Reward...

That pesky groundhog.  I think his pants are on fire.

Spring has not quite Sprung!

First day of Spring. Yay!  

Ahh, the anticipation of warmer breezes and spring bulbs poking through the soil and some colour returning to the landscape.

Unfortunately, Alberta did not get the memo.

Maybe next week...

Or the week after...

Or maybe sometime around June.

Mmmm, ice-cream cakes

A Dairy Queen "pizza" cake with a "Skor" chocolate bar crumbled all over it, with added drizzled caramel.  My birthday last week resulted in this essential purchase.

I don't think they have Skor chocolates in the UK - so for the Europeans out there, it is like a Dime Bar - hard/crunchy toffee wrapped in chocolate.

Good God - I'm in the wrong job.  

I think I want to invent cakes!

D'oh! More snow!

The clocks changed last night, so that means it's nearly Spring, right?

Er, maybe not this week.

More scenes from Calgary and Cochrane in Alberta, after a wet and heavy snowy dump this week.

Work that body.

Or watch someone else fly past with their snow-blower.

Would you like some ice with that 

gin and tonic?  Just snap and go.

Good morning Calgary.

Good evening Calgary.

Hello Rockies.

And goodnight.

Linking to SkyWatch Friday, and OurWorld Tuesday this week.

Nearly March already

Where has the last couple of months gone?  

Christmas, New Year, January and now February - poof!

The three weeks around Christmas time was chilly in Calgary - temps in the -20'sºC, but since then, I've had no reason to complain.  This was the view from my office window taken in December.  Pretty, in a frigid kind of way.

The Bow River running through Cochrane was only frozen in little bits this year - the above picture from mid-January is the worst it ever got.  It really hasn't been that cold this winter (and yes, I know it's still only February, and Mother Nature has a knack of making me look smug and stupid on any given day of the year).  

2013 started with new windows throughout our house.  The team of guys were very fast and very good, but even they couldn't divert me from questioning why I had agreed to have them installed in January, when it was -9ºC outside.

But we are delighted with the results.  Triple-glazed, upvc, sunscreen coating - you name it, we got it.  And now we just have to finish paying for it.

February also means two birthdays in this household for our daughters - we now officially have two teenagers in the house (though it has felt like that for some time, on some days, to be honest).  A 13 year old and a 15 year old.  Oh boy!

I was very surpirsed to see flocks of the Bohemian Waxwings in my garden again in early February.  I tell you every year how they feed in November and then migrate  (to who-knows-where) - but I have never seen them again so early in the year.

And today - just above freezing, sunshine and nearly clear blue skies, 

hardly a scrap of snow to be found, except on those newly layered mountains in the distance

and the knowledge that we turn our clocks back (almost my favourite day of the year) in a couple of weeks' time.  The mornings are lighter, the evenings are lighter, and my mood is lighter!

Linking to Our World Tuesday

and SkyWatch Friday

Have a great week.

SkyWatch Friday

Skywatch Friday pictures this week 

come to you, courtesy of my 

12 year old daughter... 

who grabbed the camera early one evening, just before I got home from work.

I had been watching the stunning skies on my drive home, muttering under my breath that I did not have my camera with me.

Thank you, young lady!

Happy SkyWatch Friday

It goes like this

Hey Smudge!  Come over here.  Watch this.

First you lie down in it, like this.

Then you squirm around and rub your back like crazy. It feels awesome.

No - that's a pathetic effort - you're not even trying.

Aw, c'mon - come and play.

Yes, I know the view is great, 

but really, this rub-your-back thing...

Yeah! Now we're talking.  

Told ya!

Hey, where'd the snow go?

Linking to Camera Critters 

- have a great week.