Sunlight to snow

Once again Calgary has lived up to it's reputation for having erratic weather. Up till Wednesday, we had lovely warm weather. Thursday was a bit cloudier and cooler, but Sean and I still went for a walk along the river. (Film photos only for me, as he tested a new lens.) Not quite T shirt weather anymore.

Friday was a little colder. There is probably a verb specifically for the actions related to putting the garden to bed, and whatever it is, Linda has been busy doing it. I got the water barrels all tucked under the landscape big bags, ready to wait out winter. My buddy Terry gifted me another one, and the nice lounging chairs went under it. The patio umbrella didn't quite dry out, so I'm hoping the sun is strong enough on Monday to finish that, then I can wrap it up and tuck it away. Next task will be to get some of the stuff thats in the garage humped down to the basement for winter storage.

Friday night it started snowing. Hard. Lots. Wet. Heavy. I'll bet lots of people are glad it's not a regular work day.

1.

Here's some more. 

2.

3. The roses are still doing fine, sheltered from the worst of the weather, and probably getting some heat from the house. These ones are beautiful, and I'm thinking about next year's photos, perhaps sliding some complementary paper between the roses and the house.

4.

5.

6.

7. Another view of the back yard. I'm not actually sure how much snow has fallen. 

8.

9.

10. Doesn't this flower look sad?

Of the Day

Driftwood

To make up for all the snow I thought I've give you some driftwood that had some beach included.

Landscape. More beach. I think Linda is somewhere off in the distance, but I'm not going to swear to it.

Flower, see the roses above.

Peony

Lily. Yes, that's a lily under all that snow.

But here's one in bloom, which is what some of you have come here for.

Tombstone

Moose

Green Fools, which happens to be a serendipity for the lynx. Or the other way around if that makes you happier.

Lynx. See what I said about serendipity.

Bee. This is from the other day. I hope all the bees are tucked into their hive, doing whatever they do to pass the time till spring. 

Film

There's been similar photos, taken from similar places, but I'm pretty sure this one is new to you.

Whitehorse

By Yukon standards, Whitehorse is the big city. It would barely get into the top 10 for Alberta, but that's comparing apples and oranges. We didn't spend much time there, and to be honest, I wasn't feeling 100%. 

Still, I did get out and wandered around town on my own. About the only thing that actually interested me were the busts on some of the street corners. Two of them are of extremely famous people, and you can be forgiven for not knowing the other two. I tried to treat them as if I was actually doing a portrait of the real person, sitting at that street corner. Not that it was ideal portrait sitting circumstances. At one of them I was pestered by a street person, and eventually had to walk away in the middle of it, and come back later.

If you really must know who these are, scroll down. I'll give you the names, and you can look them up.

Some of the street scenes.

The original Yukon skyscraper.

This was in the lobby of our hotel. I liked the sculpture, but it was tough to photograph.

We, and by we I mean mainly Linda, are putting the garden to bed. But there was a surprise for me. Scroll down a bit and you'll see it. My task is to finish emptying out the water barrels, pressure wash them, and store them for winter under those big bags the landscape companies use for soil and gravel deliveries.

Of the Day

Driftwood

Flower

Here's the surprise. Linda had tucked this dahlia into the lodge. I think it liked it in there. This photo is from Oct 19, and there still some other flowers hanging in. The peachy rose beside the house is still putting out blooms. I think that's all going to come to an end today. It's supposed to cloud over, abruptly get cooler, and it might rain. No complaints here, we couldn't ask for a nicer autumn.

Peony

Lily

Landscape

Tombstone

Green Fools

The finalists in musical chairs.

Bee

At least a few bees are still hard at it.

Moose

Lynx

Film

Spoiler Alert!

Key

1 - Jack London

2 - Pierre Burton

3 - Edith Jose

4 - Edward Hardy Harrison

Roses and this time of year

I've mentioned before that Calgary is having one of the best autumns ever. We're still getting clear sunny days and cool nights. One of the roses beside the house is still, (STILL!) blooming! Linda told me the names for them.

In contrast, here's another rose from 2016-10-08. I followed those two buds throughout most of the winter. They got pretty frosty at times. Here's some more photos of them, and I'm hoping that some of the yellow orange roses get inspired and put on the same show. There are several buds happening, and winter is coming.

Back then, after the snow melted, we had more nice autumn weather for most of October, and into November. The first frosty photos are from November 30.

Of the Day

Driftwood

Flower

Peony

Lily

Landscape

Tombstone

Green Fools

Bouffon drinking contest. I think.

Moose, with a serendipity ant.

Lynx

It's amazing how well grey fur can blend in the colourful vegetation. 

Bee. This is from today, on our mint plant. Linda gave the lawn some water last week, and the mint perked up again, which brought out the bees. It's not quite the mecca it is during the summer when it's not uncommon to see a dozen or more bees on it. Today I only saw 3.

Film