Winter in the Desert

While we are not enjoying another winter at home (thank goodness cuz it has been a brutal one in Alberta), it doesn't mean that it is all sunshine and blue skies here all the time and it even gets freezing cold!

But at least this was not -40 with the wind chill

December and January are the "wintery" months here, but this was something really unexpected:

Sandy trapped in a snow globe

As noted, it can get below freezing overnight, making for some some chilly starts to our rides. About a week before Christmas, lots of snow fell in the nearby mountains, so the locals said how nice it was that we would have a "white Christmas."  Well, not exactly what we would think of in that way, but it's nice to see the snow capped mountains when we are out on our bikes.  

Snow on the mountains

With the snow on the mountains, we got our selves in the Christmas spirit and set out our decorations. We have some pieces of our Christmas village here (police station, doctor's office, vet clinic, and the pet store) and set them up along with a small fibre optic tree, our nativity scene, and of course our Christmas stockings.

Bear-tivity

Due to local CoVid issues, we elected to celebrate Christmas on our own. I guess Santa felt sorry for us, as he left us some very special presents!

Sandy got a water softening system

I was very happy with my present from the jolly old fellow. We just wonder how the reindeer managed what must have been a very full and heavy sleigh. 

A new hot water tank!

Not to be left out, Rockie got something special from Santa as well:  a big stuffy to snuggle with. She loves it and gives it a bath and arranges it in her bed every evening. It's just that out of the corners of our eyes, we both think it is Benny laying there at times.

We were very grateful that Santa seemed to have a hand in finally arranging to get the world's ugliest tree removed from in front of our house. Following a few years of back and forth with our home owners' association, they finally agreed to us removing the tree at our, I mean Santa's, expense. On a chilly, rainy day, Saul, our wonderful gardener, took the beast down for us. 

   

    Image 1:  Saul ready to cut off the fronds

    Image 2:  clearing away the fronds

    Image 3:  with the ladder wedged between the house and the tree, the tree was pushed over as Saul sawed through the trunk. Clever!

    Image 4:  sawing the tree into manageable pieces

Images 1 through 4

    Image 5:  Saul chopping out the stump

    Image 6:  Unlike regular trees, palms do not produce annual growth rings. Instead, they have vertical tube like structures that form the vascular system that transports water and nutrients through the plant.  They are actually more closely related to grasses, corn, lilies, rice, and orchids than to woody trees.    

Surprisingly, inside of the tree was bright red, almost like it was bleeding!

The eyesore is finally gone, and we think the house looks much happier, now, thanks to Santa and Saul.

Before and After

As I was preparing this blog post, my iPhone alerted me with a memory album of photos from one year ago. So, in the spirit of remembering our winter in Edmonton last year, I thought I would share some of those photos.  First up, after the hair salons re-opened following a CoVid shutdown, we booked ourselves some much needed haircuts and decided to walk the 2km to the shop on a rather chilly day. On our way back, our neighbour, Deb, spotted us as she was driving home, and wondered who the heck would be out walking on such a day? When she saw it was us, she pulled over and commented, "Of course, it had to be you two!"

Nice rosy cheeks during our -25C walk to get our hair cuts

Rockie loves being outdoors, especially in the sun.  We get lots of bright sunny days during winter in Alberta, but frustratingly for her, it's definitely not warm enough for her to do her solar recharge by basking in the sun. She did, however, get a nice warm jacket (and boots) so she could go still go out for her walks.

A brief rest after running in the snow while Kate and Sandy snowshoed

And, finally, the memory album from a year ago included a photo of our dear Benny.

Ben in his TV chair

Well, that's all for this wintery issue of our blog. We love hearing from you so please send us an email or post a comment, below. If you post a comment, please leave your name, especially if you request a recipe, so we know who to reply to. Thanks!!