Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: simple

There are two tiny churches in Dorothy, one Catholic and the other United. Both were restored in 2006, which is good in some ways but not so much photographically. "At one time the village had three elevators, the Alberta Wheat Pool, the Alberta Pacific and the United Grain Growers, three stores, a butcher shop, pool room, telephone office, restaurant and a machine agency. A school was opened in 1937 and lasted in the hamlet until 1960. It was later joined to a dance hall. The combined building stills stands today and is used for birthday and graduation parties. There are several empty boarded up houses in and around Dorothy, which once boasted as many as 70 residents but now only has four permanent citizens. The village also supported two churches — a United Church from 1932 to 1961 and a Roman Catholic church from 1944 to 1967. The two churches were considered the focal point for the entire region’s important social events. They still stand today, but are gradually being withered away by time and the elements." www.ghosttownpix.com/alberta/dorothy.html Wow, what a day I had the day before yesterday, 5 August 2019! For a few decades, I had longed to get out east of the city again, to the Badlands of Alberta. I had been a few times in more recent years, either on botany trips to Horseshoe Canyon, or a couple of times for the Christmas Bird Count. However, we always carpooled and we never went to the places I really, really wanted to go to. Finally, in 2014, I took my daughter out there, taking the main highway into Drumheller. She has an amazing sense of direction and is great at navigating, so I knew I wouldn't get lost. This time, though, I wanted to avoid Drumheller itself, so I took a back way to the few places and things I wanted to see and photograph. Each year, I try and make a new, long drive that I have never done before. Trust me, a real challenge to someone with a driving phobia!! Now, there are a handful of places that I make myself get back to each summer, to make sure I don't lose the courage to make the drive by myself. Maps had been made, a few 'drives' taken along a few bits of road on Google Earth, so I was well-prepared. Still, I felt sick to the stomach at the thought of doing the last half of the drive. If I happened to take one wrong road, would I ever get out of the Badlands? When I checked the weather forecast, I noticed that rain was expected on some upcoming days, but not for that day, so I knew I needed to go. It was still quite hazy all day, getting up to 30C. When I was almost ready to leave home, I suddenly realized that it was a public holiday! Never a good time to visit anywhere, with so many people everywhere. Normally, I would have stayed home. Left home at 8:45 am and got back home at 7:15 pm, after driving 402 km, using roughly three-quarters of a tank of gas. In this time, I was able to see my favourite hoodoos (with so many cars parked along the road and endless people climbing all over the hoodoos), a little almost-ghost town, and one of my absolute favourite old grain elevators. My route also took me past the Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Dalum - I had seen photos of this church before and I had always wanted to photograph a church like this. One other stop had been on my mental list, but, even though I would have had time to get there, my big concern was running out of gas on the way home. There was only one unpleasant thing that happened and it still keeps coming to mind. Along one of the paved roads on the way to the Badlands, I had noticed a very scruffy looking hawk standing on the road. I turned around and drove back to see if I could check if it was OK. Just when I was going to pull over so that I could slowly walk back, I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a car coming behind me. Not sure if the driver tried to position his wheels so that they were either side of the hawk, or not. Anyway, the bird tried to fly and got caught up by the car, which ripped and mangled it. I could see it being tossed and caught back. I walked back to see if I could tell if it was still alive. I couldn't tell, but it was a real mess. Much as I would have liked to move it to the ditch, I couldn't. Trying to convince myself that, because it had looked so scruffy to start with, and stayed on the road, maybe it had been sick. I have seen plenty of dead wildlife of all kinds, but never before have I had to witness something actually being killed. Still haunts me. Yesterday, 6 August 2019, my daughter and I had planned to spend the day together but decided to cancel, as the forecast was for rain and it's no fun taking photos in the rain. Such a shame, as I had been looking forward to being out with her. Her free days are so few and far between. Sure enough, 4:30 pm and we had torrential rain, wind and thunder - SO glad we weren't out in this! Today, it is very overcast - happy I decided to do my long drive two days ago.

