Wednesday 15 June 2011

Ghost Towns, Shopping and Graduation

I decided I’d show you the shopping first.  That’s always the most interesting part – right?

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From Country Quilting & More in Delburne, AB I bought the two books and five fat quarters of wonderful Whimsical fabric.  There’s nothing better than being on  a road trip and having some good quilting books to read.

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This is my niece who graduated on June 4th in Olds, Alberta.  They had a wonderful grad . . . it’s always fun to see all those glowing young faces ready to face the world head on.  Kaylene loved her quilt and will be taking it with her when she heads off to school this Fall.  She is currently thinking she would be interested in Child Care but who knows . . . minds have been known to change!

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Now back to our ghost town tour . . .

I love seeing these old buildings preserved . . . it is so much better than the alternative.  The small town that I grew up in has almost completely disappeared – I believe there is an old church and a school bell monument and that’s about it.  I much prefer seeing the old buildings maintained as a reminder of the past.

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I know some people might not enjoy these type of blog posts, but in a way these posts are a diary of sorts and it has been wonderful when I can go back and see the pictures of where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing – both travelling and quilting.

My Dad was with us on this trip and was one of the reasons that we decided on the ghost town tour.  He loves toodling around the countryside and seeing whatever is out there and he quite enjoyed this trip.

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This window cracked me up . . . do you think we could get by with only holding Court on Fridays for four hours now-a-days?   I guess there weren’t as many people in the world back then – or maybe not as many bad people.

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This building also made me smile . . . “We Repair Anything” . . . wonder about that foundation there at the back.  Sure could use some TLC I think.

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Old barns and out buildings that are still standing straight are wonderful to see.  They are so haggard and worn but stand tall on their piece of earth.

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It was the boards running on the angle on this building that intrigued me . . . puzzled me as to why . . . but interesting.

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This is a photo of the entire street in this little ghost town.  Whoever maintains this is doing a wonderful job and my hat goes off to them – we enjoyed our visit.

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On the way out of town was the train station.  I’ve seen some of these falling down in other towns and I’ve also seen some that have been converted into museums.  In Manitoba we even have an artist that paints all of the different train stations that were in the area – probably mostly from photos now-a-days.

Back with the workshop photos in a day or so . . . 

3 comments:

Jennifer said...

Wonderful photos! I love seeing the old buildings too, remember the song "This Old House"? So many of those falling-down buildings remind me of this song. Your niece looks very sweet!

What Comes Next? said...

what a wonderful memory you've just taken me on! When we were in Alberta a few years back, we visited Rowley, and thoroughly enjoyed our wander about, too! Did you notice the grain elevator? We chatted with one of the locals who filled us in. One side it says Rowley, but on the other it says Rowdey. Seems they (used?) to do a free pizza & beer night to get some of the work done, and one of the painters apparently had too much beer that night!

Myra said...

Congrats to your niece Marlene, and thanks for the ghost town tour! Great photos! 8-)