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

????? Even though it was a Monday, I ventured down the Deerfoot 500 to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. We were being presented with a wonderful weather window which I wanted to wander around in before being hit with a weather whiplash.  Even though it was a Monday morning, I took the chance then breathed a sign of relief after driving for 45 minutes in rush hour traffic to cover only 12 kilometres. Whew!  Sigh!  Just breathe! Listen..... to the Robin singing a welcoming tune!  This was my first Robin sighting of the season!    a Male Hairy Woodpecker the red m ..read more

It felt like time to take a break from all the full moon paintings I have been doing lately and paint a little splash of cheer as an introduction to this blog post.  After completing this piece, I noticed I'm still in the full circle frame of mind.  It was a fun project to work on and took no time at all.  I opted to use the computer to put the words inside the circles.  My printing is sketchy and I did not want to take the chance of making a mess of the whole thing.  I used a new brush, called a Dagger Striper, to paint the leaves.  I don't always take photos whe ..read more

So far this year I virtually floated down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA and I virtually hiked trails in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada.  The time has come to virtually head back down under!  If you have been following my blog for a couple of years, then you are familiar with my 2022 Virtual Challenge.  For that year, I designed my own route for the Conquer 2022 Challenge.  I called it the "Aussie Coastal Bushwalk".  It was a distance of 2022 kms, from the start in the north to the finish in the south, along the eastern coast of Austral ..read more

Well, that's a wrap!  Since returning from Lake Louise on Saturday, I have been watching the weather wondering would I get to skate locally again this season.  While the skating site says the lagoon and trail are still open, my interest has wained when I see the plus double digit temperatures with sunshine.  Today, I hung up my skates for this season!     A few days ago, my medal for completing the Banff Virtual Challenge arrived. Most of the kilometres for this challenge were gained by skating.  I thought it appropriate to display the medal with its ribbon ..read more