There are two tiny churches in Dorothy; the one in the foreground is the Catholic church, and in the distance is the old United Church. Both were restored in 2006, which is good in some ways but not so much photographically. "At one time the village had three elevators, the Alberta Wheat Pool, the Alberta Pacific and the United Grain Growers, three stores, a butcher shop, pool room, telephone office, restaurant and a machine agency. A school was opened in 1937 and lasted in the hamlet until 1960. It was later joined to a dance hall. The combined building stills stands today and is used for birthday and graduation parties. There are several empty boarded up houses in and around Dorothy, which once boasted as many as 70 residents but now only has four permanent citizens. The village also supported two churches — a United Church from 1932 to 1961 and a Roman Catholic church from 1944 to 1967. The two churches were considered the focal point for the entire region’s important social events. They still stand today, but are gradually being withered away by time and the elements." www.ghosttownpix.com/alberta/dorothy.html Wow, what a day I had the day before yesterday, 5 August 2019! For a few decades, I had longed to get out east of the city again, to the Badlands of Alberta. I had been a few times in more recent years, either on botany trips to Horseshoe Canyon, or a couple of times for the Christmas Bird Count. However, we always carpooled and we never went to the places I really, really wanted to go to. Finally, in 2014, I took my daughter out there, taking the main highway into Drumheller. She has an amazing sense of direction and is great at navigating, so I knew I wouldn't get lost. This time, though, I wanted to avoid Drumheller itself, so I took a back way to the few places and things I wanted to see and photograph. Each year, I try and make a new, long drive that I have never done before. Trust me, a real challenge to someone with a driving phobia!! Now, there are a handful of places that I make myself get back to each summer, to make sure I don't lose the courage to make the drive by myself. Maps had been made, a few 'drives' taken along a few bits of road on Google Earth, so I was well-prepared. Still, I felt sick to the stomach at the thought of doing the last half of the drive. If I happened to take one wrong road, would I ever get out of the Badlands? When I checked the weather forecast, I noticed that rain was expected on some upcoming days, but not for that day, so I knew I needed to go. It was still quite hazy all day, getting up to 30C. When I was almost ready to leave home, I suddenly realized that it was a public holiday! Never a good time to visit anywhere, with so many people everywhere. Normally, I would have stayed home. Left home at 8:45 am and got back home at 7:15 pm, after driving 402 km, using roughly three-quarters of a tank of gas. In this time, I was able to see my favourite hoodoos (with so many cars parked along the road and endless people climbing all over the hoodoos), a little almost-ghost town, and one of my absolute favourite old grain elevators. My route also took me past the Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Dalum - I had seen photos of this church before and I had always wanted to photograph a church like this. One other stop had been on my mental list, but, even though I would have had time to get there, my big concern was running out of gas on the way home. There was only one unpleasant thing that happened and it still keeps coming to mind. Along one of the paved roads on the way to the Badlands, I had noticed a very scruffy looking hawk standing on the road. I turned around and drove back to see if I could check if it was OK. Just when I was going to pull over so that I could slowly walk back, I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a car coming behind me. Not sure if the driver tried to position his wheels so that they were either side of the hawk, or not. Anyway, the bird tried to fly and got caught up by the car, which ripped and mangled it. I could see it being tossed and caught back. I walked back to see if I could tell if it was still alive. I couldn't tell, but it was a real mess. Much as I would have liked to move it to the ditch, I couldn't. Trying to convince myself that, because it had looked so scruffy to start with, and stayed on the road, maybe it had been sick. I have seen plenty of dead wildlife of all kinds, but never before have I had to witness something actually being killed. Still haunts me. Yesterday, 6 August 2019, my daughter and I had planned to spend the day together but decided to cancel, as the forecast was for rain and it's no fun taking photos in the rain. Such a shame, as I had been looking forward to being out with her. Her free days are so few and far between. Sure enough, 4:30 pm and we had torrential rain, wind and thunder - SO glad we weren't out in this! Today, it is very overcast - happy I decided to do my long drive two days ago.

