Prairie advertising November 9, 2015

Two round hay bales stacked up. A lot of times you would see these advertising beer. Big Rock Brewery was known for having three of these in a row looking like three different beer cans. 

Another edition of the art post

Long abandoned house in the Hanna, Alberta area on October 31, 2015.

Springwater School, October 31, 2015

This is unique. A one room schoolhouse build of stone and on a full basement. It is also a historic site. I knew nothing about this place. I was driving on Highway 9 towards Hanna, Alberta and I saw the sign that said "Historic Site 16km". A lot of times when you drive to these things you arrive to find a sign describing something at the side of the road. I figured that I would take the bait and turned north onto sixteen kilometres of rural gravel road.

This is kind of in the middle of nowhere. It is a stone building on a full basement. I doubt it is being used anymore. This is another one of those places that make aimless drives around the countryside worthwhile. 

Committing acts of herbicide

November 7th and 8th I was out helping out a friend on his acreage in his quest for firewood. It really was not that hard since he lives on 160 acres and a lot of it is treed. Some of it is heavily treed. We probably could have got more done if we were a little more cognizant of each others quirks. He is far more cautious than I am as I am more impatient and like to get stuff over and done. If I ever do this again I will have a better idea of what to expect and will come a bit better equipped.

We made it to Sunday afternoon and it started snowing. With all of the decaying leaves and underbrush it was slick enough. The snowfall was making it worse so we knocked off for the weekend. This is east of Drayton Valley, Alberta. 

The Uniball Vision Exact

Pen companies irritate me. I go through phases where I do a lot of writing in my work, taking courses, or whatever. Every time I find a pen that I love writing with the pen manufacturer stops making it. I really loved using the Uniball Vision Exact. Inexpensive and comfortable. If only I could get my hands on more of these.

I usually have about five to twenty pens on the go as it is a constant struggle to find one I really like. I may use several different pens over the course of a day. Why? Because I can. Also some forms have tiny spaces requiring a fine tip pen to write in. It depends. This is why I buy my own pens.

With all of the writing I do you would think my handwriting would be better. Definitely not. I am missing that particular gene. I have this idea that a decent pen helps. I have this belief that a fine point to a pen helps or forces me to write better. Not an expensive pen, a decent one with a needle point. BIC used to make a cheap needlepoint pen with a foam like grip that I loved. They quit making those as well. I use the Pilot Hi-Tecpoint V5 however those are getting hard to find. I have a Pentel Energel 0.7 Metaltip that I use but have a hard time liking it.

I blame Staples for some of this. They killed the independent stationary stores that I loved to peruse. They replaced good stuff with the Staples brand and restricted the choices. Other places followed suit. We have bigger retailers with less choices. 

I got fed up and flipped through the catalogue of our office supplier. I settled on four different pens and ordered two of each. If I find something I really like maybe I will order a crate.