April 30th

11am: On my way back from the hospital in Banff, I came across this magnificent train near Banff Station. I think it's pulling the tourist train from Calgary to Vancouver - it looked beautiful against the blue skies & white caps behind. Rail travel for passengers in Southern Alberta is all but non-existent, barring this freakishly expensive luxury service. Crimial really - in a landscape made for rail travel. A busy day on the medical front with knee stuff over in Banff at the Hospital & dentist stuff in Canmore - needed a quiet night, and got one!

April 29th

8pm: The mountains looked beautiful tonight, this is the view from my lounge albeit shot on a 100mm lens. Calgary earlier was a total mess, hurricane winds & snow - but Canmore was strangely serene, almost oblivious to the chaos 100kms or so to the east.

April 28th

8.30pm: I stopped in the swirling snowstorm at the PetroCanada service station near Cochrane, the weather has been appalling all day - heavy snow, 90mph winds, generally miserable. I don't want to turn this into a weather blog, but we get such extremes here. Just a week before I was playing football in balmy conditions & now this. I had been for dinner in Calgary with a colleague over from Toronto - he was lucky (in a sense) to get to Calgary given the hurricane force winds that all but closed down the airport.

April 27th

11pm: A long, cold day spent at my desk working, only this beautiful Tabby picture to remind me of more relaxing days! Boot camp a little earlier as well to round off a taxing day..........

April 26th

6pm: Out on my bike ride tonight, 35kms or so in the end, I stopped in about the same spot as the photo on this blog from January 6th. Somewhat warmer tonight, I mean like 40 degree centigrade warmer!! A very pleasant ride but one tempered by the knowledge that the storm clouds are gathering & we are in for a spell of weather more like January 6th!!

April 25th

10.45pm: I have clocked up a decent amount of guitar practise today, thanks to the cold weather & my new Marshall amp. Earlier got out on the bike for an hour, really need to ramp up the intensity now with exactly 2 months until the big ride. A nice family day though all in all, lots of cooking, messing around with the kids & generally just pottering!

April 24th

8pm: Well it snowed all day today, not that cold but enough to curtail serious outdoor activity. Plenty of quality time with the kids, Tabby in particular is taking a real interest in music. She loves taking a CD from my shelves & copying the cover - like her grandfather, she is a seriously talented artist. I played her The Stone Roses - one day I will tell her about my adventures in Manchester in the late 80s, I thought at the time The Roses were the greatest band to have ever walked this planet. This poster on my office wall is of one gig I never made it too, much to my eternal regret.

April 23rd

8.30am : I could have kicked myself this morning, it was an incredible scene in Canmore with fresh overnight snow & stormy clouds hanging in the valley -- I took some great pictures but i had inadvertently screwed up the settings on my camera. They came out the size of postage stamps :(  Oh well, at least I got a nice shot of the Elk's grazing on Three Sister's Drive. By the time I got home at around 6pm the snow was gone..........

April 22nd

7.00pm: Another mile long train bisects Canmore, I am on my way to pick up Jamey before our Bow Valley Soccer League meeting in Banff. I am running the Rose & Crown FC team this year - earlier I did a particularly severe boot camp, 300+ Firemen Steps were brutal!

April 21st

7.45pm: Jimmy Tenga thumps home a penalty for Canmore Utd in our 6-1 defeat of the Collegiate. OK it is men against boys, but the school coach, ex-Charlton midfielder Gavin Peacock is testing his team out prior to their upcoming season. They are a very talented bunch of lads & with Gavin's coaching they will have an excellent chance of winning the trophy this year. For our part, we had a good run out in sensational weather - I think it hit 25C today. An enjoyable game, but the mosquitoes!! Man!!

April 20th

4pm: Looking down Wilson Way past our house & up to the magnificent Ha Ling peak & Mount Rundle - what a scorcher of a day, 25C & not a cloud in the sky. I had to go to Calgary for work, I don't think Calgary was as warm as Canmore. Nicky tells me the kids spent most of the day outside - lucky them!

April 19th

7pm; First outside meal of the year (Grilled Duck Breasts & Bulgur Wheat Salad for the record). Any opportunity in this Montane climate to eat outside is seized upon be everyone, the whole neighbourhood smells of barbecues and downtown the patios are packed. After the meal was over I saw an enormous owl or hawk hunting in the forest at the top of our garden, it caught something too judging by the tremendous commotion!

April 18th

11.30am: I got roped into being the linesman for the Canmore Girls U-13 game, not what I really wanted with my sore leg - but interesting nonetheless as they were playing the top side in the province. All the while Tabby & Charlie were out practising on their bikes - normally right behind me as i ran backwards looking for off sides. Tabby's new bike cost $5 from the bike swap yesterday, took her about 5 minutes to master it & she is off. Unfortunately Charlie has inherited her bright pink predecessor - he doesn't seem to mind, he will  though when the pictures turn up at his wedding in a couple of decades time!!!

April 17th

11pm: First game of the season today for Canmore United, I felt good - all the gym work paying off but half way through the second half I got a dead leg, fouling an opponent & as the day wore on I could hardly walk - agony!! Thank god for acetaminophen lurking at the back of the medicine cabinet, as I had burned my way through every other pain killer in there!

April 16th

6.30pm: A busy morning of work in Vancouver followed by a pleasant flight back eastwards to Alberta. From the sky, the mountains looked so beautiful & sunny that I made up my mind to take the family out for dinner. We headed to Banff & the wonderful Juniper Hotel. Perched at the foot of Mount Norquay the hotel/bar/restaurant is an upscale place, but casual enough to take the kids & it's blessed with a fantastic patio. Obviously there is going to be a wedding tomorrow, what a place to get married. The kids enjoyed themselves, it did get a wee bit nippy when the sun went down but by then we were well finished!