Happy Easter Sunday, everyone! All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 26 March 2016, when I spent a long day driving NW of the city and then coming home via Bragg Creek and SW of the city. It was such a beautiful day and, once again, there was snow in the forecast for this coming week, so I thought I had better make the most of the good weather. When I first reached my approximate destination yesterday morning, I could see five or six cars way down the road, pulled over at the edge of the road. Often a good sign : ) Sure enough, friends had found a Great Gray Owl. For the first four minutes after I got there, the owl was perched on a barbed-wire fence in the sun, but then flew off and vanished. More than an hour later, someone saw it fly across the road and land in the distant trees. Had to look almost into the sun to get photos, so most of my images are grainy, but still happy to get them. The way these owls focus on something is amazing - they use their hearing rather than their sight. It sat there for maybe 45 minutes, barely moving except for turning its head, so not a huge variety of shots, but interesting to watch in person. When it disappeared further into the trees and out of sight, I started off on my long drive home, hoping to see a few early bird spring arrivals. I was out of luck, apart from a pair of Killdeer. Not a single Mountain Bluebird, anywhere, which did surprise me. I always enjoy driving the particular stretch of road seen in this photo. I love the emptiness, simplicity and colours at this time of year. I did notice a pair of extremely far away birds circling high in the sky - you can just about see one of them. Couldn't tell if they were Ravens or Hawks. Ha, there are small, black spots on a few photos taken further down the road, but they are bees! I can't say I enjoyed photographing "The Famous Five" with bees flying around me and my camera and the car - from the group of hives by the granaries. A nine-hour day, 291 kilometers driven, sunshine and an owl - it was an enjoyable day. The only part I didn't like was getting up very early but still not getting out till four hours later! Always a big mistake to turn on my computer if I want to get out really early!

On 29 September 2014, I finally drove out to an area that lies NE of Calgary, that I had longed to go to for so many years. It must have been 30+ years ago that I first saw one particular area of the Badlands of Alberta. A few times, I had been fairly close when I went on several botany trips out that way, but when you are carpooling, you can't just go wherever you want. So, my youngest daughter and I decided that we both wanted to make this trip. All summer, we had been waiting for a day on which she didn't have to work and where the weather forecast was for no rain on the day or there had been no rain the previous day. The Bentonite Clay in the area becomes treacherously slippery when wet. The forecast for this day was for a mainly sunny day - at last, we were going! I think this was the longest day of driving I had ever done, especially to, and in, an area that I'd never driven to before. For anyone who doesn't know me, I have battled a driving phobia for decades, plus I have no sense of direction, lol! Thankfully, my daughter has an amazing sense of direction, so I knew we wouldn't be stuck out on the prairies in the middle of nowhere. A typical question at too many intersections went as follows: me - "Do we go left?"; my daughter - "No, we go right", lol! I met my daughter at 8:00 am. and I got home shortly before 9:00 pm. Much of that time was spent driving; the rest was spent wandering round two main areas - Dorothy and Rowley, each in different directions from Drumheller (known for its remarkable dinosaur findings). The forecast was far from accurate on our drive out to the Badlands and I began to wonder if we'd made a mistake going on this trip on that particular day. However, knowing that snow would be returning very soon ("returning" because we had two devastating snowstorms on 9 and 10 September), I was beginning to feel rather desperate and really didn't want to risk not getting out there. The afternoon was less cloudy and we did have some sun. As you can see in this photo, when we were in Dorothy, it was heavily overcast. Eventually, the sun did come out for a while before we left. Our main destinations were the Hoodoo Trail, and the almost-ghost-town of Dorothy, calling in at Wayne as well. I had longed, for such a long time, to see the two small, old churches that are to be found in Dorothy, as well as the grain elevator. Both churches have been restored, which is good in some ways but not photographically. This photo is of the little Catholic Church. A short distance behind where I was standing lies the little old United Church. After that, we went to Rowley to see the old grain elevators and to wander round this very small, historical place. There are actually three elevators, with two being right next to each other and the other further from them. Dorothy felt and looked almost deserted, whereas Rowley was beautifully kept. From Rowley, we made our way back across the prairies to Calgary. I had planned on getting back before it got dark as I no longer like night driving and very rarely do it, but we didn't quite make it. On the return drive, the last sighting was a Great Horned Owl that was perched part way up a power pole. Well done, Rachel, spotting this welcome bird! Not easy to see in the dark. By the time I got home, I was so tired and my arms were so painful from driving, but, what a great day we had!!

