Friday, December 31, 2004
welcome to the freezer!
P here on a weather and Christmas update...
Well... its currently colder than most domestic freezers... quarter past four in the afternoon on new year's eve 2004, and here is what the in-out thermo clock is telling us...
Yes - you did read right - inside its a very comfortable +20.5 degrees C, while outside is currently a very uncomfortable minus 24 degrees C, forecast to drop to minus 29 degrees C this evening, with the windchill making it feel like minus 41 degrees C (according to the very hyponotic weather channel) - eeek!
The guys on the radio yesterday were saying that minus 18 degrees C is the critical point - below that, skin which is exposed to the elements begins to freeze within minutes, and if left long enough, can result in frostbite. They've told me at work that people just don't go out when its like this. They get in their cars (many of which have remote starters so that they get warm before you get in), drive to work or the mall, dash from the carpark into their destination building, do their business, dash back to the car and go home again. If you do feel the need to be outside for any length of time, you simply have to dress appropriately.
In my case, appropriate dress goes something like this:
regular underwear
thermal vest
M&S opaque tights
thermal longjohns (and fleecy trousers if intending on being out for more than 15 mins)
thick socks
trousers
long sleeved teeshirt
woolly jumper
Columbia jacket (consisting of heavy duty fleece zipped into windproof outer with hood)
thick mittens (much much warmer than Northern Irish gloves)
fleece hat with ear flaps (lifesaver as far as ears are concerned)
scarf (to wrap around chin, mouth and nose)
fur lined zip up leather boots (or Baffin snow boots if not going to work!)
For the uninitiated, this is the concept of dressing in layers, and its definitely required at the moment.
J has just come in from shovelling the drive and the sidewalk, and thankfully, even he has realised the error of not getting very wrapped up to venture out the door. You just can't get away with a short sleeved shirt at the moment!!
You know, when we got here, we were told that Calgary doesn't get much snow. Well, I suppose they don't - but this is only relative to places like Halifax in Atlantic Canada which got 50 centimetres on Boxing Day. We just seem to get little dribbles of snow on a fairly constant basis. Mind you, even these little dribbles can look like a lot when piled up in the supermarket carpark...
And even on the sides of the drive (and yes, there is grass under there somewhere - hard to believe at the moment)...
You know when people from 'away' (Canadian for 'not from here') come to Ireland, and rave about how green it is... I think I now know what they're getting at. There are days here when I look out of my office window, and it just looks like the whole landscape has been bleached. There's nothing green - everything is white, grey or some sort of shade of brown. Its particularly drab when the sky is overcast. The only saving grace is that often we get the most brilliant blue skies, and sometimes we get sun dogs. I haven't got a picture of sun dogs yet, but they are coloured, luminous spots caused by the refraction of light by six-sided ice crystals in the atmosphere. They look like bright spots on either side of the sun, at the same elevation as the sun. All very strange!
Anyway, now we're all up to date on the current weather conditions, it seems like a good time to tell you a little bit about Christmas. Luckily enough the weather was pretty good coming up to Christmas (great for all those Calgarians who have to drive for 7 hours to visit relatives in Saskatoon), and we were able to get out for a few walks around the neighbourhood. Some of the people in our neighbourhood went a little overboard on the outdoor Christmas light and decoration thing:
But the same evening, the sunset outdid everything that people had managed to do to their houses. How about these for amazing skies...
So... on to Christmas Day itself. Thank you again to everyone who sent presents and cards - all were very much appreciated, both in the wrapped...
and in the unwrapped forms...
We loved everything we received (especially the M&S pants!! - I do miss M&S!!)...
For the first time in a long time, we were due at someone else's house for dinner on Christmas Day (thereby breaking our usual anti-social habit of staying home). Richard and Emma had invited us to their house, and we were due to go about 1.30pm (a very early time to be up, washed and out on Christmas Day!). Emma came to collect us (and the turkey, carrots&sprouts, gravy, stuffed bacon rolls and wine), and we headed up the road to find Richard ready to make 'special Christmas cocktails'...hhmmmm...
J tried a 'Balalaika' - a vodka & lemon based thing, which unfortunately tasted like cold lemsip (possibly owing to the use of plastic jif lemon, rather than an actual fruit!), while I had something Cuban (rum, and stuff). J's cocktail was only saved by the liberal application of Sprite (although I think I might just have chucked it down the sink...). We then moved on to banana daiquiris (minimal alcohol and loads of cream and mushed up banana in place of banana liqueur) which were a vast improvement. While the turkey cooked in the afternoon, we spent the time eating cheese, dips, crackers, crudites, nuts, and playing games like Scattergories (write down 12 categories - e.g. boy's name, body of water, capital city etc, then pick a letter, and in two minutes, come up with something beginning with that letter for each of the categories), and that age old favourite, Consequences.
Here are a few pics of the day... (note Mr White's nice new Christmas shirt)...
Boys relaxing on the sofa
Christmas dinner table
Hannah wearing her granny's Christmas present
We had a little bit of a problem with a smoking oven setting off the very persistent smoke detectors (hard wired into the house so no batteries to remove...)
Richard trying to waft away the smoke...
And Emma's cousin, Lisa, trying to protect Benjamin's sensitive ears...
But eventually the turkey and the stuffed bacon rolls got cooked...
And Richard did his bit by trying to set the Christmas pud on fire
It was all rather nice, but we simply ate far too much... for people who don't usually have a starter to the Christmas dinner, and certainly never have Christmas pud and brandy butter, we did ourselves proud, but instead of walking home that night, we could have rolled home. Mind you (watch out - back to weather again - who says I'm obsessed?), we needed the insulation for walking home. Having started out as a beautiful day, we ended up walking home in a snow storm - our first white Christmas in a long time...
Having said that, even Rhanbuoy Close in Northern Ireland had a bit of a white Christmas this year. The following pics come courtesy of Denise and Roy (who were sensible and cooked only a bit of their turkey!)...
Snow in Rhanbuoy Close back garden...
with Her Majesty on the telly (didn't see it here in HM Commonwealth's Canada)
while the lady of the house displays the lovely turkey
All just lovely!!
