October 13th

5pm: Five years ago today we landed in Canada, I still remember the awe as we drove down Highway 1 towards Canmore for the first time that afternoon. Me, Nicky & am 11month old Tabby. Lots of ups & downs since then, mostly ups it has to be said. We love living in Canmore, an incredible place - we have been accustomed to incredibly freezing winter days or blazing hot, high altitude summer days. We have thought about going back to the UK at times, but family apart - what is there to draw us back at the moment?

May 16th

11am: The Rocky Mountain Soap Companies 12km women's race is underway at the Nordic Centre in Canmore. Nicky is in there somewhere & she did really well, with a time of around 1hr 15mins for the longest race she has participated in. I had Charlie & Tabby to contend with, Tabby loved the dance routine warm-up, Charlie just wanted to run off. We ended up afterwards at the garden centre where he was told off by the lady running it, for chucking stones - much to Tabby's delight. I had a decent bike ride in the afternoon, not particularly long but i focused on a couple of really steep hills to build up more power & endurance. I think one ride up the fearsome Silver Tip road is worth 5 long, flat ones.

February 24th

6pm : The Nordic Centre in Canmore, normally a hive of activity is absolutely deserted due to the Olympic ice hockey game between Canada & Russia.....

February 21st

3pm: My kids love Uncle Pete, he spent the weekend with us in Canmore & they hardly left his side - he is going to make a great daddy one day!! Today we spent several hours at the Canmore Nordic Centre, Pete went Cross Country skiing for the first time & did very well indeed. I finally got the hang of the skate style of skiing & had a great afternoon with my instructor, the incredibly patient Tricia. The weather was just phenomenal, hot & sunny - Tabby & Charlie wrestled each other & Pete after we had done skiing, a perfect afternoon rounded off with chocolate milk & a homemade curry....

February 13th

3pm. Charlie in the tracks at the Canmore Nordic Centre - an insanely beautiful day again, with hardly a cloud in the sky. I did two laps of the Banff Trail, the first one in my quickest ever time - the kids romped around the stadium in the sunshine, before Charlie fell into a large, muddy puddle - a habit of his.

January 22nd

4pm: A colder, foggy day in the valley today- the thick mist taking an age to dissipate in the morning before rolling in again at dusk. I captured the golden glow of the setting sun on the northern side of the valley, the evocatively named Squaws Tit peak visible on the left. This was taken around 5pm as I was on my way for a couple of laps at the Nordic Centre, the wind chill around -15C.....

January 17th

5pm: Canmore Nordic Centre on the way to a quick cross-country ski, not really the perfect time in a near deserted, forested wilderness surrounded area. Twilight is the time they say that cougar's are most active & given our neighbour made the headlines in the paper this week by bumping into a big cat just down the road, I was a little bit sensitive to every rustle in the bushes.

January 2nd

An incredibly mild afternoon at the Canmore Nordic Centre for a couple of laps of the Banff Trail, classic style.......