Foto Friday (and more!)

Look at me! Look at me! I'm actually doing my Foto Friday post on a FRIDAY!!! Don't get used to it though, no doubt I'll be back to my old lazy ways next week! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my photos from one year ago will contain some sunshine, even just a smidgen, as I'm forgetting what the sun looks like. Okay, here goes.....

WOW - there IS sunshine!! Okay, now I hope there's a million dollar error in my bank account...in my favour of course!

I remember this day - it was a TWO DOVE ALERT Day! Luna and Lily were glued to the patio door. Luna was a bit more relaxed but Lily (on the left) is in full pounce mode.

 And MORE sunshine, though a LOT colder - a friend and I went for a walk and ended up near the forks of the Thames River in downtown London. The fountain is frozen solid. It usually looks like...

...this!!

There's Robyn - she of the scathing letter last week about the artists' gathering now infamously known as "The Stupid Waste of Time".

Okay, I don't know how this photo got uploaded but we'll go with it. This is Kazi, age 9, when we travelled to Edmonton, Alberta for a highland dance competition where she almost won a trophy, but came in second. This was taken after the week-long competition - we travelled about the province visiting Jasper Park where I got out of the car to  chase a bear for a photo - he wasn't interested. We also went to Banff and then to Kananaskis country which is west of Calgary, about halfway between Banff and Calgary. There is a huge conference centre/hotel there where the G8 leaders met in 2002. We didn't stay there though, we stayed in a very rustic hostel (private family room). We walked a few times to the conference centre to buy snacks/drinks etc passing signs warning us to watch out for bears. They advised travelling in groups and making lots of noise so Kazi and I sang every song we could think of at the top of our lungs! We loved this spot and Kazi happily played in "Harrison Creek" with the gorgeous Rocky Mts in the distance while I kept a lookout for bears. What a great memory.

Kazi and I travelled to many places across Canada for her 12 year dance career and I utilized the vast system of coast to coast hostels. With a $30 membership Kazi stayed for free and I paid between $10-$20 per night for a private family room with ensuite bath. There wasn't one that we didn't like and they provided an economical way for me, single mom, to travel around Canada.

Well, that was random but anything goes in Blogland so roll with it!

HAPPY HAPPY Weekend!!

The Wacky World of Weather

I didn't think to take any "weather" photos yesterday but then it would have been near impossible what with the constant downpour and heavy winds. 

Anyhoo, it would have looked like this!

And I was a little busy once I found that the living room was drenched because I hadn't closed the patio doors. Did I say drenched..... I think I meant soaked. I was busy wiping up floors and furniture and now have a lovely display of wet towels draped around the house. I may have to run the dryer as nothing hanging up is going to dry today. Silly me. I was sitting high and dry by my bedroom window glad I was safely indoors and thinking "boy, that wind is strong" all the while not realizing that strong westerly winds were blowing in through the patio doors. 

Oh well, it could always be worse. 

Here's what southwestern Ontario looked like all day yesterday. And today. Can I just point out however, that I am brilliant (accidentally) when it comes to "timing" - I pulled into my parking space yesterday just as a few little drops started appearing on my windshield. By the time I got myself and my packages into the house all HELL broke lose!! Dodged that one...sorta....Today it's only 13c!! Once again I am sitting by an open window and the breeze is freakin' COLD!! 

However....not quite THIS cold!! This is Alberta where winter arrived in summer! They've had over 6 inches of snow and it's still coming down and so are the tree branches. It's a mess out there and I'll take thunderstorms any day over snow.  Which is a good thing I guess since more thunderstorms are forecast and are heading eastward to all my maritime family and friends! 

Watch out!  You're welcome!

Dear Diary:

Brrrrrrrrrr! It's been a long time since I've seen the sun shine and my head is starting to feel the effects of that loss - pound, pound, pound. It's a whole +13c with more rain forecast for today but at least it's not snow like in Alberta.

I got a good bunch of my shopping done yesterday before the rain shut everything down. I went out to MEC and found 2 good pairs of hiking pants - one was on sale and was for "short" legged people like me. Then I found 2 long-sleeved tops, both on sale :) I also purchased 3 pairs of sock liners which worn under hiking socks is supposed to absolutely prevent blisters. I seem to have a major fear of blisters probably due to the fact that I seem prone to getting them. And I bought a "platypus" which is a flat plastic container for water which takes the shape of a bottle when filled. Easy to pack. 

Then off to the Bulk Barn where I purchased cashews, almonds, dates, peanuts, hazelnuts and chocolate covered ginger. Plus a box of CLIF granola bars and a whole bunch of carrot/apple/ginger thingies (like the fruit leathers I used to buy for Kazi before the dentist told me they were the worst things for children's teeth EVER!! (I mixed all the nuts, dates and chocolate covered ginger in a huge bowl and then filled 14 sandwich sized plastic bags. This is my trail food and quite possibly my lunch. My plan is to eat the free traditional English breakfast and then use my trail food to get me through til supper. I need more ways to get "ginger" into my day (for pain relief) so I may take some ginger tea bags and hopefully I can make a tea at the B&Bs I stay at. 

After that was Shoppers Drug Mart to pick up an item for Annie and a couple of things for myself - they had little first aid kits on sale for less than $4.00!! so I bought one for my backpack.

Lastly was Walmart where I bought a long sleeved black top for $7.00 (it's all about layering!) a travel purse (strap goes cross body so that the purse part hangs safely in front) to hold my passport, boarding pass etc - don't want to be rifling through my backpack. Also bought a luggage tag, got a new watch battery as I'll be checking my watch a LOT to make sure I'm on time for the train, tube, plane etc. Also bought 2 sizes of plastic bags to hold my trail food and other items that I'll want to keep dry (daily maps) and to put things in that might break in my suitcase - hydrogen peroxide etc. 

Figured out with the help of google last night how to change the resolution on my camera so I can take more pictures but will also buy another SD card just in case. The one I have is 4g but I think I'll also get an 8g. I'm not a shopper, I'm a picture taker and my worst nightmare would be running out of space on my camera for more photos!!

All that's left to do is lay in supplies for Tisky and get the SD card for my camera. Oh, and laundry...and packing...:)