CRUMBLING MEMORIES

August 9, 2018August 10, 2018

WILD BEES

The original descendants of this family came to Canada in 1855 from Ireland and settled in Ontario. In they moved to Manitoba 1882 he bought the section of land on which this house was built.

This was not the original home. This house was built in approximately 1904 and replaced a log home along the Long River.

Even through hard times Mr. & Mrs. K managed to keep food on the table and keep the house warm, cutting wood from the area and keeping a large family warm, fed and healthy. The land was located on a trail used by travellers and in winter many stopped for directions, weather reports and possibly warmth.

What I found very interesting in this home was the honey comb we found everywhere, right when we came through the back door and further into the house.

I thought it was neat that wild bees had found themselves a place to build a “hive”.

I loved that I could read up and find so much history about this family and the land they lived on. The kids enjoyed the exploring, skating on the river and tobogganing down the hill in the winter. Over the many generations the family was active in their community.

August 9, 2018August 9, 2018

LONG TIME HOMESTEADERS

This farm has been in the family for many generations and continues to be owned and farmed by this family.

The father of the current land owner was born in this home. When he was married and started farming on his own. He owned the original homestead of this family for 18 of the 100 plus years its been in the family.

The original descendants of this family George and Maragret immigrated to Canada from Ireland in 1845.

Their son James came to Manitoba from Ontario as he wanted land for his four sons. In 1882 he purchased the land and the next year moved his wife and children to the property.

James & Margaret’s eldest son then married and purchased the section of land on which this house stands. He and his wife were active in their community and is one of the original founders of the Manitoba Co-Operative Wholesale Ltd in 1927 and served as their first President and General Manager.

Egbert and Emily’s had four children, two of which are said to be born in the home. They attended the Sander’s School, now owned by the same family.

The yard site still has a large, healthy raspberry patch and along the back tree line, numerous producing apple trees. The home which faces South is nestled in by a large tree line and a long drive past the home takes you to numerous sheds. Out in the front is a big barn/granary which has started to crumble down.

The home, which I did not enter still shows sign of the once inhabitants. My favorite part of this visit though, was the telephone that still hangs on the wall.

Across the road from this homestead is the marker of this family and a recording of the land being the original homestead of their original descendants back in 1882. In 2001 the family received a Century Farm Award.

August 9, 2018August 9, 2018

NEW WHEELS

I’ll be the very first to admit that the old vehicles and equipment don’t usually interest me that much. Sometimes, depending on their placement but for the most part that is really Reg’s department and his passion.

One day we came across this and I have to say, I was enthralled!

No words are really necessary for this post.

August 9, 2018August 10, 2018

TIMELESS (STONE) TREASURE

We had a great day here exploring around this huge yard. The beautiful old stone home nestled into the trees, almost out of sight.

As far as old stone homes go, this one is in almost impecable condition. The wear and tear comes from where an addition was added on and in a section of the roof that likely started to leak over time and has now leaked onto one wall. From the main floor you’d never know there was anything going on upstairs.

The home was full of beautiful woodwork, ornate handles and stuff.

I wonder if they left in a hurry and left this behind?

I don’t know a whole lot about this property so I can’t tell you very much. I am told that the owners of this land moved this house to their property with the hopes of restoring it. They did do that and the home was used as a summer cottage. The husband fell ill and the renovations to the home ceased.

I can say that Reg and I spent the good part of a couple hours here and I’m sure we didn’t see everything it had to offer. Reg knows the lady who owns the property and was gracious enough to let us have a look around.

August 8, 2018August 8, 2018

BEAUTY IN WHEAT

My daughter is my only willing subject. Most of the time she remains serious and does whatever I ask her to do and amuse me. On this day she did just what I asked.

She tried to keep her hair down but I told her no, leave it, its flowing with the wheat.

August 8, 2018

STONE BEAUTY

I have to thank a fellow abandoned seeker for this one. Had I ventured out a little further while scouting out a nearby school, I may have found this one myself but…after a quick phone call to the landowner we were in. Cade, Colton and Makenna joined us on this day.

What a beautiful old home. It is surely showing its age but considering where it is its done amazingly well. This side of the house, which faces North, is pretty secure, except you can see the wear in the far corner. The rocks are starting to fall and tumble down.

The other side tells a much different story.

Imagine the weight of that stone. And not just one layer of stone but two!

I would have loved to explored the inside of this home but it was very unstable and my dear husband was having NO part of that. We did go inside the one entrance and Reg did try to get up the stairs but it just wasn’t safe.

I did find a shoe.

