We thought we’d head out for a brisk walk in the park, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the start of the year, continuing a week of walks enjoyed in bright, if a tad chilly, conditions. Oh:
A lovely view of downtown – it is there, honest!
The view from where we live looks out over the downtown, and at night we can enjoy the lit up Calgary skyline, even if the waste of electricity makes us wince a bit. Yesterday, it was as if Calgary had disappeared!
Bright on other days, low winter sun and all
We’ll be disappearing ourselves for a little while, as we head out into the mountains for a short stay. Looking at lots of snow, quiet trails, and a warm cabin at the end of the day! New year, same old us…
Essential cabin supplies. Dry January? Nope.
Thanks for reading, happy new year, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
More daylight hours are coming as we pass the solstice, and no complaints about that here. That said, winter is probably my favourite season when there’s snow on the ground and nostrils freeze when you breathe in. I know, enjoying that is slightly odd…
Hadn’t even had a beer… maybe try again?Really liked the lights on this house
Anyway, here are a few photographs to share, mostly of lights and sights we’ve enjoyed in the neighbourhood the past little while.
It might be minus a gazillion degrees, but here’s a warm glow!
Keeping it brief, so I’ll end by wishing you all the very best for the coming year!
“We’re light on our feet!” (photo: Mrs. PC)Happy New Year, everyone!
Short, chilly, bubbly and a bit festive. No, no, not me – this post. Enjoy the season, and happy holidays to you if you choose to celebrate!
“I’m not pulling this – where are the reindeer?”Festive cheer? Oh yes! We might even have another in the next little while. ‘Tis the season, and all that!
Style – if you haven’t got it, then there’s no need to worry about it. That’s what I tell myself. Belgian style? Not sure what it is exactly, but having investigated, I think I could get to like it?
From up on the bluff, and it really was a bit chilly
Oh, ok, this isn’t a fashion thing, you’ll be relieved to know. It’s a beer thing, you’ll be shocked to read. We set off on a quite chilly late morning last week to discover for ourselves a nearby microbrewery promising beers in a Belgian style. Given the properly seasonal weather, we were hoping for a glass (or two?) of strong, dark, monkish beer, and we were not disappointed!
A strong golden, and a strong dark, my strong recommendations
Should you be in the area, and you like a well made big beer, then Two Pillars could be for you. We liked it! If we were feeling the cold and had to move fast to keep warm on our walk over, we were well insulated (or even ever-so-slightly inebriated – those were some mighty big beers in small glasses) and taking extra care in the slippery conditions walking home. We might have dozed off for the rest of the afternoon – must have been all that exercise…
We bought a few fireside sippers home with us in preparation for a couple of winter cabin trips we’ve got coming up soon, and they’ll be just the thing after an hour or two of snowy playtime. Yum!
Imperial porter and a Christmas red ale – yum
Let’s keep it short and sweet, not unlike a shared after dinner winter porter. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Phew! We got through the somewhat dull days of November, helped enormously by the very much appreciated end of month snowfall – for us, everything looks better with a light (or heavy) dusting of snow! Once the last leaves drop, it might as well snow, and, for now, it has!
Happy dog dance and an odd gnomish-looking fellow. (Photo: Mrs. PC)
So it’s goodbye November and welcome to winter!
Did someone say winter? Woof! (Photo: Mrs. PC)
I’ll keep it brief for this post and limit things to a few photos taken out and about the past week or so.
A light dusting
We have our fingers crossed that the temperature dip to more seasonal numbers is consistent, and that the promised snowy winter predicted by forecasters this season comes to pass…
Cool temperatures and a layer of ice beginning to creep out from the shore
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
As we wait, and wait, and wait some more for real winter, I’ll be up a ladder, trying not to fall and doing some redecorating around our apartment. Since this will take far longer for me than properly competent decorators, I’ll be taking a short blogging break to get things done and be back in December. By then, the paint will have washed out of my hair and be scrubbed off the floor, and there’ll be more snow than I can imagine to go play in. Dizzy new heights up a ladder, and dizzy new heights on xc skis…
Brewed nearby, and very, very good!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend and rest of the month. Yeah, I know – what hair?
I’m working hard to stay patient, same as always this time of year. The most colourful part of the fall season is behind us, and it’s not quite properly cold enough for snow and snow related activities. November is, or has been, my boredom season!
An empty head? Don’t be childish, PC…
Boredom season? That’s quite a childish approach to an entire month, but I’ll own it – years of teaching mostly Junior High and elementary school means childish is often my comfort zone. Still, this November I’m trying something different, and going for a glass half full (or more) month – it won’t be empty, not this time…
Fill my glass! Trust me, this one was excellent!
