Hubby Saves The Day!

A few months ago I started getting messages from WordPress saying I had reaching my limit for pictures. So I started uploading my pictures first and if that worked I would then write my blog and post it. This procedure has worked for a few months but I’m pretty sure it’s not going to last! We tossed around the idea of upgrading to a paid WordPress blog, but I wasn’t really keen on that idea. I also tossed around the idea of giving up with my blog, but I like having a record of our travels, so I gave up on that idea as well.

Fortunately hubby came up with the option of posting my pictures on Flickr and then linking them to the blog. Over the past few days he has played around with it and it seems to work so today is my first attempt. If it works you will see pictures of the sunrise during my morning walk along the beach, if it doesn’t work I will have to go back to Flickr school!

Yesterday’s sunrise, although the clouds looked like rain clouds we didn’t get any, very much needed, rain ☹

I though it was very kind of the seagull to do a fly by while I was taking this picture ☺

Until next time …

Safely Home

We arrived home safely after an almost eleven-hour drive but it was worth it to spend time with our cute, snuggly Edmonton grandchildren 🙂

She is so cute and such a good baby!

Our grandson telling his dog “See Jack grandma and grandpa are leaving to go to Costco, but they will be back soon.” Okay he is only sixteen months so maybe he wasn’t saying that, but he was watching for us to come home 🙂

One afternoon we all went RV browsing and came across this neat retro unit.

It was an early start today, although not as early as the picture below makes it appear!

I was trying to get a picture of the sunrise through the back driver’s side window but the tinting on the window was making it difficult, so hubby pulled over and I quickly jumped out and grabbed a picture.

A slight fog and the sunrise made for some beautiful scenery along Highway 2 between Edmonton and Calgary … even after an almost, what would have probably been very serious, collision with a big fat deer! Unlike deer in BC who feed on grass and trees, Alberta and Saskatchewan deer feed on grain so they are very big and fat.

  Almost as soon as we crossed back into BC the smoke from forest fires filled the skies, and the drive through Glacier National Park was filled with smoke so thick, it was hard to see and hard to breath!

It was nice to have almost a week away from smoke filled air. Hopefully the Okanagan gets the rain predicted for this weekend, it will help with the forest fires and knock down the smoke.

We were about an hour from home and I was just thinking I could put the camera away instead of holding it on my lap when we came across this semi accident. I sure hope the driver was okay!

Shortly after the accident we came across a forest fire that had just started along Highway 97A near Larkin Cross Road 😦

At time of posting this fire has grown to 2.5 hectares in size and homes have been placed on evacuation alert.

So now it’s back to our regular routine for the next six weeks and then we start our travels south.

Until next time …

Snuggle Time In Edmonton, Alberta

We left home early yesterday morning under what I’m pretty sure was clear blue sky, although it was hard to tell with all the smoke in the air.

A pretty sunrise

The smoky skies have provided some very pretty sunrises during my morning walk over the last few days.

 

We were treated to lots of wildlife at the beginning of our trip, three mountain sheep and six deer but I only got a picture of the mountain sheep.

Even though it was the Friday of a long weekend, traffic was pretty light and we were only slowed down a few times for construction.

Just south of Golden, B.C. We drove through a large section of wildfires on both sides of the highway. Hopefully they are under control before we head home next week.

 

The weather was great until we were just south of Edmonton, Alberta and then the skies opened up and we ended up in a torrential downpour. The first rain we have seen since the beginning of June and there was a lot of it, fortunately it didn’t last long.

The blurry shapes you can sort of see is a car in front of us and one in the lane beside us. The windshield wipers were on high and they just couldn’t keep up with the rain!

Fortunately it didn’t last long and ten hours later we arrived at our son’s house, just in time for a great steak dinner and a little time to get reacquainted with our sixteen-month-old grandson before he went to bed. The rest of the evening was spent snuggling with our new granddaughter!

Until next time …

Baby … Again :-)

Our seventh grandchild, and second granddaughter, arrived early this morning. Weighing in at 7 pounds 8 ounces (10 ounces less than her big brother), she is a little cutie with a full head of hair.

 Her aunt was born with a full head of hair and never lost any of it, so hopefully grandbaby Maxx will keep her hair as well 🙂

Once the family is settled into a routine at home we will head out to Edmonton, Alberta for some snuggle time.

Until next time …

This and That :-)

I hadn’t planned on writing a blog today but a few things have been tossing around in my head and all of the sudden a blog post was born.

First of all, thanks for all the comments on yesterday’s blog, The Written Word. While I appreciated what everyone had to say I think Rod of Six Saturdays and a Sunday summed it up the best for me. He said “My excuse is that I write the way people talk today” and I realized that was exactly it, I write my blog the way I talk to my friends and I consider you all my friends 🙂

Last week we enjoyed happy hour with Rod and Sylvia of Six Saturdays and a Sunday and Navigator and Chauffer of Driving Miss Murphy and had so much fun that I completely forgot to take pictures.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with Driving Miss Murphy on their boat. We cruised over to Raymer Bay, not far from our campground, and enjoyed some time swimming in the lake. We then cruised back to their slip at the Kelowna Yacht club where we enjoyed homemade burgers, salad and drinks while watching a beautiful sunset.

During my morning walk today I noticed a Blue Heron enjoying the calm waters of Okanagan Lake. Two young children on their bikes joined me and the three of us watched the Blue Heron for a long time before I finally pulled myself away and continued on my walk.

 Until next time …

The Written Word

During my thirty plus years working for the Federal Government written communication played an important role in my job. From employee evaluations to multi million dollar contracts grammar, spelling, and sentence structure where important..

There are really no pictures that tie into this blog so I have added a few shots I have taken during my morning walks.

So here I am this morning, sitting up in bed drinking my coffee while hubby sleeps soundly beside me, reading past blogs and wondering what on earth happen to my written communication skills! I can still pull them out when I need to, but obviously I haven’t felt the need with my blog. From run on sentences to ones starting with But and And, from slang to very little punctuation, my blog writing is in a sad state.

 

I was thinking I better pull up my socks, but after a few more sips of coffee I thought, maybe this is just the retired me. Part of the enjoyment for me in writing my blog is to just throw my thoughts down on paper and add pictures that I really like. So folks this is how it’s going to be and I’m guessing if you are still following along you are okay with that, so thank you for accepting the retired me 🙂

Until next time …

A Mystery Solved!

On my early morning walks I pass a really pretty wildflower, but every time I take hubby by later in the morning to show him the flower, the flowers are gone and all that remains is the stem.

This is what hubby sees when I show him the plant … he’s not overly impressed!

Hubby was convinced that I am either seeing things or someone is cutting off the flowers every day. But I know I’m not seeing things and the stems are still there so nobody is cutting off the flowers. I finally took my camera and got a picture of the flowers.

 

This is what I see when I walk between 7:00 and 8:00 … and I am impressed!

The plant was so interesting that I finally sat down this morning and searched the Internet to find out what it was. It turns out it is a chicory plant, and chicory only blooms as the sun comes up and usually closes midday when the sun is the strongest. But of course we live in the Okanagan Valley where the sun is strong much earlier in the day, so by 9:30 the blooms are closed and hubby misses them!

Legend suggests a maiden turned away from the Sun’s advances so he turned her into a chicory flower that need the Sun to live but faded in it’s mighty light 🙂

Now hubby was sort of right about someone cutting the flowers everyday. While nobody is cutting the flowers off daily, each chicory bloom only opens once and then dies. The stem constantly sprouts new flowers, which is why it always looks so pretty when I walk by.

So on that note, I better get dressed and out for my walk so I can visit with my favourite chicory plant.

 Until next time …