A couple of days later, we headed off to walk in a local park (which to our shame, we have only just discovered...). Its down by the river, and has good walks, and also skating (for those who are interested in that sort of thing!). It was a beautiful day - a bit of ice on the edges of the river,,,
and some very mini ice-bergs in the river (honest!)
Yours truly ...
- it was a relatively warm day, so no earflap hat... (but about 4 layers of clothing all the same!)
Of course, Mr White, once he had seen all the other people skating on the frozen lagoon in the park,
decided he would have to give it a go too. You can rent skates for the princely sum of $5 for as long as you want them, so off he went...
Unfortunately, the lagoon being natural ice, rather than a nicely groomed rink, was a little bumpy in places, causing a little bit of staggering about (and one or two falls)..
but he got the hang of it eventually...
So there you go...all updated on the recent activities...
We're being very boring this New Year's eve (no change there then!), and have turned down an invitation from our Swiss-German friends to go to a theme evening in a restaurant tonight ($160 dollars EACH and fancy dress for the 1930's theme night vs staying in, cooking a nice dinner, and not freezing to death - no competition!!)...
Back soon
P
(1) comments
Well... its currently colder than most domestic freezers... quarter past four in the afternoon on new year's eve 2004, and here is what the in-out thermo clock is telling us...
Yes - you did read right - inside its a very comfortable +20.5 degrees C, while outside is currently a very uncomfortable minus 24 degrees C, forecast to drop to minus 29 degrees C this evening, with the windchill making it feel like minus 41 degrees C (according to the very hyponotic weather channel) - eeek!
The guys on the radio yesterday were saying that minus 18 degrees C is the critical point - below that, skin which is exposed to the elements begins to freeze within minutes, and if left long enough, can result in frostbite. They've told me at work that people just don't go out when its like this. They get in their cars (many of which have remote starters so that they get warm before you get in), drive to work or the mall, dash from the carpark into their destination building, do their business, dash back to the car and go home again. If you do feel the need to be outside for any length of time, you simply have to dress appropriately.
In my case, appropriate dress goes something like this:
regular underwear
thermal vest
M&S opaque tights
thermal longjohns (and fleecy trousers if intending on being out for more than 15 mins)
thick socks
trousers
long sleeved teeshirt
woolly jumper
Columbia jacket (consisting of heavy duty fleece zipped into windproof outer with hood)
thick mittens (much much warmer than Northern Irish gloves)
fleece hat with ear flaps (lifesaver as far as ears are concerned)
scarf (to wrap around chin, mouth and nose)
fur lined zip up leather boots (or Baffin snow boots if not going to work!)
For the uninitiated, this is the concept of dressing in layers, and its definitely required at the moment.
J has just come in from shovelling the drive and the sidewalk, and thankfully, even he has realised the error of not getting very wrapped up to venture out the door. You just can't get away with a short sleeved shirt at the moment!!
You know, when we got here, we were told that Calgary doesn't get much snow. Well, I suppose they don't - but this is only relative to places like Halifax in Atlantic Canada which got 50 centimetres on Boxing Day. We just seem to get little dribbles of snow on a fairly constant basis. Mind you, even these little dribbles can look like a lot when piled up in the supermarket carpark...
And even on the sides of the drive (and yes, there is grass under there somewhere - hard to believe at the moment)...
You know when people from 'away' (Canadian for 'not from here') come to Ireland, and rave about how green it is... I think I now know what they're getting at. There are days here when I look out of my office window, and it just looks like the whole landscape has been bleached. There's nothing green - everything is white, grey or some sort of shade of brown. Its particularly drab when the sky is overcast. The only saving grace is that often we get the most brilliant blue skies, and sometimes we get sun dogs. I haven't got a picture of sun dogs yet, but they are coloured, luminous spots caused by the refraction of light by six-sided ice crystals in the atmosphere. They look like bright spots on either side of the sun, at the same elevation as the sun. All very strange!
Anyway, now we're all up to date on the current weather conditions, it seems like a good time to tell you a little bit about Christmas. Luckily enough the weather was pretty good coming up to Christmas (great for all those Calgarians who have to drive for 7 hours to visit relatives in Saskatoon), and we were able to get out for a few walks around the neighbourhood. Some of the people in our neighbourhood went a little overboard on the outdoor Christmas light and decoration thing:
But the same evening, the sunset outdid everything that people had managed to do to their houses. How about these for amazing skies...
So... on to Christmas Day itself. Thank you again to everyone who sent presents and cards - all were very much appreciated, both in the wrapped...
and in the unwrapped forms...
We loved everything we received (especially the M&S pants!! - I do miss M&S!!)...
For the first time in a long time, we were due at someone else's house for dinner on Christmas Day (thereby breaking our usual anti-social habit of staying home). Richard and Emma had invited us to their house, and we were due to go about 1.30pm (a very early time to be up, washed and out on Christmas Day!). Emma came to collect us (and the turkey, carrots&sprouts, gravy, stuffed bacon rolls and wine), and we headed up the road to find Richard ready to make 'special Christmas cocktails'...hhmmmm...
J tried a 'Balalaika' - a vodka & lemon based thing, which unfortunately tasted like cold lemsip (possibly owing to the use of plastic jif lemon, rather than an actual fruit!), while I had something Cuban (rum, and stuff). J's cocktail was only saved by the liberal application of Sprite (although I think I might just have chucked it down the sink...). We then moved on to banana daiquiris (minimal alcohol and loads of cream and mushed up banana in place of banana liqueur) which were a vast improvement. While the turkey cooked in the afternoon, we spent the time eating cheese, dips, crackers, crudites, nuts, and playing games like Scattergories (write down 12 categories - e.g. boy's name, body of water, capital city etc, then pick a letter, and in two minutes, come up with something beginning with that letter for each of the categories), and that age old favourite, Consequences.
Here are a few pics of the day... (note Mr White's nice new Christmas shirt)...
Boys relaxing on the sofa
Christmas dinner table
Hannah wearing her granny's Christmas present
We had a little bit of a problem with a smoking oven setting off the very persistent smoke detectors (hard wired into the house so no batteries to remove...)
Richard trying to waft away the smoke...
And Emma's cousin, Lisa, trying to protect Benjamin's sensitive ears...
But eventually the turkey and the stuffed bacon rolls got cooked...
