Destination unknown

The trusty old travel bags are out of the closet,




I have a fistful of foreign currencies,




And a complicated spreadsheet to track the various flight options,




but no real plan.
Our original idea was to fly to Paris, via either Toronto or Montreal, on August 30th. As the flights filled up, we gradually pushed it further and further forward to the 26th of August, and have now given up on that option altogether. Not that Dan & I haven't gotten on completely hopeless-looking flights before. (Hey, you just never know when a volcano might erupt and force half of the booked passengers to have to disembark from a totally full flight, suddenly opening up 75 seats for stand-by hopefuls...), but the odds are definitely not in our favor.

Plan B is to fly from Calgary to London, then take the Chunnel train to Paris. We are hoping to squeeze onto the flight on Monday night, but that's still 4 days away, and the numbers change every time I check them, so it's gonna take a truck load of luck for that to work.

Plan C is to try for the Frankfurt flight on Tuesday night. That one actually looks quite hopeful, but never having been to Frankfurt, it's a little bit out of my comfort zone. Not to mention it's a 5 hour train ride to Paris from there. Oh well, at least it's on the right side of the ocean, so we'll take it if we can get it.

Ah, the joys of stand-by travel. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. It's a helluva perk and I'm extremely grateful for it. It was totally worth it to give up a normal home life for 20+ years for the travel opportunities that we've had. (Shift work, working stat holidays, and irregular days off that seldom coincided with the rest of the world's was a bitch!) Just once though, I'd like to show up at the airport in my sweat pants, with a ticket in my hand, and a hotel reservation waiting at the other end.

Actually, that must be quite boring. I'd miss the challenge, the suspense, and the euphoria when the coveted boarding pass is handed over at the last possible second.

So all fingers and toes are crossed for a successful outcome on Monday. Wherever we end up, it'll be an adventure!

Dumpster Diving

Okay, so technically, I wasn't actually dumpster diving. In our neighbourhood, if we no longer want something, but it still has some value, we just leave it out in the alley, and it usually disappears within a couple of hours.

Our next door neighbours must've been doing a clean out, because a couple of days ago there was a pile of stuff sitting out back.

There are some advantages to walking the dog early in the morning, I had first crack at the pile.

Score! There were two of these little bistro chairs, which I nabbed. When I first saw them, I thought they were made of cane, but they turned out to be Ikea's finest plastic. Whatever - I thought they'd work anyway.




So I spray painted them turquoise. What a surprise, eh?




Then I bought some fabric to make a couple of cushions. Yes, you read that right. I was going to attempt to sew cushions. With piping!
How hard could that be?




A very helpful tutorial on You Tube suggested using a zipper foot. Unfortunately, it assumed that I would know what that is. I've been sewing off & on for 45 years, and in that time, I have sewn exactly one zipper, and that was way back in high school home-ec class. I had that zipper in & out so many times that I completely shredded the beautiful wool fabric that was going to be a skirt. I've avoided them ever since.
So, what the Hell does a zipper foot look like, anyway? I studied my choices...




...and decided on this one.




Sue, you're rolling your eyes, aren't you?

Luckily, I couldn't figure out how to attach it, so I had to google the manual for my 25 year old machine. (Surprise! It was actually available!)
And another surprise, turns out the doohickey that I had chosen is a darning foot. A what? Is that a thing? Who knew?!
So anyway, I finally got the right thingamajig attached, and after a minor panic attack, I proceeded.




And you won't believe this, but I whipped up two cushions without once using my seam ripper! Hello, Ripley's?
I was feeling a little cocky, so I decided to add buttons. Another first. I've never made covered buttons before.




Ta daaa!




The plan is to take them to Mexico. We only have 4 dining chairs there, but they're big, with arms, so there isn't much room for additional seating. These skinny little chairs will be just perfect for when we have more than 2 guests.
See why they had to be turquoise?




I'm going to print a picture and pop it into Brenda's mailbox with a thank you note. I think she'll be pleased that her chairs are going to have a new life.
I know I am.

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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