My World Tuesday - Cochrane Ranch, Alberta

Come with me as we take the dogs for a walk again.

This is the Cochrane Ranch, a 60 hectare park area owned and preserved by the Town of Cochrane - about 25km north west of Calgary, Alberta.

Say "howdy" to the Man of Vision, a huge bronze statue watching over the town of Cochrane. He is a little bit famous (if only in this wee town!) and has been subject to much scrutiny and comment in recent months as the Town tries to utilise this very traditional "western" image and re-invent itself with a new modern logo.

Our foothills prairie grassland extends over hills and pathways,with the Rockies a permanent point of snow-capped reference in the distance.

The last slivers of icy platforms are being carved away on a daily basis as Spring marches on. Not strong enough to hold a small nosey dog, as the soggy paw prints in the boot of my car will show.

It is an area perfect for walking, jogging and biking, or just strolling and is used year round, whether sun-drenched or snow-covered (or both). Summer kid's camps, family parties and BBQ's and the Saturday Farmer's Market will all arrive soon.

Wooden beams mark out the old foundations of the first cattle rancher's homes - they arrived in 1881 and set up camp.

Pictoral displays are made to tell the story of those early settlers ...

... though I suspect we are given a rather limited view of the effects on the native people in this area.

And while it is all still a bit brown and bland in this first week of April, the prairie crocus will be out soon, and the landscape will turn lush and green for the summer months.

A little glimpse of an area just 2km from my front door.

Have a great week folks.

For more MyWorld Tuesday pictures from around the world, click here.

Happy Easter

Hope you don't find one of these fellas in your Easter Egg!

Have a Happy Easter.

And if you are wondering, this was one of the winning displays at the Royal Tyrrell Dinosaur Museum in Drumheller, Alberta - from a High School student in a recent competition!

More of that visit another day.

SkyWatch Friday - Hunting for Buds

I'm still scrutinizing the trees - any more swollen buds out there, about to burst forth?

Sharp outlines, but not a hint of leaf

and I might as well throw a pretty sunset into the mix too, eh ?

To see more SkyWatch Friday photos from around the world, click here

You should go at least once in your life ....

(Some photos from the archives!)

A few years ago my wonderful husband treated me to a birthday trip to New York. It was a very short visit for just 4 days, but we walked our little legs off trying to fit in a much as possible. I must add that New York in March can be a bitterly cold place - the sunshine cannot get down to the pavements due to all those tall buildings. (Far colder than many days I have experienced here in the great white north. It's the damp air you see!)

One of my favourite buildings during our visit was Grand Central Station. And though not purposefully arty but rather an accident of shutter speed, I rather like this capture of people in motion.

St Patrick's Cathedral off Fifth Avenue - commenced in 1858 and completed in 1878.

I love seeing blasts of old amongst the towers of the new, like hidden gems.

The Art Deco Rockerfeller Centre in Manhattan, finalised, I believe, in 1939.

And the view from the top - see St Patrick's again in the bottom left?

Ground Zero - as at 2006. I suspect it looks very different now.

Looking over Central Park - it really is a massive rectangle of nature in the midst of honking cars and smelly fumes (2.5 miles long and half a mile wide). For an urban park, I really liked the vibes, and I was surprised at how quiet it was (as in not much noise versus not many people). This picture is in March, so no lush greenery or trees unfortunately, but the outline is clear.

And the Lady herself, from a safe and breezy distance - the Statue of Liberty.

And Carnegie Hall - and (stolen from Wiki), I can tell you it was designed by William Burnet Tuthill and built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1891 - it is one of the most famous venues in the United States for classical music and popular music, renowned for its beauty, history and acoustics.

Like I said, everyone should try and go to New York at least once.

My World Tuesday

Hubby bought himself a new Garmin GPS thing the other day - under the guise of a(nother) necessary item for the paragliding cupboard. In order to earn it's keep in the family budget, we then used said GPS thingie and had our first attempt at geocaching.

Apparently, there are several hidden treasure sites within a mile or two of our house...

....... so off we set. Note the brown, bland colours in

My World this week.

C'mon green sprouting stuff, do your thing!

