Counting down the hours to midnight...

Not just to see in the new year, our alcohol-free December will be over. Woo Hoo!! Bring on 2010!!

Being Lindsay Brouse*

The weather is gorgeous (sunshine and around minus 4°C) so we found ourselves partaking in yet another winter sport - skating on Bowness Lake. I, naturally, with all the grace and elegance of a life on skates whilst Sean emulated the skating style of the Flames hockey team.

*Lindsay Brouse is a figure skating friend!!

... and 18.4km later

Be warned when Gord says "hey, let's go for a cross-country ski." The warning bells should have rung loudly:

1) Gord is one of the fittest people I know
2) xc skiing is one of Gord's primary sports
3) I have not been near a xc ski for 20 years....

The alarm bells failed me and off we went to Kananaskis. The trails were well groomed the vistas superb and the day perfectly sunny. I managed quite nicely, with minimum skill and no style until we hit the big, black, bending downhill. The technique is a little different than on downhill skis and despite my very best attempt at a snowplow, I determined it prudent to hit the snow rather than the looming tree.

Pride a little bruised but otherwise okay, we skied the final 6km and I have never been so pleased to see a carpark! Suprised to find all limbs functioning this morning, with only some minor discomfort - think we will do it again on Thursday!

Christmas Day

What a magic day! Skiing and a very lovely lunch, no dishes, no messes and lots of sunshine.

What a Christmas gift....

As a gift to each other, Sean and I took a ski lesson - or rather an advanced performance workshop. For the group price we were the only two in the class. Our instructor, James from England, spent the morning doing some technical drills then took us down some of the steepest terrain I have ever skied.

The full day private lesson is a great way to go.... but I suspect we are now just a danger to ourselves!

Christmas in Kensington Village

It is straight out of a postcard. Kensington Village is lit up with Christmas lights, carol singers stroll the streets and the shop fronts are decorated, looking warm and inviting. The coffee shops serve warming eggnog and add cinnamon to the whipped cream treats in festive red cups.

The snow sparkles and big, fluffly flakes happily fall blanketing the streets with its magic. We love our neighbourhood!

Winter Poem - author unknown

It's winter in Canada
And the gentle breezes blow

Seventy miles an hour

At thirty-five below.

Oh, how I love Canada

When the snow's up to your butt

You take a breath of winter

And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful

So I guess I'll hang around

I could never leave Canada

I'm frozen to the friggin' ground!

The Nutcracker

We walked in the door from a day's skiing to a ringing phone. It was our friend Blake. He had two spare tickets to the ballet The Nutcracker and he would pick us up in 20 minutes. Great activity ensued transforming us from sweaty ski bums to glamorous patrons of the arts.

Thanks Blake! What a fabulous evening.

Yet more talk about the weather.....

Looking back over recent posts, I note that a large proportion are directly related to the weather. After living here for three years, you would think I would have gotten over it. However, it is a fact about life in Calgary that your day to day is completely dominated by the weather.

This is partly because of how variable it is in Calgary. I check the outside temperature before getting dressed each morning. This time of year, the temperatures vary from +10°C to -30°C in the space of 24 hours. Calgary enjoys 4 very distinct seasons. Summer and winter sports are completely different. Cycling in the winter is impossible, not just because of the cold and snow, but the grit on the roads making them very hazardous. Even running on the icy pathways is not recommended. So we pack away our hiking boots, put our bikes on the wind trainer indoors and pull out skis, sleds and snow boots. (Or in some households, the quad bike gets parked up and the skidos come out...)

Our cars are winterized and equipped with winter tyres, ice scraper and emergency kit. The emergency kit contains blankets, gloves, a candle, matches, safety triangles, flares and a torch. Everything you need to survive a break down in -20°C and signal your distress to others.

Waldrobes are completely different. Winter coats, boots, scarves, mitts, and touques (beanies) clutter the shelves and hooks at the front door. Going outside is a good 5 minute exercise in bundling up - and quadruple that time if you have kids. Car windows need to be scrapped free of ice and the car warmed up. I did think warming up the car was no longer required with modern engines but it is actually for the people. Getting into a freezing car is frightful and I have a new appreciation of heated seats, garages and covet a heated steering wheel.

