Day365 . Monday, January 4

I drove past these snow covered trees with the sun shining through them at just the right angle. I had to drive a whole mile farther, turn around and drive past them going the opposite direction for a mile, then turn and come back toward them. By that time, the sun was not at the same angle. I tried for the shot anyway......not as impressive as I had hoped.



This is it. The 365th post of photos. (Well, except for the few days that I missed)
This is also the final post on this blog (at least, I think it is). I will be posting more often, with more photos on my other blog. I think I will do a once a week post of a picture from each day of the previous week. That is my plan, anyway. It has been difficult to keep up with two blogs, as is obvious, since I am usually behind on this one....that is why I am going to try incorporate the theme of this blog into my other one.

Please come visit me there - and don't forget to leave a comment!

Thanks for sharing this experiment with me! Have a wonderful 2010!

Day 364.....Sunday, January 3

Well, Jim left for work today....to Whitecourt, for we do not know how long.
Rather than sit around and mope about my man being gone, I made a trip to town and returned a Christmas gift that was missing parts.
I love the long line of evergreens along the road....they especially looked pretty covered with snow.

Day 354.....Christmas Eve

I took no photos Christmas Eve....too busy. This is from Christmas morning...taken by Dan, on my camera. A beautiful, frosty morning.

Day 348....Friday, Dec 18

This guy waddled across the road in front of me......it took me awhile to pull my camera out and get a shot off so I almost missed him.

Day 287....Wednesday, October 28

A carpet of leaves ....... seen on my travels to Camrose where I went to the bank since I forgot that it was Wednesday and the bank in NN closed at just past noon.

Day 282 - Friday, October 23

Still 'sick'. Still have a fever, although it is a little lower. Actually, I feel a little better.

I went to town to get some groceries for Daniel to eat.

On the way home, I tried to capture the beauty of the setting sun through the bare branches of the trees.....

Day 273. Tuesday, October 13

I had several errands in Camrose today....a trip to the lawyer and a trip to the bank to pay our year end taxes began my list.

I also returned the shoes I bought last week - after wearing them for a day and a half, the ends of my toes were aching. I surmised they were actually too short so I exchanged them for a half size larger. They did not give me an opportunity to try on the new size so I hope they will work. At any rate, I will not be wearing them outside at all until I am sure they are the right size. I was amazed that the store let me return them, actually.

As well, I was on a mission to find some photo corners - which I did not find. But I ran across a sale at the scrapbook store and took advantage of that. I also tried to buy a new blade for my cutter and then finally gave in and just bought a new cutter....one that is popular enough that I can easily find replacement blades.

Then, I returned the universal headset I had purchased a few days before for my cell phone. I guess my phone is not included in the term universal. I went to a couple places searching for a headset that will work with my phone - to no avail.

Here is a photo of the snow covered fields between my home and Camrose.....





At home, I actually used my new computer for the first time for something other than internet... I edited some photos and was excited and amazed at how much more quickly the Dell does the same tasks....my other computer gave me wait time between each click of the mouse - sometimes long enough wait time to play a whole game of solitaire. This comupter works so fast I could hardly keep up with it! NO wait time at all! I am still amazed at this.

Day 260 - Wednesday, Sept 30

The day started with a call from my accountant......he had been looking into some confusing information from CRA for me. The news was frustrating....they had taken some of our payment for 2008 and applied it to 2010!

That makes a lot of sense, actually.....now they can charge interest and penalties on the amount 'still owing' for 2008.

Did you know income tax is actually illegal?

The interest they charge alone is immoral....the Bible calls it 'usary'.

The result of that phone call was that I needed to find a reciept for the interim payments we had made already for the 2009 year end. I could not immediately find them and it was by then 10:00. I had an appointment with Melanie for 10:30 so I raced out of the house as I was and set myself down for a nice, relaxing visit with my sister while she made my nails look pretty.

I did find the reciept I was looking for, after I got home.

I did not actually take a photo today, but here is one I haven't posted yet.








There is something about the consistency of railroad tracks........

