Guess what came in the mail??

How come people can't spell my name correctly, especially when they only have to copy it from a form????Sheesh!!

What's in the box you ask? Well it's the aerial photograph of my grandpa's farm that I ordered at Farm Fair.  I wasn't expecting it so soon--I thought maybe in December. It's my birthday and Christmas present to myself!!!!! They had a booth there with tons and tons of photos taken from just after WWII up to the 1990's and this company called Homestead Aerial Photos of Alberta will take the small photo and do a framed picture with a choice of 3 sizes, frames, and close-up views if that's what is wanted. This photo is from 1958, 2 years after Grandpa died. I wish I could see who the people are beside that building--I suspect 2 of them are my uncles!! Good guess there!! They took over the farm after Grandpa died.  That's Highway 28 running through the photo and it separates the 3 quarters on the west side of the highway from the one on the east where the people are standing. You can't see the NW quarter though. You can see one of the 2 oil wells that were on the home quarter.  Some years ago, the oil company took off the pump jack etc. and shut them down.  But I bet there's still oil down there.

There was a lot more bush on the south side back then--over the years Uncle Mike would get out his trusty 1950 Caterpillar tractor and work on knocking the bush down. That was the first vehicle I ever drove--I was 9 and he showed me the forward and backward leavers and left me to it in the middle of the pasture area. He taught me how to drive a tractor too and way before I ever got my license he would let me drive his new cars around the farm.  When I got my first car, my beloved Blue Belle in 1978, he got to drive it. In 1979 he bought an Olds Delta 88, and I got to drive it.  That was the last car he purchased and I was supposed to be given that car.  Somehow I doubt that Nick will honor his promise though.

Anyway, this photo brings back so many memories--I love that place, it's the heart and soul of me.  Even though it is unlikely that I will ever be able to have that farm, even though it should come to me, as I am the last of the line and my uncles never married or had any children, it will always be a special place to me.  It's where my mother grew up and she related so many stories to me of life on that farm in the 1930's and 1940's. She loved that farm so very much and therefore it was not a surprise to me when on the day of her funeral, as we drove by the farm on the way to Bon Accord cemetery which is about 3 miles from the farm, that the sun came out from behind the clouds and continued to shine until after the interment was completed.  Mother was happy, she was home. And I feel happy too, having this photo.