Winter storms can close the roads and make the commute to work very long or impossible. Traffic jams and accidents occur on hills where cars and buses struggle to get up the slippery slope. Add snow ploughs to the mix and the traffic can be nightmarish. The 3 hours drive North to Edmonton is rarely attempted in the winter as the highway can close suddenly - particlularly the section through Red Deer. Flying is not much more reliable. The planes can be delayed by a snow storm in Nova Scotia.

It is little wonder we talk about the weather so much!

Brrrrr

Yesterday, Edmonton (a mere 300km north of here) broke their all time coldest day record with temperatures plumetting to -46.1°C! (and -58.4°C with windchill) This made it the second coldest place on the planet. A town in Siberia was actually a little chillier!

The Plus 15

Faced with the prospect of walking from one end of Downtown to the other in sub-freezer temperatures, I rejoice the concept of the Plus 15. Rather than having to don snow boots, winter coat, hat, gloves, carry my shoes and take everything off at the far end and work out where to leave it - I walked comfortably in my business suit and pumps right across town.

The Plus 15 is a series of walkways (like the bridges across the street in Myers Melbourne) right around the city at the first floor level, or indeed, 15 feet above the ground. It allows us to walk from building to building in comfort and much of the Calgary retail is actually off the Plus 15. This can cause some angst to buying frenzied Australians looking for the shops at street level.

Need I say more??

Artic blast hit Calgary

The leading story in today's Calgary Herald starts as follows:

"Old Man Winter is going to blast his way through the province today, creating a possible repeat scenario of a very slow and snowy evening commute.
And while city officials say they're prepared to nip winter's wrath, meteorologists say it will be a battle.

"Pretty much the whole province is going to see its first real burst of winter," said Environment Canada meteorologist Linda Schuler.

"It's not going to be nice. It's a good day to stay home and read a book," she said."

A good day to stay home and read a book - I might just consider doing just that!

The Grey Cup

A year ago, I made quite the faux pas! There was great excitement in town, Calgary had just won the Grey Cup and there was dancing, merriment and sea of red awash in the streets for days. I was very privileged to be invited to a Calgary Economic Development function where The Cup was proudly on display ranked by the victorious players. Complete the professional photographer standing by to take your photo with the hallowed vessel. The chatter in the room stopped and people turned aghast at my prattle “so is this the cup for the ice-hockey?”

This year, I am fully prepared. The Grey Cup is the grand prize for the Canadian Football League This is not American Gridiron, the rules are different (but I do defy any Aussie casually watching their first game to spot the difference!), it is Canada’s other professional sport.
The Calgary Stampeders were soundly thrashed in the semis so missed out on playing for a home crowd. This year, the Grey Cup was between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Montréal Alouettes.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a story in themselves. They are the only professional sports team based in Saskatchewan and have the largest following in the CFL. Record attendances at away games are the norm when The Riders are playing. The fan base, known as The Riders Nation, decks themselves out in green and white. One very odd demonstration of Rider Pride is the habit of hollowing out watermelons to wear as green helmets, causing the Calgary supermarkets to place special orders to ensure supply.

So this year, Calgary is awash with green and white, oh, and watermelons…. The game itself was heralded as a great one. The Riders lead all the way – until the last 10 seconds where a penalty (for having too many players on the field) allowed Montréal to kick for a field goal, score and WIN THE GAME!!

The Riders Nation mourns.

Is this a story of true public interest?

Living without cable basically means we do not have television (ohmigod) so having a TV at the end of the bed in a hotel room is a real treat. We were watching the news - Global TV in Toronto, an equivalent to watching Channel 7 in Melbourne. We sat through the world news, the local news, the financial update, the sport and the weather and then came along the human interest story.

