grasping onto these days..... October 11, 2025

.....and holding them tight !

My intentions were to stay home today!  When I woke this morning, I second guessed those intentions then squashed them.  For the better part of the day, it was forecasted to be absolutely beautiful and I could not let that go unappreciated.  The above panorama photo which I captured part way through the morning of the pond at Carburn Park proves my point! The photo below shows the trail I took upon arrival while the golden hour was at its peak.

The moon was still high!

view along the Bow River

I was moving around quickly to see many locations while the golden still glowed. 

Time came to shift focus! 

The last of the glow caught the bottom of the Canada Geese as they flew overhead.

a Wilsons Snipe

I knew that song I was hearing which was a surprise to me as we are almost at the middle of October.  This Song Sparrow was easy to hear but difficult to find as it blended in with its surroundings.  Finally I found it!  I hope it heads south soon, like today!

Maybe once a year or every two years, I take a photo of a Magpie.  There are so many and they are everywhere yet this morning this one caught my attention and I did a double take.  The colour and the length of its tail feathers were amazing.  

a bashful Black-capped Chickadee!  

Oh what a treat this was!  Two muskrats!  I wondered what their story was, is it a Mom and Child?  The one on the right was close to being twice as big as the one on the left.  I watched them for awhile.  They stayed where they were.....

.....then the big one began to groom the smaller one! 

I came away from today's outing being so 

thankful I squashed my original intentions for the day.  

current colours October 9, 2025

"What are you waiting for?"  That's what I asked myself this morning! "It's going to be too late if you don't go now!"  That's what I told myself!  So I listened and I went!  I went to admire the Siberian Larch Trees that grow within the city.  No doubt by the end of Sunday, given the forecast, they will be on their last legs if not beyond.  A great location is Baker Park just off the Bow River.  To get there I parked at Bowness Park, walked over to Baker Park then added Bowmont Park on top afterwards. 

It was a crisp start to the day!  I wore a pair of those $2.99 gloves (just last year they were $1.99 and not much before that they were $0.99) and a fleece.  A hat, heavier gloves plus another jacket would have been more appropriate.  What I could see around me as I began to walk, I knew there would be much to love about today!  

The Super Harvest Moon at a few days old now!

This is one of the many squirrels I saw! 

I heard it before I saw it as it blended in with the autumn shades. 

I like to look for frames designed by Mother Nature!

She has an artistic touch!

That's where I am aiming for and should be there in about forty-five minutes at the rate I'm going. 

These are just a few of the autumn shades I saw! 

The top left shows Siberian Larch needles. 

Did those leaves fall like that, did the wind blow them there or maybe park's people did that! 

I swished through them and made a mess!

I made it to Baker Park and headed right to where the Larch Trees are.  Some were in their prime, others are still green and some lost lots of needles.  I was happy to see some being "best in show".  The following four photos show the Siberian Larch Trees.

Feeling I go my fill of the Larch Trees, I moved on down the path towards Bowmont where I knew there would be an opportunity to see birds and ducks along with even more autumn shades.  It seemed like everything was blending in and I needed to look a little harder.  I know a Merlin when I see one!

two American Wigeons 

simply put, a pretty picture

looking back across to Baker after returning to Bowness

There was so much to love about today.....

.....it was the kind of day I like to frame!

a plan with goals August 23, 2025

Before I laid my head on the pillow last night, I put a best laid plan in place for today that was filled with goals. The first goal was to be out the door by 7:00 am.  I failed at that, when I looked at the time once closing the door behind me, it was 7:05 am.  Between waking and getting out the door, I checked the news plus the weather.  I did my first round for the day of recovery exercises.  Breakfast came next then cleaning up, dressing and finally walking out the door.

The additional goals were to walk 12 kms, to relax my shoulder and arm while walking, to capture some kind of moody photograph worthy of a painting project and finally to arrive back at my vehicle with a smile knowing I reached all my goals. Then there are always the goals of admiring scenery and being one with nature. 

I picked a route that included walking around the ponds at Carburn Park and then aiming for Fish Creek Park doing an out and back.  That route would give me the 12 kms I was chasing.  I walked away from my vehicle under a clear blue sky with not a cloud to be seen.  The early morning glow lit up the trees and shrubs.