And Richard did his bit by trying to set the Christmas pud on fire
It was all rather nice, but we simply ate far too much... for people who don't usually have a starter to the Christmas dinner, and certainly never have Christmas pud and brandy butter, we did ourselves proud, but instead of walking home that night, we could have rolled home. Mind you (watch out - back to weather again - who says I'm obsessed?), we needed the insulation for walking home. Having started out as a beautiful day, we ended up walking home in a snow storm - our first white Christmas in a long time...
Having said that, even Rhanbuoy Close in Northern Ireland had a bit of a white Christmas this year. The following pics come courtesy of Denise and Roy (who were sensible and cooked only a bit of their turkey!)...
Snow in Rhanbuoy Close back garden...
with Her Majesty on the telly (didn't see it here in HM Commonwealth's Canada)
while the lady of the house displays the lovely turkey
All just lovely!!
A couple of days later, we headed off to walk in a local park (which to our shame, we have only just discovered...). Its down by the river, and has good walks, and also skating (for those who are interested in that sort of thing!). It was a beautiful day - a bit of ice on the edges of the river,,,
and some very mini ice-bergs in the river (honest!)
Yours truly ...
- it was a relatively warm day, so no earflap hat... (but about 4 layers of clothing all the same!)
Of course, Mr White, once he had seen all the other people skating on the frozen lagoon in the park,
decided he would have to give it a go too. You can rent skates for the princely sum of $5 for as long as you want them, so off he went...
Unfortunately, the lagoon being natural ice, rather than a nicely groomed rink, was a little bumpy in places, causing a little bit of staggering about (and one or two falls)..
but he got the hang of it eventually...
So there you go...all updated on the recent activities...
We're being very boring this New Year's eve (no change there then!), and have turned down an invitation from our Swiss-German friends to go to a theme evening in a restaurant tonight ($160 dollars EACH and fancy dress for the 1930's theme night vs staying in, cooking a nice dinner, and not freezing to death - no competition!!)...
Back soon
P
Friday, December 24, 2004
A Canadian Twelve Days of Christmas
We found a great MP3 this week by two Canadian hosers called Bob and Doug Mackenzie singing the Twelve Days of Christmas. It's very Canadian, and here are some of the words:
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
A beer.
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Two turtlenecks
And a beer.
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Three French toasts
Two turtlenecks
And a beer.
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Four pounds of back bacon
Three French toasts
Two turtlenecks
And a beer
In a tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Five golden toques
Four pounds of back bacon
Three French toasts
Two turtlenecks
And a beer
In a tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Six packs of two-four
Five golden toques
Four pounds of back bacon
Three French toasts
Two turtlenecks
And a beer
On my knee.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Seven packs of smokes
Six packs of two-four
Five golden toques
Four pounds of back bacon
Three French toasts
Two turtlenecks
And a beer
In a tree.
On the eigth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Eight comic books
Seven packs of smokes
Six packs of two-four
Five golden toques
Four pounds of back bacon
Three French toasts
Two turtlenecks
And a beer
In a tree.
They don't get any further than the eighth day, as they forget the words, but it's a great song! Happy Christmas Eve everyone!
(0) comments
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
A beer.
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Two turtlenecks
And a beer.
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Three French toasts
Two turtlenecks
And a beer.
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Four pounds of back bacon
Three French toasts
Two turtlenecks
And a beer
In a tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Five golden toques
Four pounds of back bacon
Three French toasts
Two turtlenecks
And a beer
In a tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Six packs of two-four
Five golden toques
Four pounds of back bacon
Three French toasts
Two turtlenecks
And a beer
On my knee.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Seven packs of smokes
Six packs of two-four
Five golden toques
Four pounds of back bacon
Three French toasts
Two turtlenecks
And a beer
In a tree.
On the eigth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Eight comic books
Seven packs of smokes
Six packs of two-four
Five golden toques
Four pounds of back bacon
Three French toasts
Two turtlenecks
And a beer
In a tree.
They don't get any further than the eighth day, as they forget the words, but it's a great song! Happy Christmas Eve everyone!
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
6 Months Gone (Dreaming of a White Christmas)
And so this is Christmas
And what have we done?
Another year over
A new one just begun...
Calgary has begun to wind down (or should that be up?) for Christmas. I did a couple of clinics on Monday, then another clinic yesterday morning and that was me for Christmas. There's no more clinics or operating scheduled until January 4th, so I've got myself a nice wee Christmas break, unlike P who has to work for a living! Yesterday was spent getting some last minute presents and wrapping them, while today's highlight was our departmental Christmas lunch at the local Red Lobster (fish and chips a speciality, very nice). The malls were a bit mad on Tuesday, and it's only going to get worse as the week goes on... Tomorrow P is hoping to take a half-day, and I'm dropping down to Bowness to get the Jeep's steering wheel straightened out (it got a bit tilted during the last repair job). Then we have a turkey to pick up from the Bon Ton Meat Market on Christmas Eve, and a party to go to on Christmas Eve evening and after that it will be Santa-time! Followed by the First Inaugural White-Robson-Stewart-Breitmeyer Christmas Day Lunch and Festivities. It should be fun (don't worry, there will be plenty of pictures!)
This week it was 6 months since our arrival in Calgary (June 21st), and it's hard to believe that we've been here for such a long time - it's really flying past, and 25% of our time here is already gone! We've had a great time, done some things that we would never have done at home and made some good friends too. My fellowship has had a good start, and I've got my compulsory rotations done (radiation, pathology, breast, melanoma, head and neck) so that I can get stuck into some more interesting (i.e. more relevant to me) rotations in the 18 months ahead. I've been able to mix and match my remaining rotations to get some high-level experience that I would never get in N.I. eg. 3 months liver surgery, 2 months gynae oncology and 2 months uro-oncology. I'm really looking forward to getting started on my next rotation on January 4.
On the weather front: Minus 18 today, with light flurries in Calgary. It's gonna be cold overnight, then a bit warmer tomorrow and then we're expecting a Chinook on Christmas Eve. It'll drop back to zero for Christmas morning, though, with snow showers throughout the day and then Boxing Day will be baltic, forecasting -26!