I can’t give a lot of history on this home. I do know that the oldest recorded residents of the home were Lewis & Mabel Kilmury. They purchased the land and lived there until 1952. During their time there they raised one son and four daughters. Lewis was born in the Boissevain area in 1900 and died in 1966. His wife was born in 1907. In 1952 the land was bought from a family and a couple generations later, still farms the land.

I wish I knew more!

August 8, 2018August 8, 2018

FISHING ON FATHER’S DAY TOO?

Yep! Cause that’s what he wanted to do. This time we ventured out in the boat. Loaded up and headed to Deloraine.

The boys got a couple but I wouldn’t say it was an eventful fishing trip. The weather was nice as was the scenery.

The highlight of my trip was this guy that hung around on the far shore where were fishing and he wasn’t shy after our first few passes. Then he’d come bounding out of the long grass onto the rocks where we could really see him.

He was almost penquin like to me but had longer legs. He didn’t fly and just hopped around. He would stop and look and then run off into the grass again.

He had these long feathers that hung to the back of his head.

This is a Black Crowned Night Heron.

August 8, 2018August 8, 2018

MAKE A WISH

In the back field where we walk our dog its pasture land so there are all sorts of wild flowers out there and every once and a while the dandelions go to seed. So I thought I’d take the camera out there one evening and play around with the exposure. Easy, complacent test subject.

Well, Mr. Jealous aka Bauer decided the camera was getting more attention than he was on this walk and started running through the field eating all the dandelion puffs he could see, including this great big one the size of a softball! Dang dog.

It was fun while it lasted and next time, I’ll leave the dog at home.

I tell people all the time, the best way to start getting used to your camera is to take it off auto and start playing with your exposure. Its amazing how brave you become after you’ve done this.

August 6, 2018August 6, 2018

NORTHFIELD SCHOOL

Settlers in the area east of Wawanesa established a school district in the spring of 1882 and, by June, a one-room school had been erected.

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An early student of the school was Nellie McClung.

Nellie Letitia McClung (born Helen Letitia Mooney was born October 20, 1873 and died September 1, 1951. Nellie was a Canadian suffragette, politician, author, and social activist. She was a part of the social and moral reform movements prevalent in Western Canada in the early 1900s. In 1927, McClung and four other women, who together came to be known as “The Famous Five” (also called “The Valiant Five”),^[2] launched the Persons Case contending that women could be “qualified persons” eligible to sit in the Senate. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the current law did not recognize women as such. However, the case was won upon appeal.

Nellie also taught at the school briefly, in 1896. The first Northfield School was destroyed by fire on February 16, 1933 was rebuilt according to the original design, this time with a basement.

In 1960, the school closed and the sold to the town and was designated as a municipal heritage site in May 1995.

My co-worker is a history major and LOVES this sort of stuff. When I got home and realized this little bit of history, I wished that I had paid more detail to all the finer details of the building.

The building is well cared for and holds some neat artifacts inside. I’m glad we ventured off the highway to see what the little roof in the distance was.

August 5, 2018

INTRIGUED

I found this one driving around the back roads. I know who I need to contact but haven’t yet. So for now I have to settle with a road shot.

The sky was perfect on this day!

August 5, 2018

HENDERSON SCHOOL

The Henderson School District was established formally in August 1904. During the 1940’s, the building was used for services of the Bannerman Church of Christ. The school closed in 1968.

Among the teachers of Henderson School were John Nay (1904), W. W. Metcalfe (1914-1915), Katie McLeod (1915), Lottie Porter (1919), D. Finnen (1919-1920), Bertha Barsky (1923-1924), F. M Bissett (1926-1927), P. McNevin (1928-1929), Louise McPhedran (1930-1931), Edith Elizabeth Nicol (1932-1933), Carl Bjarnason (1938-1939), Freda Miller (1939-1940), Richard Neilson (1940-1941), Franklin Stuart “Frank” Presunka (1941-1943), Miss Luella F. Glock (1943-1944), Harold Wilfred Walker (1944-1946), Miss Annie Neufeld (1946-1947), Angela May Shirtliff (1947-1948), Isabel Jeanette Allison (1948-1949), Esther Kettner (1950-1951), Ruth Elizabeth Rempel (1951-1953), Glen J. Hammond (1953-1954), Mrs. Jean Margaret Jaques (1954-1955), Viola Mae Neufeld (1955-1956), Mrs. Mabel I. Agar (1956-1957), Mrs. Devona Doreen Kenter (1957-1964), and Nellie Irene Friesen (1964-1967).

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For some reason I just love this old school. Nestled safely into the trees and protected but a shelter belt of tall, strong trees, this school is holding its own against the elements. After the school closed I am told it was owned by a women’s group. The ladies group later relinquished the property to the RM.

Friends of ours that told me about the school told me that his Dad attended this school until it closed when he was in grade 9 and then finished his schooling at the Killarney School.

