Happily Ever After Starts Here

Five hand-painted signs nailed onto five consecutive power poles along a road near Cassils, Alberta.

 Adjacent to the "here" sign was this bale stack.

You never know what you'll find driving around on the backroads.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Near Edwand, Alberta

Probably someone's home at one time. You can see where the outside was covered in mud and straw at one time.

There is nothing in Edwand except for a few residents.

Not sure what this was

Drove by this in rural Smoky Lake County, Alberta.

One of my favourite barns

This is along Highway 28 west of Smoky Lake, Alberta.

I have taken and posted photos of this one before.

Brick Storefront

A stylish old brick storefront in downtown Tompkins, Saskatchewan.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Abandoned church

Saw this in a field west of Redwater, Alberta. It certainly looks abandoned. I got one shot from the road and could have snapped some better shots. To get closer I would have had to trudge through a snowy field for half a kilometre and I had already sank up to my knees more that a few times earlier in the day. I saw a sign on a nearby cemetery so I am guessing it is St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

I have the location marked for a return summer visit.

The procedure was a success however the patient remains dead

Completed the weekly trip to visit mom this Sunday. The portable battery did not get her car started. No matter since I also brought cables. Drove my car into the parkade and turned it off, popped the hood, and attached the cables. Turned the key in her car and the barest glimmer of electrical activity presented itself. Started up my car and let it run for half a minute, then turned the key in her car and it came to life.

Disconnected everything. Drove the mother's car outside and checked a few things. Tires pressure is fine. Lots of gas. Oil is where it should be. Took the car for a lengthy run on the highway. Got back to mom's place, parked outside and turned it off. Waited two minutes, turned the key, no signs of life. Well, no shop was open today and even if they were everyone in this town usually drives something from the big three and it is usually a truck. Since mom drives a KIA the shops here might stock a battery for this thing. Boosted it again and backed it into her parking spot for better future access. I could change the battery myself and I have changed them in the past. I would rather pay someone to do it because it looks like a pain to get to it. Car remains dead and I had to manually lock everything. A project for another day.

On the plus side no one is going to be stealing it.

Radway, Alberta elevators

Melting in my part of Alberta. Got out for a bit of time yesterday.

Radway is a little northeast of Edmonton with not much there.

Next weekend is all mine and I will be heading off somewhere.

The waterfall collective

From my various travels.

Takakkaw Falls in British Columbia

Lundbreck Falls, Alberta

Bighorn Falls, Alberta

Cameron Falls, Alberta

Crescent Falls, Alberta

Troll Falls, Alberta

Near Troll Falls, Alberta

Random post

Every summer I keep meaning to take a lot of extra photos so I can sprinkle them through the winter months. Every year I keep screwing up that plan. I think I set up a grand total of three future posts that were scheduled for these winter months, two of which were already published.

Maybe this year will be different.

Maybe.

Random abandoned barn

Random abandoned

Rural Alberta. I need to replenish the post cupboard.

The problem with holidays

The problem is that I do not take enough of them. 

When my mother had her stroke last year that event torched my holiday plans. Not that I am complaining, life is full of unforeseen and unexpected events. I really had nothing planned anyway. 

I ended up taking less than half of my allotted holiday time. That was not by design, I thought I had taken my vacation days. With taking a couple of days off to do a couple of things and a few days taking mom to various appointments I had lost track and thought I used up my time off. Close to the end of the year I was told that I had unused vacation days. I thought nothing of it and not being able to use them in the remainder of the year I kind of written them off. 

In January my workplace had told me they carried over my unused days to this year. This kind of creates a minor problem in that I have a problem taking time off. I usually take road trips on weekends and I can cover a lot of distance in a long weekend. So my goals during my time off are usually accomplished on weekends. I have taken a day off to create a long weekend. Four days off in a row is about my limit. I do not know why but that amount of time off seems optimal for me. 

This is nothing new. At a few places I have worked I never used all my vacation time. I am not good with taking time off. 

It is not like I am in love with my job either. My attitude concerning work is that it allows me to pay my bills, have cash to indulge in some activities, and have hopefully have some money left over at the end of the month. My job does not fulfill me, my own time does that. Work is work. If you enjoy your work and it is your passion then more power to you. 

I kind of have to be doing something on my time off as well. When I was married my wife’s idea of a vacation was to lie by a pool for a week. Literally. I was good doing that for a couple of hours. Then I needed to do something. I cannot do nothing on my time off. I get bored easily. 

I need to book holidays. So far this year I have taken one day off and that was to run an errand for mom. Maybe I will take that ten day motorcycle trip I keep thinking of doing. Knowing me I will have got there and back in four days.

The sunset years

Visited mom on the weekend. She lives an hour away and I try to visit at least once a week. Mom had a stroke on June 2 last year and spent some time in the hospital and rehabilitation and was released on August 8. I drop in and pick up some groceries and do whatever odd jobs that need to be done. Mom gets around with the assistance of a walker. See has some home care so she is looked after during the week. Mom is seventy-eight. She will add to that total in December.

Mom asked me to take her car for a run since it has sat for months. I had tried to do that for her several times earlier in the months prior however for some weird reason she was against it. She lives in an apartment style condo and has heated covered parking. She does not have to worry about someone stealing her car at the moment: I discovered the battery is dead. I have cables and a charger, I did not have them with me at the time.

She has a 2012 KIA Soul with less than 40,000km on it and is in excellent condition. She is one of those seniors with a vehicle that is hardly driven. This coming weekend I will try to bring it back to life and take it for a run. I do not think mom will drive again, for which I am somewhat grateful as her driving makes me nervous. I do not think she wants to drive again. It is understandable, what she went through had to be scary. She is doing okay. We will see what the spring and summer months bring.

One moose, two moose

Took a quick drive yesterday down a rural road and seven moose crossed the road. As soon as I saw them starting to cross I put the car in park and waited. Wildlife can be unpredictable. I reached for my camera and only managed to get two of them. I am always surprised something that big can move that fast.

The Horseshoe Sign

A farm sign near Weyburn, Saskatchewan.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Random barn

How could I possibly forget . . .

Long abandoned one room schoolhouse

This one is kind of hidden even though it is right beside a rural road. The old school is up on a bank and there is a lot of brush around it. From the sign it was Buncrana School 1928 to 1933 and Lake Gilroy School 1933 to 1952. I was not able to find any quick information on it.

I had to trudge through about a foot of snow to get this close which was kind of dumb. There could have been a few hazards hidden by the snow. There is really nothing to see inside. I would guess it has been abandoned for many years.

Random abandoned Alberta

Stumbled across an neat looking old house. You can see the outhouse in the last two photos. I was not sure if I liked it more in colour or black and white. I decided to post both.

Tried to capture winter in a photo

It was a cold bleak day last Saturday. I tried to accentuate that. The day started off with a clear blue sky. Then got overcast with some light rain. After getting the tree I headed home. I do not like driving on snow and ice covered gravel roads with a light rain.

One of the readers of this blog wanted some fences and gates. I have been keeping an eye out. It is hard to find something good to post. I like the fence line in this one.

Dual Red Barns

Near Canwood, Saskatchewan...the roof on the barn to the left is brand new.

With the scaffolding in place it looks like the barn on right-hand side will soon have a new roof too.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

St. Mary's Russo-Greek Orthodox Church of Shishkovtzy

Lamont County, Alberta. Not sure how often it is used. I noticed the furnace was on when I saw this place last Saturday.