Wall

This detail is of the exterior of one of the granary walls on the Prochnau farm. You can see the tight fitting that has been achieved by a combination of lumber saw and hand trimming (you can see the score marks of the hand tools). Although aged, the wood holds true and protects a useable interior. Again, local lumber, labour and machinery of almost a century ago.

Barn Interior

This shows the stalls and hewn wood construction of the interior of one of the sheds in the Fibke farmyard. It was made from local lumber, by people I have met many years ago, with machinery that still exists and is in operating condition (I hope to record some of that over the next few days).

Although not used for its original purpose these days, it still could be almost one hundred years after its construction.

Woodpecker

This guy arrived to feed at the feeder box outside the old Fibke Farm (where my grandmother was raised) towards the end of my lunchtime visit there. Although not a good photo, this shy fellow ended up putting himself on display for us so I thought would include it to honour the occasion.

The Fibke Farm is visible from where my grandmother eventually settled down with my grandfather, where most of these photos were taken.

Bird Home

This little house stands ready for spring time use by our smaller feathered friends. Nesting boxes are common on farms and homes in Alberta and B.C., and there are quite a variety of them to suit the large variety of birds that are returning at the moment from the winter hideaways.

Note the colouration and general modelling, a cross between a granary and a church - two of the key buildings in the lives of the settlers and their descendants of this area.

Granary

This red painted building is an older version of the 'granary', once used for storing grains and dry goods through the winter. The red colours are 'traditional', I have recently also seen pictures of similar architecture from Norway.

Behind the Canadian flag you can see the 'summer kitchen' of the old Prochnau farm. It was built for the stated purpose and my grandmother used to spend long hours in its confines. It was also used for a separate accomodation on at least one occasion.

Snow Scroll

This 'roll' of snow is the result of a morning snowfall of 'wet' snow collecting on the curved and corrugated roof of a large shed, and then loosing it's structural strength once the temperature rises so as to slide down the corrugations and compact itself at ground level, rolling itself up in the process.

Couldn't resist recording the moment.

Silos

These silos are used to store the grain after harvest. The means are available to 'dry' the grain with blowers in those years where time and weather combine to prevent the grain properly drying on the stalk before harvest. These silos have replaced the old granaries one still sees in the farmyards around the landscape (see above).

Spring Fields

The land around the home farm is all used for grain production these days. It is a very rich black earth, and they use no-till agrigulture methods to preserve this most valuable of resources. The stubble from last summer and the stands of trees scattered over the hills are there to further prevent the wind blowing the top soil away and to trap the snow so that the moisture can feed into the soil. No fences as no animals.

The clouds are spectacular.

Snow Morn

The winter-like landscape is, as I previously said, conducive to one thinking that one is living inside a christmas card. Particularly with the spruce trees and their classical 'christmas tree' shape. If not due the cold, would be the beauty that takes the breath away.

The snow that was falling was universally agreed by the locals to be 'wet' snow, with some large flakes. Stunning.

Lookin' out the backdoor

Upon opening the backdoor for a breath of fresh air, this is the sight that greeted me, a 'gateway' in the snow shrouded hedge to the fields beyond. Hanging in the middle of the gap is a bird nesting box. Not yet being used, but with the rate that spring is coming on, no doubt soon to be.

Bird Breakfast

I spent the night on the family farm where my mother was born (albeit in a different house). Upon waking this morning and walking into the kitchen this is the sight that greeted me, a whitened landscape. Like living in a postcard, to this Aussie!

Immediately outside the kitchen window my aunt has this bird feeder, that was well populated even in the snow. Beautiful.

Old Strathcona

Before there was Edmonton there was Strathcona, south of the river. After about 1911 Edmonton gained its name and its dominance over its older urban partner. The area around 82nd Ave (Whyte Ave) that I hung out in today (and Saturday) is the old town and significant efforts have been made over the decades to keep its character and heritage values. The Strathcona Hotel in previous post is one example. The building in foreground of this picture is replica of original Edmonton - Calgary Railway terminal, runs tourist trains between May and October. Nice place.

Strathcona Hotel

Just up the road from Cook County Tavern is this imposing building. Although reclad in its timber boards it is apparently much as it was about a hundred years ago. I had a beer here this morning before adventuring through the heritage district of Old Strathcona and its second hand bookshops and cafes.

Apparently the Uni Students like it at least one night a week when it has 'dollar beers'. I thought they were a thing of the past. Just goes to show that heritage still lives on in Old Strathcona.

Cook County Tavern

I went to this place on Saturday Night with Sister, Hubby, and some cousins. We had a ball, crawled back to the motel after 2am. Reasonable cover fee after 10pm, albeit with photo ID check with a photo being taken upon entry for 'security' purposes. Drink prices were less than similar venue back home. Big crowd of line dancing flannel shirted cowboy booted edmontonians having a ball. Surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
I saw it today on my trip through Old Strathcona, took the photo for the memories.

Aussies

My sister and her husband were part of the curling crew that had such fun playing the game. Being on the ice for a couple of hours and curling the heavy stones sure works up an appetite, so we all went out for a late lunch / early tea to West Edmonton Mall. We were in a zone of this gigantic shopping centre that is in permanent dusk and had a great meal.

I'll probably only see my lil sis and her man back in Oz, but it sure was great to spend some time with them over here when our paths crossed.

Curl!

