Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: bike

Ran out of time and energy yesterday to choose and edit any photos to post this morning. Decided to do it this evening, instead. Also, I overslept this morning and had to dash out to meet friends for a three-hour walk in Fish Creek Park (saw 2 Northern Pygmy-owls, but they were both SO far away!), and would not have had time to post. Just realized that I probably won't have time tonight to look for and edit photos for tomorrow morning. Wouldn't surprise me if I oversleep again, which would not be good, as I have a very early start tomorrow and must not be late for when a friend picks me up. My daughter and I had a such a great day on 5 September 2017. She had a free day, so we decided to drive north-east of the city and visit the Pioneer Acres Museum. The day started off with seeing three perched Swainson's Hawks, which were a bonus. We had passed the colourful old truck and tractor displayed on tall posts, to indicate Pioneer Acres, on various occasions and this time, we actually turned off the highway and went to the museum. What an amazing collection of old farming equipment, some standing outdoors and many others in large sheds. Have to say that I am always attracted to old, rusty things, and there was no shortage of these, either. "Pioneer Acres is operated by a team of volunteer members who, in many cases, have extended their golden years of retirement, performing the duties necessary to meet the club's objectives. These include work to collect, restore, maintain and demonstrate the artifacts which were used by the pioneers of early Alberta. The end result is that present and future generations have the opportunity to glimpse into our pioneering past through the artifacts on display and demonstrated. Younger members of the club also learn the care, maintenance and operation of these living artifacts." From link below. www.pioneeracres.ab.ca/member.aspx While we were walking round the grounds, visiting each massive shed in turn, my daughter spotted a Plains Garter Snake, and waved me over to see it. She also saw several birds running round behind one of the sheds, and when I went to check, I found there were four Gray Partridge running off in the distance. A distant Jackrabbit completed our wildlife sightings, first noticed when it was standing tall and upright on its back legs in 'freeze mode'. My mind wandered to Alice in Wonderland : ) Though we did not do a tour of the inside of the "Long" House, we found it an impressive building, complete with a few Sunflowers, Hollyhock and other flowers in the garden, and a tall, metal windmill. "The "Long" House was built in 1914 by John Thomas on a farm just northwest of Irricana, Alberta. It has been lived in by three generations of the Long Family since 1914. The house was donated to Pioneer Acres, moved to our location, and restored to 1929 status." From the Pioneer Acres website. There is also an old schoolhouse on the Museum site. "The Crown School, built in 1905, was located west of Three Hills on Highway 583. It closed in 1953 and was bought by the district of Allingham for use as a community league. In 1996, the building was relocated to Pioneer Aces of Alberta Museum." From the Alberta Teachers' Association website. After spending a long time walking round the grounds, we decided to drive through Irricana itself in order to get back to the highway. I had seen photos on the Internet of three murals there - sunflowers, crayons, and a view of the old grain elevators that had once stood nearby - and I wanted to go and see them. All near each other, as this town only has a few streets. I had never been to Irricana before and I was impressed with what a delightful place it is, full of brightly coloured murals, and well kept. One of the outer roads had many flower beds along the edge, watered with well water, looking most attractive. I had asked my daughter if she was interested in calling in at the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens in NW Calgary, if there was time after our drive east. I had planned the drive ahead of time, partly because I had also seen a photo somewhere on the Internet of a rather nice old barn that I really wanted to find. We were not disappointed, though it was a shame to see that the cupola had fallen from the roof since that photo was taken. I had never driven through the town of Airdrie before, but did the "drive" on Google Earth the night before and it looked straightforward enough. Returning to the city via Cochrane, my daughter told me how to get to Silver Springs. I had never driven there before, but I had been there with a friend last year, I think on 1 October, and thoroughly enjoyed these meticulously kept gardens. We were just too hot and tired to see every inch of the garden, but finished off with photographing sunflowers and enjoying the American Goldfinches that were feeding on them, before we continued on our way. A great day, despite the heat and smoke from the B.C. and Alberta wildfires (distant low visibility, too). Thanks so much, Rachel - hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. We drove 256 km (used about half a tank of gas, or less). I was absolutely tired out from the heat and driving unfamiliar roads.

Decided to scan one of the thousands of old family photos last night. I'm not being very active at the moment, giving the 16 stitches across my back a chance to heal, so I have a little more time on my hands, which actually feels really nice. Also, it's -20C (windchill -28C) this morning, 28 February 2014. The forecast for tonight is -33C (windchill -41C)!! Tomorrow, Saturday, should start off at -32C (windchill -40C), but should soar to a balmy -25C in the afternoon - yeah, right! The next few days will continue cold, but by Tuesday, there should be a little improvement - and then the snow returns, ha. It did snow a little last night. Don't think I'll be going out anywhere for the next few days, which at least will allow my stitches to heal more before I have to stretch to remove the snow from my car. Anyway, this is a photo of my Mother, Vera Kathleen Bassindale, taken by my Father on one of their endless cycling outings. Both my parents were very keen cyclists and loved being in the outdoors. My Mother shared her love of wildflowers with me and my Dad always had his camera with him, to capture the beautiful scenery, his family - and his great love of steam engines as they chugged through the countryside. I believe he had a pretty much complete photographic record of every engine in the UK (certainly England) and many from Europe. Various enthusiasts now have most of his train and traction engine photos, thanks to my amazing friends in England, who spent so much time seeing to this after my Brother died. My son inherited our parents' love of cycling : ) I seem to have inherited both passions, for which I am truly grateful. My Mother died in December 1998 and my Father had died many years before that, in 1976. Sadly, our main communication for decades was by letter, as I got married at 22 (far too young!) and moved overseas, usually across the other side of the world. Missed out on family talks and sharing of my parents' lives. Very sad, but it happens to many people when family members move away.

Finally scanned another old photo last night - of my parents with one of their bikes. They loved cycling, before they had my Brother and me, and for years afterwards. I have very happy memories of going off for bike rides at the weekends, into the countryside around Birmingham, England. There, my Mother showed me all the wildflowers, that she loved so much, and my Father would be taking photos, which was his passion : ) They also belonged to the Solihull Cycling Club.

More detail later - I overslept by an hour this morning, so have to absolutely dash to get to my meeting place in time! This photo was used on the cover of the First Anniversary edition of "The Bicycle", a weekly newspaper for all cyclists. Date of this edition was 23 February 1937. Both of my parents loved cycling and spent a lot of time cycling and camping. My father also loved photography and was described as an "exceptional photographer". Tom Carden Bassindale (1907-1976), married to Vera Kathleen Bassindale (nee Neal, 1914-1998). Tom's parents were Albert Elijah Bassindale and Alice Gladwell Bassindale (nee Carden).