The sun was rising over the tree tops casting out rays that stretched over the pond.  Ahhhh I thought!  This is the scene I was after!  It looks worthy of a watercolour painting project.  Stick around to see if I had luck with accomplishing this goal! 

The plan was to loop around the ponds but as I passed by this trail, it called out to me!  Seeing as I was already down there in one form, I went for it, I answered the call.  Doing so paid off!

At the clearing there was Mom and her two fawns.  

I saw them before they saw me.  

I was not able to get a photo of the second fawn as it was deep in the bush. 

They saw me!

I stayed where I was and just waited.  They went about their business savouring morning snacks.  Mom moved along and her fawn followed along.  These were very special moments in time experiencing such beauty.

I left Carburn Park behind and aimed for Fish Creek Park.  While walking that stretch I put  my iPhone away to focus on covering the distance and letting my shoulder relax and my arm swing freely.  I am still not at the point yet where I can carry my camera so all the photos are taken with my iPone. It felt very natural and comfortable, so much so that a few times I forgot about the titanium that is holding parts of me together.  Goal accomplished!  

I reached Fish Creek Park and continued further along for a short distance knowing the return trip would give me my 12 kms. This was my turn around point. The focus walking back was once again covering the distance at a good clip and letting my shoulder and arm, just be!  

I arrived back at my vehicle feeling happy and fulfilled which brought a smile to my face.  Goal accomplished!  I looked at Strava and it showed 12.12 kms as the distance I covered.  Goal accomplished!  

So nice that you stuck around!  

This is my watercolour painting of the moody photograph I took.   

Goal accomplished!

During normal times in the past, these goals would be very simple easily accomplished goals.  These days they take focus, commitment and perseverance.  Down the road, I won't think twice about them and they will once again come naturally and easily.  Oh by the way, this is the first blog post, since back on May 23rd, that I typed with two hands!     

good to be bad

With a title like "good to be bad" I can only imagine your mind is wandering in all directions wondering where the heck is she going with this! Well, stick around and you will find out!  My goal this morning was to hit the hills up at Nose Hill to work on my stamina with elevation gain and to cover ten kilometres.  I had success with both!  It was great to get back at being out the door early where I could experience the golden glow and long shadows.  You can see the trail meandering up to the right of my shadow, that's my first goal, to get up there.

A large swath of Nose Hill is fenced off by an electric fence.  

That's to contain the goats when they are out working.

A dirt trail follows right beside the fence. 

The last of this season's Alberta Wild Roses.....

.....were looking vibrant and healthy!

I made it to the top of the main hill and aimed for the pond.  I was shocked to see how full it was for mid August. Then again, after all the rain we had no wonder it has a very early spring time look. 

I watched these two Sandpipers for quite some time! 

Once again, I used my iPhone for all the photos.  

I cropped the photo to get this look. 

It was early when I was here having an autumn chill in the air.  

It felt nice plus it was cool enough to keep the bugs at bay.   

Along with the Sandpipers, Merlin also suggests I heard these.  Well I did hear them and see them, all except for the Northern Cardinal which I doubt very much there was actually one up on Nose Hill.  I saw many other birds and hawks.  I saw four hawks hoovering and circling around a small area.  When I looked closer, I saw a porcupine making its way through the grass below them.  I also experienced a pair of Cedar Waxwings dive bombing me, I knew then to move along quickly.  At this point in August it seems late that they would be protecting young ones.  They wanted me out of there and I skidaddled away!

Good to be Baah'd

Thank You for sticking around!  After covering the elevation and most of the kilometres I had planned to do, I followed the dirt trail back to the parking lot.  As I rounded the corner what to my wandering eyes should appear but the goats!  When I was up there last week, they were no where to be seen.

two Shepards in the top right corner

The goats were right there on the other side of the electric fence.

One of these things is not like the others!

Can you spot it?

It made my morning to see the goats up close.  I watched them for half an hour along with many other people who came to see them.  As I neared the parking lot, I looked back up the hill to have one last glance of them at work.