While we were there some other explorers stopped by. A lady and two gentlemen. She was very friendly and she told me that they all went to school at this location as kids. I offered to take their picture in front of the school.

This board has the names of many people who have visited the property over the years, some even noting the years that they attended. I love that this place is still open and hasn’t been vandalized and that people of the area can still enjoy the history of the building.

August 4, 2018August 5, 2018

NOT FORGOTTEN

We didn’t plan this stop for the day but when we realized the landowner was home we figured we’d stop and see if they would allow us to visit the property. We were lucky enough to get a tour and the history of this old farm. The current owners of this property helped and cared for the gentleman that owned this land and when he passed they bought the property and since then have done much to maintain and preserve as many of the buildings as they can. The Mrs. is also a photography buff and attended the same Chris Atrell course as I did. We talked about going out together and sharing in this passion.

As many people have trespassed on this property before and at one point even left a gate open with horses in the yard, I will not post a lot of pictures so that I don’t give to much away. I can’t stress enough how important it is not to trespass onto these properties and when you ask, most of the time the owners will allow you to enter. If we aren’t respectful, we’ll ruin it for each other. That and heaven forbid that someone gets hurt in the process.

I will tell you that at one point lightning struck this beautiful old barn and horses that were tied up in stalls were killed as a result.

This is a gorgeous property and the sense of pride you get from the owners is amazing.

August 4, 2018August 5, 2018

FIELD STONE WONDER

Wow. I think those might have been the exact words out of my mouth. We were granted permission onto this property but were not allowed entry into the home.

The land was purchased by ancestors in the late 1880’s and is still farmed by the family. I will also mention that the property is surrounded by a hot fence. We were also told that many years ago a tornado came through this property and the roof sustained some damage.

This home is built a little differently then the other stone field homes that we have been to. This one has the stone made into a block and then the blocks are stacked one upon another. The corners had different color bricks around them as well as over the window. There was no significant damage or wear to the home except the usual crack of mortar between some of the stones which would be normal. The home had a beautiful old door on it with a wood door handle. What a sight.

It was a scorching hot day the day we were invited to this place but that didn’t stop Reg and I from exploring all around the land.

August 4, 2018August 5, 2018

KINLEY FARM ROAD

I cannot tell you anything about this one but its a neat old house nonetheless. This is a road side shot as I did not have permission to enter the property.

August 4, 2018August 5, 2018

OLD DELORAINE SCHOOL

A couple things I can tell you about this school is that it is on private property. I do not believe that it is the original school on this property but I am pretty sure that this particular school was built in 1913 and remained open until 1966. When the kids were moved to another, larger school this building was used as a community hall. The school served as an educational center for the district, and also hosted concerts, church services, dances, and youth group meetings.

The land for this school was donated by early school trustee J.P. Morgan and the school was later named after the small town himself and his wife came from in Ottawa, Ontario.

I loved all the little handles and window closures in this building.

My favorite photo of the day though has nothing to do with an old building. Reg’s wife joined us on this excursion even though she is not feeling well. I got this picture of Reg’s two favorite girls.

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August 4, 2018August 4, 2018

LITTLE RED BARN

Nothing catches your eye in the wide open prairie like a little red barn, like this one. This one wasn’t so little but fascinating nonetheless.

August 4, 2018August 5, 2018

NICHOLSON FARM

I don’t know much about this property either. I am told this land was farmed by two bachelor’s. There is no longer a house, just these couple of bins and sheds and in behind a piece of equipment. The land is rented and farmed by another family from the area. These photos were taken from the road and when I posted this shot on my Instagram account the current renter seen the photo and advised me that once the crop was off the field we could go in and have a look around.

I love the simplicity of this photo.

August 4, 2018August 5, 2018

TUCKED AWAY

One of the girls from my work showed me this property so I arranged for permission to take photos and have a further look around.

The land owner thanked me for asking to enter the premises and advised me that we were free to take as many photos as we wanted, we were not allowed inside the house.

He told me that a few years back, the family of the original descendant came from B.C. to see the house as one of them was born there. The family immigrated to Canada in 1926 and moved into the area in 1928. They were born in Russia and lived in Siberia for a period of time as well before coming to the area where they settled down and farmed and raised their family.

You can see from this photo that shows the side of the home that the roof is still relatively intact but the weight is starting to weigh on the walls of the home and it has some funky leans and curves.

The inside of the home is starting to heave inwards and while there is a big staircase up the side of the home that is intact, the floor is not.

Unfortunately the home has been used as a hang out and the kids have graffittied the wall, etc. There is still various pieces of furniture inside and the rooms were painted different colors. I like to assume that like kids these days, they picked the colors they wanted but Reg assured me it was likely that color of paint that was one sale at the time!

