April 13 Photo: View From Your Bed

While the view doesn't even include a blue sky, what I am most sad about is that it no longer includes my beautiful tree. I no longer will hear birds chirping in the branches just outside my window.

When I first bought my place, my tree was in full spring bloom. A gorgeous deep pink blossom. And there was no need for curtains with the tree all that I could see from the bedroom window.

The springtime view from the same bedroom window 2009.

Another view of the tree from upstairs. This is in 2009.
The fireblight hit in 2008 and this was the first spring I noticed a change in the tree. 

 But after the fire blight took over, the once beautiful tree slowly wasted away.  The crown had completely died and a good pruning a couple years back couldn't save the tree from the disease, which continued to consume branches and eventually left the tree in a completely weakened state, sending shoots up all over the yard in its distress.

So just a few weeks ago, the arbourists came and took it down. The yard seems so empty and the exposure is a shock after having this dominant feature providing interest, a resting place for so many types of birds and shade to all the rooms of my home.

Anyone with some landscaping advice? It feels like a very blank canvas and I'm not sure what to do with the space. I just know that it will be a very different this year without being able to see the seasons through my tree.

April 12 Photo: In the Middle

Banana cooked "in the middle" of the pancake at the Pfanntastic Pannenkoek Haus.

I didn't mean for this to be another food picture. I have my niece sleeping over tonight so that I can drive her to her theatre class in the morning and we ended up a the Pfanntastic Pannenkoek Haus for dinner (I gave her lots of options and it was the one that appealed to her the most.) After hearing John Gilchrist talk about the restaurant on the CBC this morning, I wasn't unhappy with her choice. And when the waitress brought out  (this is only HALF a serving!) our dessert pancake - chocolate and banana, we realized the banana was not sliced on top like I expected but cooked into the pancake. Yum!

We had to sit and wait for a knife and fork, watching the whipped cream begin to melt away so to resist the urge to just abandon cutlery and go for it pizza style, I decided to take my picture for the day. 

We came back home to watch the Bollywood version of a classic, "Bride and Prejudice". It's silly but I think she enjoyed it. My favourite scene is the "Dola Dola" a dance done with sticks. (if you watch this clearly unauthorized upload of the clip, ignore the Darcy/Wyckham drama and enjoy the dance!)  It looks too complicated to pick up quickly as a couple of the characters appear to do, but really looks fun.

I'm adding this photo now but it may come down later - I need to clear it with my niece. She ended the night all tucked in with a teen magazine. She liked the room she was going to sleep in. My "garden" green apple reading room with lots of flower pictures/paintings and a big bookshelf of family classics to read. She may not get to lights out for a while. It was fun hanging out with her tonight.

Flickr Friday: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Again, using my addition formula, this time with 4/12/13, I chose this picture for Flickr Friday. Also taken on my trip in 2011 to Nova Scotia.

First person to leave a comment and a number between 1 and 543 will determine which page of photos I share from next week!

April 11 Photo: Detail

Another busy day. Outside the wind was blowing and snow was falling. Inside our new International students met as a group for our Spring term Welcome. As they all sat watching the presentation, I noticed the young man in front of me set down his books and the clicker to be used in the upcoming game, but he kept hold of the Canadian Flag through the entire ceremony. Sorry it is grainy. This is cropped from a larger image taken with my phone, but I chose content over image quality today.

April 10 Photo: A Place

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore - The Duomo - in Florence, Italy

Since I spent my day at work or in front of a computer, the place I thought of sharing was my current screensaver.  I finally have started organizing my photos from my 2011 vacation to Italy, Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, and Egypt. This is one of my favourites. I loved Italy. Someday I hope to return. 

Here are a few more from the first leg of the trip.

The Grand Canal in Venice

Canals in Venice

River Arno and Ponte de Vecchio in Florence

River Arno  in Florence

The Roman Colisseum

St. Peter's Basilica

Inside the Vatican

St. Peter's Square and Basilica

I'll finish off with my favourite part of Italy - an evening walk and a gelato.

April 9th Photo: Tiny Classics

Tiny Classics, originally uploaded by whistlepunch.

This isn't the first time I've posted on the theme of "tiny".  The theme was used back on April 5, 2012 and I posted about this tiny ceramic cat.  And on March 24, 2012, for the theme of animal, I had shared a collage of some of my miniature animals.

a tiny cat

more tiny animals

Tonight, I spent my evening with friends at the Family History Centre on 17th Avenue in Calgary. So naturally, when looking for something tiny to photograph for the day's theme,I went with what was close at hand.  I lined up my mini-mini-cooper USB stick next to my friend's mini-mini-van USB stick. Looks like they are ready for a drag race but in reality they are just ready to get packed up with documents, images and all the family history stories, names and dates that we can find! I love how their headlights are on whenever they are connected.