Happy Christmas Eve Eve Eve to All
J
This is Christmas Eve (Eve Eve)
And we go off to bed
Hang our stockings up
In a little row
Then jump quickly into bed
And off to sleep we go
(1) comments
And what have we done?
Another year over
A new one just begun...
Calgary has begun to wind down (or should that be up?) for Christmas. I did a couple of clinics on Monday, then another clinic yesterday morning and that was me for Christmas. There's no more clinics or operating scheduled until January 4th, so I've got myself a nice wee Christmas break, unlike P who has to work for a living! Yesterday was spent getting some last minute presents and wrapping them, while today's highlight was our departmental Christmas lunch at the local Red Lobster (fish and chips a speciality, very nice). The malls were a bit mad on Tuesday, and it's only going to get worse as the week goes on... Tomorrow P is hoping to take a half-day, and I'm dropping down to Bowness to get the Jeep's steering wheel straightened out (it got a bit tilted during the last repair job). Then we have a turkey to pick up from the Bon Ton Meat Market on Christmas Eve, and a party to go to on Christmas Eve evening and after that it will be Santa-time! Followed by the First Inaugural White-Robson-Stewart-Breitmeyer Christmas Day Lunch and Festivities. It should be fun (don't worry, there will be plenty of pictures!)
This week it was 6 months since our arrival in Calgary (June 21st), and it's hard to believe that we've been here for such a long time - it's really flying past, and 25% of our time here is already gone! We've had a great time, done some things that we would never have done at home and made some good friends too. My fellowship has had a good start, and I've got my compulsory rotations done (radiation, pathology, breast, melanoma, head and neck) so that I can get stuck into some more interesting (i.e. more relevant to me) rotations in the 18 months ahead. I've been able to mix and match my remaining rotations to get some high-level experience that I would never get in N.I. eg. 3 months liver surgery, 2 months gynae oncology and 2 months uro-oncology. I'm really looking forward to getting started on my next rotation on January 4.
On the weather front: Minus 18 today, with light flurries in Calgary. It's gonna be cold overnight, then a bit warmer tomorrow and then we're expecting a Chinook on Christmas Eve. It'll drop back to zero for Christmas morning, though, with snow showers throughout the day and then Boxing Day will be baltic, forecasting -26!
Happy Christmas Eve Eve Eve to All
J
This is Christmas Eve (Eve Eve)
And we go off to bed
Hang our stockings up
In a little row
Then jump quickly into bed
And off to sleep we go
Sunday, December 19, 2004
christmas comes to calgary
My goodness! What a long time since we blogged, and what an even longer time since I (P) took to the keyboard! No excuses - it just seems like Mr White has been doing such a great job keeping everyone posted on our weird and wonderful experiences, that I haven't needed to....
However, I thought I'd take a few minutes to provide a Christmas in Calgary update... first of all, a very big thankyou to everyone who took time to wrap up some presents to send to us here. Being so far from home, its absolutely lovely to come home, and either find a parcel in the post box or a note telling you to go to the post-office, Purolator office or DHL office because there is a parcel waiting. We now have a very nice pile of wrapped pressies under our tree, all waiting for Christmas morning. Thank you also to everyone who sent us a card - again, its just so nice to know that people are thinking of us enough to make the effort to put something in the mail.
I think Mr White promised that we would post a few pics of this year's Christmas decorations, so here goes...
This is the main event - a large plastic christmas tree from Canadian Tire (which we originally thought was a tyre shop, but turns out to be a big store that sells tyres, car stuff, homewares, sports gear, DIY stuff - in fact, you name it, Canadian Tire probably sells it). We did have romantic notions about having a real tree (let's face it, there's no shortage in this part of the world), but on the day that we had designated as tree buying day, it snowed all morning. So - consider this - wet, dirty tree being trailed into rented house with cream lino and cream carpet = big mess, vs plastic tree in clean box.... so plastic tree it was.
Here it is during daylight - balls and other shiny things supplied by Canadian Tire...
and here is a slightly blurry picture (minus flash) taken at night ...
The one good thing about a real tree is the fantastic smell of pine. We have attempted to recreate a bit of a festive whiff by putting a Yankee Candle beside the tree (not quite the same, but not bad!). The candle is of the Balsam Fir variety...
We also fell for a very tacky fibre optic tree for the bonus room upstairs - its a bit manic, but we like it!
Other decorations came from various sources... thanks to my mum and dad for sending this in the Christmas box (very cute!)...
and to Denise and Roy for the festive (and also cute) stockings... please note that they are way up on the shelves beside the rusty buffalo because we had Emma and Richard and Hannah and Benjamin round the other night. While Benjamin is not a household hazard yet, Hannah (at two and a half years old) is just a little bit curious about wrapped Christmas presents, and we didn't want our stockings opened early!
We also took ourselves out to Bragg Creek to look for something 'different' that we wouldn't necessarily find at home. It was lovely out there last week - snow on the trees, Santa sleigh rides going on etc. Bragg Creek is a small village just on the edge of Kananaskis Country, and is only 25 minutes drive from our house. I think the village has a population of about 400, but there is a shopping area that has some really lovely craft shops, art galleries etc. One of our favourite places is just opposite the main block of shops, and its basically two very small wooden cabins just on the edge of the woods. The guy who owns it makes wooden stuff in one of the cabins, and sells it (as well as candles, glass stuff and metal things) in the other cabin.
Some time ago, I had bought a wooden tree with small light bulbs stuck in it, and this time, we bought a steel tree, with star shapes cut out - hard to imagine, so here they are...(along with the German Nativity scene from home)
And here is a star mobile - from the same place
Actually the trip to Bragg Creek turned out a little more expensive than anticipated! We are very fond of a particular art gallery called the Ali Cat Gallery, and for the past four months we had been gazing at a particular painting. We hadn't bought it because we really felt that it was a little expensive, but last week, we took the head staggers and parted with our money...Its by a guy called Rod Charlesworth, and is called 'The Backyard Rink'. We liked the fact that it looks as uniquely Canadian as a painting could be, and we also loved the bright colours...
Here is how it looks on the wall ...
But you get a better idea of the colours and of some of the artist's other pictures on the website of the gallery in Bragg Creek...
So, that's about it for now... I'll leave you with some scenery pictures and one of the poinsettia...
