Anyway, took some photos. Enjoy! (the geese photos didn't exactly work well)
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Iron Horse Trail
Walking on the Iron Horse again today. Geez, I'm outta shape now. 8 hours a day up and down cliffs in Germany but I was knackered after 4 hours today on a flat trail! Need to fix that. of course it was a lovely 15C in Germany and it was 30C here today. Yah, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
Anyway, took some photos. Enjoy! (the geese photos didn't exactly work well)
Anyway, took some photos. Enjoy! (the geese photos didn't exactly work well)
On the way home from the Ukranian dinner...
Last night i went to a Ukranian dinner at the village hall in Bellis. It is hailed as one of the main events of the year, so i was very excited. Plus I love perogies.
I have to admit....I won't be going again. I would have been perfectly happy with a spoonful of perogies and some salad. Instead what I got was MANY spoonfuls of perogies (because I had to try all of them) plus starch after starch after starch. And then if I did have room to squeeze salad on the plate, it was swimming in caesar salad dressing. All this because I cleverly told the ladies I hadn't had much Ukranian food. So then I had to sit and eat it all. I felt like I was going to hurl by the time I got home. By the look of the hundreds of people there, I think they eat like this all the time!
Anyway, although the dinner was a small disaster, on the ride home the woman giving me a lift took me to Mons Lake, just north of Smoky. So I took a few snaps and then we passed a buffalo farm! Only one near the road and we think she might have been a late pregnant female. Anyway, enjoy!
I have to admit....I won't be going again. I would have been perfectly happy with a spoonful of perogies and some salad. Instead what I got was MANY spoonfuls of perogies (because I had to try all of them) plus starch after starch after starch. And then if I did have room to squeeze salad on the plate, it was swimming in caesar salad dressing. All this because I cleverly told the ladies I hadn't had much Ukranian food. So then I had to sit and eat it all. I felt like I was going to hurl by the time I got home. By the look of the hundreds of people there, I think they eat like this all the time!
Anyway, although the dinner was a small disaster, on the ride home the woman giving me a lift took me to Mons Lake, just north of Smoky. So I took a few snaps and then we passed a buffalo farm! Only one near the road and we think she might have been a late pregnant female. Anyway, enjoy!
Sunday, 11 September 2011
yah, sorry
OK, I know I've been neglecting this. It's been really difficult because I still don't have internet at home, so I'm still sitting on the library steps on the weekend stealing wifi and I find it difficult to email everyone, facebook AND blog. A bit repetitive for one thing! I should have internet on Wednesday, so it will get better.
And last week being my first week I didn't have much time to be online. Although we're still getting me set up at head office, so it's debatable whether I'll get paid at the end of this week like everyone else. Not pleased about that - I don't think they have ANY idea how difficult it has been to coordinate all this on my end. My request to download Skype has also been turned down unless I can do a business case for it. But funny enough it still downloaded ok...
So work! Everyone has been really great. I'm in a separate smaller building away from my bosses, but I think I'm going to start taking one tea break in the main building just to keep contact. Last week was only 4 days for us, so one day was introductions on site, the next day was driving around the seed production sites, one day researching (this is me trying desperately to process at least some of what I've been told) and then one day in Edmonton meeting more people. It's a bit odd because not everyone at the ATISC (Smoky Lake) site know that my job description has changed and I'm not so much a grunt worker as the woman before me. Not that I won't have to muck in like everyone else at certain times of year (like now - good time to start), and I'm looking forward to doing that and even seed collections (especially when they are via helicopter) and field measurements. But I'm also expected to start researching and publishing this year.
We were doing cut tests on green cones last week. Some species can be picked early and allowed to mature in the DC chamber (dormancy conditioning, although they admit it's not got much to do with dormancy). And since our main competition for seeds are birds (they make a HUGE mess), we have to balance immaturity with availability. Squirrels are a bit of an issue too but if we can find their cache, we just raid it and that saves a lot of time and money. Sounds mean and the squirrels here aren't Grey American. They are little red ones similar to the ones in Europe. Very cute.
And something else really interesting I found out last week that made a LOT of sense. I hadn't seen their dry room, so I asked about it and got some weird looks. Apparently, once the cones have been matured, processed and cleaned, they are usually 7-8% MC!! Amazing! Last year they were nearly screwed because it took them until after Xmas to do some and they were getting dangerously low MCs for those last few.