Day 255 - Friday, September 25

I went to town today to buy a couple potatoe forks (got the wrong kind of fork, though), some shovels, and some plastic crates. On the way to town, I decided to make note of how many of the sloughs of the area are now nothing but dry ground, surrounded by forlorn water plants.

Evidence that we are experiencing a drought.

Daniel's task for today, regarding the root cellar, was to clean out all the dried up vegetables and get the junk out of it. He also leveled the floor and completely cleaned the steps, making the following scene a distant memory.

DAY 234 Mon. 08-24

Our morning began with Jim and Daniel having a chat outside while Dan waited for Katie and Sherree to be ready to go. He then took them to Calgary where they had lunch with YWAM director Russell and then spent the rest of the day and evening with other friends before flying out to Phoenix tomorrow.








Daniel was home by suppertime.


Jim and I took my truck in to the dealership to have the thermostat changed out.

We picked it up again later in the day.

On the way home, we stopped to 'visit' with the two Pyrrenese sheep-herding dogs along the way.

DAY 229 -WED. 08/19

We left the house at 8 a.m. and turned around to get the car instead of the truck because the temperature gage on the truck was indicating that the motor was overheating. This would have been very inconvenient since we had committed to bring Daniel's friend Katie and her mom to Alberta to visit friends. We would not all fit in the car. However, the needle started to bounce around and Jim prayed and asked God what we should do (we had already turned around) . God replied "GO" so we went. The needle on the gage soon settled down to normal and never moved from there again. We did, however, make an appointment for the truck as soon as we got home to have the thermostat changed and to flush the heating system. Jim figures the thermostat was sticking.

The rest of our trip was fairly uneventful. We had a beautiful day for travelling - all sunshine and heat.

This is the view as we leave Calgary going south on HWY 2. This is the point I feel like we are really 'on our way'......

A photo of the Alberta horizon south of Calgary.....

Cardston is the last Canadian town on the road we take. The Mormon Temple dominates the skyline of this small town.

Right outside of Cardston, we can see Mt. Piegan, which marks the border....

In all the times we have crossed the border at Carway/Mt Piegan, we have never had more than 2 vehicles in front of us. That streak was broken today when we could count 14 vehicles in front. Surprisingly, we had only a half hour wait before we were officially in the USA.

This is one of the most often photographed scenes in my photo albums........St. Mary's Lake, Montana.

We drive over 3 mountain passes before we reach Browning, MT. The trees on these mountains have suffered from the attack of the Pine Beetle. The gov't has burned the forests out in an effort to rid them of this destructive pest. In June when I was through, I was fascinated by the fact that the black tree trunks had been bleached mostly white. However, I was driving then so I could not take photos of them. I made up for it this trip.

This photo of bleached trees also includes a little mountain lake that we would not have seen if the trees had not been burned out.

The road over the passes is very narrow and winding - as evidenced by this speed sign....

I love the scenery on this drive.....

And at the end of the 9 hour trip.......our youngest son, Daniel, looking very good......

We went for supper together at the Tamarack Brewery just down the road from the base. We ate on the patio, beside a pretty creek with an interesting tree growing by it.

It was good to finally hear about Dan's experiences.....

Day 224 - Friday, August 14

We had a meeting in Red Deer with our accountant so when we were done there, we stopped by at Mom and Dad's for a nice visit.


talking......

listening......

Dad's 'coffee treat' of choice......

Driving home on Hwy 2......

Paying close attention to the crazy traffic on hwy 2.....

The new racetrack near Lacombe....reminds me of Louisiana.....

The scenery near Lacombe....

Day 191 ~ Saturday, July 11

Today's photos are of the countryside near my house.

Wild Roses and Canola....what says summer more than these?

Day 187 - Tuesday, July 7

The little girls have begun a Summer Reading Program at the library. They each go one day a week for one hour. That means 3 days a week for Lana. Today it was Sophia's day. Lana had planned to walk to the library and then wait for Sophia since it is only an hour long but it was raining or threatening to rain so.....Mom and Dad to the rescue!

