Blog 14 of August

This is the last Friday of August 2013.

Had a wonderful start to the day.  Rose and I visited the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park this morning with our bikes.  What a workout.  I found it much more difficult than walking the route.  We did pretty good on the hills, but that will be my goal, to make it up the steep hills without walking up the bike.  To be sure though, walking up those hills pushing a big ole' mountain bike was also good exercise.

The view from this park is just spectacular.

This is the start of our trail ride. Thank goodness Rose knows how to take the selfie shots.  There was nobody else on the trails when we started.

The clouds painted an awesome, yet auspicious picture in the sky.  It's almost like a Chinook arch mixed with a array of storm clouds coming in. Somewhere in the picture is the train going through as well.

Rose saw a deer, and otherwise it was just cows and horses that were keeping us company.

So 10 km later, we were still smiling, but the jackets had come off and our cheeks were a little "rosier".
I can't wait to do this park again, either walking or riding.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet and calm in comparison.  I made a quick trip to Canadian Tire for a sleeping mat to put under my sleeping bag.  The Kidney March is exactly one week from today.  I'm very excited.  I will start doing the sun dance and hopefully keep rain and or snow away.....

I also stopped in at Future Shop.  I am looking for an IPad cover.  I have a vision of what I want, but haven't been able to locate the exact "case" I want.  Future Shop didn't have what I was looking for, so I guess the search is still on going.

Bill and I spent the afternoon putting the new cover and lid lifter on the hot tub.  The tub is up and running and if the wind calms down, I think I just might be heading out there tonight, under the stars with a nice glass of wine (or water).
Happy Friday.
Stacey

Blog 13 of August

Happy Hump Day - Yes it's Wednesday and it is almost the end of August.

Here are some sure tale signs that summer is coming to an end. Or as I like to call it:  "The Top Ten Signs" you can tell summer is coming to an end.

1)  I seen 8 Canada Geese flying south yesterday, and they weren't very organized - I guess the leader hadn't quite been selected yet.
2)  Patrick and his friends are packing and heading out to their respective school and or jobs.
3)  The firewood under the deck needs replenishing.
4)  Spruce Meadows Masters is just days away.
5)  Mom has decided it would be a good time to look for white sandals, because they should be on sale.
6)  Rose and I can't start our morning walks at 6:00 a.m. because it is way to dark out to be walking in the ravine!
7)  The backyard is starting to fill up  with leaves from the golf course trees
8)  Driving with the roof down in the bullet, first thing in the morning, can get a little chilly.
9)  I seen a rabbit, with a very white tale......
10)  I have time to call the radio stations again.... and win!!!!!

  I really did see the Geese flying yesterday, and I swear they were heading for Chinook.
Patrick has the suitcase out and adding things as they become clean.  He leaves Sunday morning.
Ashley is back to working weekends for the next little while.  The Spruce Meadows Masters is the last major outdoor horse show in Calgary.
  It's Wednesday, and Mom really wants to go shoe shopping - for white sandals. I  tried to warn her that it might be next to impossible to find, but we'll try.
  And our walk got cancelled this morning, so I was cleaning the kitchen when I heard a contest on the radio.  I'm off to see War Horses at the Jubilee Auditorium , brought in by Broadway Across Canada.
  
I better get the rest of this day rolling.
Stacey

Blog 12 of August

What a roller-coaster weekend!   I can only describe the past weekend as being filled with so much, in such a short time frame.
  Friday night was the "Good-bye BBQ" for Patrick and his friends.  Without going into too much detail, (to protect the guilty), the evening ended with some very wet, some very loud, and a few boxer clad boys.  But I am proud to say despite the shenanigans, these are still a great group of young men (who I hope have learned some "take away lessons").
  Saturday was busy for everyone.  Ashley, Bill and Ethan participated in the Spartan Race being run in town.  Patrick went along as the official team photographer.

  This was the team.  My understanding is that Bill left the team in the dust and had to rely on the help of strangers for some of the more strenuous events.

  This was after the mud part of the race. 

 So while Bill and the kids were attending the race, I was off to my event. The 10th Anniversary of Reggaefest. Once again I was working in the "Green Room" - VIP section, where the performers hang out and eat and drink.   My original shift was from 2:00 until 6:30, but Jolene had some no shows for the evening shift so I stayed and helped out. I ended up working straight through til 11:30, but it was so worth it.   During the afternoon, the star, and main event attraction, Mr. Ky-mani Marley dropped by to eat, drink and whatever else one partakes in during Reggaefest!!!!  What a kind soul this man has, and so personal.  

  In fact, all the performers were so nice, as they are every year.    That was Saturday night.  So at the end of the evening, I hopped the C-Train and headed home.  Sunday was going to be another busy day.  It was Patrick's day to run the Spartan Race (he had done the same race up in Edmonton back in June.)  But now Bill and I headed to Banff.  We made plans to hike up Tunnel mountain and then a nice relaxing evening at the Banff Springs Hotel.

