Spooks ...

Although it is Halloween today, I'm not going to talk about ghosts and ghouls and the three tonnes of chocolate and candy my children will collate later today.

No - I'm writing an ode to "Spooks" - my favourite BBC drama TV series. My hat is well and truly doffed to the production team and especially the writers.

If you are not familiar with the series, do try and acquaint yourself. You will not be disappointed, I promise. For the uninitiated, it is a drama-spy-thriller story set inside the British intelligence services - specifically MI-5. And North American viewers may already know it by that name on US tv channels as the name was changed to "MI-5" over there. The word spooks, by the way, is another word for spies.

And the reason I am prompted to write this today is that because most of my household has been somewhat incapacitated through a variety of illnesses over the past two weeks, we have become a little stir-crazy in the house and resorted to sleeping, reading and watching TV in a monotonous cycle. Sorry, no wildlife, garden or sunset photos this week!

We purchased the latest series of Spooks that is available to us online, and my husband and I have sat and watched every hour-long episode of Series 7 this week.

Oh ....my.....god. I am mentally and physically exhausted. Outstanding story lines and characters, and the tension has been wonderful!

The programme is a glossy production which always seems to be able to photograph London (or any city the spies penetrate) in a beautiful way. My husband gets all misty-eyed as he watches. "See that bridge?" he says, "I used to walk over that every morning, sob, ...."

Apparently it never really took off in the US because the programme is a full 60 minutes long with no advert breaks. US channels could not provide an hour long slot to show the programme properly and therefore edited out so much of the story that it began to make no sense whatsoever and was nigh-on impossible to follow!

I think that is also the reason we were so exhausted watching it actually - we are now untrained in the art of concentration - a full 60 minutes without ads and pee breaks and the need to fast-forward through our recording thingie in unheard of!

So three gold stars, a BAFTA, an Emmy, a whatever-gong-you-can-think-of goes to Spooks.

And one word of warning - do not get too attached to any of the lead characters. Never has one show killed off, blown up, tortured and murdered so many people. The second episode all those years ago should have served as a warning when the lead girlie was boiled in oil!

I bet the actors have mixed feeling to win a part in this show. "Oh yipee, a wonderful series in which to show-case my talents, but oh bugger, I bet they kill me off after 5 episodes!"

And to any Brit readers of my blog - I am jealous because I think Series 8 kicks off for you next week. I will be acquiring it as soon as possible.

A hint of wildlife ...

I was awoken on Saturday morning by a God-awful noise. A racket. As I slowly came to, and opened one eye, I tried to focus on what it was.

Geese. Canada Geese to be precise. Laughing and honking and generally adopting the role of farm cockerel and being a rude awakening for any bed-lover on a weekend morning. I swear they were three feet above my roof, shouting obscenities.

They were flying over the house by the dozen. Several dirty dozens. Hundreds of them in the end. They gathered all morning, having sent out a secret missive the week before - and all pitched camp on the golf-course lake not far away.

I presume they were carrying out their pre-flight safety checks. They were no doubt debating the merits of the recent chinook winds, their ETA for warmer climes and the quality of in-flight entertainment.

They cackled and honked for a good few hours and then set off mid-afternoon for destination unknown. By that, I mean I don't know. They obviously knew 'cos they were talking about it loudly enough.

Talking of wildlife, we have a lot of deer around here too.

Last night we were just getting ready to go up to bed (spot a theme here? - I love sleep!) when I looked out of the front window and saw the silhouette of two pointy ears. A cute deer was right up against the front of the house, happily chomping on the remnants of my annual pots. Obviously she was cute at this time of year - if she'd shown up earlier in the season, and eaten my flowers, she wouldn't look cute at all, except through a scope perhaps!

By the time I found my camera and sneaked up to the window, I only got a shot, sorry, a photo of her derriere wandering back up the street.

A pain in the neck ...

After his near-tearful weekend, and getting high as a kite on morphine, the results of the MRI for my husband-in-pain are in.

He had a collapsed disc in his neck - C5 and C6, or C7 - I can't remember which but it means nothing to me anyway. The belated MRI showed it in all it's glory and he has been signed off work for a month.

"See?" he said, "I wasn't putting it on". As if ... he's not that good an actor, and not many people can throw up on cue.

Even as I type this, some physiotherapist is man-handling him, or should that be woman-handling him? I don't think it matters - although I can see how being woman-handled (for him) might be more appealing. Manipulation and traction is the order of the day, apparently.

I was a little wary of the physiotherapist route to be honest - he broke his hand in January and because no-one confirmed it was broken until June, he had 20 physio sessions on a broken bone. Funny how it never seemed to feel any better ...

A quick internet search tells me that 95% of cases of this neck disc thingie heal up within a few weeks and he should not need any further action, or surgery. Unlike his hand! It's been one of those years ...