Here in Canada, it is our Thanksgiving weekend, with Monday, 13 October 2014, being the official Thanksgiving Day. Hope everyone has a great weekend! On 29 September 2014, I finally drove out to an area that lies NE of Calgary, that I had longed to go to for so many years. It must have been 30+ years ago that I first saw one particular area of the Badlands of Alberta (The Hoodoo Trail). A few times, I had been fairly close when I went on several botany trips out that way, but when you are carpooling, you can't just go wherever you want. So, my youngest daughter and I decided that we both wanted to make this trip. All summer, we have been waiting for a day on which she didn't have to work and where the weather forecast was for no rain on the day or there had been no rain the previous day. The Bentonite Clay in the area becomes treacherously slippery when wet. The forecast for yesterday was for a mainly sunny day - at last, we were going! I think this was the longest day of driving I had ever done, especially to, and in, an area that I'd never driven to before. For anyone who doesn't know me, I have battled a driving phobia for decades, plus I have barely any sense of direction, lol! Thankfully, my daughter has an amazing sense of direction, so I knew we wouldn't be stuck out on the prairies in the middle of nowhere. A typical question at too many intersections went as follows: me - "Do we go left?"; my daughter - "No, we go right", lol! I met my daughter at 8:00 am. and I got home shortly before 9:00 pm. Much of that time was spent driving; the rest was spent wandering round three main areas - The Hoodoo Trail, Dorothy and Rowley, in different directions from Drumheller (which is known for its remarkable dinosaur findings). The forecast was far from accurate on our drive out to the Badlands and I began to wonder if we'd made a mistake going on this trip on that particular day. However, knowing that snow would be returning very soon ("returning" because we had two snowstorms on 9 and 10 September), I was beginning to feel rather desperate and really didn't want to risk not getting out there this year. The afternoon was less cloudy and we did have some sun. Our main destinations were The Hoodoo Trail, and the almost-ghost-town of Dorothy, calling in at Wayne as well. I had longed, for a long time, to see the two small, old churches that are to be found in Dorothy, as well as the grain elevator. Both churches were restored in 2006, which is good in some ways but not photographically. This photo is of the little United Church. www.bigdoer.com/9004/exploring-history/dorothy-alberta/ After that, we went to Rowley to see the old grain elevators and to wander round this very small, historical place. There are actually three elevators, with two being right next to each other and the other slightly apart from them. Dorothy felt and looked almost deserted, whereas Rowley was beautifully kept. From Rowley, we made our way back across the prairies to Calgary. I had planned on getting back before it got dark as I no longer like night driving and very rarely do it, but we didn't quite make it. On the return drive, the last sighting was a Great Horned Owl that was perched part way up a power pole. Well done, Rachel, spotting this welcome bird! Not easy to see in the dark. By the time I got home, I was so tired and my arms were so painful from driving, but, what a great day we had!!

Three days ago, on 29 September 2014, I finally drove out to an area that lies NE of Calgary, that I had longed to go to for so many years. It must have been 30+ years ago that I first saw one particular area of the Badlands of Alberta. A few times, I had been fairly close when I went on several botany trips out that way, but when you are carpooling, you can't just go wherever you want. So, my youngest daughter and I decided that we both wanted to make this trip. All summer, we have been waiting for a day on which she didn't have to work and where the weather forecast was for no rain on the day or there had been no rain the previous day. The Bentonite Clay in the area becomes treacherously slippery when wet. The forecast for yesterday was for a mainly sunny day - at last, we were going! I think this was the longest day of driving I had ever done, especially to, and in, an area that I'd never driven to before. For anyone who doesn't know me, I have battled a driving phobia for decades, plus I have barely any sense of direction, lol! Thankfully, my daughter has an amazing sense of direction, so I knew we wouldn't be stuck out on the prairies in the middle of nowhere. A typical question at too many intersections went as follows: me - "Do we go left?"; my daughter - "No, we go right", lol! I met my daughter at 8:00 am. and I got home shortly before 9:00 pm. Much of that time was spent driving; the rest was spent wandering round two main areas - Dorothy and Rowley, each in different directions from Drumheller (known for its remarkable dinosaur findings). The forecast was far from accurate on our drive out to the Badlands and I began to wonder if we'd made a mistake going on this trip on that particular day. However, knowing that snow would be returning very soon ("returning" because we had two snowstorms on 9 and 10 September), I was beginning to feel rather desperate and really didn't want to risk not getting out there this year. The afternoon was less cloudy and we did have some sun. Our main destinations were the Hoodoo Trail, and the almost-ghost-town of Dorothy, calling in at Wayne as well. I had longed, for such a long time, to see the two small, old churches that are to be found in Dorothy, as well as the grain elevator. Both churches have been restored, which is good in some ways but not photographically. This photo is of the little Catholic Church. After that, we went to Rowley to see the old grain elevators and to wander round this very small, historical place. There are actually three elevators, with these two being right next to each other and the other further from them. Dorothy felt and looked almost deserted, whereas Rowley was beautifully kept. From Rowley, we made our way back across the prairies to Calgary. I had planned on getting back before it got dark as I no longer like night driving and very rarely do it, but we didn't quite make it. On the return drive, the last sighting was a Great Horned Owl that was perched part way up a power pole. Well done, Rachel, spotting this welcome bird! Not easy to see in the dark. By the time I got home, I was so tired and my arms were so painful from driving, but, what a great day we had!!

