March 2nd

5pm: My hotel in Vancouver had a rooftop balcony, the benefits of getting the 14th floor suite. So here is the view looking north, the big Olympic inspired Maple Leaf adorning the Canada Post building. A definite sense of "after The Lord Mayor's Show" pervaded the city - everywhere the Olympic infrastructure was being torn down, businesses were quiet and the odd media straggler/tourist/athlete was to be seen wandering about looking a little forlorn.........

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 17th

11.35pm: Nearly forgot today's picture. We had George & MJ, Paul & Anastasia & their kids round for a really fun, but hectic supper & after a few beers I forgot all about daily pictures until just before bedtime. Was great to see Stefan achieve an excellent result at The Olympics earlier today in the cross country sprints.

February 15th

2pm - George Grey of Canada prepares to set off in his 15km Olympic Cross Country race as we cheer him on in front of the TV, he came a very respectable 29th. Seems amazing he is even there considering the injuries he has put up with this season. George & Lesley were neighbours of ours until last summer, when they moved over to the other, sunnier, side of Canmore. A nicer couple you could not wish to meet, Tabby idolises George & maybe one day she will follow in his Olympian footsteps!!

February 14th

3pm: First bike ride of the year today thanks to the ongoing good weather, the roads were clear of snow & ice & I completed a 20km loop in decent time. Back in time to catch up on the Olympics & a thrilling first gold medal on Canadian soil for one of our athletes - Alex Bilodeau in the Freestyle skiing. Now in my life I have seen a lot of great sporting moments, great football matches, unbelievable cricketing thrillers, boxing, summer Olympics even snooker when Alex Hurricane Higgins was at his peak, and this was right up there with them for drama & emotion. Here's hoping that one of our local Canmore athletes can go one notch higher in the next few days.......I have this funny feeling that they just might.

February 7th

1pm: Canmore's Olympians assemble before the adoring masses prior to their departure for Vancouver later this week. Tabby is bottom right in this picture, with the pale blue ski pants on!! She is not participating in any Olympic events of course, but was one of the local kids - from the XC Skiing club - who paraded earlier down Main Street with the team & formed a guard of honour as they approached the Town Hall. A stupendously beautiful day in Canmore, warm , sunny & as usual a tremendous sense of community abounded - Main Street itself had been converted into a cross country ski course & we spent an hour or so afterwards shuttling up & down the tracks with family & friends. Credit here also to Paul for taking the picture, I couldn't get near the front - so passed him my camera. So good luck to George, Stef, Ivan & the rest of the team - bring back some medals guys!!

January 20th

3.30pm: The Olympic Flame comes to Canmore enroute to Vancouver. Great excitement in town as a bunch of people ran around carrying a torch before some dull speeches & guff about changing the world - good family fun & a lovely atmosphere that matched the warm, sunny weather  ... BUT.... it was more about the Coca Cola sponsorship than anything else, loads of free coke on offer & everything emblazened with their logo. Charlie came back saying he wanted some more Coca-Cola, job done for those guys :-(