On the way home from a shoot last August, I found this along the way.
Why its taken me so long to blog, I do not know.
At the end of the day,difference because I cannot find any good history about this big, old beauty.
I never really know what I will find when I photograph an old property. I go and shoot everyything that catches my eye and sometimes I am lucky enough to make a connection to what I read. That is really why I keep doing this.
And sometimes I’ll be working on a history and find a connection to a property that I blogged months before. Its exciting to go back and add those interesting tidbits. Maybe, as I start to explore this area more, I’ll find something.
Regardless, I really liked this old house and the surrounding out buildings and I’m happy I took a detour home that day.
John, from Beauharnois Country, Quebec and Lena from Emerson, Manitoba married in Killarney on December 29, 1899 and raised 10 children together on this land which John acquired in 1898. John earned an income to support his family by farming and running a hardware store in Neelin. He was also a carpenter. Lena was known to be a stern mother who instilled good values and principals. John passed away in 1937 and Lena in 1973.
In November of 1923, newly married Reta & Carl made their home on this land where they lived and raised their family. In 1966 the semi-retired to Killarney. The frugal couple raised two children on this homestead. Reta & Carl were the second family to own this homestead.
Carl & Reta, determined to make a living and “owe no man nothing”, worked from dusk till dawn to make a living and raise their children. It is said that Reta would do the work of a man and did things such as driving fence posts with a maul as heavy as herself. She broke horses, milked cows and raised chickens. She would support her family by trading milk, butter, chicken and eggs for food. If her grocery bill was more than she had in cash or trade, Reta would put the unneeded items away until next time. Reta & John would not hold a charge account. They prospered and made a good life for themselves and their children.
Upon Carl and Reta’s retirement, their son Glenn stayed on the farm and raised Aberdeen Angus cattle. He then raised four children on his own on this farm with his wife whom he married in June of 1955.
In 1982 Glenn and his wife purchased a family restaurant in Killarney while living on the home farm which he purchased from his parents in 1974.
This is a beautiful homestead. The house and outbuildings are very nicely treed in and its not far from your basic needs like food and gas. The homestead is no longer owned by one of the two original families.
Back in June, 2018 (yes, 2018) I went out to this house. It was one of the first I got permission to photograph and I have gone back a few times since.
Back to that 2018 thing. I cannot believe that I have been doing this since 2018. Wow!
Anyways, here it is back then. The floor was giving out, the roof was caving in and the stairway was a mess. I did not step inside the home but I could get up to the windows and doors and see inside.
Today I went back. Mother Nature has had her way with this place.
Back in February I received an email through my blog from the Granddaughter of the Baleja family, the second last owner of this property.
I learned that there was a second movie filmed on this property by the name of Capote which came out to the public in 2005. I haven’t looked it up but I will, one day. I was told by the Granddaughter that when Capote was filmed, film crews laid limestone on the roads in the area to make it easier to get their equipment down the roads. This is why the road is made up of nice black dirt.
She also told me that her Grandfather bought the property in 1947 from a local man. A search of the name by both of us came up empty handed. I have made a request to my local library to see what sorts of material they might be able to borrow from another location for me.
There is apparently a drainage ditch near the house (which I did not notice) which was enchanced by the RM and the City of Winnipeg, I’m assuming and is called Z dike. The purpose of the dike was to protect Winnipeg from the infamous Flood of the Century.
The house is actually two houses. One of the houses was brought in by the movie company in 2015. The orginal house in the tangle of houses was moved from the other side of the road and you can see that there is an old yardsite there. The purpose of bringing the two houses together was to give the house a creepy appearance. The current owner advised the Granddaughter that the inside of the house had cable supports inside to support the joining of the homes and/or set.
And the barn. What a sight. This house, when I first seen photos of it, were taken by my Winnipeg Bando friend, Lee. She loves this old barn. Well, the structures on the roof were added by Grandfather Baleja as was the granary on the front.
The Granddaughter also shared with me that when the old house was moved across the road to create the movie set, the current owner from an old bible. I never did hear back from her to see if she received a photograph of an inscription that was in the bible.
Last night as I was trying to weasel into my bed with a book, Colton called me out to check out the sun. Glad he did. He figures he should get photo credits too!
Of course it dropped a lot faster than it usually seems to but that is only because I was struggling with finding the best setting for the shot.
I have driven by these vehicles hundreds of times. The kids at the colony have asked me to stop and take some photos. So finally I did.
Given that they are right out in the open and have some buildings beside them and behind them, I didn’t think I’d get any decent shots. Sometimes the best photos come from the opportunities you doubt most.
When I posted these photos on my Instagram account, Cade had no idea where I had found these as he is usually with me when I venture out now because I’m scared to go alone.
I am happy that the kids talked me in to it because I think they turned out pretty good.
When I texted them to one of the kids to see if they could identify them, they knew right away.
I seen this little church online and thought I’d stop by on one of our roadtrips. There wasn’t a whole lot to see here and I couldn’t find any info on it. I do not know when it was built or when the last service was held here.
The new resident pigeons didn’t seem to mind me taking some photos.
Its been awhile. Now that school is out for summer, I hope to find more time and motiviation to get out and do what I love. I can tell you I certainly enjoyed being off last Spring for covid because I was able to explore without all the tall grass. I’ve missed that window now.
Anyways, back in April, Colton came home for a long weekend. It was good timing as there was an outbreak at the college and more specifically, his dorm. He came home Tuesday and by Thursday that college called and told us not to bring him back on Monday. For weeks we waited to see if the college would go remote for the remainder of the year. They did at the beginning of March. So on May 15th, the college made arrangments for us to come to the school (the outbreak was finally over) and pick up Colton’s belongings. It turned out approximately 35 students and one staff member ended up with Covid, one being Colton’s roommate and his buddy across the hall. We left for Wilcox at 5:00 a.m. to arrive at our scheduled pick up time. I have to say that this was the first time I seen the inside of Colton’s dorm and his dressing room. We loaded the Jeep from the front seats to the back window with his stuff and headed home.
Along the way home I knew of this spot and because I was getting sleepy, I stopped to walk around and get some photos.
This was a busy little place. There were a handful of people walking around, there was a couple with a couple kids loading up a neat old truck that I’m assuming they had just purchased.
When I pulled in a lady with a BIG dog (cue in the reluctance to get out of my vehicle here) came to the Jeep and was more than willing to let me stretch my legs and take a couple of photos.
There were so many vehicles I wasn’t sure where to start. So I wandered around for about 10 minutes and just shot away.
One of my goals this Summer is to familiarize myself with Photoshop and Lightroom and start to play around with the final product of my photo. When I started this journey to blog and photograph more, I was adamant that what came out of my camera would be my final product. I don’t feel that way anymore because what I see isn’t always what my camera captures.
While shooting I was also thinking about what I could add to my display in Killarney in August. So that there was a little bit of something for everyone that might come across my exhibit.
A lot of these vehicles were parked fairly close together or had other vehicles parked behind them. This forced me to try some different angles. It was good.
So that is it. That is my gallery of Trans-Canada Trucks along the No. 1 highway. When we pulled out and headed back towards Manitoba, I realized that there was a whole other side full of vehicles but I know I’ll be back this way and I’ll do it next time.
CRUMBLING MEMORIES 