A child's wooden toy, seen at Heritage Park on 14 September 2013, when I spent a few hours with my youngest daughter and a group of photographers who belong to the group she runs. Very enjoyable to all sit down together for lunch, too, in the old Wainwright Hotel.

These tiny mushrooms are some of my favourite fungi to photograph : ) This pair was growing on the curved stalk of a small leaf. The tallest one was no more than an inch in height, probably closer to three-quarters of an inch. Found at Shannon Terrace in Fish Creek Park on 12th September.

These are almost the only icicles I've seen this winter, lol! Just two little ones, hanging from the bridge railing at Shannon Terrace on February 16th.

Shadows of birders taken at Carburn Park on January 23rd.

This very small snail was on a huge leaf of a tropical plant in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo, on October 14th. Thought it was kind of neat how the bokeh almost mimicked the pattern of the snail shell.

Wasn't sure whether to post this or not, but I kind of liked the warm colours - not that I want to think about Christmas! Another of my toothbrush waterdop photos, lol. Almost forgot that I have a routine dentist appointment around lunch time today. Noticed yesterday that work has now been started on replacing everyone's front door and patio door. Couldn't believe all the construction mess - I was picturing them more-or-less bringing ready made doors and just putting them in place and making minor adjustments, ha. Looks like it's going to be a cold time indoors when they do this, as once the weekend is over, our daily high temperatures will be around 3-5C. It's 2C (36F) this morning. Will be even less fun when all the windows have to be replaced! And then it's the roof ... sigh. Too bad they didn't arrange to have all this done during the warmer part of the year! Work will apparently be stopped, though, when the weather reaches -15C! Also, apparently the contractor has a 9-week contract for work elsewhere, so maybe I still have quite a wait for my new windows.

Well, on a very enjoyable walk at Votier's Flats, Fish Creek Park, yesterday morning, no Northern Pygmy-owl, no Northern Goshwak, no sign of the two Coyotes we saw a few days ago, no Three-toed Woodpecker. Everyone tried their best to spot at least one of these amazing birds, but we were totally out of luck yesterday morning, LOL! I'm really glad that I had walked this area a few days ago and seen all but the Woodpecker. You just never know what you will see - or not see : ) I was happy though, because my eyes happened to spot these two teeny Marasmius mushrooms growing on the end of a small leaf stalk near the path. At first, I thought they were two white berries on the ground (that were everywhere). At least a few friends got to see THESE - I think they were amazed at the size of these little one-inch-tall fungi. Love their bright orange stalks.

Water droplets taken on the spur of the moment, after being out on a walk all morning on Saturday, at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.

Just a teeny mushroom, maybe half an inch tall, growing from the stalk of a small leaf. Found at Shannon Terrace, Fish Creek Park, a couple of days ago. Tentative ID is Marasmius sp.. Another wet, wet day today - sounding very much like a broken record, LOL! Whatever happened to the saying in Calgary that if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes? Everyone, prepare for sunshine tomorrow - my car has to go in for a big service, so no mode of transport for the day : )

Just something different from fungi and flowers : ) When there are no flowers, fungi and only very distant birds, you photograph what you can get, LOL. Noticed this brightly coloured buoy floating on the Glenmore Reservoir a couple of days ago, when I was out birding. Liked the colour combination and the reflection pattern it was making on the slightly rippled water.

I have tried to find the ID for this tropical plant on Google, but have so far been out of luck. Most of these had no flowers at all, but I noticed this one with a flower bud, Growing in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. I think I liked the bokeh as much as the plant itself : ) Just got home about 6:40 p.m. after a lovely few hours botanizing the land belonging to a friend of my friend, Susan. This area is down near Turner Valley, south of Calgary, and it was so enjoyable to search for (and record) any plants, insects, birds, etc. in a new place. I always love the way this works - a win-win situation. The owner of the land gets a very detailed list of species found there, and we learn a lot and enjoy our time there. Now I need supper before it gets any later - missed out on lunch, so I'm hungry ; )