Out and About

Today I went for a drive, it's so beautiful out in the country. 

It's warmed up a bit here, that "feels like" -40 weather we were having is horrid! 

When I got back into the city I went to meet some of my family and on 

the way there I spotted this old truck which I love! 

 I'm posting one photo in black and white...

And this one just because I like how the edits turned out...

It's funny how some things in life are;

I take a photo and make it look similar to a painting,

some painters paint a picture to make it look like

a photo... interesting isn't it? 

Pass

Today I was out shopping with my nephew, he picked this up...

I think I'll pass! 

I've been busy writing, editing, and submitting all that was required

to apply for the Masters program. It's a done deal and everything 

has been submitted except...

The final official transcript, someone somewhere made 

a huge error, the University of Calgary wants my transcripts from the 

University of Saskatchewan... I've never been to this uni and I sure

hope they have this rectified by morning; tomorrow ALL documents 

have to be in, nothing is accepted after tomorrow. 

What will be will be, but if this is going to hold me

back from my application being reviewed someone will

hear about this; and no not just my blogger friends! lol 

Winter In My Town

Old Man Winter has reared his cold side once again. It's been freezing 

cold here this past few days, today it was so cold that one of my 

friends status on his facebook read: 

"Its so frosty out there for a second i thought i was married again..."
Yup, it's been just that darned cold! 

With the windchill today it was about -28, if not a bit colder. I feel

for some people who have not had the snow removed from

their streets, my sister is on one of those streets. 

I went out for a drive just outside of the city and here's

what it looked like in the country...

I wasn't taking my DSLR out in this weather, so any photos I'm shooting

over the next few days if they're outdoors they'll be shot with my 

phone. First off it's too cold on the fingers, secondly I tend to baby

my camera a wee bit and I think that when it's this cold, my baby can

stay at home where it's nice and warm. 

Here's to hoping this cold snap is short lived! 

Ice on Whyte in the Daylight

I went back to the Ice on Whyte festival today to capture daytime photos,

here's a few of them...

I found a turtle! 



There were two 3rd place winners, this one...

and this one also placed 3rd...

I'm not sure which ones took first and second but I love this one...

And one final photo...

And there you have it, my visits to the Ice on Whyte Festival,

 one in the daylight

and the other at night (yesterdays post).



Ice on Whyte

Each year there is an Ice on Whyte Festival in our city; it's just off one 

of our main avenues which is called Whyte Ave, hence Ice on Whyte. 

Tonight I went down to the festival, not all of the ice sculptures

are finished, they are a work in progress but I captured

a few of the works of art. 

This is my favorite...

The detail which goes into some of these ice 

sculptures is phenomenal. 

Look at the leaves, it's unreal how detailed they are. 

There's something for all ages to see, this giraffe is in the children's area...

Not all of the sculptures were quite done, yet it's amazing to learn 

that the artists transform 10 blocks of ice into works of art in only 

35 hours. The judging is tomorrow so maybe I'll return to check out the

 winner and see what I can capture in the daylight. Maybe by then this 

lady will have her face and arm finished. 

And who thought winter was boring? It's cold...

 but boring? Far from it!  Don't get me wrong, I'd

much rather be on the beaches someplace tropical

but when life gives you lemons, why not make lemonade? 

It's Here!

I've received my 3rd year blog book and I'm just as impressed with the

 quality of workmanship in this one as I have been with the other 

2 years I've had printed out. 

Front 

Back

 and a wee bit of a glimpse into the book itself. 

This has to be one of the best ways to keep track of what I've done 

throughout a year, I know one thing is for certain, last year is going to be

 a tough one to top! At this time last year I was busy getting lost in

Australia, today I'm sitting in the middle of winter enjoying some

me time, which is nice for a change I must admit. 

Tonight the official application went in for the Masters program,

yup, I must be a wee bit nuts to want to continue on with more studies,

but time will tell, and finishing up one small essay, if I get into

more studies. What is meant to be will be. 

Awesome Update

On Tuesday morning I was up with the birds, well the birds which are

 brave enough to face this cold! I went to pick up my niece and 

Awesome Austin (aka Iron Man) to take them to  the hospital for a serious of 
weekly tests Austin has to go through. 

The tests, conversations, and visits lasted for about 4 hours. While my 

niece was talking to one of the doctors I played tic tac toe with 

Austin and he beat me, fair and square!  Austin is doing extremely well, 
the doctor is impressed with how far Austinhas come in such a short period 
of time, and when I look at Austin it's hard to believe he had a heart 
transplant only 3 short weeks ago, never mind everything else this 
young man has endured. 

I have learned so much through Austin;  never once did he question why me,
 or why God allowed this to happen, he did however say he loved God 
just before he went in for surgery after he had his stroke... 
through the eyes and innocence of a child there are many lessons.

"While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about." 
~Angela Schwindt

Bannock

It's been literally years since I've attempted to cook bannock, so tonight out came the 

cookbook and I attempted it. The first batch wasn't very good at all, me and my 

brilliance decided to post on facebook that I was looking for a good bannock recipe 

and this started a cascade of responses. I tried one of the recipes passed on to me and

it's delicious! I don't have any home-made Saskatoon jam on hand so I bought some

today; this is absolutely the best way to eat bannock in my opinion. 