Well, all this makes a lot of sense because I've been struggling to stay hydrated here. If I miss one tea break I'm in danger of a coughing fit! They probably think I'm ill from the number of times I'm running to the loo! Anyway, I've noticed it in my skin too. I would suggest you all run out and buy shares in Johnson's Baby Oil. Which brings me around to the necessity of finding a man within the next year because I think the wrinkles are going to appear in force this winter. That might have been a BIG con if someone had told me I'd age 5 years in the first 6 months!
And along with the dry air (it's around 20-30% right now), it's very dusty. VERY dusty. The soil is similar to sand. How they grow anything in it, I don't know. I don't like wearing shoes so during the summer I have pretty dirty feet anyway. But I've actually had to take off my ankle bracelet because by the afternoon I have a ring of dirt around it!
But don't let me put anyone off coming to visit! I've been here 3 weeks and we've only had 2 days that weren't beautiful blue open sky and that should continue into the winter even when it's cold. I had to be up early to go to Edmonton on Friday and the mist hugging the ground on the fields was spectacular.
Anyway, hopefully that gets some of you up to date and feeling more included :) My bed should finally be delivered tomorrow. Three weeks on an inflatable mattress is pretty much my maximum I think. My back thinks so too. So there's a bit of info the Facebook people don't even know ;) Oh and internet hooked up on Wednesday. By the weekend I should almost be a real person!
Later.
And last week being my first week I didn't have much time to be online. Although we're still getting me set up at head office, so it's debatable whether I'll get paid at the end of this week like everyone else. Not pleased about that - I don't think they have ANY idea how difficult it has been to coordinate all this on my end. My request to download Skype has also been turned down unless I can do a business case for it. But funny enough it still downloaded ok...
So work! Everyone has been really great. I'm in a separate smaller building away from my bosses, but I think I'm going to start taking one tea break in the main building just to keep contact. Last week was only 4 days for us, so one day was introductions on site, the next day was driving around the seed production sites, one day researching (this is me trying desperately to process at least some of what I've been told) and then one day in Edmonton meeting more people. It's a bit odd because not everyone at the ATISC (Smoky Lake) site know that my job description has changed and I'm not so much a grunt worker as the woman before me. Not that I won't have to muck in like everyone else at certain times of year (like now - good time to start), and I'm looking forward to doing that and even seed collections (especially when they are via helicopter) and field measurements. But I'm also expected to start researching and publishing this year.
We were doing cut tests on green cones last week. Some species can be picked early and allowed to mature in the DC chamber (dormancy conditioning, although they admit it's not got much to do with dormancy). And since our main competition for seeds are birds (they make a HUGE mess), we have to balance immaturity with availability. Squirrels are a bit of an issue too but if we can find their cache, we just raid it and that saves a lot of time and money. Sounds mean and the squirrels here aren't Grey American. They are little red ones similar to the ones in Europe. Very cute.
And something else really interesting I found out last week that made a LOT of sense. I hadn't seen their dry room, so I asked about it and got some weird looks. Apparently, once the cones have been matured, processed and cleaned, they are usually 7-8% MC!! Amazing! Last year they were nearly screwed because it took them until after Xmas to do some and they were getting dangerously low MCs for those last few.
Well, all this makes a lot of sense because I've been struggling to stay hydrated here. If I miss one tea break I'm in danger of a coughing fit! They probably think I'm ill from the number of times I'm running to the loo! Anyway, I've noticed it in my skin too. I would suggest you all run out and buy shares in Johnson's Baby Oil. Which brings me around to the necessity of finding a man within the next year because I think the wrinkles are going to appear in force this winter. That might have been a BIG con if someone had told me I'd age 5 years in the first 6 months!
And along with the dry air (it's around 20-30% right now), it's very dusty. VERY dusty. The soil is similar to sand. How they grow anything in it, I don't know. I don't like wearing shoes so during the summer I have pretty dirty feet anyway. But I've actually had to take off my ankle bracelet because by the afternoon I have a ring of dirt around it!
But don't let me put anyone off coming to visit! I've been here 3 weeks and we've only had 2 days that weren't beautiful blue open sky and that should continue into the winter even when it's cold. I had to be up early to go to Edmonton on Friday and the mist hugging the ground on the fields was spectacular.
