My Last Week In March.

So we have a great view from our office. I love the fact that the deer can come and check us out but can't get into the yard to eat our plants.

Ellie did a number on the spatula that Ruth used to make chocolate pudding.

I had to pull back in a hurry when she decided to lunge for the camera.

Two nights now this raccoon has evaded the trap. Got the bait both times. They are smart critters.

Daisy is not so smart. I caught her this afternoon. She had eaten the bait and was howling for about 20 minutes wanting out before I went around to that deck wondering what all the noise was about.

We started filling the pool on Friday. It should be done by Tuesday I hope.

 I had my Steinway action shipped into Kelowna from Germany last winter and Ruth thought I should save the crate in case I thought of a future use for it. I didn't but she did. She went out and bought a load of sand for the grand kids to have in their new German designed , German built sand box.

It's Been One Year This Weekend

We still find this hard to believe. Tracy was so young and full of life.

Last year a group of us got together and bought this bench in memory of Tracy and had it placed on a Canyon Trail that has a view of Layer Cake Mountain. Tracy loved this hike and the view of the  Mountain.

So this morning Ruth got up early and dug out some Iris's from our garden . She put together a bag of trowel's and filled a 2 litre bottle with water. We met Wayne and Lorna at the entrance of the canyon before proceeding down the trail to her bench.

A little bone meal and good dirt went into the 4 holes we made for our 4 plants.

One plant each.

I think Tracy would like this. Iris's were her favourite. I hope they grow.

Back To Alberta.......SIGH.....

So here it is . 6:00 A.M. on Friday and I want to be in Edmonton before dark tonight. I laid out my vitamins and food for the road before going to bed last night. Daisy is being taken care of by our neighbours until my return on Sunday.

It isn't a great day so far but at least it isn't snowing.

I spoke too soon. Snow at 3 valley gap and again at Banff. Not enough to ruin the day though.

The mountains were beautiful as I got up to Rogers Pass.

I stopped lots on my way there . Every time I saw something beautiful I got a picture.

The snow was so perfect on this mountain.

There had been an avalanche on this one.

It was very cold here on the top of the summit. The frozen water had a blue hue up close.

So many weather patterns happening as I went thru the Rockies.

I arrived in Calgary at Brian's store an about 3:00. 

It has a nice feel to his showroom. Lots of inventory.

I'm going to Edmonton to fix a problem with one of the player systems I installed into a Grand piano. I don't have any spare parts in my inventory right now so Brian kindly offered me a spare kit that he has. At least this way I can switch out the kit if there is a problem I need parts for.

I was back on the road by 3:30 on my way up to Edmonton.

I just filled up here in Edmonton for the first time since leaving Kelowna. I have driven 938.6 kilometres and the computer says that I have 100 kilometres left in the tank. The diesel at this pump cost me $71.00.  Not bad for driving this far with an average speed of 110  KPH.

There it is. The culprit . Big Silver. Turns out that the problem is the dryness here in Edmonton. The player system works perfect. The dryness has loosened all of the screws in the action and the piano wouldn't play properly. It took about one hour to tighten and readjust the parts . Easy.

Here is Dana trying to explain to me what he was feeling in the action of the piano.

Here is his happy face after I got it fixed up.

This is one laid back cat. That is a $3000. coffee maker the cat is laying on.

Saturday morning back on the Deer foot entering Calgary. The traffic is crazy here.

I am staying with Brian and Roxy tonight. So is MacTavish. Such a cute dog. They are babysitting him  for the next week or so. I would have brought this dog home with me in a heart beat if possible.

All the dogs line up so nice for a treat. Brian and Roxy have 2 Portuguese water dogs.

They give Roxy the same amount of attention that Brian gives her when she is pouring him a glass of wine. The only difference is the dogs don't keep yelling  "Hurry Up" over and over again.

So Roxy is one of the best cooks I know. She whipped up this feast for us in a kitchen that is torn up in the middle of a renovation.

Another Great Meal.

So after dinner we all retired to the living room for some conversation. I love these dogs.

Harley was right at home sitting on my lap. I'm glad he isn't any bigger.

Haile was happy just laying on the next couch next to me.

Here is what my room looked like when I arrived to their home.

Here is what my room looked like when I headed to bed. Haile decided she was going to spend the night. It was funny. Brian had to drag her off the bed and carry her out of the room. When I got up the next morning she was sitting out side my door staring at me when I opened it up. This is a wonderful breed of dog. The pig in the corner is not real. Thank goodness.

Here is Rozy's idea of a light breakfast. Another great meal.

Before I hit the road for Kelowna I helped them for a couple of hours . We started to tear up the old floor as well as the old sub floor. It's a terrible job.

I was glad to leave when I did. I thought Brian was only going to take this strip off today so that he could install the fridge along the wall.

Turns out he worked on the floor until about 7 that night and got the whole floor pulled up. We rode our bikes along with his son to Sturgis in 2008. Time sure does fly. I didn't realize it was that long ago until I saw this picture.

They have a beautiful yard. It's like a park.

Here I go again. Back on the road. I left at noon and hope to be back home by 6:00 tonight. I don't like driving in the mountains after dark so I was very conscious of when I needed to leave their place.

The mountains are beautiful here. I have always enjoyed driving from the flats into the mountains.

There is something breath taking about this ride.

This is about 20 kilometres before Golden.

These sheep have been on this hill before Golden for as long as I can remember.

I made it. According to my GPS I will be driving up my driveway at 6:30. The sun is setting tonight just around 7:00 so my timing was perfect. Yippee