There was an interview with the smiling family, mum doing the talking whilst dad jiggled the infant on his hip and wrangled the toddler. This was followed ny an interview with the vendor sitting at a desk with his company logo displayed loud and proud behind him. The reporter summarized all the advantages - there is no apparent downside.

The product being peddled is "lease-to-buy" - how fabulous for those who cannot afford to own stuff. It is peddled as a responsible option for those with a poor credit rating or a dislike of credit cards, all at an interest rate of merely 30%.

Am I justified in finding this disturbing??

November skiing

Warm toes, warm hands, skiing on a foot of champagne powder in November. It does not get much better than this - and the ski season has just begun. Woo hoo!

Fort McMurray

It sits on the 57th parallel and can get rather chilly. It gets cold, very cold - life sapping, killer cold. The warmthless sun barely rises above the tree line throwing long shadows across the snow. And the air sparkles. The frozen moisture twinkles and flashes so we think we are breathing fairy dust.

40% Strike Rate

Ski season has been open for 5 days and we have been skiing for two of them...wonder if we will keep this strike rate up??

It's Open!

The ski season officially opened at Sunshine today and we were there - along with every pimply, 18-24y-o Calgarian snowboarder. Looking forward to a huge season!

A weekend in Fort McMurray

Despite being a born and bred Albertan, Sean (horror) had never been to Fort McMurray - that is until the weekend. Thanks to company sponsored air tickets and a requirement for me to attend The Keyano Gala, we enjoyed a wonderful weekend with The phelans. We took Sean to all the McMurray hotspots - Syncrude site, The Oilsands Discovery Centre, Tim Hortons, Vista Ridge Ski Hill And drove him down the main drag pointing out highlights such as the Oil Can (sex, drugs and rock 'n roll all avaliable).

The Gala was a hoot. A 20's themed black tie affair of 1200 with Colin James (a famous Canadian singer) to entertain us. Well worth the flights!

Iceberg Nets

I always though that towing icebergs was an urban myth - you know the one - lassoing an iceberg and watering the desert. Today, whilst scanning the lastest oil and gas procurement contracts out for tender, I discovered one for the supply and maintenance of iceberg nets.

How do you prevent an iceberg from colliding with your offshore oil rig? Throw a big net over it and tow it out of harm's way of course!! Who would have thought?

A Christmas rethink

We had planned to go to Cuba for Christmas - two weeks of lying on a white sand beach soaking up the rays... Sadly, our apathy combined with WestJet's failed booking system has resulted in us unable to get dates that work for our Year 12 student.

The upside is that we will be able to ski over the break and make merry with all our mates here. And just think of the mischief we can get up to on the money we saved!!

Spooky!

Halloween was indeed spooky.

Brianna dressed us up and rendered make-up. Work function, Karen's Spook-a-rama and Trick and Treating - the costumes had a good workout.

Children were terrified by Sean's zombie walk down the path seeking to eat brains...

I love Hallowe'en Candy!

Halloween candy for me.....
Boxes and boxes (at$14 a box) filled to the brim with 125 bite-sized chocolate bars. The Nestle one with Aeros, Smarties, Kit Kats and Coffee Crisps. Or shall I choose the Cadbury selection. Can't get into the Hershey one I am afraid (we will save that for the little kiddies trick and treating)

Sunday morning it is straight to Canadian Superstore to buy up Halloween candy ON SALE!!

Oh what a night!!

As a wedding gift, Sandy, Don, Blaire and Ryan hosted the most fabulous dinner party.

It started off with champagne in our kitchen then a suprise limousine service to pick us all up and take us to Sandy and Don's. There was an Italian theme from the waiter's (Sandy and Don) aprons to the colour of the flowers in the loo. The food was magnificent, the company entertaining and the wine free-flowing.

Tha dinner party bar has certainly been raised!

Crazy Calgary Weather

On September 23rd we had the hottest September day since 1990 with it reaching +33 degrees. Yesterday we had the coldest October day since 1928 with it hitting -16.1 degrees! Calgary weather at its craziest.

