Gideon Homestead

The Northern Alberta trip contained a number of really terrific photographs  .. I just pulled 21 more from the files.  In order to not overly tax your download times, I'll break them up a bit.

This batch was taken around Ralph and Debbie's wonderful yard which had been accessorized with plenty of floral options for the wedding.  Debbie lacks a green thumb, she says, but I'm pretty sure she and Ralph have a handle on natural beauty.

This is the Gideon front porch with a view of the extensive deck

Just across the drive from the house sits the original Halcourt blacksmith shop.  This building oozes character
and it home to two litters of kittens and their mothers, including one very friendly cat who craves pets ..
but only if she can have them at the front door, thanks very much.

One basket of flowers .. two treatments.  This hanging arrangement was on the back of the blacksmith shop.

Ralph is plenty proud of managing to get his name on his farm address sign.  In rural areas, its often necessary
to have farms identified by a numbered address in the event that emergency vehicles need to find the place.

The sandbox and little red wagon create a warm vignette of childhood

The waterpump fountain creates a focal point in a shady area of the yard

Ralph and Debbie .. thank you again for the amazing time and the warm reception you gave us.  We felt welcome and included in all the activities over the weekend.  Debbie, I hope those shoes didn't leave lasting damage!

July Garden

I was out weeding my garden the other day and yes, that's probably momentous news, given how often I actually get to it.  Given a choice, however, between a vacuum or a lawn mower, dusting or weeding, you'll find me outside clipping, trimming, weeding and getting a tan.

I shot some pictures of my early July garden to share with you.  The lilies are just coming into bloom and I'm while a couple of the smaller varieties are showing off, I'm waiting for the Casablanca lily to fill the neighborhood with its gorgeous smells.  In the meantime, the double mock orange is the darling of the backyard.  Our balcony sits right above these two shrubs so we get the beautiful fragrance all day long.

Double Mock Orange
We really do get blue skies out here .. sometimes!

It's hard to clean up the yard when things look this beautiful.

The lily garden is my favorite flower bed.

The Hansa Rose is the queen of the lower garden this time of year.

This is our 'lower 40'

Interests

As I was going through some recent personal stuff for my mother, one of the things that struck me was that we often don't know the things that make other people squee with excitement, make them happy to watch or particpate in, the things that pique their interest or simply make them smile.

I thought I'd create an "I like" portion of my blog for those times when I'm lacking other creative drives .. something we can chat about or you can say to yourself .. "omg .. me too!"

I started googling images of something that makes me happy in the morning ... fun salt and pepper shakers.  I own none of these, but hey .. if you happen to need to send me something for oh, say .. my birthday or just because its Tuesday and you like me ... here ya go.  Any of these would make my day.

Some are nautical in nature, some harken back to my days on the farm, some are colorful .. a few are sleek and others just made me smile.

On the water

The last couple of weeks have been spent getting ready for the Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival, which is, without a doubt, the nicest venue I've seen all in my years of padding -- and I've been doing it for a great number of years.  This festival, the KVL Kruisers are hosting Namaxsala mixed team out of Port Hardy and  Alert Bay ... if it turns out like other teams where I've participated in the hosting program ... this could turn into lasting friendships.  Its wonderful to travel to other venues and meet up with friends who you've not seen since the previous year.

In other dragon boat news, I rather thought Bruce was shitting me when he told me that William and Kate would be taking part in a dragon boat race.  After all, its a stroke that takes quite a long time to get right .. that, and Bruce is prone to pulling my leg -- oh hell, anyone's leg.  So yea, I call "bullshit" a lot.  It wasn't until my Aunt Sandy sent me a note that I checked in on the Royal tour and sure enough .. there they are. 

I'm impressed with how well Kate fits in wherever she goes ... doesn't seem to be 'trying' to be normal .. she just 'is.'  I'm also impressed with how much time in their schedule these two have made for ordinary things.  Should be a new huge group of monarchy enthusiasts after this visit.