A terrible friend

This post shall serve as a blanket apology. I have been so busy and wrapped up in my own schedule that I've been in touch with very few people. At work during break time or lunch I'll slip outside for a wee walk round the grounds and a breath of fresh air. During this time I think- I should send Bev a Happy Birthday email; Hol is leaving for Italy- I should have at least called her; I haven't seen Janet or Car in weeks; and my weekly walks with Jennifer & Krysta have fizzled out. Bah.
Good excuses? I'm at the homestretch with school. I'm desperately trying to keep my head above water as my last course is run in 5 weeks instead of the regular 11 weeks. Exams are around the corner so my anti-social behaviour will only be temporary.

The much more exciting piece of news is that Alvin & I are on our own again! We're renting a little one bedroom condo that's less than 1km from the bus depot (Al will be commuting to NAIT starting tomorrow) & should be about a 5km bike ride to work for me. I'm looking forward to active commuting...except for the cold weather! My folks have gone over & about the call of duty (& have probably spent more time in the condo then we have)- they've painted, scrubbed, donated & ensured a smooth transition. Guess they were ready to have their basement back*grin*
The new digs















Last weekend we attended Anna & Dan's beautiful wedding- I got to be social for an evening & had a wonderful time.

The new couple!














There were about 4 of us "Reckies" from Uni- it was lovely. Ry & the beautiful bride.

Harper Hangover

Well folk fest is a distant memory and it's very much back to reality. I have started my -hopefully- last course towards my Masters- these five weeks will zip by I'm sure. I only have a few random happenings that I felt like sharing...

1. It was the third memorial of my friend and colleague Chola over the weekend. I thought of her Friday, thought plenty about Zambia on Saturday...and met with Zambian friends (or friends from Zambia) on Sunday & we were able to chat a bit about our late friend. Since some of the ladies from Zed are reading this- here are some photos of Claire, Kel, & their beautiful son Cruz; we were thinking of you all and reminiscing about our special Chola.













































2. I shall savour the prairie skies every chance I get (mostly Alvin teases me for never taking photos...I'll take so many sky shots I'll probably chase away all my faithful readers).
















3. Pop & I working on the beautiful cherries that we picked earlier that evening with the help of Alvin & Trevor. Oh yea harvesting! And all those cherries came from the single Evans Cherry in Tom & Dev's backyard- amazing.































4. The video of Harper's "Heart of Gold" cover will not upload. Too bad for you all, the version was stellar.

5. At coffee break in the office one day conversation turned to eye surgery/ vision etc. I mentioned that I would love to have laser eye surgery for the simple joy of being able to roll over in the night & read the bedside clock. One of the ladies laughed at me and said "Just buy a bigger clock". Well it seemed far to obvious to ignore- we bought an alarm clock that I can read from well across the room. Ridiculous- but that's me, isn' it?

A Night to Remember

I suppose I'll be eternally indebted to my dear friend Ry for the favour he shared with me on Thursday night. Ry has been in faithful attendance at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival for decades...and last year he won the "Golden Tarp". And being the good friend that he is he allowed me to join him so that I could drool over Mr. Ben Harper approximately 10 feet away. (I don't mean to disregard Gord Downie who actually put on a good number despite the incoherent chat in between songs & the final exit of standing on stationary speaker while appearing to surf. I'm sure it was much cooler to him because he looked rather high). In sharp contrast Harper came out looking smashingly sober and was incredibly humble. Who knows what he's like in real-life, but what a pleasure to witness his show at such close range.

Feast your eyes ladies!



It was an amazing show & I was thrilled to be with such dear friends. And the finale: Harper paid tribute by closing out the night playing "Heart of Gold" from Canada's most famous/ renowned/ touted folk-rocker Neil Young. I took a little video but it doesn't capture the vibe on the hill...& it is also unable to upload at the moment. I shall sign off before the Internet crashes (again)*grin*

July Harvests

Oh the joys of long weekends- there seems to be time for everything. Our weekend was filled with delicious food from the garden, one of my fave Edmonton festivals- Heritage Days, swimming (both in the public swimming pool AND down at the Pembina river), & then the usual work bits...

Pembina! Who knew such a lovely sport existed? What a relaxing way to spend a sunny day















Our fearless leaders




























I've always thought that there's nothing more delicious than eating fresh picked home grown fruits & veggies. Don't these photos just make your mouths water?












































I have no idea why I'm trying to coach Pop with the berry picking- he had already picked three ice cream pails full. Ah well














Heritage days
Alvin decided to have a taste of 'almost' home eating some Zimbabwean cuisine. I thought his family would be horrified to see him eating his meal with a fork- one that is traditionally eaten with one's hands.














My dear friend Alison will be getting married later this week in Uganda...we were thinking of her!