Getting out and about in the city, we’re aiming to fill the month with music, coffee, hockey, and some new beer haunts. We’ve already been to see a friend’s band, Magnolia Buckskin, play, and an added bonus was a new to me performer, Rory Makem, on the same bill. Both recommended if you get the chance to catch them live.
Coffee! And perhaps a flaky almond croissant to go with it?
Getting along to watch some junior hockey is always a fun afternoon or evening, and our first Calgary Hitmen game in years was a good ‘un, with a fine home win!
Good game, good win
Since the last time we lived here, it appears umpteen – possibly more – new microbreweries have started up, with at least three within walking distance of us. More to follow on those!
Ok, not within walking distance, but this was pretty good!
So perhaps November won’t be quite the empty month I sometimes think it is, and maybe I won’t have an empty head. I’ll go steady on the new beers though – wouldn’t want a sore head…
Winter will be just over the far side of this month
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Honestly, not too many horrors and this won’t be too scary; it’s mostly a collection of some frightful sights we’ve seen around the neighbourhood the past week or two. Many thanks to our neighbours for the fun seasonal scares! (Having downplayed the frights to come at the start of this, a word of warning to those of a sensitive disposition: the final image contains absolute horror, an unspeakable terror, as will become clear if you dare make it that far…)
Headless horror – eek!Headless plant based horror – eek-o horror?Pumpkin pie will leave you like this
Are you still here, with a racing heart and slightly sweaty? Ok, here comes the real scare – brace yourself:
I have no words for this one… let’s agree we shall never speak of it again…
Thank for reading, and I hope you have a great Halloween if you choose to celebrate, as well as a great weekend!
I’ll start at the end this week, with a short piece on a day out last week, spent visiting a nearby park under bright blue skies. We’ve been able to enjoy so many blue sky days this fall, we feel most fortunate. The day last week ended with this little beauty:
Small but mighty fall flavour!
I like the big Belgian style beers this time of year, particularly the doubles and triples made by monks, so this one above, a different take, intrigued. A single? A tiny monastery? A baby Belgian? A lot of questions? Why not?! A suitable saison for a splendid season, very good, not too strong, and probably perfect with a picnic lunch if you weren’t going to drive shortly after. We did drive to the park, so this was enjoyed at the end of the day back at home. A suitable saison for a splendid season enjoyed at supper time with soup. Super.
The day started with this big beauty – ranch land park in the the Bow River valley – perfect fall flavours!
No idea what I’m on about in that last paragraph. Let’s get back to the park visit – we were after mountain views without driving all the way to the mountains, so into the foothills and a nearby park it was! We got there mid-morning, parking in an almost empty lot. Scout could not get out of the truck fast enough, likely because she’d remembered this place, a favourite of hers when she was a pup. We did what we could to keep up…
Captivated by her fall favourites
We wandered the trails through tree lined hills, stopping to listen to the last of the leaves rattling and rustling in light winds.
The very last of the leaves
As we climbed to the top of the valley, the trees were almost totally leafless, their tough and twisted trunks and branches quite the arresting sight.
Tough trees
We didn’t spot any of the bald eagles that can sometimes be seen from the top of the valley, but we did enjoy sweeping views across to the Rockies.
Captured in wobbly-zoomarama…
What a day of brilliant big sky Alberta-style fall flavours! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Can you hear the wind sighing through the grass? A contented sigh?
Creaking? Like old bones? Is this an early Hallowe’en piece? Or an excuse for a poor pun later in the post? Hmm, I wonder…
We were camping in a southern section of Peter Lougheed Provincial Park a week or two ago, having set off from Calgary on a spectacular fall day. Goodness, that day – the light was so bright the aspens were shimmering gold and it felt as if you could reach out and run your hand along the mountain top horizon, they appeared so close. Razor sharp!
Gold
We stopped in the foothills for a lunchtime picnic, in shirtsleeves and sunglasses. Clearly, the forecasters had got it wrong – snow?! What snow? What a day, bright fall in the mountains:
Sun, sun, sun!
Oh:
Erm…
Yes, I was cold and creaking, at least until the sun cleared the treetops and most of the snow melted away. A short, sharp shock for sure, but in a good way, it being a reminder that fall is brief out this way, and the brilliance of winter is almost here!
Clearing and warming up!
Extra layers on (meaning I wore all the clothes I’d brought, being poorly prepared compared to Mrs. PC) we did a short loop hike, not much more than a few kilometres, up one side and back down the other of nearby Boulton Creek. Creeking, hehehe. Very quiet, with just a couple of other hikers encountered on the trail, bear tracks and scat everywhere, but no bears spotted. Perfect!
Boulton Creeking
We thoroughly enjoyed our last camping trip of this season, sunshine, snow and all, and look forward to the spring – but not until we’ve enjoyed winter!
“Winter, you say? I think it is just ahead – I can almost see it from here!”
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 