To my mind curling is a cross between the more familiar sports of lawn bowls and skateboarding (surprisingly, considering curling is played on ice). One foot has a slippery sole, the other a gripping sole. One pushes off with the grip sole, slides on the slider. You can wear 'overshoes' to convert your own footwear into curling footwear.

The aim is to get your 'stones' closer to the 'house' than the other side. Here you can see the motion to get the stone on the way.

Conference

I went curling with a few family members yesterday. If Icehockey is the 'yang' of canadian winter sports, curling is the 'yin'. The first is ability plus violence, the second is ability plus brains.

As it's a team sport there is often a bit of a discussion about what to do next, as it's an interesting sport there's nearly always options (if you're good enough).

Mobile Snow

A downside of snow is that it covers everything when it falls, including roads and cars. Everyone has a brush to wipe it off the windows, or you can do what this driver has done and just use your hand to scrape it off of the bits you need to see through.

On the roads, there's sand/grit and ice spread around, which turns into an acidic muck over the winter - necessitating frequent car washes if you don't want your car to rust away in a handful of years.

Cheer

My first cousin once removed is a keen member of the Rush 'cheer team'. We don't really have anything like it in Australia, they take it very seriously with championships of their own. A pretty good excuse to go and watch a lacrosse game if you ask me!

Cousins

Here's me, my cousin and his missus at the Rexall stadium. This facility probably seats about 20000 when full for an Edmonton Oilers icehockey game. Maybe a quarter of that for a Rush lacrosse game. You can see that we're having fun, and that even though there's no ice in Lacrosse that it was still a bit chilly.

Rush

I went to the Lacrosse with my cousin and his wife last night. They started going regularly to the games because one of their daughter's is in the cheer squad (see above), but the game isn't bad either. It is certainly not for weaklings, as this picture perhaps shows. It is very quick, and reasonably high scoring.

The local team, 'The Rush' got home by a golden goal in overtime after they had been locked at 8 all with the Minnesotta Swarm at full time. Great fun.

White Rabbit

As I stood on my uncle's back verandah I caught this little guy checking me out in the dusk. Apparently he and his progeny create all kinds of havoc in the gardens of the gated community in spring, causing trees to be wrapped in wire and flowers to be hung in pots. No-one knows where their burrows are, I suspect under someone's house.

You can see his fur beginning to change colour, as the grass around him starts turning green. He'll be wearing a brown coat in a month.

Armour

One of Canada's religions is ice hockey. Here can be seen some of the kit of a goal keeper. Haven't got either the helmet or the stick in view in this pic. As you can see, quite a lot of gear even for a neighborhood knock-around bout. It's all fibre glass and modern materials, so weighs next to nothing despite its bulk and impact absorbing qualities.

My first thought on seeing it was bushido suit of laminated armour.

Power

I spent last night on the edge of suburbia in the home of a cousin and his family. Not far from where they live march this great line of overhead transmission wires. It's a great big swathe, which the locals use as a throughway for non motorised transport and to walk their dogs. From the warning signs, beneath the wires are oil pipes.

Just visible in the distance on the middle left is a tall 'chimney' with flame shooting out the top, another part of edmonton's energy economy.

Spruce Cones

Looking out from the fourth floor condominium that I spent the other night in (thanks Ethel!) was a magnificent Spruce tree, laden with cones. Apparently it's a sign of stress in the tree, perhaps due the relative lack of snow they've had this past winter. Pretty, never-the-less.

Comfort Style

Here's where I spent last night after my rather uninspiring tour of the downtown area. As you can see, quite comfortable. Which is not surprising, it being inside the 'Comfort Inn'. Probably the most comfortable night I've had and, as you can see, in a certain style. Cost was in similar league to all other places, with the buffet cooked breakfast this morning as part of the deal - making it good value. Not that I wish to turn this into an advertisement, but they were there when I needed them. Still, it's nice to be in suburbia for a while now (!), will fill you in on the next post.

River Traffic

The North Saskatchewan River cuts through central Edmonton. It is flanked by parkland and roads. I'm sure it looks pretty in summer but at this time of year (late winter) this frozen in-boat and the ice are perhaps the most scenic aspects of this showcase wildlife corridor. Good on the Edmontonians for keeping such large 'green' spaces and wildlife corridors. In my experience it's like a cross between Kings Park in Perth and the Brisbane River (Brisbane), functionally speaking.

Progress?

In the nineteen seventies and eighties a lot of Edmonton's old buildings were torn down. The headline replacements were the huge corporate houses that one sees everywhere in the world. The more practical outcome was lots of parking lots in the spaces the mining companies haven't decided to build their corporate dog boxes on. This is one of the lots that surrounds my motel.

You see a lot of this in downtown Edmonton. To an outsider it creates a certain, very forgettable, aesthetic.

Wedding

The deciding factor in my coming here now was that my cousin Randy was getting married to AJ on 24 March in the Recreation Hall of the hamlet of Ardrossan (about 20 kms to the East of Edmonton). So it's only fitting I include a picture from the evening on this blog!

AJ was a beautiful bride, and you can just see Randy on the far right in the dark suit. A lovely wedding and a great night had by all! Thanks for the invite guys.

Edmonton Arrival

Although the mountains were cool, the prarries were cold. I got off the bus at Edmonton at 10:30 pm, windy and -7. Waking up the next morning in my motel I could see it was sunny outside before opening the curtains. This was the view that greeted me. Sunny and -7.

It's mainly ice, not snow, that you can see. An average 2700 hours of sun a year makes Edmonton one of the North America's sunniest places, not one of its warmest.