WWC: Time & Place

Before we get to the WWC, I have a story! I may have told you and shown the bruises from the last couple of times I tripped over the speed bumps in the driveways of the complex. Each time was just after I had received my new sleeve for my lymphatic arm. Well, I am a couple of months into my third sleeve and I have been being really careful - obviously not careful enough though. Last Wednesday I hit the pavement knees first for the third time on dry pavement. This time, I fell off of the curb. I had glanced over my shoulder and when I turned to see if I had actually seen what I thought I had seen, I knew better than to continue walking, so stopped. I even looked at the ground to see where I had stopped, safely back from the curb. Then I took a step forward and my heel caught in the broken curb just as my dicey hip gave out and next thing - I was on my face on the pavement. I went to the Dr. today, because I think this time my knees had had enough and I did some damage. Yes, he said, go get an x-ray, you may have cracked the top of the tibia, where it joins the patella (shin bone, kneecap). He didn't seem concerned enough though to recommend I keep weight off of it or go get a brace or rush right back here with the x-rays. I went this evening and had the pictures taken and the tech said it will take 3-5 days to get them to my Dr. It hurts when I walk, sends me through the roof if I brush against it and by days end, it just hurts. The best case is that I have just bruised the tendons that hold the kneecap to the shin bone, either way, shouldn't I be wrapping it or something? I sometimes really hate my Dr.

********

So, on to the WWC. This weeks words are Time and Place and are brought to us by the lovely & chivalrous Tink of Pickled Beef.


Still on daylight savings time


Time to do dishes


Time to do laundry too


Not quite time to turn white though


The best time of the evening


Place across the street


Place for my wireless


Place for my files


Place for my keyboard


Place for my ancestors (photo courtesy of the Bag Lady)


Have a good day all.

MTM: Dunvegan Provincial Park

Peace River Valley at Dunvegan (North side)

Flickr photo by: Skylinejunkie

Dunvegan Park! Just the name brings back memories of day trips and picnics, hot sun beating down on our (still blonde) heads. Climbing the hill on the other side of the hwy, because we were following our older brothers and cousins who were much more adventurous than us girls. Of course, one of them then had to go get dad, because we couldn't/wouldn't go down by ourselves. It was steep! I think I was 6 or 7 and Sis would have been just a little bit older.

Yeah, as an adult, it looks really tame now. This is not exactly where we climbed, but the only photo I could find. For some reason I have only two photos that I can say for sure are Dunvegan and as an adult, I drove over that bridge at least six times a month for fours years. I suppose you get complacent about things you see all the time. I always marveled at the beauty, but didn't often stop to take the photo.


View Larger Map

I was raised in Grande Prairie and then I worked in Peace River for four years. I would usually go home on my days off which meant driving through this valley. Trust me in winter those hills can be scary as hell. I worked shift work and would leave at 08.00 after my night shift was over. It takes about an hour to get to the bridge and one fall morning, it was crisp and clear as a bell, which experience has taught me will mean fog in the river valley. The area on both sides of the valley is fairly flat & you can see for miles, but just before the valley there is a little rise in the ground before you head downhill. I came over the rise that morning to see the entire river valley shrouded in fog from bank to bank and yet clear all the way across the top. It was as though the valley had been filled in with cotton and you could drive right over it to the other side. About half way down the hill, you broke out of the fog and it was clear again until half way up the other side. It was, I think the most surreal driving experience I have had in my life.

Another photo again from the North side, but in summer.

Flickr photo by: Little Black Sheep's Photos

Enough reminiscing, Dunvegan Provincial Park is an historical site. It was a fur trading post and mission site and one of the most significant sites on the Peace River.

The site of one of Alberta's earliest fur trade posts and missionary centres dating back to 1805. The Beaver Indians were some of the earliest inhabitants of the area with the first European explorers passing through in the 1700's. In 1805, Archibald Norman Macleod established a trading post naming it Fort Dunvegan, after his family's ancestral castle in Scotland. Dunvegan became a Hudson Bay Company post and operated until 1918. The Factor's House and the St. Charles Rectory and Church (1867) are the only two buildings remaining from that time.


Here and here are short articles about life and the history of the Fort at Dunvegan. This is a bit about the history of the Metis in the area and their relations with the Fort. (I am not sure if that word is commonly used elsewhere, Metis is a French word for mixed blood Indian.)

