A beautiful day!

Can you believe it got up to +20C today?  A perfect summery day.... on the 24th of October!  Wow.
                                 
Look at the colour of the sky...and it was exactly like this, believe me!
Pretty darn amazing.
                                            

This is my young hawthorn tree... I've never seen this many berries on it before.  Have no idea what that might mean.... regarding winter and all the superstitions, or myths, etc... all I know is it is great to see.

 And, several snapdragons and the wild flax are still blooming away.... this one grew really long and leggy...  it towers over the oat grass  ... I think because it was in the shade of the tree and was reaching for more sunlight... who knows for sure....

Today, ... Eggnog is already in the Safeway....good grief!!  And, I saw my first Christmas ad...... shhheeeesh!  It ain't even Hallowe'en yet for cryin' out loud!

Baking, dusting, laundry,vacuuming, more baking.... ooooh....

I've already gained back two of those eleven pounds I lost...hahahha... doesn't take much does it?  Just your usual... eating more and moving less.... the only two things that can help with losing or gaining weight.....
My neighbour gave me some freshly frozen raspberries straight off her bushes in the back yard...and I'm hoarding them like gold.  For muffins and scones.....ohhhh....YUM!

The other day I baked some Barm Brack.  If you've never heard of it... check it out on the food blog if you want to see what it is... or give a loaf a try.  There are a couple of slices left if you hurry over for tea.... but only a couple.

The weather continues to be beautiful... +16C yesterday.  Brilliant, sunny, and with perfect clear blue skies..... sigh.... sometimes our fall is better than our summer.  A few golf courses are still open... albeit with mounds of leaves off the main fairways.  I can't take a chance... I can hardly get a glass to my mouth with that elbow now, so I'd better not even think about it.

Had x-rays yesterday to make sure there is no bony involvement...and next week... should begin some physio and massage.  But.. and, BIG but here.... am absolutely not booking any appointments for next week!  Has to be the following week, because......my sister is coming to visit !!...whheeee.....  first time since '05 !.... so hopefully the weather cooperates and stays beautiful.... and we can have an enjoyable few days together.

I know she'll miss her menagerie ... so I'll have to find some pets for her to talk to.... we don't have one.  But, I do know where there are some donkeys, and I should be able to find a cat or a dog...actually I know a dog walker...I'll call Joanne and see if she will drop by one day with a few of her 'day walker' guys.

Another amazing fall day here.... 7C and going up to 15C again.  Maybe I'll try to pull out some of the dead things in my plant pots outside.... and ...well, that's about all this silly arm will be able to manage I guess.  Going for a walk later too....

accckkkkk!! .... it's fall !!

The cone flowers have had it.  Leaves on trees are a strange mixture of still-almost-fresh-looking-green, or lime greens, ..  some brilliant golden, some deep burgundy and lots of in-between reds....  ...or already blown off in the strong gusty winds we had last week.  Wheeling up and down the streets.... stopping in gutters and little dips here and there...piling up...

Our little Hawthorn has the biggest fattest berries I've ever seen on it....

Sometimes don't'cha just feel like we're on a merry-go-round?  Spinning in circles and all of a sudden we get off and...whoa..... dizzy......... 

I feel almost light headed thinking summer has flown...  and the robins will be flying tomorrow.  Yes, they do leave exactly on the day.... the 15th of October.  Oh, alright... not all of them, but the smart ones leave the second they finish all the berries on our Mayday tree.  Tomorrow.

And.... even though we usually have great weather long into October, it is now heading for the other season.... which at this point I don't really want to think about (except for the decorating and the fun stuff... I'm ready to put up my tree any day now) ..  .  However, not one to be left waiting in a long queue of last minute tire changers...I did already get the winter tires put on the car.  I'm ready! 

Summer..... gone......wow......... I lost two whole months of it with my wrecked ribs and I absolutely don't even remember that part of it.  Really.  What the heck did I do?  Sleep through it?  Don't even know.  Must look back to see if I blogged a bit or what ..... it seems to have just disappeared.

Then.... I got back to golfing too soon, because I was fed up at missing out ... and practiced (probably a bit incorrectly as well) ... too much.  I wrecked my elbow.... but, I was determined to get in some ball whacking before the end of the good weather and so....I did.  I overdid and now..I'm paying.  Can hardly get my hand to my mouth to drink a cup of tea...or to brush and floss...it hurts so much when I straighten it out ...ouch..... so... off to physio I guess.  Must get it back in action before next season, and I know this type of thing can take a while to rectify.  My own fault.  Ice, Ibuprofen, physio and whatever else it takes.  I need to be ready to take some winter golf swing classes just after Christmas ..... yeh..I know...I'm a nut job.  Can't deny it.

