Wind and Fire

The prairie wind has been ferocious this year straining power lines to their limit. Tree branches are a particular menace on windy days. Recently, on a harsh, windy, HOT day, a tree branch tangled with a power line in the corner of our farmyard. We saw the fallen line on the ground and tried to contact the power company who had numerous calls already on the go. Not long after, we saw smoke coming from the area and called 911.

The Montmartre Fire Department showed up in record time and got to work putting out the fire. Since the line was still live, the guys stayed on guard for several hours in case the fire flared back up, waiting for the power company to come out and shut the power off.

The Draper family would like to thank the Montmartre Fire Department for their quick response. The damage to our farm and more could have been horrid if the fire had gotten out of hand.

Canada Geese Slow Motion Flying

This slow motion video is the result of leaving my Nikon P500 Coolpix camera on High-speed (HS) instead of my normal High-definition (HD) movie mode.





Just don't ask me why High-speed mode would give me such a slow video.

But I'm very glad it did.

John and Betty 2014 Visit

This summer we were blessed by the visit of Nelson's brother, John, and his wife, Betty, from Ottawa, Ontario. It had been ages since we saw them and so it was a special time of catching up. The plan was for them to spend a few days in Regina, then here at Draper's Acres while Nelson was on his days off, then back to Regina before heading home. 

Alice Draper with her kids from L to R - John, Teresa, and Nelson.
Photo taken Aug 2014 in Regina, courtesy of Teresa and Francis Untereiner

Unfortunately, the weather on Nelson's days off were wet and chilly for mid August which kept the farmers out of their field. Most of the time we stayed in the house where JJ hooked my laptop up to our big screen TV via an HDMI cord so everyone could view the genealogy records and old photographs at the same time. This was fantastic because it allowed everyone to contribute to the conversation, sharing memories and correcting misinformation. 

The spattering of rain played havoc with our photo taking sessions though, as you can see by the blotchy photographs.

Both Nick and JJ were working at Circle Square Ranch (CSR) Wolf Creek, and we had to get them back to the ranch right after lunch. In fact, the rest of the staff were inside preparing for a meeting when we were taking these pics, which shows on Jeremiah's face as he's the most logistical one and didn't want to walk in late. 

L to R - Jeremiah, Nelson, John holding Scout behind Grandma Alice, Betty
with Peanut, Nick. Taken at CSR Wolf Creek, Aug 2014

But as you can see in the above photo, a raindrop is hiding Betty's face, so we went for another one. 

L to R back row - Jeremiah, Nelson, John holding Scout, and Nick.
Front row - Grandma Alice, and Betty holding Peanut.
Taken at CSR Wolf Creek, Aug 2014

Hmm, nice shot, but Grandma's face is obliterated and others are hazy. So we tried one more. 

L to R - Jeremiah, Nelson, Scout, John hiding behind Grandma Alice, Betty
with Peanut, and Nick. Taken at CSR Wolf Creek, Aug 2014

And that's a good shot of everyone including the dogs...except John is hiding again, Nelson has lost his smile, and both Nick and Scout are looking to the left where someone has just come out the door to find out what's holding the boys up. *sigh

Since Montmartre is the Paris of the Prairies due to its French history with Montmartre, France on the outsirts of Paris, we stopped at the 1/38 scale model iron Eiffel Tower to give John and Betty some fun pics to take back.

This first one is Nelson telling John and Betty to look wa-a-a-a-a-a-y up so it appears the tower is taller than its actual 30 ft height. 

Nelson taking photo of Betty and John at Eiffel Tower,
Montmartre, SK.

Unfortunately, Nelson never showed me the result of this angle. My version was for John and Betty to move closer to me thus putting space behind them to make the Eiffel Tower look bigger. 

Betty and John at Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, SK, Aug 2014

Montmartre is building a real nice park beside the Eiffel Tower and while there, I mentioned that it would be nice to take a photo near the gazebo with the CN Montmartre sign in the background, but after being cooped up while we were in church, and then while we had a big family lunch in Wolseley, Scout and Peanut wanted to go exploring, so the best photo of that excursion is this one of John taking a pic of ME. 

John taking photo of me with Betty and CN Montmartre sign in background.
Taken at the Eiffel Tower Park, Montmartre, SK, Aug 2014

This last one is cropped from one of Teresa's photos and is kind of grainy so I can't enlarge further, but I thought I'd end this post with these 2 precious members of John and Betty's family, Peanut and Scout. 

Peanut and Scout in Regina, SK, August 2014

It was such a nice visit. I hope you come back soon... and bring the kids and grandkids next time. :)

Montmartre Moose

After not seeing moose in this area for years, they're making a comeback. Almost a year ago, on Dec 11th, 2010, we spotted a cow moose and her 2 yearlings although in my photo journal of them, I said they were 3 cow moose. My father quickly set me right.