The demise of the Fort at Dunvegan came about by the establishment of trade at the town site of Peace River which sits at the junction of the Peace River and the Heart River. Dunvegan then became know for the market gardens that had been established during the days of being a Fort.

When we were kids being rescued off of hills, it was much less evolved than it is now. Now they have interpretive actors and guided tours. They have walking trails and campsites (it used to be day use only), boat launches have been upgraded and they have added some other amenities.

And yes, that is a suspension bridge you see in those photos. It is in fact the only suspension bridge in Alberta for automobiles. It replaced the ferry in 1960 and spans 2375 feet and is the fourth largest suspension bridge in Canada.

There have also been dinosaur tracks found along the banks of the river there.

One day, I will have to get back there and take some more photos, in the mean time click on the links and see the church and the beautiful painting inside. This one has great shots of the church.


Have a good day all.

My Town Monday is the invention of Travis Erwin, if you would like to read more about places all over the world drop by and click on all the many links.

Is Chivalry Dead?

Or is it just to embarrassed to be seen in public these days?

Tink over at Pickled Beef offered up a challenge, because she was feeling down about people in general behaving like self-centered boors.

The challenge is to do a chivalrous act sometime this weekend, some good deed that you don't expect reward or thanks for. Then either post about it or tell her about it in her comments on Monday.

I think this is a wonderful idea, because frankly I don't see a lot of people letting others in front of them in a grocery store line, or offering their seat on a bus, or holding open doors anymore.

I thought I would pass this along to the few readers I have that maybe don't also read her blog and maybe we can get a movement started and then maybe chivalry won't be so embarrassed.

So, do a good deed, something kind, hold a door open whatever you fancy and let Tink or me know. You won't win anything, but I'll bet you feel a bit better about yourself after.

Have a good weekend all.

P.S. To read a wonderful post about my new hero Casey go to Knight's Blog.

Random Friday

Just some photos that I didn't get put up anywhere else that I thought I would share. Please click to enlarge.

I really like this with the baby on the back of mommy. This was at the zoo and daddy kept charging the glass walls. It took us a while to see the baby and figure out what daddy was up to.


This was at the zoo too, right around the birds of prey... cocky little bugger!

My Sibu, loves the spruce trees.

Fall is here.


He loves to eat grass.


The only way we see red in the autumn around here is if people plant maples in their yards.


This is what you get when I get up in the mornings.


This is outside a grocery store in Hinton.


This was pulled for my sister's garden.


This was from a backyard in the neighbourhood.


Have a good weekend all.

WWC: Primitive & Modern

Ha, you all thought I forgot! No, I am just slow, everything kept freezing up last night, so I gave in and called it a night.

The Weekly Word Challenge is hosted by the charming Tink of Pickled Beef and this weeks words are Primitive and Modern. Very interesting words to interpret as they encompass such broad descriptions. For example the term "Modern" was invented in the 16th century and "Primitive" can encompass everything from biology to machine code or the computer sitting on your desk right now ;) * sigh * certainly mine!


Here we go, click to enlarge any photo.

Primitive construction with farm tools & wagon wheels

Primitive farm equipment & wagon wheel

Primitive flute - stamped "Aloha Hawaii" and "Japan" C.197whenevermom&dadwenttoHawaii

Modern art, Primitive materials

Modern glass works

Modern blown glass

Modern sculpture

Primitive design on Modern materials

I hope you enjoyed. Have a good day all.

MTM: Valley Zoo

I must confess that I am torn as to how to write this post. Part of me doesn't like the idea of zoos while another part appreciates the opportunity to see wildlife that I would never otherwise get a chance to see. Zoos are also taking a hand in the preservation of many species that would otherwise be extinct in short order at the rate man is eating up the resources of this world.

Edmonton's Zoo is located on 5 acres in the river valley, hence the name Valley Zoo. Back in 1959 (gee that year sounds familiar) when I was born it was started, it was called the Storyland Valley Zoo. It was mostly a petting zoo and remnants of that are still there to be found:



Over the years, the zoo has evolved as most everything does and is now an educational facility as well. In 1992 it joined the international Species Survival Plan and is involved in programs for: Grevy's Zebra; Snow Leopards; Red Pandas; Siberian (Amur) Tigers & Goeldi's Monkeys.


