Ramblings Through Lethbridge

When we were in Lethbridge during the holidays we drove around downtown one bright and sunny Sunday morning and took some pictures.  It was an unplanned photo shoot so I didn't have my camera with me - just my cell phone - but the downtown was mostly deserted and the day was so nice that we took pictures anyway.  Here are a few.

This is where we had brunch.  It's original purpose was a blacksmith foundry and
is made of a special type of fireproof concrete.  The thick ceilings inside had
skylights carved into them. It's now a lovely little restaurant.

Firehall #1 - the first in Lethbridge.  You can see how
brightly the sun was shining that day.

There's a sizable Asian population in Lethbridge dating back
to when the town was originally founded.  There was coal mining
all around the area that employed much of the population.  This
is the original Chinese Free Masonic hall.

Showing the multicultural nature of this small city, the East Indian
store sits side by side with the Chinese Free Masons.  The
blacksmith shop/restaurant we went to was two doors down on the
same block.

It's nice that the old buildings haven't been demolished but
instead are renovated and house interesting little shops.  I
haven't been inside this one but I will make a point to visit it next
time we're in town.

This is a close-up of the front of the building above.
The writing on the owl's body says ...the night
belongs to me.

Another view of the #1 firehall

One of the old buildings with apartments over the store.

A crooked picture of the Federal Building which dominates almost
a whole city block.  On any day but Sunday this intersection
is too busy and filled with vehicles to allow such a picture to be taken.
Again the sun (it's almost exactly noon) features in the picture.

One of the several big old churches downtown.  I think it's a
Catholic one, but I could be wrong.

Lethbridge City Hall.  I had some business to take care of here one
day.  It's really beautiful and quite spacious inside.

The store housed on the first floor of this old apartment building makes
and sells spudnuts.  We wanted to get some but it was closed for the
holidays! Who does that.  Spudnuts are delicious and we had to go without.

I think this is a United Church.  The house in the background on the
left is where the minister lives.

And this is the house we lived in back in 1990-92.

Lethbridge is a nice little city, quiet and friendly.  It's probably the retirement capital of Alberta.  The milder weather there makes it a comfortable place to live.  Lloyd and I are fortunate to be able to split our time between here and Edmonton.  It's only an hour from the border crossing into Montana for those of us who like to shop down there.

Frosty Days

We're in the midst of a cold snap here in Alberta.  There's not a lot of new snow falling to increase the load that's already on the ground, but the severe sub zero temperatures combined with bright blue sunny days makes for good photo ops.

Mickey and I went out on Friday for lunch and a movie and we had to stop in the theatre parking lot to take pictures of the frost laden trees there.

But first, lunch...we went to the Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria...oh so good!  We had a salad of romaine, cranberries, walnuts and bleu cheese

and a small pizza with white sauce, proscuitto, dates, walnuts, brussels sprouts, with a drizzle of honey - incredibly good!

Then we went out into the cold frosty air and took our frosty tree pictures.  I didn't alter the color on any of the pictures - the sky really was that blue.  In Alberta in the winter when you have a clear blue sunny day, it's a sure sign that the air is extremely cold...but so beautiful!

There's no snow on the trees, just frost.  There is snow on the ground though...it'll be there till the end of March and probably into April as well.

I love the lacey look of this tree

I tried to get a close-up of the frost crystals, but I didn't have my camera with me,
just my cell phone.

Another attempted close-up.  You can see (sort-of) the frost crystals on the
branch behind the one I tried to focus on.

And here's Mickey freezing in the cold.

 It doesn't look like we're in a parking lot, does it?  It is, in fact, a large shopping complex (South Edmonton Common), very well laid out with lots of trees and green areas to soften the look of the 'big box' stores.

By the time we watched the movie - Silver Lining Playbook - there wasn't a bit of frost left on the trees - the wind had blown it all off.  So we were glad we stopped beforehand to take the pictures.

Winter does have it's good points.

Emily's Bad Day

Have you ever wondered what you would do if your purse was stolen?  This happened to my daughter, Emily, earlier this week...an unpleasant and frightening experience.

It happened at work - she works in a building with no security, where people come and go at will.  She was one of two people at work that day and the other person was in and out all day.  When Em returned to her office after going to another floor to check things out, she noticed her purse was missing.  She searched the whole office, the waste cans, the dumpsters behind the building and the trash bins out in front.  No sign of her purse.

She called me for help and moral support.  Her husband was out of town for the week so he couldn't help.  By the time I got to her, she had called the bank and cancelled credit and debit cards, called a locksmith to have her apartment locks changed, and walked the few blocks home to her apartment. 

She notified the building manager about the theft and had her parkade entry key fob deactivated so the thief wouldn't be able to use the address and keys in her purse to get at her car.  She also had to have the security entrance fob deactivated, so once she was in the building she couldn't get out again until the manager was able to get a new fob/key for her.

