As The World Turns

Now that we're edging closer to Summer and the hours are finally longer, been up to some activities in the evenings. Last night I went with a group of people, supposedly to train for an upcoming backpacking trip. Filled up the Alice Pack to the brim, strapped it on and went up and down the hill. Gawd.....I'm outta shape.....



Then tonight, I went rollerblading. Now mind you, never in my life have I bladed. But my butt and palms now hurt, my shoulder is out of joint of I think. Crashing and burning was the theme tonight. I also managed to discover that my blades were crooked, no wonder my right foot kept wanted to turn over....arrrgghh... so the others went on and I trudged back to the car, out came the tool set, disassembled the traitorous blade, stripped the thing, hammered a few bits back in shape and hopefully it will be straight now. Will find out saturday.



So now I'm still in the scenery and flower photo taking mode.



The city skyline.





White flowers.





More white flowers.





Yellow flowers.





A rustic bridge.





A purple flower.





A goose hijacking an eagle's nest. Lucky blighter.





Hmmm time for some night shots.

I got my long weekend washed out. Sigh, was supposed to go climb Mt Baldy on sunday but rain/sleet/snow made it a no no. In fact 2 climbers on a another higher mountain got killed when they fell off in the same conditions. Ah well next time.

Meanwhile, been playing around with the new camera all week. Some samples,

Wide angle shot


10X optical zoom


Max 48x digital zoom


Super Macro


Starbucks


Reading the label on the shelf of that coffee bean bag at starbucks using 10X zoom


Nice house along the Bow River


A Dandelion at macro


Your friendly neighbourhood Canadian Goose, bugger hissed at me! grrrrr


Little Nellie aka James Bond's ride, at 10X zoom macro


BB and his new buddy BJ says hi



Will be playing more with the cam! more to come.
Tonight is the Dancing with the Stars Finale. Watching TV first

YAYYYYY my fav couple won!!!!

Mondays I usually go for a walk/hike with a buddy. Since I did the Indian Graves hike on sunday, I figured on a fast walk on level ground instead for the monday walk. I got 2 things out of that day. One was this wonderful view of an Osprey having caught a fish and having lunch!





The other was a great big blister on my right foot. Ummmm. Haven't had one since lord knows when. Out came the sewing needle and first aid kit. Punctured the thing and dressed it. But walking for a while was funny.

Then I went and watched Spiderman 3. I found it somewhat long but rather interesting. Things are getting funny for me, used to be fascinated by the action but these days I'm fascinated by the human interaction more. There is a big love triangle in this movie and of coming of friendship.

Then finally, I got me something I've been eyeing for a long time. The supermart had a $30 off coupon for anything over $250.... my brain clicked into gear and I got this cam for only $269... yayyyyy. A brand new Fujifilm S700 (S5700 in some places), 7.1MP, 10X optical zoom, 1cm Supermacro, Image Stabiliser, it takes SD cards too! I had gotten a spare 1GB SD card last year for $30 during last year's Boxing Day sale, now I can use it. I'm off tomorrow for some fun. :)

Ahhh the reason for Alberta's fame and fortune. On the way to the trail, lots of oil wells like this dotting the landscape.


Arriving at the trail, firstly, it was up this bloody steep hill, huff puff, need to get in shape.


Stop along the way to admire my personal version of El Dorado (anyone remember Romancing the Stone?)


Nothing like ridge walking


But the climb was worth it, what a vista


We also had a furry friend come along, he's a Siberian Husky, damn friendly


Beats bashing the jungle anytime


Got another day hike coming up in 2 weeks, need to learn to lighten my load...huff puff...

PS: got a big blister on my foot now.... oooooooooh