? ? ? ? ?  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

For millions of people, today was the day to experience the solar eclipse which was the case for me too but even more so today was the day that I saw my first crocus of the season.  I aimed for the sunny slopes up on Nose Hill.  If they were out yet, I knew these slopes would be where I could spot them, and spot them I did!  There were loads and loads of very young buds on many of the slopes.  This was my favourite crocus of the day as it was the most mature of all that I saw. many looked like this... ...and like this.  There were an abundance of bouquets, yet they w ..read more

Over the past few days, lots of the snow melted due to lovely temperatures and lots of sunshine.  This gave way to muddy and puddly pathways which I embraced by slopping through and splashing in, all the while taking in the sights and sounds of spring.   The birds, ducks and geese are quite entertaining these days with all their flirting and one can get a good fill of that at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, which is where I went on this day.  At this time of year, with each day, come new arrivals.  I follow eBird to see what others are seeing with hopes I will see what they ..read more

The sun was barely up and what was left of Monday's full moon was working its way down through the clouds.  This was the view in front of me as I left the parking lot at Glenbow Ranch.  Earlier this month, I hiked westerly from the parking lot, this time I veered south at the junction and eventually aimed east.  I enjoyed a quick descent along the paved path to the junction for Yodel then ascended on packed snow to the ridge.   It's at the top of Yodel where I could see forever.  Two missions I wanted to accomplish today, other than hiking, were to capture photos o ..read more

This "wave of winter" created many waves over the past number of days!  The new snow was so brilliantly bright!  It beckoned me to wander through each wave!  On a beautiful spring day like this day, I have never wandered through so much snow at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.  It was easily swishable and being the first one there, I swished lots!  You can see my faint trail to the left of the sign.   in the face of a wintry spring kick-off this deer sports flakes of snow on its nose in the face of a wintry spring kick-off this Black Capped Chickadee sports flakes ..read more