Textures of an old homestead

It's very rare that I post my "daily three" very late at night or shortly after midnight. However, this is one of those times, and I will probably have to finish off descriptions, tags, etc. late tomorrow evening. I have to set my two alarm clocks and kitchen timer for about 4:15 am (and it's already just after 1:00 am!). Just hope I don't sleep right through my alarms, as does happen sometimes. Have to be at the meeting place by 6:30 am, ready to spend a very long day travelling to and from the Drumheller area in the Alberta Badlands, east of Calgary. Takes roughly two hours to get there. Think I'd better get off my computer and head for bed! (Later: decided to stay up all night, as I was worried that I would most likely sleep right through my two alarm clocks and a kitchen timer if I tried to get just a couple of hours sleep!). I really didn't want to miss this trip.

Two days ago, on 21 December 2015, my daughter and I had our Christmas get-together. Like last year, she asked if I wanted to spend the day out of the city, looking for Snowy Owls (and other things). We were both so happy to at least see a (very distant) Snowy Owl, which she cleverly spotted, even though we had hoped to find a much closer one. Thank goodness, last year, my daughter and I did see and photograph beautiful Snowies that were nice and close.

Finding one of these magnificent birds of prey was not the only purpose in our minds, though. It was our Christmas get-together, and we had a great day, in beautiful sunshine and in one of my favourite areas to explore. We had first planned to go NE of the city, but my daughter, waiting for her surgery on 11 January 2016, didn't feel up to travelling that far. Once she has recovered from her surgery, we can always go NE of the city and try for owls again.

So, plans changed and instead, we went first to the Saskatoon Farm for breakfast. This interesting place is maybe a 20-minute drive SE from the southern edge of Calgary. You can collect your own Saskatoon berries in season, look around their outside green houses, and their inside gift shop full of unusual things, and buy special baking, jams, teas and so on. They also have a restaurant that offers great food.

www.saskatoonfarm.com/

Afterwards, we then went a bit further south, to drive some of the roads east of High River, hoping to possibly find a Snowy Owl. We went as far as Mossleigh, where we stopped to take a few quick photos of the three grain elevators and then found a group of several old barns that I don't remember seeing before. This photo is a zoomed photo showing the side of one of the barns. I much prefer the look of the beautiful old, grained wood, rather than the rather ugly layer that had been added on top of the wood. These barns were off the main road, but fortunately the narrow gravel road had enough snow packed on it that the short drive was very smooth. From there, we stopped at the little wooden church at Dinton, seen in this photo.

I'm not sure, but I think the 'brick' covering is called insulbrick. If this is what my photo shows, then the following information applies.

"The name Insulbrick is misleading because it is not a brick.
This imitation brick has been popular for years and still can be found on some older houses, garages and workshops. Insulbrick is a fibreboard sheathing coated with tar and added granular material, similar to asphalt shingles.

The surface was stamped with a brick or rectangular stone pattern. Insulbrick is a brand name and was used for all types of asphalt siding much like most tissues are called Kleenex.

As a rule, tar paper and Insulbrick were applied over wood siding. Insulbrick was the preferred choice for replacement siding until aluminum and vinyl siding became available in the late 1950s. Asphalt siding was available from the 1930s to about 1960.

Houses clad in Insulbrick can appear to be brick houses from a distance. Insulbrick carried an UL rating for fire suppression and had an insulating value of R 1.3. It was easy and quick to install. The siding also provided an excellent hiding place for insects."

www.eureka4you.com/home/SidingInsul.htm

Later in the afternoon, we couldn't resist the temptation to call in at Glamorgan Bakery on the way home and buy a few Christmas goodies, followed by a desperately needed food shopping trip. I just hadn't had a chance to go grocery shopping and had run out of even basic things. This was a huge relief, especially as I have a very long day today, taking part in the Drumheller area Christmas Bird Count. Actually, last year, my small group saw several Snowy Owls on the long drive to and from the Badlands of Alberta, so maybe I'll be lucky later today.

Thanks so much for a great day out, Rachel. The best kind of day, as far as I am concerned : ) Many thanks, too, for the beautiful, very carefully chosen (as always!) Christmas gifts. Love the owl that looks rather like a furry, stuffed children's toy, that is in fact a wonderful heat pad (that you warm in the microwave), full of lavender. Haven't used it yet, but it will feel so good on my neck and shoulders that are painful from whiplash, thanks to the woman driver who suddenly came out of a parking lot exit and cut across my lane of moving traffic about three weeks ago! Nothing I could do, as I couldn't stop in time to avoid impact. So, I'm looking forward to having an owl on my shoulder : )