The 100 year flood

Of course that's what they called it in 2005 as well. This one is worse. Much worse. Who could have imagined anything like this in downtown Calgary?




Chinatown




The stampede grounds.




The infield.




























And Calgary was relatively lucky.
Canmore, Bragg Creek, Okotoks, High River and others all suffered devastating losses.
































Highway 22X




The Trans Canada




We are extremely lucky that our house is on higher ground, and we have been dry and safe throughout this whole ordeal. Our water is still good - we didn't even lose power. For us it has just been a minor inconvenience. We can't drive around town, and with water restrictions in place, we can't do any laundry, we can't run the dishwasher, and I can't enjoy a long soak in the tub.
No laundry means pink towels in a copper coloured bathroom. Quelle horreur! Oh, boo hoo...




All kidding aside, my heart goes out to the thousands of people that had to be evacuated from their homes. The lucky ones amongst them have a massive clean-up ahead of them.
Through it all, this man was everywhere.




Our mayor, Naheed Nenshi, put in a 43 hour day. He was on every radio & tv station, he was in airplanes and helicopters and he was all over social media keeping us all informed. There was even a Twitter hash tag set up #nap4nenshi, and citizens were tweeting and begging him to take a break.
One person summed it up by saying that we could probably skip the whole next election nonsense, and just sign him up for another term.
Stampede officials are saying that the show will go on come




I'll believe it when I see it.
What a week, eh?!


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Ooh la la

Recognize this trio?




Yes, that's moi on the left, Debbie in the middle, and Cheryl on the right. The three of us go waaay back. And as far back as we go, we've been talking about doing this together. (Except without the crappy photoshop stuff.)




Every time we get together, which isn't nearly often enough given our geographical differences, we talk endlessly about our trip to France...(insert heavy sigh here)
We toss the idea around and around until it fizzles out in a mire of logistical obstructions, and we have to reluctantly put it back in the box for safekeeping until the next time.

But the stars and the planets have finally aligned favourably! This is the year we make it happen!

I'm still a little in shock to tell the truth, it hasn't quite sunk in yet. We're going to France! Woohoo!




I just have to memorize this phrase book, and lose 25 lbs, so I can order and enjoy the croissants and the cheeses. Oh, and the crepes, and the sauces, and the tarts, and...
Oops, drooling a bit here.


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Bowness Park :(

I'd been looking forward to today's outing all week. We were going to Bowness Park for the first time in Donkeys years. Well, for me, anyway. Dan finds himself there for work occasionally, but I probably haven't been there in more than 20 years.
Dan said that they were doing a lot of work on it last year, so he was interested to see what was new.
Looks to me like the only thing they did last year was to erect miles and miles of that blue temporary fencing.




Not much to see except construction equipment,




and signs telling us to keep out. At least they're polite about it.




We wandered along the path by the lagoon, which was quite pretty.




After a week of rain everything is SO green!




And what isn't green is very yellow!




Of course, it would've been a lot nicer if there was actually water in the lagoon...that must happen later in the season.




On the river side of the park, we watched some canoes set off for a paddle, and the fire department launch a rescue boat. There didn't appear to be any urgency in the process, so I'm guessing it was just a training run.




Taz, of course, is always up for a dip in the water. Nice drool string, eh?








Thanks to my zoomy little camera, we were able to spy on a wedding taking place on the other side of the river. Grainy, but there was a whole park, and a river between us.








So, Bowness Park wasn't one of our better outings. Maybe we'll go back when they finish it.
A few days ago, while searching in the garage for his rain gear, Dan came across a box of old photos. What a hoot!
Me, Cindy, and the Pink Panther at the 1983 Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. (That's where Dan & I met.)




Me, Ronnie, and Cindy after a winter balloon flight circa 1982-ish.




My motorbike/coffee table. There's a story...




And of course, the giant pink flamingo. Another good story...
Look how tiny those evergreens are!




" The Spirit" This was Dan & Dave's balloon.




Dan & Dave. Aka Father Guido Sarducci, and Cactus Dave! About a million stories there!




Oh, I've been playing with a great little app - Diptic. Fun!











Did you watch the video? Betcha didn't know that about nuns...
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Crafting on a rainy day

I saw this idea on Pinterest.




And I thought, hey, I have tons of old vases, jars, and craft paint around the house, I should try that.
Well it turns out that some of my vessels were occupied already,




and the rest were too large for the tiny bottles of paint that I have.








In the end, I managed to scrounge up only 2 small vases.
One of the photos on the Pinterest tutorial showed transferring the paint using a syringe, and that gave me the idea that I could use some of my calligraphy ink, because the bottles have a built-in dropper.




Brilliant, right?
If I'd stopped to think it through, (not my style) I would've realized that it was a bad plan, and could've saved myself a LOT of trouble.
The calligraphy inks are transparent pigments, and I wanted the finished products to be opaque.
Also, it's been a long time since I've done any calligraphy, so I'm not used to handling the ink. Turns out that rounded dropper end is a bit awkward to hold, and I'm a bit clumsy...

Yes, it slipped out of my grasp, skittered along the kitchen counter, bounced off the fridge, then off the dishwasher, and landed on the hardwood floor, merrily splashing and spraying permanent, violet ink as it went.

Aaaacckkk!

I didn't stop to take photos.

After I cleaned up the horrific mess, and changed my clothes, (it got me, too) I started again.
Ta daaa!












All in all, not worth the trouble, but we've had a week of non-stop rain, and I was bored.
The sun is shining today though, so I'm off to play in the dirt. Got some clean up to do too. Our patio looks like we're in the middle of a spring snow storm, but it's just the blossoms from the May tree. The rain beat it to crap before we really got to enjoy it this year.




Oh, and lots of rain = wet dog :)




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