Cloud House

Whenever I save a favourite photo I try to give it a name instead of the generic number produced by my camera. Usually I will name it for a town near by or something about it that caught my eye.  I always called this place Cloud House. The second time I came by, there was absolutely no clouds, so I think I need a new name. Any suggestions? 

I first found this house by chance back in May 2017. I caught a glimpse of the roof from the road and knew I had to see more. I stopped in the driveway and stood on my car to get a better look at this old place down in a little valley. I could see a few outbuildings and wish I could've got closer. I took my photos and left. 

I was back in the area in October 2018 and found it again. There is some work going on and I think some trees had been cleared as I could see the place much better from the side of the road now. Also the driveway has a new metal gate across it.  I didn't get nearly as good of photos but I did see a barn that I hadn't noticed last time. 

Also wishing my American friends a Happy Thanksgiving! 

Bismark

This spot has always been one of those 'I'll stop next time I go by' places, I have probably passed it a dozen times before. It's a cemetery, it's likely not going anywhere.

You can only see the sign from the highway and a path going into the trees. The pleasant looking path curves around and leads you to a small little clearing where you can park before opening the gate to the cemetery. It look likes a relatively small cemetery but there is a hill in the middle and more graves beyond it that you can't see at first glance.

Bismark, like many places I have visited, used to be a busy pioneer district that had a Lutheran church, school, post office (from 1903-1922) and a sawmill.

According to Place Names of Alberta Vol. III, Bismark was named after German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Many of the early settlers where of German origin.

I mentioned above that there used to be a school in the area and that got me wondering if it might still be there. So even though this post was started in September, I had a chance to finish it this last weekend by going in search of the school. Online searching gave me hope as it appeared to still be there. Only one way to find out....

I call this trip a success. I located the school, there is no marker (that I saw), which surprised me as this area has marked their old schools districts. However,  I am going to say with confidence that this is Bismark School since it fits the maps and also is near Bismark Cemetery.  The school opened in 1904 or 1905 and operated until centralization of the local school districts to Crestomere in 1953.

 **UPDATE**
Well folks, I was wrong, I admit it. I had a comment saying the building I assumed was the school was actually the old Lutheran Church that was moved and that the school had burned down. After searching with this new info in mind,  I found that in 1908 a lot was selected, the church was built and the cemetery was developed. The church was relocated in 1947. The congregation joined another parish and then disbanded in 1976.

If this reaches anyone else with more information, stories, photos....I'd love to know or see more!
Thank you.

Abandoned. On the same site as the old church. 

Clouds!

I saw some really interesting clouds recently, so of course I stopped for a photo or 2.

These first 2 images are from the morning of Oct 27th, around 9 am.

These next images are almost exactly 3 hours later on my way back. 

After this, it rained really hard for about 30 seconds then it was all over.

Do you stop for clouds?