© All my work is COPYRIGHT protected and may not
be used in any way without purchase, or without my permission.
Welcome….. Please note that you may SUBSCRIBE
below to this Blog.
NOTE that you may click on any photo for
an ENLARGED VIEW.
Sunday January 31, 2016
This morning I was up early for a quick trip to Black Diamond, south of Calgary. My first order of business was to meet my sister, Leonie, for mass at St. Michael's. I am still kicking myself for not having my camera out to catch her daughter Nicole with her 3 lovely daughters, Erin, Emma and Amy as they arrived too.
I had to leave church early for an appointment I had at 10am with my old friend Betty for brunch. Betty has a lot of horse paintings and Calgary Stampede posters in her gorgeous home, along with several that I gave her when I gave away everything when selling our Okotoks house. Betty was a great help and I am thankful that she has some of my stuff on display.
We went to the famous Chuckwagon Cafe in Turner Valley and had their Montreal smoked meat special. It was so darn salty that it was almost inedible. The owner was quite embarrassed about this and gave us a delicious free dessert for our troubles.
Then I headed in to see Mom and was surprised to see brother Fern with his wife Eileen there. Eileen has been so supportive and Mom responds so well to her that Eileen was able to feed her a whole bowl of soup for lunch!
Then Leonie arrived with her other daughter Bryna and grandson Elliot, so we had 4 generations in the room. Soon Yvette and Lou also arrived so that was my cue to go do a little shopping for articles that are difficult to get in Ecuador.
I managed to reach my friend Keith and we met at a downtown Starbucks. Keith is such an inspiration to me. He has a rare muscular degenerative disease that gets worse as time goes on. His legs are almost useless but he refuses to let it stop him, because he knows that if he ever quits moving, he is simply finished. So he still drives, goes to work at age 77, and takes several trips per year, and maintains his philosophical good humour. I am again kicking myself that I never took a picture of him today, we were too busy laughing and reminiscing.
Today was another huge reminder to Seize The Day (Carpe Diem) because life has an awful way to throw some pretty hard curves at you. If there is something that you want to do in this life, don't wait for anything, just DO IT !!!
Hugs to everyone.
I hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's
excitement, Cheers,
Al
 |
| The Okotoks Erratic has been called The Big Rock for years |
 |
| Carried by a glacier in an ice age, it was dropped in this field |
 |
| Mass time at St Michael's in Black Damond |
 |
| The vivacious Betty Mac |
 |
| This is one of the artworks that I gave her |
 |
| She has her walls covered with horse artworks |
 |
| This diptych is really impressive |
 |
| And she has several Calgary Stampede posters |
 |
| Another CS poster |
 |
| And yet another |
 |
| And one more |
 |
| Elliot was a joy to have around. A happy kid. |
 |
| Bryna is his gorgeous Mom |
 |
| Proud Momma and son |
 |
| 4 Generations in the room today |
 |
| Me and my 2 lovely sisters |