(and a few stats I pulled off the web - coldest temperature recorded in Calgary -45 degrees. Hottest +36 degrees)

Canada Olympic Park is open for skiing and Sunshine opens in 28 days! Woo hoo - it is going to be a fabulous season.

Gardening in the Freezer

Yesterday was the Thanksgiving holiday, so in and out of cooking a 7.2kg turkey, we decided to ready our garden for winter. Unfortunately, winter has arrived early in Calgary so despite bright and sunny skies, it was about -10 degrees. Cutting back the snap-frozen perennials, I was reminded of lettuce that has frozen in the fridge. Unable to compost due to the compost bin being a frozen solid mass, we satisfied outselves with wrapping the shrubs with burlap (hessin) deemed too delicate to withstand the Calgary winter.

With faces stung rosy with the cold and fingers fumbling within gloves, we had the garden tidied and garden tools stored in the garage for winter all in the time it took to half cook the turkey. This morning, our efforts were rewarded when we woke to a thick blanket of snow.

Our house in the middle of our street.....

We've got Street View! Taken sometime during Stampede, it is the Phelan's red car parked outside. Fortunately the lawn was mown!!

http://tinyurl.com/yjfmxnw

Seven days....

Following our trip to Australia, the Tickners arriving, Calgary wedding parties and the (almost) six weeks of hosting foreign family, Sean and I realised that we have had only 7 days at home without extras since we were married! What are we going to find to talk about now! Fortunately, living in Canada, it is a busy few months.

Our garden needs to be prepared for winter. The perennials cut back, the roses pruned and the evergreens wrapped in burlap to protect them from the harsh Calgary temperatures. There are tulips to be planted - in the back garden this year to prevent those rascally squirrels digging them up for a snack.

On Monday we have Thanksgiving. I am cooking the 7.2kg turkey as part of the traditional feast. Hurrah for the long weekend and recipes on Google. (must take it out of the freezer this evening if we have any hope of it defrosting)

October 31st is Halloween where all the witches and goblins come out to haunt. The house needs decorating, there are ghostly parties to attend and of course, the handing out of much candy.

Down come the Halloween decorations and up go the Christmas lights. This is done early (and they are not turned on) before the snow gets too thick and the task too hazardous. The tree needs decorating, the presents wrapped and, oh yes, we are running off to the warmth of Cuba this year so we need to plan our trip!

What fun!

First Snow

We have had our first snow. A few flurries yesterday and today just enough to stay on the garage roof. The Tickners knew when to leave, heading down to Disneyland yesterday morning.

Let it snow in them there hills!

Where do you keep your PJs?

We had an interesting revelation last week. Canadians do not pop their PJs under their pillows each morning - they are folded back into the drawer with their clean jarmies. It started with a comment from Sean who declared he was going to start putting his PJs under his pillow like me. I was astonished that he did not and he did not teach his children to. On polling a number of locals, they were also surprised about the concept.

So notch up another cultural difference – pajamas go back in the drawer, not under the pillow when in Canada!

Been Slack

I have been very remise at keeping a blog over the past few months - although many exciting things have happened. I will endeavour to be more diligent into the future!

To keep me encouraged, drop me a comment periodically so I know it is being read!

Frocking up!

The whole objective of a wedding party is to get dressed up and be a princess. I believe we all did very well at this task.

... finally

Summer has come. Hurrah!

One of those moments...

Having been in Canada for over two years, I am delighted by the good stuff and have finally stopped whingeing about the bad.... and then one day, whamo, you are absolutely broad-sided. This happened to me this morning. There were tears, a complete over reaction but really, how in the hell can you call THAT an ice coffee??

We had been for a run and popped into our favourite coffee house. It is warm (at long last) so I opted for an iced coffee rather than my normal whole milk latte (that in itself is a whole other story). I was handed a glass with a squirt of burned, drip filter coffee topped up with water and ice. I mean - REALLY!!!! Following a short, incredulous outburst, tears and the offer of making me an iced cappuccino (I meant REALLY!!), I calmed down enough to laugh at myself.

