Barns and old things

A somewhat different kind of photo for my photostream, though I love photographing old barns when I'm lucky enough to see them. I thought this old window was interesting - though an owl (of any kind!) sitting in the open window would have been an added bonus : ) Seen SE of Calgary on 3 February 2013.

This is one of the old barns that friends, Cathy and Terry, and I came across during our great day SE of the city, on 3 February 2013. I'd have been happy to simply have driven down all the backroads, photographing all the beautiful old barns we could find. Instead, we had to keep stopping to photograph 17 owls (12 Snowy Owls and 5 Great Horned Owls), lol!!! Such hardship! I love seeing the colour of the fields at this time of year, with the sun shining on the golden stubble.

Another photo taken SE of Calgary on 3 February 2013, when I spent the day with friends, driving the backroads, hoping to see Snowy Owls - and anything else beautiful. How I love our beautiful Alberta landscapes!

As you can see from this image, the weather was simply beautiful when I was so lucky to be invited to go SE of Calgary to the Blackie area with friends, Cathy and Terry, to do some exploring : ) Blackie is located approximately 70 kilometres (or 85 kilometres, depending on where you read it) southeast of Calgary. We stopped at this particular spot to admire this old homestead. The snow drifts were untouched, pristine, and with glorious bright blue shadows and you can just see the very distant, snow-covered mountains. We were thrilled at this spot that a Horned Lark was perched on the fence, singing its little heart out : )

Yes, the famous five are back, lol! Taken on 8 February 2013, when I was driving the backroads SW of Calgary. This land is either still For Sale or has now been sold, so I really hope that new owners will leave these colourful granaries standing. Lol, wanted colour - got colour!

Another photo taken SE of Calgary in the Blackie area on 3 February 2013, when I spent the day with friends, driving the backroads, hoping to see Snowy Owls - and anything else beautiful. How I love our beautiful Alberta landscapes!

An old barn at one of the farms we called in at during the annual Nanton Christmas Bird Count, on 30 December 2012.

An old farm wagon, resting on a snowy hillside, seen yesterday afternoon (24 March 2013) on a drive NW of the city.

A rare black and white image for me. I took a variety of shots of this tiny church that I love to see, but thought I would make this black and white one the first to be uploaded. Have to admit that the only reason I drove as far as this location was that I was totally out of luck that day, as far as seeing any Great Gray Owls was concerned. Didn't want to go home with a completely empty memory card, lol! I also stopped off at the Ghost River Reservoir, which was completey frozen over. A young guy was having great fun speeding around the frozen surface on his motorcross (?) bike. Not the easiest thing to try and photograph, but I might be able to find one shot to post sometime. A nearby sign had the following words on it: "The historic church at the end of this pathway was constructed in 1875. At that time, native people were still hunting bison on the prairies. The young nation of Canada was only eight years old; the Canadian Pacific Railway still nine years in the future. And this church would become the heart of a thriving community, Morleyville, and for a time the largest settlement in what would be southern Alberta. The story of this church is really the story of Rev. George McDougall who moved to western Canada with his family in 1862 to minister to the fur traders and native people. In 1873, the McDougalls established the first mission in the region and built this church. In doing so, they wrote an important chapter of Alberta's settlement history". After George McDougall's tragic death in a snowstorm, his body was brought back to the church at Morleyville and laid to rest. www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8788