The full moon for May is called the Flower Moon and will be at its fullest on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at 7:53am Mountain Time.  It will already be below the horizon so the best times to view it will be the nights of the 22nd and 23rd.  Did you know the full moon lasts only an instant and that is when it is directly between the earth and the sun!   In North America flowers bloom in abundance in May which heralds the peak of spring.  Spring represents rebirth and renewal. I always feel spring is a more suitable time to make resolutions rather than at the start of a new year ..read more

The one and only time I was at Haskayne Legacy Park was early October of last year.  My intentions were to pay this park a visit in the winter but I decided to pass on that, it's not a road I care to venture down even with winter tires on.   So, spring has sprung, it's time to see who and what hangs out here during this season!  I stepped out of my vehicle and before even zipping up my jacket or grabbing my gear, I reached for my camera because this male Mountain Bluebird dropped by to check me out.  They go by two other names, Arctic Bluebird and Ultramarine Bluebird, two ..read more

What a stunning morning it was walking the trails near where I was Caboose Camping!  Just like yesterday morning, I was out the door before sunrise with warm layers on and a freshly brewed thermos of coffee in my hand.  I aimed for the Pond first this time to see the sun come up over it rather than at the Lagoon.  It did not cross my mind to look behind me, I was so focused on the sun coming up.  When I turned to veer down another trail, this caught the corner of my eye.  While the full moon was yesterday, it was still a spectacular sight to see this morning. &n ..read more

While window watching, one opened up so I jumped at the opportunity to embrace the opening!  With wonderful weather stretching over a few days along with a mid week vacancy at my favourite caboose, it was go time.  On the way to going to the campground where the Canadian Pacific Caboose is, I stopped by Ann and Sandy Cross Conservation to hike for a few hours.   I’m not sure what I was thinking bringing loads of warm layers!  With the crazy mixed up weather we experienced, I was mixed up too, +12C felt like +25C!  De-layer, de-layer, de-layer! The trails were dry an ..read more

? ? ? ? ?  Back in mid March when I got into macrame, the plan was to complete a few easy projects to get the hang of the craft and then move on to create a boho bag.  That idea has fallen by the wayside since I have been having so much fun working on smaller more meaningful items.  This angel is the latest addition to my meaningful collection.  I took her out into a treed area to get a photo of her in nature.  She represents my Guardian Angel who loved being out in nature.  We spent many times in various parks over the years, she loved the sights and sounds and s ..read more

And I'm off!  Again!  Virtually!  Twenty-eight plus hours by air virtually got me from eastern Australia to France to start my next conqueror challenge.  The Camino de Santiago is one of the original challenges and has seen close to 85,000 conquerors from all over the world take on this trek virtually.  No doubt many have completed the Camino in reality.  The route is 774 kms in distance.  I was not wanting to do another longer challenge but this one feels like a good fit right now.  This route is long enough so the plan is to virtually still be covering ..read more

This was the virtual escape I needed many times over the past number of weeks!  On numerous occasions, it took self talk to get out the door facing winter conditions while being in the midst of spring. I was so over the wind, the cold, the ice, the snow but I had to get out there and accomplish some kind of distance.  Once back home, it was such a treat to enter my distance and virtually see myself along the ocean on a warm sunshine blue sky day.  I warmed up to you in so many ways!  Good-Bye Great Ocean Road! from start to finish and all markers in between Look at th ..read more

as I go out each day looking for something to be handed!   My plan for this day was to be a birder for a few hours with hopes of coming away with lots of sweet sightings!  While I had no success with seeing lots of interesting birds other than the usuals, I cannot feel disappointment as I saw several sweet sights of other sorts!  The lagoon at Carburn Park was still not fully thawed.  It looked so pretty showing off a clear reflection.  On this morning, I did stop and sit on a bench for awhile and savour the scene in front of me. While exploring along another tra ..read more

a window on the world of a landscape that's out of this world The sun was fully up and had been for about 45 minutes by the time I arrived at Horseshoe Canyon in the Badlands of Drumheller.  I had hoped to arrive closer to sunrise but I dilly dallied a little too long before getting out my front door.  Before heading down into the Canyon, I walked the rim to see that everything looked OK down there.   It didn't take long before I began removing layers once I arrived at the Canyon bottom.  What I noticed right away, was how dry it was compared to other visits here in prev ..read more

After making that right turn out of my community, I could then see Nose Hill dressed in white.  It looked sparse enough that I should have success with crocus hunting.  Upon arrival at the parking lot then gathering my gear, I walked towards the trailhead, at that point I had my doubts with finding crocuses in the graupel.  You see, it graupelled later on yesterday during a thunder storm and I was early enough this morning that it had not melted yet.  What is graupel you ask?  I googled the word to get this answer! Graupel, also referred to as snow pellets or soft hail ..read more