One of the joys of the encore phase of life (aka retirement) is that you can have spontaneous outings on any given day. Today we went exploring and scavenging the nearby prairie.
Mark found old bricks in a cattle pasture at what was once a homestead so that was our first stop this afternoon. We use bricks to outline the ground beds surrounding the garden. Last year we found used bricks on our ranch in one of the pastures but not enough for the entire garden so we're always on the lookout. Our haul today filled in the asparagus bed but we are still lacking some for the west side of the garden.
It was fun to uncover the bricks and think about the lives of those who once
lived on this remote homestead. It was easy to visualize children playing on the prairie there. It must have been difficult to get in and out of their place when the ground was muddy or icy with all the hills and distance from the nearest road.
This was the only building left standing. There were a few foundations so we could see how the farm was laid out. The inside of this building was full of fallen timbers and bricks.
It took some time and effort to gather the bricks and load them into the pickup.
Once we got home we lined the asparagus garden bed. A lovely usage of these old bricks, wouldn't you say? The bricks help keep the grass out and protects the plants when I mow. This is another step in getting ready for spring!
On the way home, we saw an old prairie cemetery sitting high on a hill and decided to explore. With all the overgrowth, it was obvious that it is not visited anymore. We discovered why as we looked at the dates on the tombstones - mid-1800s to early 1900s- so it probably was the families that settled this area. I took pictures of a few of the granite tombstones that we thought were interesting or beautiful - you can see the dates for yourself. It really got us thinking about the lives these folks lived in the harsh prairie during their lifetime.
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| 1830-1903 |
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| 1870-1906 |
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| Died 1899 |
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| Died 1897 |
Just a few of the small monuments to people that lived here before us. I wish I knew their stories.
4 comments:
I'm sure if you did some investigating you could find out about these people. I love old cemeteries. I find them fascinating.
~Robin
I also love old cemeteries. Yes, would love to know the life they led. Deonne and I went through the cemetery in Deadwood and saw all the young children that died in a certain time period and then read a plaque about some epidemic that they had in some years. Families of 5 to 7 children all lined up in a row. Sad and some parents outlived all their children. We thought of how cold it gets in Deadwood and the poor living conditions they must have had when everyone was flocking their for the gold. And love the new picture at the top. And you have no snow on the ground. We do and ready for spring.
I love exploring old buildings...there's such history there. Often it's a bit sad...I wonder about the farm families that lived there and what happened in their lives. Good post...it gets us all thinking. -Mary
Mary, Thank you for visiting! I love your blog and follow it regularly. Delores
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