Hello Blue Moon ... Good Bye August!

So here it is ... the 'Blue Moon' and the end of August!  How can it possibly be the end of August already???  *Sigh* ... as much as I love September and Autumn, I would really like to rewind summer for just a few more weeks!  I'm not ready for it to officially leave in 21 days ... *double sigh!*

Horseshoe Canyon

I love exploring Horseshoe Canyon but this is as close as I've managed to get to it this year ... the parking lot overlooking this magnificent Badlands canyon in Central Alberta.  I felt the need to just stop and gaze long enough to snap a quick photo.  Although I haven't managed to get myself or my family there just yet,  I do think we will get there before summer is officially over!

The Prairie Blue ...

Indeed, that prairie sky was as pretty as could be today!  The big blue and a few cotton balls were the perfect setting for combines in the fields and bins, old and new, awaiting the harvest gems!

Eeeeeeek! The Shades of Fall Have Arrived!

The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many.  

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Oh yes, as much as I am trying to live in denial that our summer is coming to an end, Mother Nature is just going to slap it right it front of my eyes just to make sure  that I truly don't miss it!!!    

Counting Crows

Not only can you count crows ... many, many, many crows these days... but you can also count the days of summer that remain!  Hmm ... I really don't like how they correlate!  Our days have definitely become shorter, the nights are getting cooler and the birds, crows and all, are beginning their late summer rituals of flocking together!  As much as I love witnessing the fall migration of birds, I'm always sad to see them go ...

The House with the Yellow Door(s)!

Perched on a hill, this quaint little old prairie house doesn't quite have the sparkle that it once did!  Covered from top to bottom in old cedar shakes, this house was at one time yellow ... from top to bottom!  There had either been a sale on yellow paint or someone brought cheer to the countryside in the form of having a yellow house!   Although most of the paint has faded away ... the Yellow Door (s) remain!

Sunflower Sea

Flowers don't worry about how the're going to bloom. 

 They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful.  

~Jim Carrey

It's not very often you find a large field of sunflowers in Central Alberta ... but I know where one exists and it's beautiful!  Wouldn't it be wonderful to have your morning coffee looking out over a sea of sunflowers?  I can picture it now ... I must forewarn my husband!  LOL!

The Prairie School House

It's actually amazing how many of these charming old school houses are still standing throughout the countryside!  Many date back to the early 1900's, some perhaps earlier.  I have driven past this beautiful one for probably 15 years and I have honestly never stopped to snap a photo or two, or three!  Well, today was the day!  If I close my eyes I can hear the school bell ringing and the laughter and buzz of children filtering in from the rural countryside.  I can almost imagine a 'Laura Ingalls Wilder' standing at the front door ushering her students in!  Hmm ... it won't be long and the school bells will truly be ringing ... school will soon be in and summer will fade from this year!

My Lil' Cowpokes ...

And Their Ropes!

There is no shortage of 'boy things' around here ... and if my boys are not riding their dirt bikes or peddle bikes, or playing with their Tonka trucks, collecting rocks, mining for coal and gold in my back yard ... just doing something very 'boyish,' you can trust that their imaginations will kick in and the adventures will start.  Well, what little boy hasn't wanted to be a 'Cowboy?'  

Afternoon Hike

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My boys and I have always relished an afternoon 'moose hike!'  Yes, a hike in which we set off in search for a mighty moose!  Well, the boys are getting a bit bigger, and although they are beginning to *roll their eyes* at me when I mention a 'moose hike,' somehow there is not much hesitation (not yet, thank goodness) and we can still head out for an afternoon adventure!

It's always fun to watch them dash about and listen to them; I marvel at what they find and how they react to finding their 'treasures!'  ... Through the eyes of youth!  

Fields of Wheat

Wow!  Ripe!  In fact, so ripe that the combines have started in the fields!  

I guess harvest has arrived!  

A Ducky Morning!

We have two dugouts, a stones throw away from our house ... and a few sloughs as well, which always make the morning hours entertaining throughout the spring and summer months with 'duck clatter!'  Well, this morning was no different, as the Blue and Green-Winged Teal's, along with their young, were busy starting their day!

Harvest???

Yikes!!!!  We still have a month of summer left and yet all the 'tell-tale' signs of (shhh .... be very quiet) ... Fall/Autumn are starting to show!  Somehow, the landscape has magically turned from a sea of green to a sea of gold OVER NIGHT!  Well, not quite but it's amazing how quickly the landscape seems to have transformed.  Harvest is knocking on everyone's door (at least here, in Central Alberta).  I know it won't be long before our peas are coming off the field!

Smiley Faces!

In my opinion, sunflowers are the most cheerful plant, they always have a smiley face!  My garden is loaded with sunflowers these days.  In fact, there is likely more sunflowers than veggies.  Oops!  Hmm ... in never fails, every spring they add more varieties to choose from, so it would appear, I feel the need to try all of the new ones, plus my previous favourites and before you know it, there isn't much space left for anything else in my garden!  Perhaps next year, I should have just a sunflower patch ... away from my vegetable garden!

Friday Night Fireworks!

No, they might not be as spectacular as the fireworks you would observe on Canada Day or the Fourth of July in a major center but for a Friday night in small town, rural Alberta, this was a great way to kick off our local fair!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Bird ... (s) on a Wire!

There was quite the commotion in my back yard today!  In fact, the chaos lasted for most of the day!  The baby barn swallows have been out and about for quite sometime but for whatever reason TODAY there was a steady stream of approximately 30 of them fighting for prime power line real estate!