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.

Weekend trip

The highlight of course was Kaleb's second birthday. The doggy theme was taken from his favorite book, "Go dogs, Go!"
He makes a cute little puppy, doesn't he?

Saturday was spent painting Darrell and Jess's house. It was an extremely hot day and they were working on a south wall. I got to stay inside and babysit Kaleb. Good deal for me!

Does anyone know what kind of birds these are? I couldn't find any like that in my bird book. They were about the size of robins with a fairly long beak. saw them in a national park in southern Alberta.

The New Mall

We've been to the new Balzac Mall twice now. It's not as big as I expected, but it's nice. It's on one floor, and shaped like a square. One of the things I like is the flooring - it's different in different sections. Everything from hardwood to tile to a marble look. Shiny, and a lot of yellows and an apple green color. Different themes in different sections.

The central areas have innovative decorating.

Of course the cowboy theme comes through loud and strong.

This is the name.

Happy Birthday Jon!

Hope you're feeling young and energetic today!

Ah, where has the time gone? Now you and your son have your birthdays in the same month!

Cedar Plank Salmon

Have you ever had salmon bbq'd on a cedar plank? It's awesome. Very tender and moist and flavorful. This is how you do it:
Soak a cedar plank (any old cedar - can be fence board) overnight. Put a rock or can on top to keep it underwater. Then preheat the bbq to high and heat the board for 2 or 3 minutes. Keep a spray bottle handy in case it catches fire! Then sprinkle with coarse salt and add the salmon filet which has been brushed with olive oil, lemon juice, and topped with onion and coarsely ground pepper. You can also add dill and we added onion green.
Turn the heat down low when you add the salmon, close the lid and the recipe says to cook for 10 minutes but it took ours more like 20. The salmon should be flaky. Check it , and keep that spray bottle handy.
Then enjoy. You'll love it.

Don't you just expect a little gnome to come out of this mushroom? It was about 4 inches high and quite thick. Saw it in Kananaskis.

Our green trim , eavestroughs and soffits need to be replaced because of hail damage and they don't have the same color. So which color should we choose? Another dark green? Black? Dark brown? Any votes?