Try and Try Again

My Aunt I went to visit this past weekend makes the most amazing bread,

 she shared her recipe with me so today I attempted to make cinnamon buns.

They tasted really good coming hot and fresh out of the oven, 

so I iced them. 

After the buns cooled I tasted them again and

they were heavy. I'm not giving up though, I'll

try and try again until I get nice, light, fluffy buns! 

Going Home

This past weekend I went home, out to a small town located in Northern Alberta. 
A friend of mine was going that way so I hitched a ride. My Auntie 
lives out in the country, I went and spent my weekend with her and 
my cousins and I had a wonderful time visiting. I haven't been home 
for many, many years and I felt right at home. Being on the farm is 
so peaceful; the feel and smell of the wood fire warming the house, 
the smell of fresh bread baking and the laughter makes me wonder 
why I don't go home more often. 

It was so cold in the country that I spent most of my time indoors 
enjoying the company and catching up. However, I did venture out,
 boldly facing the cold, even if only to snap a few photos; I didn't want 
my country folk to think that I've totally turned city! 

No I didn't chop wood, but the woodshed made for a nice photo. 

I didn't feed the cows, but I went out to take photos at feeding time. 

I did pet this beautiful horse, Tom is part of the new team. 

Nope, I didn't hitch up the wagon...

I went out to take photos of the Blue Jays though, and

wouldn't you just know it, these birds who were non-stop around

the bird feeder took off when I went out. The minute I was 

back in the house there they were back at the feeder... some

days are just like that. 

And after the visit we headed for home...

...with me thinking, maybe I am a little more city than I care to

admit. But I know without a doubt the saying "You can take

the girl out of the country, but you can't take the 

country out of the girl" rings true with me. 

Just Because

Tonight a friend came over for dinner, this friend I've known since we were 

small children. We lived in the same neighbourhood, knew the same families 

and had a lot of common friends. This was many years ago and even though 

years have passed and we never kept in touch, it's like the 
conversation never stopped; as he said it's a lifelong 

conversation. I like how he phrased this...with some people it's
 like this in life, the same comfort zone is there, the familiarity and the
 friendship seem to blossom even though years have passed. 

 I smiled when he showed up at my door, he brought me some just 
because flowers. Just because flowers have to be the most 
beautiful flowers a girl can get. It could be just because we're 
friends I got flowers, or just because I invited him 

for dinner, or it could be just because... whatever the just 
because is who cares... I love these flowers just because. 

I'm heading out of town for the weekend and I'm not sure

if there's internet where I'm headed, so I might be playing

catch up on Monday. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

It's a Small World After All

Today I had the honour and the pleasure of meeting a fellow blogger 

in person. I've been connected to 'Flora' for at least two years, 

if not longer, and she's a beautiful lady through and through.  

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting for a cuppa coffee, and her company; 

the time whooshed on by... you know how time flies

when you're enjoying yourself?  

From connecting via blogger, to sharing the occasional email, we

finally met; it really is a small world after all isn't it? If you missed the

link above, you can connect with 'Flora' by clicking on her name, it's

worth the trip over to her blog, as I mentioned previously, she's a beautiful

lady with a kind heart. Thank you Bev, happy trails to you, and I look

forward to meeting again in the future. 

Need Color

Even though today was a beautiful day, it was around 5c and

melting, I stayed indoors the entire day. I've been working

on this application for university and can't figure out where

to put the blood, sweat and tears which will be required

to do the Masters! Tonight I need to see color, so color it is...

...and just like that I have color in my world. 

If only everything in life were this easy, mind 

you it can be if I quit complicating matters. 

Ahhhh tomorrow is a brand new day with a new

beginning, for this I am grateful. 

Traveling Stones

I'm not sure if any of you remember this post from October 12th, 2012... 
I'll just repost it to refresh your memory, or share it if you missed it.

The Game

Tonight I went to a fund raiser dinner, at this dinner they were selling small boxes and whoever bought one was told not to open it until we were instructed to do so. I was curious what was in the boxes, but I never peeked, not even once.  Sure I felt the weight of not only my two boxes, I also felt the weight of others boxes. I had one box which was really light and the other was a bit heavier. 

After dinner and a guest speaker it was time for the game. We all opened our boxes and everyone who had a pink pearl was told to sit down. 

As you can see I had a pink pearl BUT I had a second box so I stayed standing. The next to be eliminated was the black pearl, no black pearl here. The third was the purple stone, I had been eliminated and took my seat. There was one more round of eliminations and this left one gentleman standing, he was the winner....

This is where I came up with an idea... I know scary when I start to formulate ideas isn't it? I decided to start a journey with these stones, I would love to see how far these can make it across the world, where they may end up, and this is to be done via snail mail, or traveling to another country they can accompany the one in possession of these rocks, but they must be left in the new country with a blogger friend. The blogging idea is to share where these stones travel to. 