Canada Olympic Park at sunset
View over to the mountains in the evening
And the Canadian Christmas drink - egg nog and rum...
(0) comments
However, I thought I'd take a few minutes to provide a Christmas in Calgary update... first of all, a very big thankyou to everyone who took time to wrap up some presents to send to us here. Being so far from home, its absolutely lovely to come home, and either find a parcel in the post box or a note telling you to go to the post-office, Purolator office or DHL office because there is a parcel waiting. We now have a very nice pile of wrapped pressies under our tree, all waiting for Christmas morning. Thank you also to everyone who sent us a card - again, its just so nice to know that people are thinking of us enough to make the effort to put something in the mail.
I think Mr White promised that we would post a few pics of this year's Christmas decorations, so here goes...
This is the main event - a large plastic christmas tree from Canadian Tire (which we originally thought was a tyre shop, but turns out to be a big store that sells tyres, car stuff, homewares, sports gear, DIY stuff - in fact, you name it, Canadian Tire probably sells it). We did have romantic notions about having a real tree (let's face it, there's no shortage in this part of the world), but on the day that we had designated as tree buying day, it snowed all morning. So - consider this - wet, dirty tree being trailed into rented house with cream lino and cream carpet = big mess, vs plastic tree in clean box.... so plastic tree it was.
Here it is during daylight - balls and other shiny things supplied by Canadian Tire...
and here is a slightly blurry picture (minus flash) taken at night ...
The one good thing about a real tree is the fantastic smell of pine. We have attempted to recreate a bit of a festive whiff by putting a Yankee Candle beside the tree (not quite the same, but not bad!). The candle is of the Balsam Fir variety...
We also fell for a very tacky fibre optic tree for the bonus room upstairs - its a bit manic, but we like it!
Other decorations came from various sources... thanks to my mum and dad for sending this in the Christmas box (very cute!)...
and to Denise and Roy for the festive (and also cute) stockings... please note that they are way up on the shelves beside the rusty buffalo because we had Emma and Richard and Hannah and Benjamin round the other night. While Benjamin is not a household hazard yet, Hannah (at two and a half years old) is just a little bit curious about wrapped Christmas presents, and we didn't want our stockings opened early!
We also took ourselves out to Bragg Creek to look for something 'different' that we wouldn't necessarily find at home. It was lovely out there last week - snow on the trees, Santa sleigh rides going on etc. Bragg Creek is a small village just on the edge of Kananaskis Country, and is only 25 minutes drive from our house. I think the village has a population of about 400, but there is a shopping area that has some really lovely craft shops, art galleries etc. One of our favourite places is just opposite the main block of shops, and its basically two very small wooden cabins just on the edge of the woods. The guy who owns it makes wooden stuff in one of the cabins, and sells it (as well as candles, glass stuff and metal things) in the other cabin.
Some time ago, I had bought a wooden tree with small light bulbs stuck in it, and this time, we bought a steel tree, with star shapes cut out - hard to imagine, so here they are...(along with the German Nativity scene from home)
And here is a star mobile - from the same place
Actually the trip to Bragg Creek turned out a little more expensive than anticipated! We are very fond of a particular art gallery called the Ali Cat Gallery, and for the past four months we had been gazing at a particular painting. We hadn't bought it because we really felt that it was a little expensive, but last week, we took the head staggers and parted with our money...Its by a guy called Rod Charlesworth, and is called 'The Backyard Rink'. We liked the fact that it looks as uniquely Canadian as a painting could be, and we also loved the bright colours...
Here is how it looks on the wall ...
But you get a better idea of the colours and of some of the artist's other pictures on the website of the gallery in Bragg Creek...
So, that's about it for now... I'll leave you with some scenery pictures and one of the poinsettia...
Canada Olympic Park at sunset
View over to the mountains in the evening
And the Canadian Christmas drink - egg nog and rum...
Thursday, December 09, 2004
For a Few Polaroids More
Good bit warmer today, up to -6 at breakfast time, and is currently hovering just over zero as the result of a Chinook coming over. Not bad for being -25 the other night! Most of the snow that was covering the hospital windows is now gone, and I was able to drive in to work this morning without my big coat and gloves on in the car! I'm on call tonight, and P is working late reviewing grant proposals for the Cancer Board.
We're planning to move our Christmas preparations into a higher gear at the weekend, buying a real live tree, lots of baubles and going to Bragg Creek to buy some handmade wooden Christmas things (photos if we get them). Also thinking of going out for sushi and a movie tomorrow night (probably Bridget Jones II, recommended by Michelle McKinley, apparently). Then we have to get our next skiing session set up at the COP next week. P's back has now fully healed, so it's time to get her back on the slopes again! Even though we were wrecked for 24 hours after our last effort, I really enjoyed our day at Sunshine and I'm keen to give it another go. It's that whizzy feeling, moving fast over the powder heading downhill, just on the edge of being out of control and falling over but somehow staying on your feet and making it to the bottom! There's nothing quite like it, even if you do end up with a face full of snow!
Anyway, back to work, as Emerg is on the phone asking for my opinion. Ho hum, pig's bum, as they say!
Later, dudes
J
PS I see that our politicians have done us proud again, falling out over a few Polaroids. For goodness sake, can someone not just knock their heads together? They're gonna agree on this eventually, so why not just get on with it now?
PPS In other news - the supreme court of Canada legalises gay marriage today, Alberta says get stuffed. Who says we're not the Canadian version of Texas?
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We're planning to move our Christmas preparations into a higher gear at the weekend, buying a real live tree, lots of baubles and going to Bragg Creek to buy some handmade wooden Christmas things (photos if we get them). Also thinking of going out for sushi and a movie tomorrow night (probably Bridget Jones II, recommended by Michelle McKinley, apparently). Then we have to get our next skiing session set up at the COP next week. P's back has now fully healed, so it's time to get her back on the slopes again! Even though we were wrecked for 24 hours after our last effort, I really enjoyed our day at Sunshine and I'm keen to give it another go. It's that whizzy feeling, moving fast over the powder heading downhill, just on the edge of being out of control and falling over but somehow staying on your feet and making it to the bottom! There's nothing quite like it, even if you do end up with a face full of snow!