Anyway, hopefully that gets some of you up to date and feeling more included :) My bed should finally be delivered tomorrow. Three weeks on an inflatable mattress is pretty much my maximum I think. My back thinks so too. So there's a bit of info the Facebook people don't even know ;) Oh and internet hooked up on Wednesday. By the weekend I should almost be a real person!
Later.
Monday, 5 September 2011
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Jasper baby!
Went to Jasper yesterday. For lunch. As you do. Took 6 hours to drive there but only 4.5 to come back, as I found a better route by accident. Missed a turn and found a highway that wasn't on my map!
Jasper was....incredible. Can't describe it. I've never seen the Rockies before, so this was important for me. Didn't see much wildlife, which apparently is rather odd. However, it is me. If you want to be safe from wildlife, just hang around me. I never get to see anything good :( Three years living in Sudbury and not a bear or moose around. BUT, I did see some beautiful hawks from the car and the highlight was a bald eagle! I should have seen at least some mountain goats or elk but nothing this time.
Jasper town is just lovely, as you can imagine, with all the tourists around. But so laid back and friendly. Even for Canada. I kind of forgot to take photos after a while, so the few I did take aren't really the best ones. It rained a bit while I was there but even that didn't matter at all. Didn't think about the temperature difference - 24C in Edmonton but only 15C in Jasper - so it gave me an excuse to buy a lovely sweater. I have got to go back soon, but I really need someone to go with me! The car trip is nice and all but I need someone to talk to for 10 hours!
Jasper was....incredible. Can't describe it. I've never seen the Rockies before, so this was important for me. Didn't see much wildlife, which apparently is rather odd. However, it is me. If you want to be safe from wildlife, just hang around me. I never get to see anything good :( Three years living in Sudbury and not a bear or moose around. BUT, I did see some beautiful hawks from the car and the highlight was a bald eagle! I should have seen at least some mountain goats or elk but nothing this time.
Jasper town is just lovely, as you can imagine, with all the tourists around. But so laid back and friendly. Even for Canada. I kind of forgot to take photos after a while, so the few I did take aren't really the best ones. It rained a bit while I was there but even that didn't matter at all. Didn't think about the temperature difference - 24C in Edmonton but only 15C in Jasper - so it gave me an excuse to buy a lovely sweater. I have got to go back soon, but I really need someone to go with me! The car trip is nice and all but I need someone to talk to for 10 hours!
Sunday, 28 August 2011
photos!!!
Just put a whack of photo on FB, so here's the link and you trogs can look too :)
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.203625923034291.53649.100001606539120&l=9e7233c13a&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.203625923034291.53649.100001606539120&l=9e7233c13a&type=1
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Will this never end!?
OK. The kitchen is DONE. The bathroom is DONE. I have a TON of cupboard food that I don't know what to do with. The recycling is overflowing. And I'm starting to wonder if all my stuff will fit in my bags.
Today is super.
And just as a goodbye prezzie, the heavens have decided to remind me of the British weather that I will sorely miss...
BUT
I've got my ipod on, I'm dancing to some German industrial metal (scaring the crap out of Oscar in the process), and I'm just about to DO the bedroom. A few errands to do in town and then sorting out my packing later. I THINK I'm still on track. Of course my loom still hasn't shown up. But I'm supposed to phone them to sort it out. I have no idea what they can do now besides offer to send it to Canada, which I really doubt will happen.
And it's starting to hit home. My god, I will be in the cargo area of Heathrow at this time tomorrow and on my way out of here for a long time. Shit.
Today is super.
And just as a goodbye prezzie, the heavens have decided to remind me of the British weather that I will sorely miss...
BUT
I've got my ipod on, I'm dancing to some German industrial metal (scaring the crap out of Oscar in the process), and I'm just about to DO the bedroom. A few errands to do in town and then sorting out my packing later. I THINK I'm still on track. Of course my loom still hasn't shown up. But I'm supposed to phone them to sort it out. I have no idea what they can do now besides offer to send it to Canada, which I really doubt will happen.
And it's starting to hit home. My god, I will be in the cargo area of Heathrow at this time tomorrow and on my way out of here for a long time. Shit.
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