At least he is no longer a drug whore (Note - when the little label on the side of the container says "May cause constipation", take the hint and drink lots of water. No further details required at this point methinks) - and he can sleep in a relatively normal position; he is now fairly mobile, so the pair of us are sharing many daily walks with the dogs, which is quite nice really. A quick glimpse at our retirement perhaps?

He cannot drive comfortably yet, so I am chief chauffeur at the moment.

He was due to start a new job on a new department two weeks ago which involved mountain bikes and lycra. I can't see him climbing on board - or climbing into - either at this time.

He's been a bit embarrassed to have won the new post, then not turn up ever since - but his supervisor at work has been fine (and probably a bit distracted by a new baby to be honest - congrats Mr F!) - and hubby is definitely not returning to work until I say so - sod the doctors, I'm the boss on this one!

Skywatch Friday - The chinook effect

To see more Skywatch Friday pictures, click here.

As a warm weather front comes in, it leaves distinct lines in the sky between the clear and cloudy areas.

6.55pm - the sun is setting and once again highlighting the cloud formations.

And it's 10 degrees outside too - bargain !

My World Tuesday - Garden update.

For more My World Tuesday pictures, click here.

My Tuesday was white...

... with a hint of white added for good measure.

I've been trying for several weeks to update you on my garden work which is pretty much complete now. I waited through September to take some photos including autumn colours. That never came. Then the leaves fell off everything and it all looked bleak and dirty and I knew I'd never impress you with that.

So here is the clean, white, sanitized and completely useless update on my garden! This is the new vegetable patch. You're amazed at the design skills, aren't you?

This is one of several new prepared flower-beds-to-be. It is one of four areas I did the lasagne gardening, and when the spring comes around next year, this will be a huge semi-circle of fertile new ground ready for me to plant up. Or that's the theory anyway. Again, I can feel your awe.

And this is the new dog run. No more poop on lawns for us. Everyone else repeats that god-awful green chain-link fencing for dog runs, but I was having none of that. So hubby dusted off the tools and spirit level and purchased half the local store's supply of timber and made this fenced-off area at the back of the house, together with the gateway - and I'm really pleased with the results. Again, add some plantings and colour next year and it will all look fab. C'mon guys - you've really got to use your imagination here, I know.

But for now, I just sit and watch more snowflakes fall and dream of garden centres, lush green lawns and spring bulbs.

I need some colour!

I've been complaining that autumn seems to have passed us by in Alberta - we had the yellow hues of the fading poplars amongst the hillsides and then bang - a winter landscape, complete with hard frosts and the need to dig out the tough old footwear. The colour has literally been bleached out of the landscape.

But with a positive attitude and a camera begging to find some colour, walking the dogs this morning has renewed my mental funk and I find that even the brown grasses can look stunning if you allow them.

And half a tree of yellows and golds is better than none.

I love the vibrant oranges of the fall berries on this Common Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) and they actually taste pretty good too. But I'll leave them for the birds.

Even the common Crabapples are giving it their all at the moment.

The hard silvery fruits on the Wolf Willow (Elaeagnus commutata) shimmer in the sunlight.

The frost on the Rugosa Rose glistens like a sugar coating.

And deer hoof prints mixed in with the greenkeeper's prints on the local golf course make for pretty patterns.

Blue skies again - and all is right with my world for another day.

Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

Skywatch Friday

To see more SkyWatch Friday pictures, click here.

Looking westwards from my front door this afternoon, a mixed bag of clouds form over the mountains - which are wearing a brand new and rather beautiful coat of snow.

It's always exciting to see them once again iced with a fresh layer of glistening white - and it reminds us that the rather silly but thrilling sport of hurtling down a mountain on two slim planks is nearly upon us again (or one thicker plank for the stronger and more balanced amongst you).

Looking eastwards out of my back door, I am somewhat jealous of my neighbour's rather sumptuous pine cones adorning her tree. No clouds in the sky looking in this direction - just good ol' fashioned Alberta blue skies again.

A friend here told me a few weeks ago that early and plentiful amounts of pine cones signal a harsh winter to come. I'm not sure if she was just trying to cheer me up (!) and this is an old wives tale - or if it really is a true forecast for the next few months?

Remember my poor sunflower struggling to bloom by the end of the season? Well, he just about made it before a harsh frost cut him down in his prime.

If I leave the remnants of the sunflowers in place and don't tidy up for winter, will the seeds provide food for birds?

I have a mountain ash in my front garden - it is now laden with gorgeous brightly coloured berries. I know for sure that this will be a feeding ground for some feathered friends at some point.

This last picture (apologies for the quality but I didn't want to go outside and disturb them) is the same tree last winter, smothered in waxwings (I think) who gorged themselves silly on the berries from the tree, and stripped it naked in 8 minutes flat!

Have a great Friday.