Anyway, back to work, as Emerg is on the phone asking for my opinion. Ho hum, pig's bum, as they say!
Later, dudes
J
PS I see that our politicians have done us proud again, falling out over a few Polaroids. For goodness sake, can someone not just knock their heads together? They're gonna agree on this eventually, so why not just get on with it now?
PPS In other news - the supreme court of Canada legalises gay marriage today, Alberta says get stuffed. Who says we're not the Canadian version of Texas?
Monday, December 06, 2004
Ski Saturday
Thick powdery snow, skiers and snowboarders flying past you on the slopes, hot chocolate at the Day Lodge... there's nothing like a day spent skiing in the Rockies. We had a great time this past Saturday at Sunshine Ski Village, 8km west of Banff. We'd been planning to go for a while, and it is still very early in the season (Lake Louise and Sunshine have been open for a couple of weeks, and Nakiska only opened yesterday) but we were going because the HERBs had some free babysitting going begging and they had been dying to hit the slopes for a while. Richard hadn't been since April and Emma hadn't been since before she was pregnant with Benjamin, while we hadn't been at all in our adult lives (a few days with the Carrick Grammar Scripture Union in Glencoe, Scotland when we were 15 doesn't really count, I think). We considered taking a lesson or two before going but somehow never got around to it. We decided to just give it a go... we would pick it up again pretty quickly, right? Right...
We got up early at 0645 to find that the snow forecast for Saturday late afternoon/evening had in fact arrived during the night and we needed to get our snow shovel out before we could get going. We had the Jeep fully loaded with our Rockies survival gear, blankets matches and candles, chocolate and water in case we got stuck somewhere on the road. We also had put Richard and Emma's ski-box on top of the Jeep on Friday night so we just had to load up the skis and go. We headed up to the HERBs to collect them and their gear and away we went at 0805! We had been wondering what to wear for the whole skiing thing, and we discovered that, as with the rest of Calgary fashion, it's a matter of Layer Dressing:
Layer 1: underwear
Layer 2: long johns below and T-shirt above
Layer 3: fleecy pants below and micro-fleece or jumper above
Layer 4: waterproof trousers below and waterproof insulated jacket above
Not forgetting your hat (pull down over ears to avoid frostbite), gloves +/- overmittens, thick winter socks and ski goggles. Although I've never worn long johns in my life before, they do keep you toasty warm and have the added advantage of allowing you to take your trousers off in public without frightening the horses. So I was able to drive in my jeans and then change into my fleecy pants and waterproofs at the ski village.
Having arrived at Sunshine after 80 mins on the road, we then were in to 'transition time' which means the time it takes between arriving at the resort and actually getting to the point where you're standing on the slopes on your skis. We took over an hour, but apparently you get faster with practice if you're a serious skier! We all had to change into our ski gear, stow all of our stuff in the Jeep, hop on a tractor which takes you to the lower cable car station, then hire your skis, boots and poles (leaving your own shoes in a locker), pay for a lift pass, get on the cable car (Gondola) for 20 mins and then get off at the top. We only got on the slopes at 11:40 or so. Whew!
Sunshine Ski Village
Hardened Ski Veterans (Lift Pass Pictures)
We met some locals in the cable car on the way up who recommended a Green Run called 'Strawberry' which was good for beginners. One side was easier than the other, they said, but it was good to get started on. Runs seem to be classified as follows, by the way:
Green = easy, for beginners
Blue = bit harder, need to be fairly good
Black = better be good for this one
Black Diamond = even harder
Double Black Diamond = experts only, take your life in your hands
The light on the slopes was 'flat' which means the sun is just a vague glow in the sky and the light level is a bit gloomy due to clouds and falling snow (it snowed most of the time we were on the slopes) So we got our bindings on (these let you clunk your heavy, inflexible ski boots, which weigh a ton, onto your skis, feels very funny, like you don't have any ankles) and headed off for Strawberry, getting on the ski lift which is one of those 'approach you from behind and scoop you off your feet models'.
Hmmm... these go on your feet, right?
OK - so what do we do now?
Getting on the lift was easier than getting off, as the lift dumps you on a short flat landing pad which leads onto a slope which was a bit steeper than we expected, causing both of us to go on our ears (had to stop the ski lift until we were out of the way again). Then we headed off downslope, faltering at first (first time on skis in 20 years, remember), keeping our front ski-ends together (this is called Doing the Snowplough) to stop from going too fast (never never never point your skis downhill straight!) until we got to a sign saying 'Blue Run to the right' and 'Green Run to the left'. Richard and Emma headed off on the Blue, while we decided to take the Green Run. Which was fine and dandy, except for the fact that it was really a good bit steeper than we had expected for a beginner slope, and there were hidden edges, which I discovered by promptly firing myself over one and landing in a heap. Oh well, no damage done, just go slower and take a bit more care, right? Right... So we made our way downhill, keeping the Snowplough up, practising our turns a bit, traversing (which means wiggling from side to side across a slope, rather than just going straight down and accelerating madly). It was actually quite difficult to go slowly in all the slope traffic, with kids and snowboarders zooming past on all sides, but we went at our own pace and avoided having a collision. Key points to remember are: keep your knees bent, crouch down as much as you can, and never never lean back. We were doing pretty well, I was a bit more adventurous than P, and fell over a good bit more, but we made it down to where we could see the bottom of the slope. Except this bit really was fairly steep, in fact a bit scarily steep, in fact we couldn't believe it was for beginners at all. However, our Ulster bloody-mindedness kicked in, we had paid our money and they weren't going to send up a helicopter to get us down, so I decided to give it a go and slowly snowploughed and traversed my way to the bottom. P was going to go next, but she lingered just a little too long at the top, looked at how steep it was just a bit too much and then decided that walking down was the safest option after all.
J at the Day Lodge
P at the Day Lodge
We met up with Richard and Emma for lunch at the Day Lodge and discussed how disappointed we were at how crap we were at skiing and how we should have really taken a lesson or two before we came, and how they should enjoy themselves anyway and never mind us. They commiserated, and we got the map out to see which runs they would go on in the afternoon. It was only then that we realised that were two sides to the Strawberry Run after all, one marked 'Green - for Beginners' and the other (the one we came down) 'Green - Intermediate'. It seemed that if we hadn't fallen off the ski-lift we would have seen the sign for the real Green Run. Sheesh! We also discovered a Beginners' area called Magic Carpet (which we had missed on the way up) which was a gentle slope with a moving 'carpet' which allowed you to get up to the top again after you had skied down it.