I'm trying to get back into my 'other' life routine now.  Actually, seeing as the arm is not good enough to golf...I'm actually enjoying doing other things.  There is plenty that has gone undone for the past few months.  Lots to catch up on.  How do things get so dusty in such a short time span? hahahhaha..... oh, I guess it was longer than I thought.  It's a wonder any of my houseplants are still alive...I've even ignored them.  Gee...and poor Mr. BV.... guess what?  He's still around too!  Just kidding...I would never ignore him.  He's pretty special.  I did still manage to make some meals for him and if I wasn't around...left things for him to heat up for suppers..or great salads...he didn't lose one single pound ...but, I on the other hand, have lost 11 pounds over the summer!  Who says golf is not exercise?  Liars.  Or... they don't walk the 18 holes.... they must take ride'em carts.  

He particularly enjoyed this Chicken Kiev I made one night ....

I don't know how long it will be before I feel like stabbing wool.  It is small motor movements that seem to be the most painful.  Day at a time I guess.  Time will tell.

One of my new golfing buddies wants to make a little bear....hope I feel up to doing something soon so we can get at it long before the festive season.

Highwood Pass

First, just let me say thank you so much for all the sympathy and good wishes from everybody.  I did feel a bit sorry for myself for the first few days... so it was great to know somebody cared.  Even my old golfing buddy (who is 91), remembered the surgery date and called to see how I was doing.  That was sweet of him.
I don't know if it is just me and how my body reacts, but, yesterday was the first day that almost everything didn't seem to hurt or ache.  Not just the arm.... that was okay after the first night.  There was really not much pain in the site of the surgery...but, it seemed like it even hurt my feet to walk.  I've been up and about of course, and even doing my outside walking...going my two kilometres......  but not really feeling myself.  Silly.  But... there you have it.  Hope I never have to have a big surgery.... although, no surgery seems a small thing when it is your own body does it?

Anyway... feel much more like my old self today... yaaaayy!!... don't see the surgeon til next week and wish it was today so we could check out the incision, remove sutures or whatever.  I still can't see anything...the steri strips are still firmly in place.  I don't even know if there are external sutures.
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Two weeks ago we drove over the Pass... before the winter gates close.   It is not open all year round.... they close it from December til mid June... probably as much because it would be very expensive to keep safe in snowy weather as it is for the animals.  But, this is the main reason.  Click to biggify and you can read it....

That's the road....waaaay down there..... in the middle of Kananaskis country, Alberta.... Peter Lougheed provincial park.  I got the pics from Wik

Now...for some of our own photos..

It was a beautiful blue sky day.... why I love living here.  Usually we have more of them than we have had the past few weeks...but, fall weather has returned after some rainy days and it is beeyoootiful.  Actually...it is the best time of year for golf...except for the wrist thingy....

What a day for a drive!

There were more motorcycles than cars out today... too bad the clutch is my left hand..... or we could have taken the bike. The past few days have been perfect motorcycling weather too.  Lots of bicycle riders and motorcycling on this particular stretch of highway.... and in the early spring...with the road still closed to four wheel traffic....the bicycle nuts just love freewheeling down the highway in big numbers...and belonging to all sorts of different types of bicycle clubs.  Okay, well, it is definitely not all downhill... (the summit is 7239 feet!) so there is a lot of pedalling and hill climbing...but, it must be something to see.

It didn't matter which way I looked there was beauty ... it felt like my head was on a swivel!

Couldn't stop for every view... and it did take hours...so ...there are some shots that have guard rails ... darn it.  Some that I wish we had stopped for...... hmmm... this one would be so perfect without that rail ... maybe next year.

ah.... that's better.... sort of.... closer though and not so much of a vista.... oh, well....

stopped at a pull-out where there was a hiking trail and lots of folks had driven to that point to then hike for several kilometres on a pretty cool and muddy trail.  There was some snow right down to the parking area ..

see? ... remnants of snow from the week prior....

Heading down the other side....

Hey... look Toto....we're still in Alberta...

 ... a nearby small town ....

.... and finally.... right close to home...a nearby street.....

thanks for coming along for the ride!  What a great day... and today is just as beautiful...all sunny and blue... but,....the leaves... well.... the wind has blown them off now...and they have become like cereal...all crispy and crunchy to kick through on my walks.......