Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: plank

Snow, snow, go away - don't come back another day! The weather forecast was right - snow today (so far only very light), with more to come for four more days. Our temperature just before noon is -3C (windchill -10C). Yesterday, we had rain, which was a shame because it was time for kids to go out trick-or-treating. I didn't see or hear a single child. All three photos posted this morning were taken the day before yesterday, 30 October 2017. They show what a varied day I had - everything from Alpacas to Artichokes! I spent the day driving mostly roads that I had been along before (a round trip of 230 km). I still found a few roads so confusing! My destination was partly to check on two old barns that I have only seen and photographed once before. Having been there with my daughter in January 2015, I knew that there were several other old barns and homesteads en route. This day was definitely a barn day, not a bird or wildlife day. The large barn in a photo I posted yesterday was one that I had been looking forward to finding and seeing for the first time, which I finally did in January 2015, with my daughter. I would love to have been able to get photos from both sides of it, but it was in a farmer's field that was, of course, private property. The second old barn that I saw in this area is in far worse condition, but I love it. It was funny, because I was standing in the road two days ago and had already taken a handful of photos of this crumbling, weathered structure, when I noticed someone walking towards me in the distance. Talk about deja vu! I started walking towards her and it turned out that she lived at the farm just down the road, but had previously lived in the house next to this decaying barn and it was her property. She told me to wander wherever I wished, take as many photos as I wanted. I laughed and said that in January 2015, when my daughter and I had been standing right there in the road, a lady came by on her horse and told us the very same story - it must have been the same person! Felt so good! Another place I stopped at was a farmyard full of old barns, sheds and vehicles. I pulled over and got out to take a quick shot of an old, blue truck from across the road. A person happened to just appear, walking across his farmyard, so I called out to him and we had a delightful chat. I think he was very amused at my passion for old things and told me to walk around and take whatever photos I wanted. Which I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! This old set of windows belonged to a quonset barn (never my favourite), but the turquoise colour was different, which I liked. The blue truck in a photo posted yesterday was just one of several old vehicles, mainly cars. I told him what an amazing place he had, full of interesting things. I got the impression that he saw things very differently - lots of old things that needed fixing or tidying up : ) I told him to just leave everything as it is - a photographer's dream : ) On the way home, I called in at the Saskatoon Farm to see if the restaurant was still open, but it had just closed (3:30 pm). I realized I had been enjoying myself so much that I had totally forgotten to eat anything all day. Managed to get a much-needed cup of coffee, though, and I did buy a box of frozen, uncooked Saskatoon Berry and White Chocolate scones. I bought some of these last time I was there and they are SO good, piping hot, straight out of the oven.

Today, 25 July 2016, I am going to be totally messed up as far as the time is concerned. Very late last night, I happened to see online that Flickr was being bought by Verizon. The very first thing that popped into my mind was the fact that I had not posted about 30 most recent photos and their descriptions to the ipernity website. Having absolutely no idea when the sale will be finalized and having no idea of what will happen to Flickr, I thought I had better simply stay up and get my photos saved on the other site - which turned out to be all night. By then, I reckoned I might as well upload today's 'daily three' to Flickr. Had breakfast and then fell asleep for maybe an hour or so, while watching the US political News on CNN. Now I'm not even sure what day I'm on, ha. And I desperately need sleep. I was so exhausted after two long days of driving on 18 and 20 July, that I stayed home for three days. Then, yesterday, 24 July, I went with a couple of friends to Bow Valley Provincial Park to see what birds were to be seen. Just made it back home (or rather, the gas station) from the meeting place across the city, without running completely out of gas! Wednesday, 20 July 2016, was a day of adventure for me. I drove further than I have ever driven before (way, way SE of the city) - must remember to check my mileage when I next go out in my car, but it must have been somewhere between 400 and 500 km total at least. No big deal for many of you, but for me (and as someone with a driving phobia), it WAS a big deal : ) I was totally exhausted the next few days and my poor shoulder rotator cuffs were complaining like crazy. BUT, I had a great time - just a couple of moments of 'panic', when I thought I was lost, and when I noticed that I was seeing different wildflowers and definitely a different landscape. I eventually left home at 11:00 am, a good couple of hours later than I had intended. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take me to get to where I wanted to get, so had wanted to allow plenty of hours for this journey. I had been on the road for about three hours by the time I got there, but did stop at various places en route. The first part of my drive was along familiar roads - called in at Frank Lake just to check the gravel road leading to the gate. An Eastern Kingbird was the only species I saw. From there, I kept driving east on h'way 23, stopping briefly to photograph one of my favourite old houses. This highway eventually bends southwards and leads to Vulcan. I had only ever once driven as far as Vulcan, and that was on 30 March 2015. I had to stop again, like last year, and take a few photos of the cluster of old sheds, barn and house on the edge of Vulcan, before continuing on my way. From here until I reached my destination, was all new to me. Exciting and anxiety-causing, all at the same time. I drove further east and then turned south and found myself in a different kind of landscape, with a few interesting birds and plants to see and photograph, including a Ferruginous Hawk (three, actually, all part of the same family) and wild sunflowers that lined the edge of one of the roads. I was barely able to get a photograph of these bright beauties, as it was too windy. I was in tall wind turbine country - which told me how far south I had come. The colours of some of the fields were unusual, too. Along one road, I had a Swainson's Hawk (not this one) who perched nicely on a fence post at first and then circled overhead and followed my vehicle further down the road. Think it may have been a juvenile, screeching for its parents to come and feed it. Also saw a Mourning Dove on a fence post and a juvenile Horned Lark. I'd never seen a juvenile before. Actually, there were a lot of Horned Larks this day, flying fast from one side of the gravel road to the other and flying along the road in front of me as I drove. Except for this single bird - it was walking along the edge and then stopped in its tracked while I grabbed a few shots. I tend to forget that we can see them in summer time. After travelling westwards and then north and west again, I found myself heading towards Frank Lake. It was along this road that I spotted some kind of shorebird perched on a fence post. Too late to stop, so I turned around and then slowly drove back to the bird - a Marbled Godwit, giving me a nice, sideways pose. It was still daylight, so I decided to try one more time along the gravel road leading to the gate at Frank Lake. Here, I had another nice sighting - friend, Debbie : ) Good to see you and have a nice, long chat. A great day with an enjoyable ending.

A photo that looked better when I first saw it than it does now that it's posted, ha, and it does look better in thumbnail size. Oh, well, guess I'll leave it where it is. Though of no interest to anyone else, it does remind me of something I saw nearby, when I was out with friends on 24 December 2013.