The snow is melting, the birds are returning. My robin is back - a sure sign of spring and my grouse is drumming. Soon the buds will be on the trees. I am just happy to see the snow disappearing.  

Hooray! There's my driveway, and if you look closely, you can see me too! These next couple of pictures were taken at 7PM. Remember I was going to take picutres at 7PM each week to show you how light it is getting. Well, I didn't do that but we now have over 15 hours of daylight each day. I love it.  

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Well, we jumped right from winter to summer this weekend. I don't know what the temperature was, but it was too hot to sit outside in shorts. My snow is disappearing like crazy. I found my driveway (many portions of it are actually small lakes) and am finding a lawn albeit a brown one. If it keeps up I will start working on the portions of lawn I can see - raking and cleaning up. But not today. Today was a day of rest and I took full advantage of that fact. Soon I will be polishing up the old golf clubs and see if they work better this year than they did last year.

Had a lovely weekend. Out for drinks with friends Friday night. Out to dinner on Saturday night. Talked a lot to sister Lisa Saturday day. Spoke with Jennifer today. She has just returned from California with her family. They were in Disneyland, Knotsberry Farm and played around the ocean. It sounded like their holiday was just what they needed after a long prairie winter.

Mom leaves for Holland and Hungary next Saturday. Teri et al and Debbie et al leave for Hilton Head that same day. Tis a year for travel.

Just 2 weeks to my Vancouver weekend. I'm looking forward to that.

Still have to make reservations down to Vancouver on the July 1st weekend to attend Kristi's wedding. Then have planned a small car tour of Port Townsend with my friend Bev. Should be fun poking about this small town in northern Washington State. If the town is smaller than I imagined, then we can always spend a day or two in Seattle. We'll see how it goes.

SR is coming home for a couple of days this week, not that I'll see him too much. Although he does sleep here, he is seldom home when he is home - if you know what I mean. His job is going well and he hopes to keep on the day shift this year. Work always keeps him away and busy. He needs that to earn his university money for the next year.

And that's it for this week.

My deck - I should just about be painting it for summer - but I can't see it. I was worried sick as SR drove home from Edmonton in this mini blizzard. He left around 8:00 AM on Tuesday and arrived around 10 AM on Wednesday. He stayed the night and left at 4:00 AM to go to work at camp around Sheep Mountain. Oh well, he stayed long enough to give me my Birthday presents (in case I don't see him again for a while).  

My driveway. They had to plough the street - and I'm NOT shovelling anymore - I don't care how deep it gets. I have 4-wheel drive. 

April 13, 2005. It's spring, can't you tell from the picture? I can't! And this picture was taken at 6:00 PM AFTER it had been melting all day long.  

Sunday, April 10, 2005

As you can see from the pictures, I drove out to Swan Haven to see the swans today - a sure sign of spring even if the weather doesn't know it's spring yet. The open water is quite a distance from the viewing point, so you must use a scope to see the swans if you want to see them larger than white dots, but you can sure hear them. They'll soon be flying over my house once they are rested and ready to head further north.

My bedroom is now painted and put back together. Made and froze an apple pie and chicken paprikas, awaiting Shaun's arrival. He said he would be in town on Monday night (that's tomorrow - guess I should phone him and see if his plans are still the same). He plans to start work right away - construction again.

Although the snow is all gone in town, there is still about a foot and a half on my lawn and my driveway is shear ice. It still drops about 10 degrees below zero at night so even though it warms up during the day the thaw is slow. I want to put in a small veggie garden this summer, but can't see the garden yet, so must be patient. Will be flying to Vancouver for the weekend in the beginning of May - a weekend deal I'm taking advantage of, so I'm looking forward to that. Not much else new here. Saw the movie Vera Drake - it was good but a bit slow - Vera was either very happy or very sad in the movie - she played both emotions well. Niece Jenn and her family are off to Disneyland this coming week - I'm envious. I'm sure they'll have a good time in California. That's about it for now.

This is the surrounding area at Swan Haven at M'Clintock Bay (Marsh Lake). As you can see it was overcast today and there was a cold wind blowing. We had snow while we were there. 

The open water is the key to the yearly rest stop for trumpter swans on M'Clintock Bay. The observation area is quite a distance from the swans, so you need a spotting scope to see them. Here, the white dots on the water are the swans. If we had sound, you'd hear them honking. 

Went to Seattle to watch my favourite team play - Manchester United v Celtics - Man U won! 

Seattle Washington, 2003. 

Regina, Saskatchewan, summer of 2003 

Port Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island - by the GIANT Christmas tree - Dec 2003 

SR playing Golf on the beach in the Bahamas, Christmas 2003 

October, 2004 - International Hot Air Balloon Festival in Albuquerue New Mexico 

Sunday, April 3, 2005

It may be Spring, but it's still cold outside. May look beautiful and sunny, but the air is cold and the snow and ice are melting s-l-o-w-l-y. I should be thinking of gardening, but can't even find the garden under the snow. So...painted my bedroom, cleaned the carpet and now must move everything back. My muscles are growing again! Not much happening. SR is back in Edmonton now - actually went to Lake Louise this weekend to snowboard. So, I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane and will post some of my travel pictures. Hope you enjoy them.