  This was the view from the summit of Tunnel Mountain.  That is the Banff Springs Golf Course in the back ground.  The entire hike took 2 1/2 hours (we were with a tour group, so we had a couple of breaks for talks)  Then we headed to the hotel. Our room wasn't quite ready, so we headed to the lounge for a drink and a bite to eat.

  Funny story.  As we were checking out the menu, I decided on a chicken burger and Bill decided on the mushroom burger.  I jokingly suggested he check to see if there was actual meat on the burger.  He didn't and there wasn't.  The burger contained to very large  Portabella mushrooms.  

The weather for the entire weekend was beautiful.  Hopefully it will last for the rest of the summer.

It's now Tuesday evening and I think I am finally starting to feel almost normal.  Note to self:  (or the morale of the story)  Don't try and cram so many activities into one weekend - I'm not getting any younger and sleep is my best friend.

  The rest of the week seems like a piece of cake in comparison to the weekend, but it is still a busy one.

Later

Stacey

Blog 11 of August

Came across another cute saying I seen on one of the radio stations pages.
Thank you for informing me you have a stick figure family of 5.  your mini-van had me under the impression you were wild and single;  ----------I'm sorry, but that's just too funny.

Thursday started with a great walk with the "walker/PREP ladies.  Gina took us to this great place called Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park.  We ended up walking around 9.5 km.  The view was amazing.  I had never heard of this park before.  At one point we came across this stone fireplace that was barricaded off.  It was from the original homestead.  Thanks for a great work out ladies.

  At 4:30, I met Ashley and we had a mani-pedi.  I wanted my nails done for Reggaefest and Ashley has a wedding next week in Ontario.  I go to New Wave Nails and they do a great job.

This is a result of Denise's free hand-i-work.  Her husband works there sometimes and he gives the best foot massage.

Friday was another beautiful day; weather has been co-operating.  Rose got home from Hawaii so I got my other walking partner back.  21 Days to the Kidney March.

Patrick is in the throngs of his final "hurrah" friends party.  Great group of people, but boy can they be loud. They've moved out to the fire pit so the house is a little quieter.  I'll be hitting the hay soon - Its Reggaefest tomorrow. Man

Stacey

Blog 10 of August

Finally, Mother Nature is giving us our summer weather.  Never too late.
Wednesday today, and tried to squeeze a whole lot of stuff into this midweek day.
Took Mom grocery shopping this morning.  She told me she had eaten breakfast before we left, but she sure was picking up a lot of munchie food.  After I got Mom's groceries put away, headed home with my own groceries.  Both Bill and Patrick arrived home shortly after me. (nothing like missing the chance to bring in the groceries from the car.)  Patrick quickly ate his breakfast and headed off to work, and Bill had the day off so he got out his toys - the lawn mower, the weed whacker and the grass blower (or in the winter we call it the snow blower).  After lunch, Bill headed to meet with a Realtor to check out some properties and then he was golfing for the rest of the day.
  I got to spend the afternoon waiting for Gienow to come and replace our "mucky" window.  A lot of condensation had built up.  They were fast and did an amazing job, considering the guy was on his phone about 5 different times.  They even brought in the vacuum and cleaned the mess on the inside.  I considered slipping him a couple of $20.00's to do the entire living room.....  Instead, I offered them a cold beverage and they headed on their way.
  Found a picture of one of my first loves and thought I would share the picture.

You never fall out of love with your first car.  This was my brand new Mazda GLC.  Bill and I were dating so it was between 1979 and 1985.  Bill went with me to pick out the car (it was his suggestion as well).  My Dad co-signed the loan with me.  I was working at Royal Trust at the time, so got a good deal on a loan rate.  I remember my Dad being dumbfounded that we had to pay for a passenger side rear view mirror.  In fact, I believe he ended up buying me one for my birthday. I had that car when Bill and I got married in 1985.  I parked it at Robin's house the day of the wedding and a couple of days later when I went to pick it up, it was filled with balloons and confetti, compliments of Robin and Peter and some "cousins" from Carmangay - you know who you are.  Years later when I sold the car, there was still confetti coming out of the front fans.

  Came across a great quote today>
"Your beliefs don't make you a better person, your behavior does."  Love it.
Enjoy a great Wednesday night
Stacey

Blog 9 of August

My poor Maya.
It was vet day today for Miss Maya.