April 15th

9.15am: My Air Canada plane is leaving Calgary Airport on a beautiful morning, not a speck of ash in the sky unlike Europe with it's misbehaving Icelandic volcano. We worked hard and late in Vancouver but finished the day with a superb Indian meal at Maurya - the best I have had in North America.

April 14th

11pm: Off to Vancouver tomorrow, nothing much to report today just work, work, work!!

April 13th

10am: Spring is in the air in the foothills of the Rockies, the lakes are full with migrating birds heading north. Lots of these black beaked Trumpeter Swans, I think they head on up to Alaska after their brief stay with us. It's nice to see, along with the melting ice & the gradual greening of the grass, spring is slowly making an appearance in these parts.

April 12th

5pm: One of those cold, blowy days that occasionally blight us here in the Bow Valley, hard to take photos when visibility is so low & the worlds seems to be harshly desaturated. Here is a shot of one such snow cloud shrouding the tip of Ha Ling Peak on a cold Monday afternoon. Even the world's greatest photographer may struggle with this flat light & poor viso.

April 11th

8pm: Thoughts are turning to the garden, it's still a month at least before you can plant safely outside without snow/frost destroying the seedlings - this is how our garden looks in early April this year, a lot less snow than is normal.

April 10th

2pm: So I went and splashed out on my new Taylor guitar, a neat looking instrument & super excited I headed down Main Street on my way home, I wondered why the town seemed to be at a standstill with people looking up in the sky with cameras & binoculars. Soon it became apparent, helicopters were bombing the peak of Mount Rundle, loaded with the previous 48 hours of snow. The steep slopes overhang the thin ribbon of road that takes you up to Spray Lakes & I guess the avalanche risk was high. Pretty spectacular stuff & as I have my camera with me at all times I got a decent shot of the last avalanche coming down - albeit with the pharmacy in the frame!

April 9th

3pm: All the snow from Thursday translated into a good days snowboarding at Lake Louise - in terms of snow, the best of the year - with soccer & cycling taking over, this was probably the last day I'll spend there this season - spent more days on teh slopes this year than any of the previous 4 we have been out here.....

April 8th

7pm: A day out in Calgary, we left snowy Canmore & headed into warm, sunny Calgary for some shopping & stuff. Highlight of the day was an amazing Mexican lunch at the Tu Tierra Taqueria in SE Calgary. It's a genunine Mexican restaurant, serving regional cuisine from around that sunny nation - beautiful food and a nice, simple decor. Top lunch experience! Later we hit the dreaded Ikea, it was sunny when we went in, but about an hour later we came out into a raging, angry blizzard. The snow was flying horizontally & the temperature had plummeted. Thinking we were in for a hellish journey home, we got through unscathed - although horror stories of pile-ups & crashes dominated the news. We did though end up at the doctor's office, with an unwell tabby - hence the picture of a snowy Safeway as we headed over to their pharmacy!

April 7th

10am: Banff Hospital, I was here getting a shot in my ankle - a skiing injury from many years ago has turned the joint a bit arthritic - to keep active it gets pumped with lubricant!! It sounds worse than it is, but the needle is huge & it's pretty sore for a few days after!! Have to say as well our (public) medical system over here is extremely efficient, well worth my taxpayers money. We finished the day with a really nice meal at Stef & Erin's, with George & Lesley as well - nice vacation day!

April 6th

10pm: After my guitar lesson today, I decided to try out a Taylor guitar - before I spend $2.5k on one, i need to know it suits my guitar playing needs. Needless to say, it's a beautiful instrument - really easy to play & it sounds great, although not enough bass for my liking - i think I'll try out some more before purchasing. Spent the afternoon with George & Lesley making sausages!!

April 5th

11am: This is the Iron Bridge over the Bow River in Canmore, on a lazy Monday morning - the first weekday of my mini vacation, we came down to let the kids run amok on the beaches & chuck stones into the river. In a few weeks time this river will be a raging torrent of icy water, as the spring run-off from the mountains really gets underway. Some years it floods & causes havoc, this year will be pretty tame given the paltry amount of snow we have had.

April 4th

3pm: Tabby takes charge of Charlie on the Bunny Hill, he is only two & a half his ;legs are not strong enough to form a snow plow, so when he goes down the hill he just goes - straight line & only an immovable object or gravity will stop him. So he goes on his reins & Tabby loves treating him like a pony, giddy up Charlie etc etc. Funny to watch & it generates a lot of smiles & comments from our fellow skiers.

April 3rd

10.30am. The Peaks of Grassi Neighbourhood Easter Egg hunt in under way. Charlie can be seen charging up the hill with Nicky, there were about 30 kids & 400 (four hundred!!) eggs hidden in the little patch of forest & playground. We have eggs to spare at the moment!! This is a tradition we have enjoyed since we first moved here, just one of a number of little events that happen in our hood during the year. The small kids, under 4's got first dibs, Tabby & the rest followed shortly after....

April 2nd

9am: Tabby got up at 6am this morning, the first day of my ten day vacation to check what the Easter Bunny had brought her. Well quelle suprise there were two chocolate eggs downstairs awaiting her & Charlie - they were pounced on & would have been devoured before breakfast if we hadn't intervened.

April 1st

3pm: I got a text from Reagan at Mountain Mercato announcing the arrival of fresh Montreal Bagels. I love Mountain Mercato, it's a great little coffee shop/gourmet food store in the heart of Canmore & the girls that run it are super friendly & knowledgeable - they bring in all kinds of goodies, great English cheeses, decent coffee & plenty of ethnic foods. We are spoilt for choice really in our small town - there are plenty of great artisan food businesses to choose from all over town, although a decent Indian Restaurant & proper Fish & Chips would not go amiss. These wood-fired, boiled bagels are great!!