So I met her in the foyer of her building and we waited there for the locksmith.  He came very quickly and soon had new keys made for her lock and dead bolt, and she was in her apartment.  By now the building manager had gone home for the day so she would have to wait till morning to get her security key/fob.  In the meantime, she couldn't leave the building because she wouldn't be able to get back in.  At least she knew that the thief wouldn't be able to get in her building either.

The next morning we began the task of trying to replace what was lost.  The apartment manager had given her new keys to the building and parkade so she was able to get to her car, but she didn't have a key for the car so she called the dealer about having another one made.  They insisted that she had to bring the car in so they could do it.  But she didn't have a key to use to bring the car in.  So, AAA to the rescue.  It took two trucks, two strong men and a lot of maneuvering to get the car out of the parkade.  But they got it done and we headed to the car dealership.  They were very nice and had two keys made for her, and washed her car, before we finished the rest of our running around.

The next stop was the police station to file a report.  Without a copy of the report she wouldn't have been able to get a replacement driver's license.  That was handled fairly quickly.  We certainly don't expect the police to mount a search for the stolen purse but it was important to file the report.

Once that was done, the next stop was the bank where Em got a new bank card and access to her account.  The credit cards will be mailed separately. The bank determined that the credit cards hadn't been used since the theft so that was a relief.

Then on to the Motor Vehicle Registry office where she got her driver's license.  The stolen one was going to expire on her birthday in May so she was due for a new one anyway.  She now has a temporary license until her new official one is prepared and mailed to her, within a week.

So Emily's feeling almost normal now.  She can come and go from her home safely, drive her car with a valid license, and access her bank account.  What a nuisance it is to lose your purse.  Not to mention the expense - about $600 when you factor in the locksmith charges, car dealer charges, etc.  Thank heavens for AAA.  Who knows what the tow would have cost otherwise. 

And what did the thief get out of it?  Nothing except for a few dollars cash, which will probably be used for drugs.  The only other concern would be identity theft but having filed a police report and notified the banks, she should be somewhat protected.  We're going with the drug money theory though.

You can bet we'll all be hanging on to our purses a bit more tightly from now on and not letting them out of our sight when we're not at home. 

Time Marches On...

Isn't it weird how the very character of time seems to change as you grow older.  I don't know if you've noticed it or not, but hours disappear without any trace.  Example...Lots of days Lloyd and I will go out at noon for a quick lunch and by the time we're heading back home, it's supper time!  Where did those few hours go?  Lunch, driving around, brousing in stores, sitting and talking??  Surely not for 5 hours!  And when I get up in the morning and get on the computer before breakfast and look at my watch a few minutes later and it's noon already!  How does that happen??  Weird.

And what about the years?  I certainly don't consider myself 'old', yet in four short months the Government of Canada will begin sending me monthly "Old Age" pension cheques.  That's what they call them..."old age pension".  How insulting.  Not that I'd ever return the cheques because I object to the term "old"  but, my goodness,

  

 

Have you ever noticed that the young people (teens and twenties) don't wear wrist watches?  When I mentioned this to my 'baby' who is 26 (and when did that happen?!) she said that they don't need them.  They have their cell phones and other electronic devices that tell them what time it is.  Weird progress.

Our niece Rachel and a couple of her daughters were visiting us the other day.  Her 9-year old daughter, Ivory, after taking a tour of the house, made the observation that "there sure are a lot of clocks in this house".

 Now this is true.  Lloyd and I noticed that fact earlier in the day when we brought home a newly purchased clock and hung it in the kitchen...where we already had two wall clocks hanging as well as the clocks on the microwave over and the stove.  Does anyone have the time?  In our defence, we did, that same day, have to throw away a clock that had broken.  And how could we ever get rid of this favorite of all clocks, according to the kids anyway?



We like clocks.  Our kids have given us clocks for birthdays and Christmas.  They all must be put to use.  And then we need alarm clocks, nightstand clocks, little purse clocks, watches.  Oh no!  I don't have an egg timer!


I have a theory that as a person grows older she becomes more aware of the passing of time and in order to not let any of it escape unnoticed, it becomes necessary to be cognisant of where it's all going, when and how.  So we get clocks and watches, sundials and hourglasses to help us appreciate the good times of our life. 

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

All in good time.

Pat

Off to a Crawling Start

So how's 2013 going for you so far?

Lloyd and I are taking it slow...not that we intended to, but that's how it's coming down.  He wasn't feeling well on New Year's Eve but rallied enough to fool our party guests.  However the next day, New Year's Day, he was out for the count and didn't come out of it until this morning....a quick flu bug that hopefully didn't jump into my system.

Yesterday Emily came upstairs to cook breakfast for us and greeted me with the news  that the hot water heater was spraying water all over the laundry room.  So we put towels around the faulty valve, a bucket under the leak and attempted to drain what was left of the 40 gallons of water.  Meanwhile I got on the phone to find a plumber who was working on New Year's Day. (I don't know if it's a good or bad thing that we're 'diamond customers' at the plumbing and heating company we use.)  Anyway, we were bumped to the head of the list (I think we were the only ones on the list that day) and pretty soon a young man was here with a new 50 gallon hot water heater and three hours later he left us a considerable sum poorer but with plenty of hot water.  Our first crisis of the year, and our first major expense.  I guess we're off to a running start after all.

Emily and Allan left yesterday morning so we're missing them, but it was fun having them here for a week.  My baby girl and her husband are fun people to hang out with.

Today I put Christmas away.  Why is it that it always takes so much longer to untrim the tree and house than it does to put it all up in the first place?  And things never go back into the boxes the same way they were before.  No matter how much I like having my Christmas decorations out, the tree up, the rooms decorated, it's always a relief to get things back to normal for another year.

When we were kids our family's tradition was to put the tree up (always a real tree) on Christmas Eve and take it down on New Year's Day.  I guess it stems from our grandparent's time (or maybe their grandparents time - anyway, a long time ago) when candles were put on trees and the real trees were a fire hazard.  I still try to take the tree down on New Year's Day but over the years we've changed the Christmas Eve tradition and put it up anytime after our daughter Mary's birthday on December 4.  It used to be so exciting to come downstairs on Christmas Day when we were kids and see the tree, fresh and new, and the presents under it.  So many great traditions from our childhood.

But  I digress.

Now all the excitement of the holidays is over and stores are decorating for Valentine's Day, daughter Amy's birthday.  Another three months of snow and cold and we'll be enjoying spring weather and the year is well on it's way.

Hope you're having a good one so far.

Pat

New Year's Eve

I've been trying all week to get another post done here, but there just wasn't the time and/or opportunity to sit down and do it.  So here I am, the afternoon of the last day of 2012, hustling to get one last blog post out to you.  Please be sympathetic if it seems a little scrambled.

We've had a great week here, visiting with all the family we only see a few times a year, plus having Emily and Allan share the holiday with us.  By the time we go back to Edmonton next week we'll have seen and visited with all the sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews, and friends who live here.  Hopefully most of them will show up at our house tonight for our New Year's Eve party.

Here's a brief pictorial of our week.

Lloyd and I showed our Team Colors

Kenny worked on a puzzle

Emily and I went for a mani/pedi.  Em's blue polish matches her blue belt.
She'll look stunning at her next TaiKwonDo class.

I wore my new silk scarf when we went out to dinner with friends

We had Sunday brunch with Allan and Emily

at Mocha Cabana, a lovely little restaurant in a remodelled blacksmith foundry.

We drove around Lethbridge taking pictures of interesting storefronts and
buildings.  This was my favorite.

Allan set up our Apple TV and we spent evenings watching movies.

Kenny, Alex and I had fun with vinegar, baking soda and food color.

Emily cooked the most delicious dinner for us - braised short ribs over
a vegetable mash of cauliflower, parsnips, and carrots.  More please!

Emily and I worked on a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle - a Christmas tradition.

I practiced taking pictures with my new camera.  This
is Mike.

...and Lloyd

...and Emily

And that brings up to tonight - New Year's Eve.  Whatever your plans are, I hope you have a safe and happy celebration and a new year that brings you the best life has to offer.

Pat

It's Almost Time...

The tree is up, decorated with the family's traditional ornaments and bright lights...

 

The gifts are bought, wrapped and (mostly) delivered...

Parties have been enjoyed...

Greeting cards have been sent and received...

Christmas concerts have been attended...

Enough snow has fallen to qualify as a White Christmas...

And finally...finally...it's Christmas Eve.  I'm thinking of my children and grandchildren in Edmonton, feeling the excitement that only the young really appreciate, as they prepare for their Christmas Eve dinner at Sara's home.  Such an exciting time for them to get together.  I'm missing them today.  Lloyd and I are in our home in Lethbridge looking forward to spending Christmas with our son Mike and his family tomorrow.  Tonight we're having a Christmas Eve dinner with Lloyd's sister, Cheryl and her daughter and grandson.  Different from our usual Christmasses in Edmonton, but fun none the less.  And even at this late date new traditions can be started.


Looking forward to tomorrow's excitement - the gifts, the grandkids, the turkey with all the fixings...even the quiet let down that always follows the big build-up to Christmas Day.

But today we face the fact that if its not done by now, it's not going to get done.  And it doesn't really matter in the long run if that last batch of cookies doesn't get baked, or the last stocking stuffer doesn't get purchased.  No one will miss it.  It's time to relax and enjoy the season.

And remember and ponder on the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place.  Place the baby in the nativity scene. 

Sing some inspiring carols.  And remember all the love that exists in the world.  And celebrate.

Have a very merry and peaceful Christmas.