Rich takes a break
Where have the boys gone?
Poles Up and Away We Go!
Undeterred, after lunch P got her skis back on and decided she would take a few runs on the Magic Carpet and practice her turns while Richard, Emma and I went back up to see what the Real Green Run was like. And it turned out to be surprisingly easy, very few skiers, mostly a gentle slope except the first bit which was a steep slope wide enough to traverse across. I made it all the way down, going quite fast in places, and I didn't fall once! Wow! When we got to the bottom, Emma and I went up again while Richard headed off to the higher slopes for more of a challenge. We waved to P on the Magic Carpet from the ski-lift and she was doing some pretty impressive turns, but she couldn't be convinced to come back up to the top. She met a lady who was also a beginner who had come down Strawberry too, and she had cried most of the way down, and gave up and walked down from half way down! Compared to that, P was a real Franz Klammer! Anyway, Emma and I skied down again and then met up with Rich again for a final run before the place closed at 4pm (the sun goes down at 4:15, and skiing in the dark is no fun at all). This time we decided to end on a high note and try the Blue Run on Strawberry which Rich and Em had come down at first. I realised I was taking a bit of a chance, but I decided to give it a go anyway. It was a good bit steeper than the Green Runs, narrower and with more trees to crash into. I was going pretty fast, making some nice turns but I fell over a couple of times when my ski bindings came off. On the last bit, I was doing really rather well (it's good, this skiing, I was thinking), when I executed a perfect high-speed paralled turn (according to observers) and then lost my balance and carried out a high-speed, full frontal impact wipeout, creating a huge plume of powdery snow. Apparently, it was quite impressive and I managed to get snow in my long johns which is an achievement of sorts. That was enough excitement for one day, so we had some hot chocolate and got on the Gondola going down.
The 4 of Us, 'apres ski'
Skiing Jeep
We headed off for Banff in the dark, and ended up at the Hot Springs for an hour or so, lying in the hot sulphury outdoor spring pools at 39oC while it was -4 and snow was falling on our heads. Thick clouds of steam hung over the pool, and you could barely see the people on other side of the springs. It was great, and we didn't really want to leave when it came time to go. The drive home was a bit rough though, minus 9 and drifting snow. We had the iPod with us and the radio transmitter, so Richard played DJ while I drove and the girls in the back decided what we would order from the Chinese takeway, once we got back to the HERB household. When we got home we checked on the TV and it said the Banff road was officially classed as dangerous with poor visibility, passable with extreme caution.
So, where do we go now with this skiing lark? Well, next stop is the COP (Canada Olympic Park) which is a good place to go for beginners and which has lessons in the evenings and weekends. There's not much point in heading off to Sunshine or Lake Louise or Nakiska again until we're a bit more confident on our feet and we can whizz down a Green Run or two. Hopefully we can have a couple of lessons before Christmas (COP is open on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, so there's a thought...), and we're definitely not giving up. Although we will have to make some time for cross-country skiing (which is a totally different kettle of fish, we're told), snow-shoeing and ice-hockey. Here's to the winter weather - long may it last!
PS. Bad news from RoyBoy this morning - Rocky Mountain Rovers continue their helter-skelter progress down the Double Diamond Black Run to the foot of the League Table, as they are now 23rd of 28 teams, on 438 points, some 62 points adrift of the athletic Robbo's Rovers (17th) and too far to count behind the Polish Plums (9th) and the triumphant Calgary Visitors (5th, can you believe it?). Maybe if I can make it into last place, I can claim my tenner back again. Oh well...
(0) comments
We got up early at 0645 to find that the snow forecast for Saturday late afternoon/evening had in fact arrived during the night and we needed to get our snow shovel out before we could get going. We had the Jeep fully loaded with our Rockies survival gear, blankets matches and candles, chocolate and water in case we got stuck somewhere on the road. We also had put Richard and Emma's ski-box on top of the Jeep on Friday night so we just had to load up the skis and go. We headed up to the HERBs to collect them and their gear and away we went at 0805! We had been wondering what to wear for the whole skiing thing, and we discovered that, as with the rest of Calgary fashion, it's a matter of Layer Dressing:
Layer 1: underwear
Layer 2: long johns below and T-shirt above
Layer 3: fleecy pants below and micro-fleece or jumper above
Layer 4: waterproof trousers below and waterproof insulated jacket above
Not forgetting your hat (pull down over ears to avoid frostbite), gloves +/- overmittens, thick winter socks and ski goggles. Although I've never worn long johns in my life before, they do keep you toasty warm and have the added advantage of allowing you to take your trousers off in public without frightening the horses. So I was able to drive in my jeans and then change into my fleecy pants and waterproofs at the ski village.
Having arrived at Sunshine after 80 mins on the road, we then were in to 'transition time' which means the time it takes between arriving at the resort and actually getting to the point where you're standing on the slopes on your skis. We took over an hour, but apparently you get faster with practice if you're a serious skier! We all had to change into our ski gear, stow all of our stuff in the Jeep, hop on a tractor which takes you to the lower cable car station, then hire your skis, boots and poles (leaving your own shoes in a locker), pay for a lift pass, get on the cable car (Gondola) for 20 mins and then get off at the top. We only got on the slopes at 11:40 or so. Whew!
Sunshine Ski Village
Hardened Ski Veterans (Lift Pass Pictures)
We met some locals in the cable car on the way up who recommended a Green Run called 'Strawberry' which was good for beginners. One side was easier than the other, they said, but it was good to get started on. Runs seem to be classified as follows, by the way:
Green = easy, for beginners
Blue = bit harder, need to be fairly good
Black = better be good for this one
Black Diamond = even harder
Double Black Diamond = experts only, take your life in your hands
The light on the slopes was 'flat' which means the sun is just a vague glow in the sky and the light level is a bit gloomy due to clouds and falling snow (it snowed most of the time we were on the slopes) So we got our bindings on (these let you clunk your heavy, inflexible ski boots, which weigh a ton, onto your skis, feels very funny, like you don't have any ankles) and headed off for Strawberry, getting on the ski lift which is one of those 'approach you from behind and scoop you off your feet models'.