Richard warned me about the the six month expat blues - when everything that was quirky is now just bloody annoying. After two years, I have come to terms with the enormous portion sizes, the fact that dinner is constructed (package of this, half a jar of that) rather than prepared, the coffee is absolutely crap, the plus is not superfluous in +20 degrees and winter does indeed last six months - but iced coffee should always be made with milk and topped with lashings of whipped cream!

Job Satisfaction

Sitting on a city bus traveling from Sidney to Victoria (Vancouver Island, BC that is - rather than those more familiar antipodean places...) with a bus driver with an dry, dead-pan sense of humour announcing the stops.....

"and here we are at High and Tenth, outside Wal-mart. Hundreds of thousand items for your buying pleasure and not one of them made in Canada"

Proof that any job can be made fun.

The Magic Garden

We have a magic garden. When the snow melted, our garden was bare dirt with two twiggy rose bushes and a juniper. Small green shoots started to push up and two weeks later, presto, a fully fledged garden with flowers!

Instructions for creating a garden:

Remove snow, add sunshine and water, wait two weeks!

Spring Bulbs

Way back in the Fall, I optimistically planted tulip bulbs hoping that in the Spring, we would have an army of bright flowers marching across the garden. I was very excited to see the bulbs break through the dirt when the snow finally melted and was anticipating a display comparable to those at the Butchart Gardens.

Just as they were about to flower, our neighbour squirrel dug them up and enjoyed them for a snack!

Obviously the cool parent....

I have my Facebook language set to "pirate" - argh me hearties....

Incidental Foresight

We had a fire alarm and a full evacuation of our building today. I work on the 30th Floor - and have a new appreciation to what those in the World Trade Centre must have experienced.

The flat shoes under my desk and the coins in my pocket for a coffee proved to be great foresight on my part!

...still snowing

I am beyond even a grumble!

The Visit

The house is scrubbed and polished, beds are freshly made and spring flowers placed around the house - all ready for Mum and Tom's arrival.

... we now just have to keep it this way!

Endless Winter

Last Tuesday, the temperature hit +17°C and I trotted off to work in my spring sandals. By Thursday, I was back in snow boots - with snow forecast until Tuesday....

NYC

Enjoy the show!

(Click on show for our snaps!)

Ugg!

.... Ugg boots on a long, leggy blonde waltzing down 5th Avenue in New York does NOT look any more elegant than we did in our trackies and ugg boots on Cardigan Street. Do not let the power of marketing fool you!

On the upside, those strutting their stuff in high-heeled gumboots looked both sensible and elegant. If I ever move to New York, these are definitely on my must-have list.

Sweet Sixteen Indeed!

On Saturday evening, we played the role of chaperones for a dear friend’s sixteen-year-old’s birthday do. We set off envisioning a lovely evening chatting in the kitchen serving out soft drink and water to the guests. What transpired frankly stunned me.

At the local community hall, decorated with streamers and balloons, 100 sixteen-year-olds gathered to celebrate her birthday and dance to the DJ. Sean and Terry manned the door, allowing in only those kids on the list. The girls were all frocked up looking stunning (although I suspect some were tottering around in Mum’s slightly-too-large high heels) and many of the lads looked very dapper.

A lot of the kids arrived drunk and those who weren’t soon became so on the bottles slipped into pockets and purses. The doormen wised up and started confiscating booze from being taken in but this did not stop it being stashed in the snow and car boots to be secretly swigged. Three young girls in particular, cream dress, purple dress and the little one in black, were well beyond balancing on their high-heels. There were drug deals in the car park and gangs of kids arriving not on the list. The whole situation had the potential to become national news.

One lad, on the list and deemed a friend, was stealing cell phones. He was caught with four – including one belonging to a chaperone who is a real estate agent. He was unceremoniously booted out and the doormen went into lockdown. It became party over for anyone who chose to go outside as there was no re-admission. The gang of 14 burly lads clutching “coke” bottles who tried to get in was easily excluded with the help of the doors that automatically locked from the outside but opened from the inside.

