Hi, Rainy. The 2-storey house made of 'cinder blocks' is actually made of rock-faced concrete blocks (made in molds to look like cut stone). Regina has several of these. This house looks very stylish for a relativelt cheap product!

Ross
— Ross Herrington, November 24, 2008

Fabulous, Rainy. Reminded me of my childhood,growing up in a town that was very similar to Abernethy, whose main street was almost identical, complete with buildings that had false store fronts.
— Beth Warkentin, August 7, 2008

Tony,
Nope, nothing like that happens here, at least not yet. People like me who go snooping around abandoned places take nothing but pictures, it's a creed. There's a lot of respect for heritage among us & most people who have lived here all their lives. This is big, wide open country here, sparsely populated, & most of these places are out of the way, out in the boonies, off the main roads, so things are pretty much left alone. The churches are locked though to protect against vandalism & theft.
— Lorraine Brecht, August 4, 2008

Another superb article Rainy. Very informative as usual. Tell me, is there a warden or someone looking after those abandoned farms and shops. In the UK they would have been taken over by druggies and eventually burnt to the ground. Thanks again. Tony from England. P.S. Glad you found your way to Hwy 1.
— Tony Ethridge, August 4, 2008

Thanks for another fine article on the Prairies. The Qu'appelle valley is beautiful.
— Ben Hsu, August 3, 2008

Fascinating history of these wonderful old buildings and surrounding lanscapes. Thanks Lorraine.
— Margaret Sherwood, August 2, 2008

Thanks, Rainy,
... for answering my questions, and for passing the info on to others who may also be curious. A fine article, as usual.
— Fred Perry, August 1, 2008

Wow, love these abandoned farms and old buildings. I wonder what stories could be told. You are finding treasures in your own back yard. Great journals!
— Eva M, August 1, 2008

False fronts?
Here's a quote that describes the likely purpose of false store fronts..... "The old, Wild-West style false fronts were designed to make humble structures look grander and more important than they really were." They are still used today, in strip malls, for example, but they are less deceptive and more decorative.
— Lorraine Brecht, August 1, 2008

Tarnished??
Fred asked me what I meant when I said a photo was 'tarnished'. It's a photo editing tool that leaves a little more color than 'grayscaled'. I use PhotoFiltre as my photo editor. I'm too lazy/dumb to use PhotoShop ;o) So in PhotoFiltre, this comes under the color filters menu where you can also choose sepia, night effect, revive, grayscale etc.... I use it, or grayscale, when the light was bad in my original photo. This makes the photo more tolerable & usable....
— Lorraine Brecht, August 1, 2008