We saw the same 3 moose in the spring but they were too far for photos.

Last month, a bull moose started hanging around a few miles from our farm. Nelson spotted him on the way home from work and came to get me but by the time we got back, the moose was too far for photos. The next evening while I was on my way back from town around 5:20, I spotted him about a mile down the road. At least I suspected the dark shape on the side of the road was him because everything else was golden or yellowing vegetation. The shape moved as I drove closer and my suspicions proved true. I pulled over to the side of the road and took these photos while he lumbered away toward the west.

In between those photos, I was able to take this short video of the bull moose in action - slow action, to be sure, but action none the less. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va2lAWS3Fdo




Check my YouTube channel for more videos of animals and other things I find interesting.

Operation Wading Boots

My new blog header is the scene that greeted us on Easter morning (Resurrection Day). Camera in hand, boots on my feet, I walked straight down the driveway and stopped at the corner where we turn onto the road. That's where I'm standing in this photo, looking west:

I turned to the north and took this photo of our road. Or at least where our road was supposed to be:

Since our van is very low, we needed to get it to the other side before the water level rose any higher. Nelson called the crew into action as spotters. For this dangerous work, Nick donned Nelson's waders. The boys were primed with purpose.









They walked down the road while Nelson drove the van slowly behind them. He left it parked in a safe zone and walked back. It was Easter morning and we needed to get ready for church.

We then hopped into the truck and drove across. I filmed this epic crossing and will post it here shortly. Once across, we switched to the van and went to church repeating the scenario on the way back.

The rare photo opportunities of this temporary lake beneath the western sky is amazing. I marvel at the blessed beauty of this spring.

And look... more snow! There is still lots of snow hiding on the north side of buildings, under trees and in the shadows to keep the water running for many days yet. I stood near our apple trees to take this photo. The road and driveway on the right.








More photos and videos on the way.


So, what's the weather like where you are? Did you get caught in the tornadoes? Live where you're crying for rain? Let me know and I'll pray for you.

Porcupine Patrol

The days are a rollercoaster of warmth and cold, which is what we need to avoid a spring flood. However, the critters are crawling out of hibernation as can be seen by this porcupine. On March 9th, Nelson came home and said there was porcupine a quarter mile away. By the time I grabbed my camera and jumped in his truck we were almost too late. This photo was taken approx 200 ft away and I zoomed in for it:

However, I managed to get a short video of it before it walked over the hill. Nelson had dropped me off and then drove on down the road to turn around, so the only sound on the video is that of the wind, the camera itself, and a few of my movements.

Here's the porcupine's meandering track as it started up the hill.






Five days later - on March 14th, Nelson came home and said their was a porcupine at the end of the driveway. I grabbed my camera, put my outerwear on and headed out, hoofing it. I could see him right from the house. If you look at my blog header, he was hiding in the bush that sits at the end of the driveway on the right side.

He wasn't moving and I wanted a good photo, so I yelled at him a couple times and wouldn't you know it - he turned his back on me! Although he was a good 30 ft away, I'm not in the habit of standing behind a porcupine, so I high-tailed it back to the house and let him have his peace.

What kind of creatures are coming out of hibernation or flying in where you live?

Look What I Can Do!

Some of you may have seen these pics at Prairie Chicks Write Romance on Thurs when I blogged about the  Photoshop software program I received for Christmas, but for the benefit of those who didn't, I'm showing them again...because I'm still amazed...

I took this shot of the Sacred Heart church in Montmarte from the Library window this past Dec. I loved the shot until I downloaded it onto my laptop and saw all the power lines. You can even see the reflection of yellow words if you look in the area between the power pole and the arched church window.

And if you think you saw it before, you did - on my Dec 14 post.

But once I got Photoshop for Christmas, I was able to remove all those things I didn't like in the photo.

Christmas card, anyone?

Snowy Church & Bin Photos

Ouch! Temp was   -35C/-31F this morning but it felt like -47C/-52F with the windchill.  I needed to travel 1.5 hrs south today to bring the boys to a Kid's Christmas party for hubby's work. It's a free 2 hr swim plus games, food, Santa and a $25 gift. The boys look forward to this party so off we went. Although it was cold, the sun was glistening off the snow.

I thought I'd show you some photos I took on Thurs. The first one is the Sacred Heart church right in Montmartre. I really like this photo except I wish the telephone pole and lines weren't in the way.

This second photo was taken on the way to Montmartre and is just a snowy grain bin scene that caught my eye.

I don't know how long we'll be in this deep freeze but I sure wish it'd go away for awhile. I don't mind it being this cold in Jan when all I have to do is huddle in the house but with only 11 days before Christmas, I've got places to go and gifts to buy.

So how's the weather in your neck of the woods?