With the alcohol removed and lots of dancing the kids started to sober up and actually have some fun. We were very relieved when the clock chimed midnight.

Now that we have first hand experience of what goes on at teenage parties, our kids are grounded for life!

The Day Trip to Fort McMurray

The day generally begins about 4:30am with the alarm blaring and jolting one from precious slumber. Shower, dress, cut of tea, slice of vegemite toast and out the door by 5:15am. Arriving at the aerocentre by 5;30am. Thank goodness for corporate jets - no security, no removing shoes, no fuss. Just a flash of a Suncor badge and your boarding pass is presented.

We file out onto the tarmac and up the stairs onto the plane. Sometimes, if conditions are particularly extreme (-30 with a 40kn wind) they may load from the hanger. This has only ever happened to me twice. Plane departs 6am. In-flight service is tea/coffee and banana bread. The hour's flight is over flat, patchwork prairie. The sunrises can be extraordinary.

We arrive at Fort Mc around 7am and pull up to the main terminal (hurrah for Suncor's influential aviation department. Other companies have to go to the tin sheds down the runway!) Met lift/pick up car,drive to site. Depending on traffic, this can take 1-3 hours aling the infamous Highway 63. Traffic has improved since the completion of the Suncor Interchange. Worl all day. Watch for curfew between 4:15 and 4:30 to allow bus to depart. Drive back to airport, flash ID, recieve boarding pass for 6:30pm departure. In-flight service includes pop and snack such as chips, hickory sticks and chocolate bars. Touch-down around 7:40, home by 8pm. Usually in bed and asleep by 9:30pm!

Some days, I actually do earn my salary!

Spring is in the air!

My first trip to Fort McMurray was in March 2007. It was a day of about -20°C with snow flurries and a wind blowing the snow around. I was gasping with the cold (breathe through your nose and you do not cough as much) and in disbelief that anyone would live in such an extreme environment. It was here I met Adrienne. Adrienne was the client counterpart for the work I was to do for the next year. Just a shade under 5ft, she is a dynamo with a bright, cheery smile and an infectious giggle. Not your stereotypical mining engineer!

Adrienne had arranged to give me a lift downtown where we were having dinner. She picked me up in her monster vehicle and chatting happily, pointing out items of interest, we drove off site. This required us driving along the tailings dam between two ponds. Wind was whipping the snow across the road and I was feeling like a subject of David Attenborough’s Life in the freezer”. Adrienne turned to me and in her bubbly manner declared “Can’t you just feel spring in the air?”

I knew then, she was insane.

Fast-forward two years. There remains a metre of snow on our front lawn. The temperatures continue to dip down to -20°C and it snows a couple of times a week. I cannot believe it but I now understand it. Spring is in the air. The snow looks different, it feels different – and it actually even smells different! The trees look like they are thinking about budding and the river is defiantly thinking about breaking. Spring is coming!

In Calgary, the long weekend in May (May 18th in fact) is the weekend we plant our gardens. Prior to then, we can still get dumps of snow and severe frosts. After that weekend we generally don’t. It is the weekend when we can safely declare winter is done. Only another 6 weeks and I can start to defrost. Hurrah!

And as for Adrienne, she is not insane at all. Like Miss Smilla, she just has a feeling for snow!

Tim Horton's Brier (the what???)

For the last 10 days, our newspaper has sported a picture of a brightly-clad, balding man, crouching down yelling. I even know his name - Kevin Martin the Alberta skip who yesterday, lead Alberta to a record victory over Manitoba. Think of the Australian Open ... the 2009 Brier attracted 246 126 fans over the course of its 10 days. A major event for Calgary and if the locals were not actually attending, they were dashing home to watch the latest action on TV. The showdown in Cowtown. Huh??

The Brier is the Canadian men's curling championship, held annually since 1927.... the what?? Just what I thought too.

