure Foods" on the former J.P. Beauchamp and Company building (now the Lions Community Hall) in Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan.

Photographed on May 18, 2021.

Pronghorn Doe and Fawns

Some photos from a few summers past...this mom and her babies stopped just long enough for me to get a few quick shots.  

I was quite a distance from them so zooming in will make for a much better view. 

Curious youngsters. 

Time to go.

Photographed on SH515 north of Elkwater, Alberta on June 20, 2018.

Horseshoe Canyon

Horseshoe Canyon lookout is over 4700 feet above sea level.  Just to put that into perspective, the Banff townsite in the Rocky Mountains is about 200 feet lower than that.  All of southeastern Alberta isn't as flat as some may think.

On a clear day the city of Medicine Hat can be seen over thirty miles away to the northwest.  And on a clear evening the starry night sky is nothing less than spectacular.  Highly recommended. 

Photographed in the Cypress Hills of Alberta on July 9, 2021.

(More of) Fairview

Fairview Methodist Church was built in 1903.

I have it on good authority (mixed with a helping of local rumour) that the fieldstones used in the construction came from the quarter section of land just north of the church.  

The wooden gable decoration is a simple but attractive feature of the stone building.

Only guessing, but the colour of the bricks used for the chimney suggest they may have come from the brick plant in Claybank, Saskatchewan.  

The cornerstone.

A look inside.

Midway in the church ceiling is this ornate and unusual decoration where the oil lamp would have hung. 

Looking back from the altar. 

There is a small cemetery a few hundred yards behind the church.

The church, cemetery and grounds are maintained by members of the Shaw family.  I phoned the number posted on the front door of the church and in less than five minutes was having a visit with Richard Shaw and his son.  Good times in the Saskatchewan countryside.  

A few more interior shots here:  Fairview

Photographed on May 19, 2021 near Davin, Saskatchewan.

41

Imminent rain over a canola crop just north of the Cypress Hills along Alberta Highway 41 (also known as Buffalo Trail).

Photographed on July 9, 2021.