So far Saz has had these stones in England, she was in Scotland at the time I mailed these to her, but I sent them from Canada to England knowing she would get these. 

You can view Saz's post about these stones by clicking on this link
http://dormy-365challenge.blogspot.ca/2012/11/look-what-arrived.html

From Saz in England these stones went to visit Red in Australia.

  Red has posted about these and has shot some beautiful photos of these stones in the Adelaide Hills. 
Adelaide was where I was based out of last year when I went to Australia! Small world. 

Thank you Saz, and thank you Red for sharing and taking part in the 
Journey of the Stones! 

New Bosch in Town

 I'm not a coffee drinker but one day I tasted a latte at my son's 

place and loved it, the result ... 

...a Tassimo. I love the Caramel Espresso, the Vanilla Espresso

is heavenly with extra water added, I don't care much for their hot 

chocolate, and still have tea as well as a few other flavors to try. 

I think I'd best wait until tomorrow though, if I have another coffee 

tonight I won't get any sleep. 

Belly Dancing

No, not me! Today was a day I was more than happy to be behind the 

camera, I went to shoot photos at a Belly Dance studio.

This is one of the instructors, it was fascinating to watch her dance;

it almost made me want to learn how to belly dance! 

Such a pretty lady...

In action

Dancing the night away...

Yup, it sure was interesting to watch belly dancers, 

what was more interesting was trying to shoot action shots

indoors without a flash. Sure I had to do some edits, but all 

in all I'm pleased with how some of my shots turned out. 

Winter Wonderland

This Japanese quote is lovely, but walking in this winter wonderland 

which I call home I think that it may take a few more than just the one kind 

word to warm my winter months!

Awesome Austin Update

Yesterday Austin was discharged from the hospital! This is such a blessing 

and miracle after all he's been through; what shocks me is it's only 11 

days after his heart transplant. Austin is now on his road  to recovery. 

This photo I borrowed from my niece, she took the photo yesterday as 

Austin walked out of the paediatrics unit hand in hand with is daddy,

 hopefully for the last time.  

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life! 

                                                                                             ~Albert Einstein

There will be ongoing tests to endure; a biopsy at the end of the month, 

blood work, therapy, and who knows what else, but thank God Austin is

doing so amazingly well and walking hand in hand with his loving parents

into their tomorrows. 

Thank you all for your prayers, encouraging words and support and 

tonight I thank God for blessing Austin's young life. 

Day Off

My son had a day off today so I invited him over for dinner. I wanted to 

make something simple, quick and easy. What I chose isn't so quick but it's

 an easy dish, so lasagna it was.

 Lasagna, Caesar salad and garlic toast made for a good feed, what makes

a meal enjoyable for me is breaking bread with someone I love.

Packing Up

Today it was time to pack up Christmas for another season, generally

 I don't take my tree down until after Ukrainian Christmas which is 

January 7th and today I was in no mode to leave my house so packing 

up Christmas is a done deal. 

Now the house feels bare, clean but bare 

and it's time to start to think about what I'm going to do this year. 

Last year will be a tough act to follow with my Australia trip, 

receiving my degree and everything else which transpired; 

nonetheless I know it's going to be a fantastic year and 

what is meant to be will be. 

Ahhhh, so relaxing

This Christmas I had a very nice surprise, I received a gift certificate in 

my email inbox for an afternoon of pampering and today I indulged. 

The establishment I went to is the Kaya Kama. Immediately 

I was impressed with the decor, the room set aside for filling

out paperwork and such is still set up for Christmas and 

has a very relaxing feeling to it.  The decor of the entire place is

very impressive, so welcoming and relaxing. 

The first hour of my pampering included the Hammam/Gommage treatment.

 Hammam in a nutshell a steam bath where the 'body is heated up 

slowly to a temperature of maximum 50 degrees C.' 

After the steam I chose Gommage, this is exfoliation and a 

cleansing of the skin. My skin is so soft now, what an experience this was!

Next it was off to the massage room where I had a wonderful hour

long massage. Naturally I didn't take my phone in with me to take photos, 

I was relaxing and don't want to get my phone wet. 

Two thumbs up! This is a must try experience if you've never

tried the Hammam/Grommage before, give it a shot, you just

might find you enjoy it! 

Winter in Alberta

Not too far from my place is a small man made lake and I love

 what  they do with it in the winter...

They turn it into a skating rink and part of it is used for

children to play hockey on. When I stopped by there today

there was two young boys and their father out there 

with shovels clearing the ice, then I imagine it was game on! 

This could easily be where some future NHL hockey player

gets his start; Wayne Gretzky began this way as a youngster, his father

used to take him out to a backyard rink where 'The Great One' began

to hone his hockey skills. Sure not all backyard players will be

the next Gretzky, but it's awesome to watch the children out

on the ice having some fun versus sitting indoors on electronic gadgets! 

Winter in Alberta doesn't have to be boring or keep

us indoors, we find things to do. I'm hoping to make it 

out to the farm in the near future, get out the skidoo

and have me some fun!