Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Well, most of the post-party clean-up has been done now, so I took my computer out on the patio and created a Beginner Photoshop lesson plan.  I hope to teach some continuing education courses at the college, if I can.  I'm going to test it out on my mom, my aunt and our friend, Sue... if they can learn it, anybody can!
I was enjoying the weather so much, that later in the evening, I took a stroll to Sardis Park.  There's always something going on there.  There was a brazen turtle sitting on the grass out of the water, but by the time I got close enough to take the photo, he darted back into the water.  Who said turtles are slow?  Anyway, I love the way the massive willow trees hang over the water.  Their roots are so twisted that I thought it made for a nice shot:

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Felt a little under the weather today.  Sore throat and clogged sinuses, which never bodes well for having a productive day.  Regardless, I did some designing and watched some Photoshop tutorials, and also looked for jobs online - none of which required a lot of movement, which worked out well.  Later in the afternoon, I started dinner.  We decided on barbecued kebabs with Piri Piri marinade - shrimp, chicken, pineapple, onion, and peppers with rice on the side.  Yum!  Then Lurline and I took a quick drive so I could get my picture of the day.  It was a beautiful sunny day again, but within a  few minutes a storm rolled in and the winds picked up.  Tree branches were down across the city and everything was blowing around.  Then, just as fast as it moved in, it was gone again.  We drove into Fish Creek park and I got out to take this shot of a hiking path:

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Happy Solstice!  What a gorgeous, sunny day here in Calgary.  Woke up at 4:30am to drive Talia to her job at Starbuck's for 5am, then I came home and went back to bed for a couple of hours.  When I got up, I said bye to Lurline as she was leaving for work, then set about to organize my guitar music book.  It took hours - it was a mess!  I re-typed some of the songs, downloaded some new sheet music, and typed out a table of contents.  I don't have everything printed yet, but that's tomorrow's goal.
I went outside in the afternoon and helped Tristan to weed the front yard a little.  Doesn't look much better, though.
Once everybody was home, I barbecued some marinated chicken and made a hearty green salad for dinner.  Then I went for a walk to find a picture for the day.  It was a beautiful view out towards the Rockies, but the photos didn't do it justice, so I used this picture of a lush, green tree and a blue sky with a few clouds.

Sunday, June 12th, 2011

With the sun shining today, I ended up doing quite a bit of yard work with my parents today.  Worked on the pond again, since the last design was leaking for some reason.  Mom and I took a run to a few stores looking for a few supplies, and I spotted a very nice banana tree that I bought for my dad for father's day.  Put a lot more bark mulch in the flower beds and did some weeding.  The garden is looking pretty great, if you ask me.  When Lurline got home, we ate a barbecue dinner out on the patio, then came inside to watch a movie.  Pretty good day, but very tiring.  Here's one section of the garden that's starting to come together nicely:

Monday, May 16th, 2011

A great day spent with my best friend, Lisa, in Vancouver.  Went for lunch at Burgoo and it was scrumptious.  We sat on the patio in the cold and windy May weather, pretending the heat lamps were sunshine.  We laughed ourselves to tears, as usual, as we indulged in a cold beer (or two).  Then, we watched a few episodes of "Damages", until we left to visit Brenda.  We wanted to give her the pictures and her birthday present from the other night.  Then, it was time for me to drive back to Chilliwack.  I was almost home, and saw a family of geese in a nearby park.  The goslings were so cute, but none of the pictures were as good as the park itself, so decided to go with this one.... I'll go back for the goslings another time!

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

After a wild night with friends, Sunday was spent in recovery.  Just a low energy day watching some TV and chatting with my best friend.  Later in the day, I walked to another friend's house to watch the first game of the third round of the hockey playoffs against the San Jose Sharks. (I'm hoping the Vancouver Canucks will take the Stanley Cup this year).  On my way over, there was a shower of cherry blossoms everywhere, and each time the wind blew, there would be another wave of pink petals falling everywhere. Unfortunately, I was never quite quick enough with my camera, but here's what the trees and sidewalk looked like: