End of a soggy spring in Calgary!

Summer arrived officially at 5.28 am this morning. Spring has been soggy by any standards; lots of snow at the start of spring and plenty of rainfall at the end. Farmers in the Prairies were calling for more precipitation but didn't expect the very large amounts we had - be careful what you wish for!

Wet snow allowed the 'greening' of the grass and trees to begin to leaf, the rainfall has enabled plants to thrive and grow. The grass is green, the trees in bloom and flowers are making their best efforts to provide colour. Nosehill Park was awash with spring flowers the vibrant yellows andpurples mixing with the fresh green grasses whilst overhead Prairie Raptors look for thermals to glide in. The rainfall last week has meant that the Bow and Little Elbow Rivers are in full spate and people are requested not to venture out into the fast flowing water as there has already been one fatality this past Saturday. The town of Medicine Hat has seen flooding as never seen before and over 200 homes have been evacuated due to the water levels and the build up of sewage in the pipes. Highway 1, the Trans Canada Highway, is closed between Alberta and Saskatchewan as 75 metres pf road have been washed away. One driver told reporters that she had never seen so much water all around the Highway and so little actual Prairie. Climate change ?

The views of the 'big sky' from our deck can be spectacular. We have watched storms develop; typical geographers watching the clouds build and develop - nothing like the North West of England and those endless cumulus clouds. Even on a grey day it is still bright. The colours and the effects of the changing light can only be described as stunning.

We have taken to strolling around the area where we now reside; we have seen several deer, a female coyote, very well fed we might add, and yesterday evening we heard, and saw for the very first time the coyote cubs. We have heard their howls in the evening and yesterday we were very fortunate to watch five cubs at play a short distance from where we were standing. Even the hare stopped and listened to the cubs at play, as usual the camera was left behind.

The temperatures are warming nicely although we are still below average for this time of year. Today, Monday June 21st. a very warm 21C, it was a tad too warm to sit comfortably on the deck at 5.30 pm with cup of tea after work!

House building part 2

Towards the end of January the furnace was working; the builders ran it to ensure that all the ducts were functioning and then of course for heat. Internal framing was quite an art form especially around the heating ducts! and the fireplace in the 'great room' - posh lounge really. February saw the sidings going onto the house hiding the wooden structure. Between the wood and the aluminum (Canadian spelling) siding was a waterproof layer commonly called Tyvak. Our builder ensured that this waterproof mambrane didn't suffer from the elements and applied it prior to the sidings being attached, other builders attached the waterproof layer quite early on and left it exposed to the wind, rain and snow for quite a long time. Our membrane is black other son the estate are blue or yellow. Another builder nearby uses bright yellow and green!.

We also had the wiring put in for the speaker systems for the televisions and also for the house alarm, that way everything is hidden and nothing is an after thought. The plastic hats hanging down are for the speakers once the ceiling as been added and above that insulation and lots of it.

Once all the framing is complete, the first fix of wiring completed then the plaster boards are added and 'mud' applied to seal the joins and to create the corners for the walls. The deck received its first coat of paint although the stairs leading down to the garden are missing but will be added later.

When the paint and lacquer is being applied we are not allowed to visit the house, but when we do the floors are down; hardwood and carpet and tiles.

The final walk round and inspection took place on May 12th. 2010. We spent the next two days ferrying our few possessions to the house. The guest bed arrived on the Thursday and we spent our first night in our new home - sheer bliss.

May 28th. saw the arrival of the container at our house; we had expected a wagon with all chattels in but the crew broke the seals in front of Bill and started unloading. I had been awake since 5 am. It was quite emotional as we hadn't seen our things since late June 2009 after the sale of the house. All our things and a few surprises - things we had forgotten we had packed or owned! Now where do put it all ?!

The drive is being prepared for the arrival of concrete, yippee. We are then waiting for the final grading of the back garden, a certificate and then we can start seriously planning the garden. What's that Bill we need to rake out all of those stones we can see from the deck ...........................

The Spring Shoulder Season

This time of year is called the 'Spring Shoulder Season' due to the varying nature of trails following the winter, which hasn't quite left us! Today the sun shone and temperatures rose to a giddy plus 18C.

Our aim for the day was to complete a circular route starting and finishing not far from the winter closure gate on the Elbow Falls Trail commonly known as Highway 66. We parked up at the Elbow Falls Recreation Area and passed through the gate across the road. The sun shone brightly although we carried an array of clothing just in case the forecasters got it wrong and we found ourselves in a blizzard. We found the sign for the Prairie Creek Trail and found ourselves beside the frozen Creek although at times we could hear water running beneath the ice. The path was clear but where we were closer to the Creek it became a little icy in places. The conifers were a fresh shade of green as they received their dose of sunshine whilst the high mountain tops were snow covered. Our return route was along the Prairie Link Trail which brought us to the Powderface Creek Trail for the final leg of the walk. It was along these two trails that we understood the term 'shoulder season' hikes; the path in places was covered in thick ice, thank goodness the sun was out and temperatures were rising as it made traverse of sheet ice a little more easier in places. Along the trail, where the sun had not reached, trees were our friends as we held onto them to prevent ourselves from sliding away. It was pretty tiring concentrating on keeping our balance but theviews and constant fluttering of butterflies helped to keep us from flagging. Needless to say once we returned to the car park we grabbed the flask of tea and biscuits and headed for the Elbow River where we managed to find a space beside the river. The place was packed; every picnic table and fire pit were taken by families enjoying the warmth and sun.

We returned via Bragg Creek where we stopped for an early evening meal in a bar, along with a tasty beer, and treated ourselves to a tasty ice cream for pudding! The journey back to Calgary took us along Highway 8 and those rather large properties where there are no fences between them.

House building Canadian style Part 1.

Buying a new house on a new housing estate is a very different experience from that in the UK. Our last house was new, although it was two years old by the time we had moved in. Gratefully previous possible purchasers had not gone far enough to choose the carpet! We lived on a building site for the next three years or so and watched numerous houses being built the traditional way. our property was deemed large in the UK based on four bedrooms, a double garage and large garden. Prior to landing we looked at houses for sale online and wondered what 3,000 sq. ft. looked like when it was neatly arranged into rooms and of course we can't forget the garages here - double but with careful parking you could fit in three vehicles!!

Once we were settled in with family we started looking at property and found that 2,000 sq. ft. was far too big for us; we could easily lose contact with each other! We quickly discovered that the yards (gardens) were far smaller than we were used to and while some properties had designer gardens others were quite simply left to grass with a few trees and bushes. After a winter here in Calgary we now understand why. It is March, it is spring and the ground is still frozen; certainly no sign of snowdrops or crocuses poking through the soil. It snowed last Friday and flurries are forecast for the early part of the working week.

We thought that we might be better off looking at condos or townhouses as the floor plan would be smaller - far too small and the lack of windows and natural light put us off very quickly. We found some very desirable apartments in Tuscany, west Calgary, they were beautifully appointed, with balconies and green space around the development but we realised that to have the mountain view was at least an extra 20,000 C$ if not more. The cost of these apartments was more than the condos and townhouses we had looked at. Some builders have large homes and the sales staff, we found, had little understanding that we did not want a large property with a handkerchief garden. Finally we found a builder, Avi, who built smaller homes similar in size to our last house in the UK, about 1250 sq.ft. We looked in the west of Calgary but the properties were a tad too small and so we went in search of other developments in and around Calgary. Finally we settled on a development in the north west - Sage Hill. There are number of builders here and we looked at the show homes with more of a critical eye than before. We chose Homes by Avi as we liked the layout of a particular house and then in true British style asked where this particular design would appear on the development. We were shown a plan of the development, the lots allotted to Avi, given a map and told to go and have a look; some lots carried a price tag but certainly not as large as we had previously seen (as much as 250,000 C$). We found a site we liked and which would enable us to have a walk out basement as well as the sun from sunrise to sunset. So we chose to build at Sage Hill and to have the house that overlooks the Prairies. With the development of Stoney Trail it takes only 15 minutes or thereabouts to reach Highway 1 and the journey westward into the mountains! So on August 30th. 2009 we chose the plot, signed on the dotted line and had to pay a slightly larger deposit than most buyers as would as we were having a rather small mortgage. We spent time talking with a number of banking establishments about a mortgage; our bank wasn't as helpful as another, being more preoccupied with the fact that we were landed migrants, rather than the fact that we had money from the sale of a home prior to landing. The other Bank treated us like real people who had made the decision to migrate and settle in a new country; they took our credit reports (Experian and Equifax) made copies and talked over the mortgage process and procedure in Canada. What's more the offer was made within a few days and because the house was yet to be built we had a builders mortgage offer which secured the rate! Wonderful. Once the builder had submitted the house plans to the City of Calgary and they were accepted foundations and footings were in, this was November 2009 and we were getting excited!

We visited, and still visit, the house site at the weekends, when we had time to walk around and speak with Todd the Avi Homes rep on site; he was invaluable to us and helped us understand the building process. We spent time going around the show home and were shown what were upgrades and what was standard. In October we visited the Homes by Avi selection centre: we had planned a Saturday afternoon initially to see what it was all about and aren't we glad we did! On display different kitchen layouts, appliances, flooring, wall and floor tiles, hardwood, taps in fact you name it and it was there. There a few folk around to help. Our meeting had been scheduled with Megan the following week in October. She was 'awesome' as we deliberated colours, appliance upgrades all inter mingled with questions, questions and more questions. In fact the carpet took longer to choose than anything else even the hardwood floor to the great room! We did upgrade the underlay throughout the house where the carpet would go. It wasn't as bad as we thought and we only overspent our initial budget by a little. It was very obvious though just how much you could spend on upgrades without thinking. Shortly after this meeting we went to the sound system place - yes all wiring is in place at the time of the build not as an after thought. So the sound system for the TVs, the computer, telephone and home security wiring were all discussed, priced and added into the price of the house after the deposit had been paid. During this time the framers were framing the house: up went the walls followed by the roof and then the windows! Internal framing of the walls goes in next and gradually you begin to see the house taking shape.
By now we were into December, we knew that time would be lost due to bad weather and we also knew that work would not really start on insulating the property until the roof and sidings were on. It wasn't until the second week of January 2010 that the roof went on; asphalt shingles as the wooden structure cannot really support ceramic tiles. Inside though the furnace had been added and heating ducts, pipes and vents were appearing throughout the property. Externally it was beginning to look like a house! The floor of the deck had also been added at the back of house, Bill had decided quite early on that it would run the length of the house rather than just a little thing outside the kitchen door. Both of us are looking forward to drinking tea/coffee/wine on the deck in the sunshine. Cheers!

Just by Spray Lake and Mount Shark

We enjoyed a very pleasant snow shoe last weekend in the vicinity of Spray Lake and the intersting profile of Mount Shark. Our final destination was Karst Lake via Watridge Lake. The sun shone, the temperatures rose and the vistas opened up as we progressed along our chosen route.

The route is multi use, namely for cross country skiers, snow shoers and winter walkers. As we stopped to take in the scenery we chatted to other folk out enjoying the great outdoors. At times we felt overdressed as we passed some quite scantily clad people; short sleeves with no hat or gloves visible but no one was in shorts! While some folk were clad in warmer gear as they had been into the back country areas.

The scenery was 'awesome'; the snow clad mountains surrounding us and that bright, bright sunshine and the blue sky. Thank goodness for sunglasses it was far too bright to be without them. We arrived at Watridge Lake which was completely frozen and covered in a layer of snow. It was frozen enough to walk/ski on and we watched as two people made their way across the lake and as two skiers made their way towards us and like us took time to take in the view and have a refreshment break. As ever Bill always comes up trumps at lunchtime, I don't know how he does it!

From the Lake we found a path which made its way towards the forest, wide at first and then quite narrow. Not a place for cross country skiers but there was evidence that snow shoers had been before us. In the forest where the sun's rays hadn't reached for a while the snow covered trees glistened in the light, it felt cooler too. The trail narrowed even more and began slowly to climb. We came to a bench and we watched and listened to the stream as it made its way down towards the Watridge Lake. The final few switchbacks took us to our journeys end, Karst Lake. Not quite a lake but a large pool of water emerging from the limestone.