The Valley Zoo is owned and operated by the City of Edmonton and in 2005 the city approved a master plan to revitalize and provide continuing developments to the zoo over the next 10 years. I can only hope that this means massive improvements to some of the enclosures, because frankly some of them are just sad right now.


Most of the birds at the zoo have arrived through rehabilitation programs & they put on a demonstration with the birds of prey during the summer months. The zoo partners with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton to preserve wildlife through education programs and events throughout the Edmonton area.



Lucy, is our very own artist in residence and she does some very interesting stuff. All the proceeds from her art sales goes right back into projects at the zoo. Needless to say the first and most impressive improvement was the elephant house.


As far as zoos go, the Valley Zoo is quite a young entity and we can only hope that the rising construction costs in this area will not put and end to the planned improvements. It was a wonderful morning to visit, but some of the exhibits were a bit disturbing as to their size.

Click on any of the photo mosaics, or you can drop by my Flickr site to see each photo. I will try to get them identified tonight. I unfortunately didn't get photos of everything (darned near though) and some of those I did get are not great - chain link and glass do interfere somewhat.


Have a good Monday all.

Photos from the Ranch

Last week, as you may remember, I went with some friends to visit my sister the Bag Lady, who ranches a bit further North in AB than where I live. These are just some random photos I took around the ranch before we got soaked walking through the pasture meeting the cows.

Click to enlarge.


I found this weed pretty. Purple Loostrife


It has been a bit wet.


Apparently this is a noxious weed. Or not


As I said, a bit wet.


This is from her Clematis.


A lone Viola, still blooming.


Remember, I said wet.


A lone sentinel in the pasture.


I couldn't leave you without a calf.


I think this is Pegasus. Sis will correct me if I am wrong though. Yes, it is.

Thanks Sis! I just remembered to put in the link too, I think I got distracted earlier.

Have a good day all.

Tag! I'm it!

First off, I must apologize to Hebba for taking so long to answer her challenge. Way back at the beginning of September Hebba from Jeep Girl 17 tagged me for this little game started by Being Brazen.

I'm supposed to name 5 things that I'm currently addicted to and then tag 2 more people.

What only Five! Well, okay here goes:

1. Coca-Cola - "it's the real thing", "things go better with" and all the other slogans they came up with just wormed their way into my heart and onto my tastebuds and I can't shake them. I don't want to either!

2. My camera! My preciousss! I have rediscovered the joy of capturing the beautiful and bizarre and recording it for posterity.

3. Reading. Anything, blogs, books, magazines, just following links in Wikipedia from page to page and learning things I didn't know before.

4. My computer, which encompasses blogging, learning new things, emails. Google Earth lets you can look at other peoples photos of different places in the world and see how pretty and different things are and opens up your imagination.

5. Smoking! Yes! I saved it for last, because it is the worst and I am trying very hard to shake the demon from my back. I will rid myself of it one day - hopefully soon.


There they are, now I have to tag two people...um, lets see. I usually wimp out on this and let people that read do it if they choose to, so this time I think I will pick the letter "J". If anyone has the letter "J" in any part of their real names (and some of you do and I know who you are) why don't you do this meme. And if that is more than two, well and good.

Have a good day all! ;)

WWC: Male & Female

It is Tuesday and that means Weekly Word Challenge time! As you all know Tink from Pickled Beef is our hostess for this little bit of fun we have, but some of you may regret her timing for the words MALE and FEMALE. You see, I just took a little road trip up to see my sister (the Bag Lady) and ...well, see for yourself: (click to enlarge if you dare!)

We stopped at Rochfort Bridge for a break - good thing I had the camera.

Female
Male

We also met this very friendly, obviously male dog while there. (My female friend petting him)

My sister's dog, is also quite obviously female..... yeah, it gets worse.

My sis lives on a cattle ranch...this is a female.

The one in the foreground is quite certainly a male!

Female outlet.

Male bike, although it is ridden by a female (me).


Trying to get a photo of the power cord, I guess Sibu decided he had to show that he could be included too under the "no longer" male category.

Here is the cord, one end male, one end female.

The female socket of a lamp. (converted from an old oil lamp)

Light bulbs have male ends.


Thus ends the torture. Hope you all enjoyed! Odin, I am sick aren't I?

If you want to join the fun go see Tink at the link above.

Have a good day all.