Hmmm... these go on your feet, right?
OK - so what do we do now?
Getting on the lift was easier than getting off, as the lift dumps you on a short flat landing pad which leads onto a slope which was a bit steeper than we expected, causing both of us to go on our ears (had to stop the ski lift until we were out of the way again). Then we headed off downslope, faltering at first (first time on skis in 20 years, remember), keeping our front ski-ends together (this is called Doing the Snowplough) to stop from going too fast (never never never point your skis downhill straight!) until we got to a sign saying 'Blue Run to the right' and 'Green Run to the left'. Richard and Emma headed off on the Blue, while we decided to take the Green Run. Which was fine and dandy, except for the fact that it was really a good bit steeper than we had expected for a beginner slope, and there were hidden edges, which I discovered by promptly firing myself over one and landing in a heap. Oh well, no damage done, just go slower and take a bit more care, right? Right... So we made our way downhill, keeping the Snowplough up, practising our turns a bit, traversing (which means wiggling from side to side across a slope, rather than just going straight down and accelerating madly). It was actually quite difficult to go slowly in all the slope traffic, with kids and snowboarders zooming past on all sides, but we went at our own pace and avoided having a collision. Key points to remember are: keep your knees bent, crouch down as much as you can, and never never lean back. We were doing pretty well, I was a bit more adventurous than P, and fell over a good bit more, but we made it down to where we could see the bottom of the slope. Except this bit really was fairly steep, in fact a bit scarily steep, in fact we couldn't believe it was for beginners at all. However, our Ulster bloody-mindedness kicked in, we had paid our money and they weren't going to send up a helicopter to get us down, so I decided to give it a go and slowly snowploughed and traversed my way to the bottom. P was going to go next, but she lingered just a little too long at the top, looked at how steep it was just a bit too much and then decided that walking down was the safest option after all.
J at the Day Lodge
P at the Day Lodge
We met up with Richard and Emma for lunch at the Day Lodge and discussed how disappointed we were at how crap we were at skiing and how we should have really taken a lesson or two before we came, and how they should enjoy themselves anyway and never mind us. They commiserated, and we got the map out to see which runs they would go on in the afternoon. It was only then that we realised that were two sides to the Strawberry Run after all, one marked 'Green - for Beginners' and the other (the one we came down) 'Green - Intermediate'. It seemed that if we hadn't fallen off the ski-lift we would have seen the sign for the real Green Run. Sheesh! We also discovered a Beginners' area called Magic Carpet (which we had missed on the way up) which was a gentle slope with a moving 'carpet' which allowed you to get up to the top again after you had skied down it.
Rich takes a break
Where have the boys gone?
Poles Up and Away We Go!
Undeterred, after lunch P got her skis back on and decided she would take a few runs on the Magic Carpet and practice her turns while Richard, Emma and I went back up to see what the Real Green Run was like. And it turned out to be surprisingly easy, very few skiers, mostly a gentle slope except the first bit which was a steep slope wide enough to traverse across. I made it all the way down, going quite fast in places, and I didn't fall once! Wow! When we got to the bottom, Emma and I went up again while Richard headed off to the higher slopes for more of a challenge. We waved to P on the Magic Carpet from the ski-lift and she was doing some pretty impressive turns, but she couldn't be convinced to come back up to the top. She met a lady who was also a beginner who had come down Strawberry too, and she had cried most of the way down, and gave up and walked down from half way down! Compared to that, P was a real Franz Klammer! Anyway, Emma and I skied down again and then met up with Rich again for a final run before the place closed at 4pm (the sun goes down at 4:15, and skiing in the dark is no fun at all). This time we decided to end on a high note and try the Blue Run on Strawberry which Rich and Em had come down at first. I realised I was taking a bit of a chance, but I decided to give it a go anyway. It was a good bit steeper than the Green Runs, narrower and with more trees to crash into. I was going pretty fast, making some nice turns but I fell over a couple of times when my ski bindings came off. On the last bit, I was doing really rather well (it's good, this skiing, I was thinking), when I executed a perfect high-speed paralled turn (according to observers) and then lost my balance and carried out a high-speed, full frontal impact wipeout, creating a huge plume of powdery snow. Apparently, it was quite impressive and I managed to get snow in my long johns which is an achievement of sorts. That was enough excitement for one day, so we had some hot chocolate and got on the Gondola going down.
The 4 of Us, 'apres ski'
Skiing Jeep
We headed off for Banff in the dark, and ended up at the Hot Springs for an hour or so, lying in the hot sulphury outdoor spring pools at 39oC while it was -4 and snow was falling on our heads. Thick clouds of steam hung over the pool, and you could barely see the people on other side of the springs. It was great, and we didn't really want to leave when it came time to go. The drive home was a bit rough though, minus 9 and drifting snow. We had the iPod with us and the radio transmitter, so Richard played DJ while I drove and the girls in the back decided what we would order from the Chinese takeway, once we got back to the HERB household. When we got home we checked on the TV and it said the Banff road was officially classed as dangerous with poor visibility, passable with extreme caution.
So, where do we go now with this skiing lark? Well, next stop is the COP (Canada Olympic Park) which is a good place to go for beginners and which has lessons in the evenings and weekends. There's not much point in heading off to Sunshine or Lake Louise or Nakiska again until we're a bit more confident on our feet and we can whizz down a Green Run or two. Hopefully we can have a couple of lessons before Christmas (COP is open on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, so there's a thought...), and we're definitely not giving up. Although we will have to make some time for cross-country skiing (which is a totally different kettle of fish, we're told), snow-shoeing and ice-hockey. Here's to the winter weather - long may it last!
PS. Bad news from RoyBoy this morning - Rocky Mountain Rovers continue their helter-skelter progress down the Double Diamond Black Run to the foot of the League Table, as they are now 23rd of 28 teams, on 438 points, some 62 points adrift of the athletic Robbo's Rovers (17th) and too far to count behind the Polish Plums (9th) and the triumphant Calgary Visitors (5th, can you believe it?). Maybe if I can make it into last place, I can claim my tenner back again. Oh well...
