final days of February

My goal was to complete my blanket by the end of February. On the final day, I finally finished stitching all the knitted squares together. Good thing this is a leap year as I needed that extra day.  Voila!  This is my blanket!  It measures 6 feet by 4.5 feet.  It is big, it is heavy, it is cozy!  I am very pleased with the outcome.  My plan is to take it with me next week while on another westerly winter wonderland escape. Upon return home from that escape, I will investigate the idea of either knitting or crocheting a trim around the entire blanket.  I did declare it complete but the more I look at it, the more I feel it looks unfinished. 

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The number of kilometres needed to reach the finish line of the Grand Canyon Virtual Challenge are dwindling.  It was to be a frosty cold morning yet with sunshine and blue sky.  Through the night, we received a new thin layer of white gold. As I was first to be walking in the area, the bit of snow was enough to provide a blank canvas.  As I exited the Birth Forest this was what I witnessed!  A sun dog!  I could see how the colours circled out from the brightest spot.

Along a section of Nose Creek, I spotted these so carefully worked my way down to the creek side to get a better view.  As I have not hiked down the slope in this area before to see what I could see, I can only assume these are small bushes that the water and snow collected and froze on.

They measure about two feet tall.  

making my mark along the untouched pathway 

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This week I was gifted numerous possessions that belonged to my friend who passed away on December 30th.  We had much in common, enough so that we understood we were kindred spirits.  At times throughout the 38 years that we were friends, she came through as my guardian angel, when I needed one that most.  We had a place in our lives for hearts and enjoyed finding them and believing in them.  Angels had meaning too! This now hangs on my fairy light tree!

In her younger years she was a skater!  She still owned her white figure skates and at times mentioned she wished she could lace them up again and skate away.  She enjoyed seeing my skating photos and hearing my skating stories.  The last photos I emailed to her the last week of December, remain in her mailbox unopened.  These skates hung in her home, they now hang on my fairy light tree.

My friend was creative yet in a very different way than me.  We understood we had this in common and enjoyed what each other had to share. One of her books I received was about how to see and interpret what you see.  I opened to the very first lesson to see this!  I did not have the opportunity to tell her about my upcoming trip to The Netherlands (where I will visit the windmills) and Austria.  In my heart, I believe she wanted me to know that she knows!

There are numerous other items I received that I have yet to devote time with.  

The time to do that will feel right another day.   

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The smart thing was to get out early today!  The forecast was calling for a drastic, quick change in weather.  I aimed for Nose Hill with a plan of covering ten kilometres and get home before that drastic change occurred.  I timed it right!  The Hills remain baron of moisture but that will change later in the day. 

That's the storm brewing on the horizon.  

The mountains were no where to be seen as they were already getting hit. 

The only exciting thing I saw up on The Hills was this Grey Partridge!   It blended in quite well with the surroundings. There was another one off in the bush.  A split second after I captured this shot, they both vocalized their disapproval of me being in the area and flew off.  

Nearing the end of my hike, just before I began the descent, I had an experience that scared me.  Two very large dogs came running out of the bushes directly at me.  I froze in the spot, they circled me barking the entire time.  I yelled at them and tried to shoo them away.  They were relentless in their barking and circling me. Then came a lady running around the corner calling them.  I screamed at her to get them away from me.  The words I screamed at her were not nice and I will not share them here.  She could not control them and get them away from me.  I continued to scream at her and I could tell now, she was scared. If I had bear spay with me, I would have used it on the dogs.  The number of very violent dog attacks in the city the past few days played out in my mind.  Finally she was able to control her dogs by offering treats to them. I walked away with every bone in my body shaking.  I kept looking back while the dogs stood by her eating treats.  When they began to walk away, one was still off leash and the other she had a hold off by the collar.  There are on lease and off lease areas on Nose Hill and I was in the off lease area yet dogs need to be under the owner's control no matter what part of the Hill they are on.  I hope she learned a lesson! I did, I will bring my bear spray when I hike up on Nose Hill.