Curling is actually Canada's most popular amateur sport and is a little like lawn bowls on ice. It is played by two teams of four players on a rectangular playing field of ice. Granite rocks are slid down the ice and sweepers madly sweep the ice in front of them to make them slide further. I understand this is where the crouching and yelling comes in - the chap who "throws" the rock get to crouch and yell at the sweepers. It is a game of strategy and sometimes refered to as chess on ice.

The 2009 Tim Horton's Brier is over, Alberta are the champions, Kevin Martin is a legend and just what will we read in the papers tomorrow?

Blaire's Stagette

On Saturday evening, a bevvy of gorgeous girls frocked up in our finest to celebrate Blaire's pending nuptials. It started with signature cocktails, champagne and nibbles at Amy's before hopping aboard the bus limousine to transport us between photo opportunities and bars!

There was dancing and singing and generally much merriment and then we stepped off the bus to find ourselves in the midst of a blizzard. This sent us scurrying

to the closest bar and safety from the fearsome conditions. Saved from the threat of frostbite, we hunkered down bravely to wait out the storm.

...and just a note Girls, 3" peep-toes are not the footwear of choice for a snow storm!

A bit of Kulture

Toddled off this evening to see The Canadian Tenors. Four rather dishy chaps with the most extraordinary voices. All the classic arias, a brilliant rendition of Figaro and I still cannot get Leonard Cohen's Hallejulah out of my head! I am now a big fan!

Kate the cat lover????

I am not usually enamored by cats but I must confess 'our' cat is rather cute. She loves to be in things - the potato basket, the shopping bag, the ski boot bag .... lately, she has enjoyed snuggling up with the hedgehog (such a prickly chap) on his new electric blanket.

Snowball is a super helper-cat too. Walking along the piano keys when it is being played and plonking down on the keyboard when using the computer. She also makes herself useful as a paperweight when the Calgary Herald is spread out across our kitchen bench, assuring that turning to the next page is an event!

Phew!

Despite choosing the coldest, snowiest day Calgary has had in weeks to do the test, I am now the proud holder of a Class 5 Albertan Drivers' Licence.

Hurrah!

Call me Andy

Give an engineer a cool piece of software and even she can find a creative streak.

Theatre in an igloo (yes I am serious!)

Set following some catastrophic event with the world plunged into another ice age and just three known survivors ... a play in an igloo. It actually started with the audience ringed around an ice rink from where we proceeded into the igloo. Our chairs were covered with a sheep skin and a thick white blanket provided for our comfort. The stage was built from snow and ice. The characters claimed to be cold, we knew we were cold.

It was clever, it was witty, it was eerie. A fabulous experience that was mercifully one act - for both the players and the audience!

Canadian

Whilst compiling the Australia Day quiz for work, I discovered that term “blind Freddie” is completely foreign to the Canadian ear. So I have compiled a few of my favourite Canadian words that are not in common usage in Australian!

Teeter-totter - sea-saw
Kitty-corner - diagonally across
Parkade - undercover carpark
Pop - soft drink
Visit - as in “do come in and visit”/”we had a lovely visit with Grandma”
Toque - beanie
Double double - coffee from Tim Horton’s with two creams and two sugars

Loonie - the Canadian one dollar coin

Oh, a double double is not recommended - nor is coffee of any form from Tim Horton's!

Back on the Booze!

Hurrah - it is February!

Domestic Goddess

...baking Brianna's birthday cake.

17 on Saturday. Next year, we are going to the pub!

10 days to go

Woo hoo!!

Spring Skiing in mid-winter

We love Calgary! Following weeks of sub -20 degree temperatures, the warm wind (chinook) blew in, and temperatures rose by 30 degrees. Saturday was spent skiing beneath cloudless skies in above zero temperatures - and it is January - fantastic!!

A caution. Beware the fiance who has been skiing all week complete with a FULL DAY private lesson. His ski hardened legs and new found abilities meant my work weary and somewhat unfit body was dragged over cliffs, down chutes and through mogul fields and trees. It could not be said elegant at all!