Back to the acreage.  Annual property taxes payable to the municipal district have been right around the CDN $1500 point for a few years.  These taxes pay mostly for ongoing summer and winter road maintenance but also a garbage dropoff point once a week in the town of Granum, and also a nearby recycling trailer for plastic, cardboard, paper, glass, tin cans, etc. (accessible 24/7).  We have our own water supply (shallow well) and our own septic system consisting of the tank and field.  With two of us here we usually get the tank emptied every 4 years.

The selling price of the property includes a Case 1835c diesel powered skidsteer (bobcat) with quick attach system for the bucket, easily changed over to other attachments (like my neighbours auger).  It has been running well since my engine rebuild about 8 years ago, and it's good fun to operate.  It's great for snow removal but also landscaping and tilling manure into the garden.  It's a serious workhorse.  Also included is an older Kubota ride-on hydrostatic drive gas powered lawnmower 42" wide (106cm), with a 13hp Kawasaki engine (I think that's 9.7kw).  It cuts long,thick grass riding up a hill with no problem; a necessity on our acreage.

We are about 2km west of the village of Granum (originally called Leavings), which is officially listed as the smallest town in Alberta.  It has a bank, post office, town office, library, small museum, school, park, golf course, "drop-in center", a couple of churches and a gas station -- which also sells some basic food and alcohol (population about 400).

18km to the north is the town of Claresholm, with many restaurants, stores, banks, a number of churches, 3 schools, a post office, library, grocery store, alcohol vendors, parks/camping, community support services, mental health clinic, human services (employment and training), senior's "drop-in center",  2 assisted living lodges, legion, swimming pool, curling rink, hockey arena, 18 hole golf course/restaurant, indoor gun range, recycling depot, community center, general hospital, medical clinic, long term care center, public health unit, child day care, indoor "Agriplex" (everything to do with horse training and competitions), animal rescue, employment center, ball parks, pharmacies, and a nearby small airport. (population about 4000).

40 minutes drive to the SE is the small city of Lethbridge, where we can get just about anything we need (population about 100,000).

We are located in the country, very quiet and very beautiful, surrounded by fields of alfalfa and canola, which provide all the food our bees need.  While farms and ranches are spread out a bit, there is good community spirit helping each other out, and we like this a lot.

5km west of us is a German and English speaking Hutterite colony -- a religious sect with comune lifestyle.  They are very good farmers/ranchers and we have many friends on the colony.... we trade back and forth a lot.

20km south of us is the pretty town of Fort McLeod, started when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police originally set up a wood fort when starting to tame the "wild west" in the 1800s.  Lots of older, pretty houses/buildings, and the refurbished Fort itself is worth visiting.  RCMP "musical ride" on horseback is done here a few times a year.

Part way south to Fort McLeod and off to the west, at the south end of the Porcupine Hills is the "Head Smashed-In Buffalo Jump" where some early Indigenous tribes would stampede a herd of buffalo off the cliff to get their food and clothing for the winter.  There's a very well done visitors center inset into the hill at the bottom of the cliff, with walking trails along the top and bottom of the cliff.  Great museum here.

From the top of our hill we can look west to see the nearby foothills and start of the Rocky Mountains.  To the east is flat -- the start of the Canadian Prairies.  Our proximity to the mountains brings some incredible cloud formations, and as a private pilot I'd say some of the most beautiful clouds I've seen anywhere.

The start of the formation of our famous Chinook arch, that follows the line of mountains as far as you can see to the north and south.  ​​​​Normally accompanied by brisk warm winds that can change the temperature from maybe -20c to +10c in just a couple of hours and can stay for hours or even several days.  The Chinooks are a welcome break to winter.

Our west gate into the property, at the top of the hill, looking onto the Livingston Range to the west, with developed Chinook Arch.