Blue Monday...

So, today is called Blue Monday - and is said to be the most depressing day of the year (although it seems that was proclaimed by a pseudopsych for the benefit of a travel company)

My day so far isn't going too badly :)

I was up early and drove Susannah to the bus stop.  It had snowed all night and has continued to snow. Thankfully the roads were fine though.

When I got home I sat with sammy for a bit and then decided it was chilly so I lit the fire:

Sam loved curling up with his blanket by the fire watching cartoons:

As did Rosie:

I cleaned the bathroom, showered, vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen and got things out of the freezer for tonights supper (making shepherds pie).  Now I am off to wash the floors and then Abby has French class - Laurence had an exam this morning and will be home shortly - not sure what we will do while Abigail is at French...then tonight after supper, we will be watching the last of the Greys Anatomy episodes.....it's been so good - sad it's over.  Roll on September!  lol :)  

I hope your Monday isn't too blue!!  :)  

On the way home yesterday we stopped in at Crossiron Mills Mall near Calgary.  We went to the music store to look at the guitars.  Susannah fell in love with one and it was on sale :)  So she FINALLY got her Christmas gift that she waited for patiently until she found one she loved!  She has played acoustic guitar for a long time and plays really well - and she wanted an electric acoustic!  She picked a solid wood guitar and we learned all about the importance of using a humidifier in the case with it when it isn't in use.  We got a discount on a hard case for it too.  

One VERY happy girl :)  

Sunday...

After checking out and packing the car, we headed to breakfast at the hotel....the breakfast buffet is included with the room and was amazing!  I was so impressed!  And it's always lovely eating with a mountain view :)  

Then we decided to leave Canmore and head towards Bragg Creek to have a walk by the Elbow River

Bye bye Canmore.  See you soon:

The falls were very beautiful in the snow - some parts were frozen:

When we drove back through Bragg Creek, we saw several deer in a small roadway and in someones front yard.  We stopped to take pictures - and they didn't seem to mind at all - until Susannah reached out of her window to try and touch one lol - it backed away FAST :)  

Saturday in the mountains...

We definitely picked the right weekend to go to the mountains - it was warm and sunny there all weekend - and yet in Edmonton it was like -30c windchill and nasty weather/ snow!!

It was also one of the main weekends of the 'Banff Snow Days' festival - and included the Ice Magic festival at Lake Louise :)  

Cascade Mountain was looking stunning as always - my favourite mountain in the world :)  

While waiting for the shuttle bus at Lake Louise (upper parking lots were full so they provided a free shuttle - which we were so glad we took as the driver was soooo interesting and gave lots of advice about what to do at the festival - and what to go and see in the hotel) - anyway, while waiting for the bus, Park wardens were passing round horns and antlers etc for us to see and asking questions...as you can see, Susie wasn't too keen about holding this Big Horn Sheep horn :)  lol!!!

It was day two of the three day ice carving contest - and the sculptures were starting to look amazing:

We went out onto the frozen lake to the ice castle - beautiful as always:

There were amazing icicles everywhere:

The ice chair was very cold and VERY slippery - I couldn't even sit on it without slipping off, but Susie managed to sit long enough for a picture:

There ws a chilly breeze out on the lake - but the amazing hot chocolate kept our hands warm:

The ice bar - you could have an Irish coffee served there:

We had supper in Banff overlooking the main street - Banff Ave:

Susannah playing the grand piano in the Chateau Lake Louise:

There is free ice climbing in Banff on the ice wall during Banff Snow Days:

We ended our day with a soak in the waters at the Upper Hot Springs -

 a wonderful way to end the day.  My skin is still sooooo soft from being in the water:  

Weekend away...

My parents kindly gave us some Christmas/ birthday money, and so Susannah and I decided to use ours for a weekend away in Canmore.  We left Friday afternoon and got into Canmore just as the sun was setting.  We checked in to the hotel, and then had a stroll around town before getting some food for supper and heading back to the hotel to relax for the evening.  

There was no snow between Calgary and the mountains!  

I got to drive on the Stoney Trail again - I think that is my favourite stretch of road in Canada :)  Such a joy to drive on :)  Love it!!!  Love how it has shortened our journey sooo much and made it so simple!!

Scenes from last week...