Heather!

I owe you a reply and I wnat to write a long reply to you so it isn't ready to send off to you yet!!! But I have been thinking a lot about your email!!!! Thanks for feeling able to write to me :)

Running......

I am really enjoying my running.....today Dan and I went up on Marys land and did our run/ walk there instead of on the road......we ran more than we walked and I found it so much easier......I can run further and recover quicker already......

When we got back we stopped because Dan is having problems with his knee....but I really wanted to keep going, so I ran with Abigail.....she may be only 5 but she can run FAST......we ran laps of the driveway. Our driveway is approx 120 metres.....so its easier to calculate how far I run......

I bought Runners World magazine yesterday - its a great magazine...I thought it would be very sporty and for REAL runners....but its for everyone and this issue talks about how a Mom of 6 makes time to run and also how to get your family running with you!

The book I bought is also excellent!

Tomorrow should be a rest day but I may cross train by cycling...or just run anyway :)

I never thought I would ever be excited about my next run!!! I think the running journal really helps because I can see clearly how far I have come in just a week!

Removal of the training wheels...

Abigail asked t have her training wheels removed from her bike today.....so I helped her ride all down the driveway and she did great....then Lloyd helped..then Susie and then Laurie and she is doing great......more practice tomorrow...she is so proud of herself...she is determined to be good enough to come on cycle rides with us....I have no pictures of today so maybe I will get some tomorrow!

Summer pics of Dan....

Last time we took this set of pictures, we had snow on the ground....well summer is in full swing here now so we repeated the same shoot to show Dan in front of our house in a different season :)

Woody woodpecker....

I finally got some pictures of our Pileated Woodpecker today....we have a few of them that live around here.....their tapping sounds so different to the tapping of the Downy Woodpecker that we also have here.....the Downys tap is more irregular...

This woodpecker was tapping at the electric pole in our road...but wasn't bothered by us...it let me get right under the pole taking pictures.....it's a male Pileated because it has a red moustache.......

Dan ran back to the house to get my other lense but Charlie (who had followed us out into the road) started snorting under the pole...the woodpecker started chirping and then flew off......so I didn't get any close up pictures sadly....when I hear it again I will try again......I think its nesting in our wood by the road....

Our home...........

Lazy summery days spent at home are just so wonderful.....this time of year we are constantly saying to each other how much we love living here...its like the long winter is forgotten and we just spend all our time outside......its so beautiful here and so wonderful to see all the wildlife and how the seasons change everything....how fast summer arrives here.....

Home....our home...and we love it here :)

Pond life..........

We saw the tadpoles in the pond today...and BILLIONS of mosquito larvae.....and we can't find any of the goldfish...alive or floating on the top dead.......BUT we do have a pair of Mallards that have arrived today and settled in.....and now the dogs aren't here to scare them off, maybe they will nest! ducklings would be wonderful!

The dogs are in their run apart from when I take them out for walks...and at night when they come in to sleep.....

In the picture above you can see a tadpole as well as all the tiny mosquito larvae.....and the ducks :)

Dog run.....

The dogs moved into their dogrun today.......I thought I'd add some pictures of it as I am sooooooooo proud of how well Lloyd built this....he didn't have any plans or anything...just bought the pressure treated wood and put it together...I think its sooo nice.........when it weathers it will look so lovely in the trees and soooo much nicer than chain link!! Lloyd you are so clever baby!!!

Owl puke............

Today Dan and Laurie worked on the owl pellet that we got in the mail this week......They found thre skulls inside the pellet!!! Wow!!! Laurie is doing a book report on Hoot and so he is doing a section on owl pelets for his book report that he is presenting this week.

Jenny Wren..........

This birdy flew into our house today...it went crazy in the sitting room and study before flying into the window.......it was stunned so Lloyd could get it outside.....and we left it for a while and then said goodbye and it flew off fine thankfully.....we watched it go......

Charlie-barley mid yawn!!!

I caught these pictures of Charlie yawning and thought they were cute...and she also curled up in the quilt for a while by the strawberry patch.......

More pictures of our day........

Just a few more pictures from home today.......

Sunday afternoon.......

Our Sunday afternoon was spent mainly outside.......we planted the tomato plants...the corn.....watered the strawberries and raspberries....Lloyd cut the grass...I seeded the grass......going over the patches where the dog pee has killed the grass.....the dogs moved into their run this morning which also meant our chickens are free range again! During the day at least! It was lovely to find an egg outside again .......the chickens are so much happier when they have room to run about and investigate....rather than being stuck in their run......they were so inquisitive...coming over to where we were planting the tomatoes...and looking in the sand box......

Our Sunday........

Today has been such a wonderful day...a really, really nice family day.....

So much has happened that its difficult to remember it all and especially in order!

This morning we got up and went to the Royal Alberta Museum.....it's half price on Sunday mornings yet it was still quiet there....we were there in time to watch them feed the Northern Pike and Yellow Perch...they basically throw feeder fish into the tank...so we stood and watched these huge river fish swimming about and eating the little goldfish! That was cool! The Northern Pike ate about 5 in a row....he was fast....but the Perch were slower.....

There was a Photographic exhibition there of Galen Rowell's work...stunning pictures of Mt Everest and Mt Mckinley at dusk and dawn.....pictures of the Rockies and mountain flowers......stunning work!

The Museum as always was wonderful.....its a great museum already and yet they are renovating the whole place and building more galleries...I can't wait to see how great it is then!

Oh and in the Aboriginal section, there is a headdress....its stunning....very long headdress with feathers.......and it was given to the museum by 'Stabbed-by Accident'.....kind of a funny name huh? Above are some pics of Dan at the museum including one by the headdress....