August 4, 2018August 16, 2018

TWO VULTURES IN ONE DAY?

Our next stop of the day was another find I discovered. Another one I had been driving by on a regular basis and didn’t even realize was there.

We pull up and what flies out of the window? A turkey vulture. It sat on the barn for a couple minutes and then flew around screaming at us for a few more. When it realized we weren’t leaving anytime soon it disappeared. We did not find any snow white babies in this house.

When I first posted about this home I was not sure about the history. I can now tell you that the first recorded landowner purchased this land from the CPR in 1896. They arrived from LaBeauce, Quebec to the treeless prairies vast with inexpensive land. The father died and is buried in St. Felix Cemetery in 1908. He and his wife raised 6 daughters and two sons, most of which moved away from the Province and two daughters whom stayed and lived in Dunrea. The original home on the property was sold in 1912 and became a convent.

The first ancestor of this family to arrive in North America settled in Quebec in the early 1650’s.

I also do know that a friend of ours has lived in this house at two different times in his life, once as a young adult. He did tell me about some of the things he did in the home which were still visible and he asked if a particular item was still in the kitchen, which is was. My understanding is that the last residence of the home were farm hands of the current land over.

This property was then owned by another big family from Dunrae. I am not able to get an idea of when this house was built or by whom.

This house is SO treed over it is crazy. We walked around the entire home and when we found the door we have to crawl over a tree to get inside. You could not take photos of the front of the house. Nature has worked very hard to take this place over again and has almost succeeded.

The home still had beds inside, a dish towel hanging on the cupboard door, a hat on a hook in the closet. There was a shower curtain still hanging in the bathroom and pictures on the wall in the living room.

The home was beautifully designed. It had a large kitchen with what appeared to be some sort of cooking area in the front. It has fallen apart and we couldn’t access it but from the upstairs looking down you could see cupboards and a sink. There were 2 bedrooms downstairs and then you went up this staircase to this open area. Upstairs were two bedrooms and then this little room with a low ceiling to the back of the house which was likely used as storage. Can you imagine the view out that window?

There were a couple of outbuildings and a large barn which I will assume was for dairy cows as well as other outbuildings and sheds.

August 4, 2018August 8, 2018

IS IT A HAWK OR A VULTURE?

Anything I tell you about this house is hearsay. What I can tell you is that this was worth the wait. I have passed this house a thousand times and one day I finally made the necessary arrangements to get inside.

My understanding is that a large family by the name of Gutrie lived in this tiny little home. Jill and Reg recall going to school with a tall, quiet boy that lived in this house.

I think Reg and Colton thought that this stop was going to be short-lived and dull and the two of them reluctantly stopped for my benefit. I can safely say that this would surely be in the top 5 of houses we have shot.

This is where I also developed my fear of open wells and long grass! I think what is scariest for me is the fact that Colton was with us and wandered through the area before me. I can not stress enough to be careful. Reg says to me after we discovered it, “I guess we should carry a rope with us too!”

This truly was a diamond in the rough. The home is tiny and didn’t appear to have any indoor plumbing. The doorways were very low, the home consisted of two rooms on the lower level, an awkward staircase ran up the one side of the house right along the window to an area that appeared to be a large open space which I am assuming was more like a sleeping loft. There were remnants of a smoke stack in the ceiling which would have heated the small home.

Of course Colton and Reg ventured up to the loft and discovered a small white bird and a “dead” mother bird in the corner of the house. Of course, animal lover that I am advised them to gather up the babies. Reg found a stick and turned the mother over to discover a few more snow white babies under her except the “dead” mother bird rolled herself back over the babies to protect them. She was playing possum. At first the thought was that this was a family of hawks. The boys came down so that they wouldn’t disturb her anymore but I had to go up and get a photo of this up close. I have seen birds sitting on top of this house on many occasions when I have driven past it so no one was surprised to find one in there. When I popped my head up to floor level and got a look at her she had switched her game from playing dead to regurgitating which we later discovered are two of the common defense mechanisms of a turkey vulture. This was no hawk.

Not a great photo of her but I didn’t want to disturb her anymore than we already had. You can see her snow white baby with her.

At the entrance of this home, just inside the doorway was a small stove which I am assuming the family used for cooking. Maybe at one point this was the stove that was in the center of the home and heated it as well.

The yard had what I am assuming was a small granary, a concrete pad which was likely some sort of garage and a building that had collapsed, just the roof was visible.

A few weeks later on my way to Brandon, Momma vulture was sitting on the house when I drove by. She didn’t stay long and wasn’t thrilled about me and my camera again but I did happen to get a couple shots of her.