She totally doesn't understand where she is going; even after we get the in car.  But as soon as I pull up to the office and open the car door; take Maya out, she makes a bee-line for the opposite direction of the Vet office.  She hasn't been there since last year.  And every year it is the same thing.  I finally get her in the waiting room and we are right on time.  I have learned not to arrive early with this one, because I spend any extra waiting time, coaxing her away from the door.  They bring out the baby scale to weigh her.  Not much change from last year 3.05 kg, or 6.7 lbs.  Then we are invited into the examining room.  It's a good 5 minutes before the vet comes in and in the meantime, Maya has literally shed .7 lb of hair.  I just gave her a bath the evening before and thought I had got most of the hair combed out.  But to prove a point, after the vet finished with her, I continued petting and scratching her, and no hair was falling out.  Note to self, don't get nervous and I shouldn't lose any hair!!!!!
  I had mentioned that Maya might be going to a kennel over Christmas so she got  Dog Cough vaccine, in addition to her rabies shot.  In dog years, she is over 40 now.  The vet found a heart murmur but said it probably wasn't much, but to monitor it and it looks like a small cataract might be setting in on one eye.
  To Bill's credit, when he got home for supper and I filled him in on the details, he told me to go ahead and get anything done that Maya needed.........?  I swear, he hadn't been drinking at work!!!!  I should have got it in writing in case I need it in the future.
  It's 7:00 pm and Maya is running around and playing and there are no side affects from the shots, the trauma or the fact, she didn't get to go for a long car ride.
  I spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry, making supper and baking a cake.  Our apple tree was full of apples again.  I picked them on Saturday and offered them to anyone who wanted.  Last year I made bags and bags or applesauce.  Ashley was kind enough to take some of the apples this morning to give to the horses she will be riding today.    I might have to make a couple of pies with the remainder.  But I did find a cake recipe for the applesauce from last year.  I used pecan and walnuts.  Bill loved it and I enjoyed it as well.  It was so moist and not sweet at all.  Will definitely be making this one again.

Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cake

By Mareesme

Total Time: 40 minutes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time:30 minutes

Mareesme's Note:
At last, an easy-to-make "scratch" cake recipe that does not need frosting! Recipe has been modified from one given to me by a friend y ...

Ingredients:

Serves: 12Yield:
1
cake Units: US | Metric
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups applesauce
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Directions:

1Grease and flour a 13x 9" baking pan.
2In large mixing bowl, mix oil and 1 1/2 c sugar.
3Add beaten eggs, flour (no need to sift), cinnamon, salt, applesauce, baking soda and cocoa and mix until well-blended.
4Pour into pan and sprinkle with 1 1/2 T sugar, nuts (chopped walnuts or pecans) and 3/4 C chocolate chips.
5Bake at 350 dg. for 30-40 mins, until top springs back when touched, covering with foil if top gets too brown.
6Moist and delicious

So Bill has gone golfing, Patrick is at the gym, the other two won't be home tonight.  Just me, Maya and the laundry. and of course you Blog!!!.

I almost want to start the Thank you Notes like Jimmy Fallon does on Late night.

Stacey

Blog 8 of August

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day for a ride in the bullett. In the afternoon, Bill and I took a drive to the Marda Loop Mardi Gras Festival. They had some fun acts.  We got to see James Jordan, the Magicia, and not only was he an amazing magician, but he comedy through-out the show was funny.  There was a pet pageant, and had I know about that ahead of time, I think Maya has enough outfits that she could have made the show and even ribboned out.  After we finished walking around and taking in the sites, Bill suggested we head over to Peter's Drive in.  We picked up some food and made our way to Crescent Height Hills - our old stomping/make-out grounds.  The view gets me every time.
  Our evening was a little quiet.  Bill did his golfing and the three kids went out for dinner (Kinjo's) when they found out Dad and I had already eating at Peter's.  After they got back, we watched a Shaw on Demand movie ' Identity Theft."  It was OK.  With all the hype it had received at the box office, I guess I expected more.
  Morning morning my Honda had a date with the dealership.  It as been feeling to me that the ride has been sluggish.  I drove it to the dealership by the dump, and then Jean and I walked back home.  I had mapped out the route and it was an 8.3 km walk.  It was during this walk that we came across this more unusual type of mushroom.

At first I thought it was a badminton birdie from it's shape.  Then maybe the bottom half of a real bird, because it almost looked feathery.  It was quite a size.  It's quite possible Smurfs are real, and we came across a new subdivision being set up. There were a few more.

I'll be sure to have my camera ready on the next walk, just to see if sister or papa smurf are near by.
  Jean and I finished up our walk in less than 2 hours and I was home, cleaned up and changed and ready for pick-up.  It was lunch time with the "walker" from PREP.  We met up at Earls.  It was nice to see old friends/colleagues and meet some of the new staff.  We missed seeing Barb N there, as she was in Regina preparing for her encounter with "Sir Paul McCartney."
  It wasn't until around 4:30 when the Honda Dealership called to tell me my car was ready for pickup.  Patrick was home from work by now, she he drove me and dropped me off (I think that is the first time I have ever driving with him in a very long time, and he actually is a very good driver.)
  Everyone was home for supper last night and I managed to finish up and get into bed at a reasonable hour.
  Today is Maya's check -up day.  She's happy now, but once she gets out of the vehicle and sees the Vet door, she'll be heading in another direction.
Later
Stacey