July 3 was the 100th Anniversary of the Silverson family farm south of Kayville and Ormiston, Saskatchewan. That particular farm was settled by my mother's Grandfather, although the surrounding farms were also settled by cousins (or soon to be cousins) who immigrated from Romania between 1911 and 1920.
While I often heard stories of how busy and bustling the surrounding villages of Kayville, Ormiston, Crane Valley and Wheatstone were, now they are essentially ghost towns. Even Terry Silverson, who keeps the farm running, lives and works in Regina (130km away) during the week. But this weekend the farm was humming as aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents came from as far away as Calgary, Prince Albert and Windsor, Ont. to visit and reminisce.
We took a lot of pictures of friends and family but I was most struck by the beauty of the area. Even on a 'busy' Saturday you'd be hard pressed to see four trucks drive down the grid road; it was just us, the birds, the wind, and the colours. Brilliant green grass (we've had record rains this spring), bright yellow canola, fluffy white clouds and the amazing deep blue summer sky. You can see for miles and get lost at the same time.