Now it was easy to understand why the stream was full of mosses - all due to the minerals in the water. There was also a bench, not just to rest after the last push to each Karst Lake but to admire the view, mountains bathed in bright sunshine.

We were the only two people taking in this view and on our return journey there were many times on the trail when we were alone with this magnificent scenery.

Is this winter .....?

It's Sunday February 7th. 2010 and this morning as we headed out of a foggy and chilly Calgary (minus 13C) we wondered what the day would hold for us in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. We had elected to go snow shoeing along the closed section of Highway 40. Not far along Highway 1 the fog lifted and we were greeted with sunshine and bright white snow along the Highway - the fog produced hoar frost features but left the greying snow gleaming and glistening white.

A few of us turned off onto Highway 40, some turned off towards Kananaskis Village and Nakiska; offering more than 60 runs with 50 or so open for downhill skiing. The rest of us drove further towards the end of the road in winter and the delights of snow shoeing and cross country skiing deeper in the Provincial Park itself.

We parked our car with the two others at the road closure sign; it was bright, the sky was blue and temperatures were rising. We changed our shoes for winter boots, gaiters and snow shoes, locked the car and set off along the closed road covered in snow.

We only passed four skiers near the midpoint of our walk, the mountains opened up as we progressed on our route. The only sounds we heard were that of the light breeze, the odd bird call, running water under ice and planes flying overhead! there were numerous footprints of deer, coyotes, mountain sheep and Wapiti (elk) in the snow. Despite the fact that Bill had the camera ready to snap any living creature none appeared to want to have their picture taken!!

It was so warm that we discarded our hats and gloves for the return journey.

We saved our flask of hot chocolate for the end and as ever it tasted good. The return journey toward Highway 1 afforded us views of the snow capped mountains and Barrier Lake which was frozen, although at the edges the ice was thawing. As we approached Calgary we could see the bank of fog, temperatures dropped and the headlights and fog lights went on. Another grand day in the mountains.

Another opportunity to snow shoe!

Last weekend, as the weather was set fair and most Calgarians were heading for the slopes, we decided to explore another area for snow shoeing. En route we passed the turn off for Kananaskis Village and Bill muttered something about going in for a look ..... well I never. We continued on to the visitor centre for Peter Lougheed Provincial Park; the car park was packed as was the centre. We checked on conditions, looked at possible snow shoe routes and returned to the vehicle. Normally we would turn right but this time we decided to turn left and head for Canyon day use car park and Upper Kananaskis Lake. There were a couple of routes we could choose from but we opted for the lower lakeside trail. Through the trees we caught glimpses of the mountains in their winter cloaks and as the clouds lifted, well ...... awesome (using a Canadianism). The trail went up and down and several folk passed us as they returned to the car park, all wearing different types of snow shoes and Bill could tell me which make not just by looking at the snow shoe but also by the imprint they left behind, impressive or what!

The Lake was was covered in ice and snow and at the journeys end the mountains looked inviting but not really with snow shoes, more like ice climbing. A chill wind whipped up across the Lake and so we sought shelter for lunch. We found a picnic table in amongst some trees and which was not covered in snow. Zof started to put out our sandwiches, fruit and drink rather too quickly a couple of grey jays appeared. As ever Zof took pity; poor little birds, it's cold, aren't they cute ... yeah, yeah, so she threw them a couple of crumbs - big mistake next thing we know there are at least eight of them all around us in the trees and then they started to swoop down to take our tasty sandwiches out of our hands. We put the fruit away pretty quickly. These 'cute' little birds thought Bill was playing with them as he swirled his hiking stick in the air to stop them from swooping on us and into our rucksacks. Our return route took closer to the Lake itself, although we were walking on snow there was thick ice beneath it. In places the ice stood almost vertical and we could see how the water had frozen making patterns in the ice. Zof picked up a piece, it was clear and blue but not minty as in the Fox's glacier mint advert of long ago.

The car park was emptying gradually as we returned, the sun had attracted many people to snow shoe around the Lake and many more joined us on the journey towards Highway 1 and onto it. Another grand day and those views .......