I dropped Lana, Titus, and Sophia at the library while Jim stayed back with Emma - Jim was working (he had just recieved a call for a job as soon as it quits raining in the Whitecourt area) and Emma had school work to do. When I got back to the house, Emma found that Gramma MARKS her school work and then expects her to make corrections! THEN I got her to read a chapter in her 'Bible' (graphic Bible....or, in other words - comic strip format). Finally, we let her play the Wii....as long as she left it on mute since Grandpa was making phone calls for work.

The Goose Family is growing very quickly. The 'babies' already look like small adults:

Day 181, Wednesday, July 1

Jim came home late last night for one day at home - the powers that be wanted to avoid to paying services double time for working on Canada Day.

We started the day by inviting anyone who could to join us at Smitty's for brunch.

Rob and Lana, Vinj and Kath were the only ones free....

While we were eating, Andrew put out a call for help - his water pump had broken and he needed a ride to Camrose to get a new one then back to work to fix his truck. Jim and I answered the call, after we ate. We needed to go to Camrose as well, to get an oil filter for Jim's truck since CT at Wetaskiwin did not have one in stock.

Later in the day, as we were pondering Jim's 'office in a truck' problems, we wondered if Mike and Tor's old trailer would work for Jim as a 'pull behind' office so we drove out to Coal Lake to take a look - and to have a quick visit with Mike, Tor, and Kaden.

Kaden was really too busy walking around to visit much, but we enjoyed watching him explore his little world.

I forgot to pull out my camera until we were driving away so the only photo I have is of the lake.

As we were driving home, Jim suddenly skidded to a stop, gravel flying everywhere. He pointed out a large Grey Heron in the pond on the left. The bird stood silently while the truck sped by, sprayed gravel all over, sat idling while I got my camera and climbed out. Then, as I carefully walked as silently as possible over to the other side of the truck, he flew off.....

If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can just see the bird toward the right side of the photo, in front of the trees. He was beautiful.

Day 180 Tuesday, June 30

Remember this Goose family? This photo was taken May 28.

Here is the same family, one month later (photo was taken June 28, coincidentally)

That's right, I'm cheating.....I did not take a photo today so I'm using one from 2 days ago.

Day 177 - Saturday, June 27

As I travelled to Camrose this afternoon, I stopped to say hello to these guys.

Many of them were babies.....

Day 147 ~ Thursday, May 28

A busy, busy day.

First, take the truck to the glass shop in Camrose.

Then, come back home to drop Jim off.

I went in to Wetaskiwin to give Kathryn a hand - including take her to the doctor.

On my way in to town, I stopped by this pond to watch a Goose family drama.....

Mom and Dad gather their children for a little trip across the pond.

At first, they did not notice that there was a 'dawdler'

But Daddy Goose quickly noticed someone was missing. He fell back and started loudly calling to his wayward offspring.

The little guy hurried to his father's call and soon the whole family was together again.

I dropped Kath at the clinic for her doctor appointment, then helped with some cleaning before Kathryn dyed and cut my hair.

Jim was busy while I was gone....

He made our first Square Foot Garden frame!

He also finished watering the potatoes - a huge job, since he first made a 'bowl' for each plant to hold water, giving each potential plant a good soak.

I was not at home long before we left for Camrose again to pick up the truck.

Back home to drop the truck off.

To Wetaskiwin to see Vinj come off the field from his first league soccer game, see Elizabeth come off the field from her game, and arrange to meet everyone at Rob and Lana's to give Emma a 'mini birthday party'.

We gave Emma her birthday gift.....the kid's version of 'Cranium'.

We did not play the game, exactly, but Emma and Sophia acted out some of the charade cards and the rest of us guessed what they were doing - while we ate the Dilly Bars and Buster Bars Vinj and Kath provided.

You have to wear these goofy glasses in order to read what you are to 'act out'...... then, if you wear bifocals, it is still hard to read because the print is so tiny.

We had a fun, laughter filled evening.

But we ended by taking Kathryn to the hospital for a stress test on Talia......Kath had been a little worried since her doctor's appointment and had not noticed any movement for quite some time.

The stress test showed that Talia's heartbeat was strong and regular - she also started moving around as soon as they put the monitor straps on Kath. So, Vinj and Kath were able to rest more peacefully that evening.

Me too.