Nature Shots from Radium

These "Bachelor Rams" were all over the place. Didn't seem to worry about us.The mountain ash looked beautiful after a heavy frost one morning with the ice melting off it.

This squirrel let me get pretty close before running away.

Some mountain sheep were wandering around Main Street and this one was determined to taste those mountain ash berries!

I've never gotten a picture of a fawn before. It seemed pretty late in the year to be so young. I hope it survies the winter.

Radium Hot Springs

After looking after the home of some friends while they wintered down south, we were surprised when they thanked us by providing the use of a condo in Radium. It was all arranged in the spring, and there was room for extras. Tim and Juanita just happened to ask us if they could come to see us in October, so we headed off to Radium. This picture is the entrance to the town.

This was our abode for a week. Complete with bbq, tv, internet, kitchen and washer/dryer and access to a rec centre with games room and pool and hot tub.

A nice walking path along the river.

The weather was on the cool side, but the hot springs warmed us up.

It was nice to have Tim and Juanita with us, and other friends joined us for the weekend. It was special being with Kaleb for a whole week since we don't get to see him very often. In the morning he'd come out of his room calling for gamma and gampa. Pretty heartwarming. Look below for his newly discovered talents!

Future Football Star?

Kaleb enjoyed the water. He kept us well-entertained!

I'm not sure how it all got started, but Kaleb started trying to knock down a water bottle with a football. It was his idea to add a "guy" on the top to make it more interesting. We were actually amazed at how often he knocked it down. He wanted to do it again and again. After awhile we started keeping track, and he knocked it down about 60% of the time. He was very single-minded - he must have thrown it about 100 times!

We decided to set up a second bottle to make it more challenging. Of course, he wanted another "guy" on top. But this was no challenge for him!

So we added a third. We ran out of guys, so we added a monkey. Three bottles, 2 guys and a monkey knocked down.

Yeah, Kaleb!

From Skippers to Brushfoots!

I bought a butterfly book in August and now I can go through my pictures of butterflies and identify them. I've discovered there are many varieties. This butterfly is part of a family called "Gossamer Wings". It is a Melissa Blue male.

This is the same Melissa Blue male with his wings closed. It looks like a totally different butterfly!

This is a Milbert's Tortoiseshell, part of the Brushfoot family.

Milbert's Tortoiseshell closed.

There is also a family called "Skippers" and this is a Hobomok Skipper. Skippers have thicker bodies and hooked antennae. They are fast-flying.

Other families are Swallowtails and Parnassians, and Whites and Sulphurs. Then there are other varieties in each family.