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!!