The dogs used due diligence and eager sniffing noses to hunt the treasure.

I spied a young lady in the bushes .... and although she might be my treasure,

she's not what we were looking for!

The dogs maintained their vigil - jumping into the last remaining snow beside the not-quite-so-frozen Bow River. Just a good excuse for more play time but they enjoyed the outing regardless.

We came away disappointed with no find on this occasion, despite the bleeping GPS and hubby's excited assurances that we were "right on top of it" - whatever "it" was. I suspect "it" was in the snow - and so we'll try again another day.

Have a great week. For more MyWorld Tuesday pictures from around the world, click here.

Dances with Humans - Hair Cuts

Smudge here again - just keeping you posted on my thrilling week.

Basically it consisted of one long hair cut.

The Reluctant Dog Owner likes to prune me. Yes, literally - she takes a pair of scissors to me and trims me. Over the course of several days. I am a canine rose bush.

Now I know I have a tendency to be a hairy chap - but at this time of the year, I rather like my long flowing locks.

A - I look shaggy and shaggable, and

B - it keeps a fella warm you know. One's nether regions don't need to be bald and chilly of a winter's day.

This is me sporting the winter fashion - a longer fur look. I quite like it.

That cold white stuff on the ground that keeps coming and going sets my paws on edge, and it does rather stick to my coat - but it's such fun to play and roll around in.

But I can tell when the Reluctant Dog Owner is about to get snipping. She sidles up to me, all sweet talking and tickles that lovely place just behind my right ear and I'm sold. All hers. I can't help myself - I lie down, and go into a dozy trance of ecstasy and that's when she launches with a pair of very sharp scissors. Or sometimes she sneaks into a cupboard when The Boss is not looking, and borrows his human electric buzzy trimming clippers. She does clean it afterwards (sort of).

Now, it must be said - that I have been sent to the official Dog Groomers' on two occasions. And both visits are burned into my memory.

The first time, well, the scalping that ensued, and the unforgivable laughter at my expense when I returned was one humiliation too many. The humans literally fell about with mirth. I have never felt so small in my life - nor looked it, in fact. They even had the audacity, as they sniggered through their fingers, to say I looked like a - god, it chokes me to say it - like a poodle. Oh, the shame. (Mind you, I did smell pretty gorgeous - that conditioner is fantastic).

The second visit was traumatic. I was staying with another family during a very hot summer - and they apparently had permission to take me for another hair cut. That groomer was brutal - not only did she manage to make me feel naked, but she actually nicked my balls with the razor! She drew blood. My tackle was attacked. Apparently "most dogs his age have had them removed". Hey Lady, next time check the equipment!

So not only did I look daft, but I was in great pain too. Another week of utter humiliation on my part because then I was trussed up in one of those ridiculous white cones things so I couldn't even lick my itchy bits! That bitch.

So now - the Reluctant Dog Owner has taken it upon herself to keep me ship shape and tidy. And I have to confess, I quite like it really. She doesn't scalp me (very often), I remain all intact and it's like having your own personal hairdresser on tour with you.

Frozen lasagne - garden update

Last August, while doing a little re-design of my back garden, I decided to put into action the principals of lasagne gardening, first mentioned here.

The idea is that if you don't want to dig up tons of lawn area, but want some new planting areas, you can layer up cardboard, newspaper, topsoil, mulch, etc directly on top of the grass - and over the course of a few months, this will all rot down and bingo - one new flowerbed.

So, underneath this swathe of bark, is a specific large semi-circle of lasagne'd grass.

The waiting has been killing me. I cannot help but sneak a peek.

Push back the bark and soil .....

Little prayer to the rotting garden gods ... newspaper and cardboard - please be gone, please have rotted away .....

Bugger - there it is, covered with a nice layer of frozen soil.

Scrape back a little more..... D'oh! Grass. Damn!

The proviso is that all this will occur in "normal" climate.

Alberta - hmmmm - mistake number one? A couple of sunny Spring-like days is not quite sufficient to set the composting fairies to work.

OK - so this lasagne needs to cook a bit longer methinks. Will check back again in May.