As for the research, my quest for the parents of Patience Cobb was unsuccessful but I did find out more about where her and Sheldon Gray spent their time before they went to Minnesota. You can check out my family history blog for more on that story.

April 8 Photo: On Your Plate

Margherita Pizza at Hanni's

I apologize if you are viewing this when you are anticipating a meal and can't eat just yet. Because it was delicious.  And smell-o-vision or "Google Nose" has not been invented yet.

It was the first day of the new term but I was still able to get away on time to meet up with friends to celebrate a belated birthday for Colette! We all gathered at a local restaurant - Hanni's.  It was a fun time, good food, lots of chatter, plans for a games night (inspired by this post from some earlier cupboard de-cluttering), iPad lessons (Ingrid and Colette were reviewing apps and sharing tips), and some table dancing to a musical birthday card.

Is this key lime cheesecake as good as Ingrid's key lime cheesecake?? Hopefully we will find out soon!!

April 7 Photo: Dreamy

Looking out through 'Wonderland' by Jaume Plensa. 

Today's photo theme is dreamy.  So I'm pulling this one from the photos I took downtown yesterday.

When this sculpture was being installed in front of The Bow, I happened to be driving by on a dark winter night in January. The area wall lit up by tall spotlights and a crane was lifting the top of the head  into place.  There were crystals of snow floating in the air and if I hadn't been with other people, I would have turned my car around to stop and watch the event unfold. 

Yesterday was the first time I have taken the time to go down and walk around this sculpture. You can stand inside and observe the world through the metal grid. I love this new addition to our city's public art.   

'Wonderland' by Jaume Plensa

Calgary Food Bank Drive: President Spackman

Calgary Food Bank Drive. President Larry Spackman of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints being interviewed., originally uploaded by whistlepunch.

With yesterday's announcment, it wasn't a surprise when I found that this was my most viewed photo on Flickr yesterday.

This is our Stake President Larry Spackman being interviewed about the city-wide food bank drive conducted annually each September by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This one day volunteer effort set a Guinness World Record in 2008 that held until 2011 when another city following our pattern, set a new record.

I remember when we used to drop off our loaded trunks and vans at the Stake Centre, the church building next to the old Children's Hospital on 17th Avenue. The move to the Westbrook Mall parking lot made the traffic flow much better and it is a quick drive through while volunteers and missionaries unload your vehicle.

We just fell short of recovering the world record in 2012 when this photo was taken, but more importantly, a great deal of food was collected for a time of the year when family budgets are stretched with the beginning of school costs.

Yesterday at the afternoon session of General Conference, G Lawrence Spackman was called as a new Area Seventy and with that, the google searches began.

His new calling begins May 1 so I expect he will still be participating in a special Holocaust Remembrance Service on April 21, at 7:00 pm.
It is described here:

This event, by the Calgary Council of Christians and Jews, will be an evening of music and word focusing on the lessons of the holocaust. There will be three choirs: one choir of Jewish seniors, and two choirs of young people. We will be pleased hear a violin solo by Cenek Vrba, who was concert master at the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra for 30 years. He will play a song from "Schindler's List". We will listen to stories of both Jewish and non-Jewish young people about what they experienced visiting the death camps and memorial sights. We will watch some video of the particular effects on the children who experienced and died in the holocaust.

 Here is an invitation to this event - open to all.

April 6 Photo: Air

Not able to see all 58 stories of The Bow in downtown Calgary

An unusually foggy day in Calgary

The Bow on the left - the Calgary Tower straight ahead - Suncor Energy Centre on the right. 

Riley Park, Calgary

I wasn't sure what I would do with the theme of "air" but the weather gave me a hand providing these atmospheric pics.

It is General Conference weekend and so I typically wouldn't plan to be out and about and less so when you consider the weather.  However, I love this kind of day. I do wish I were reading a book and curled up by a fireplace. Or in the case of the day, curled up on the sofa watching a session of Conference. Not the case - I was taking care of one of my presidential responsibilities and meeting our treasurer to co-sign a number of cheques. I had a bit of extra time before the second session so I slipped down to MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) to view the University of Calgary student exhibition. Some pieces I would have loved to exhibit on my walls. I found out one of my favourites was sold to a fellow Artist Trading Card collector, who had picked up three of the student works.  Next year, I'll have to pay attention and stop by sooner (after breaking into my toonie jar)!

I didn't take any pictures inside the gallery but the following was taken just outside.

A twist on Knit-bombing?? Outside of MOCA in downtown Calgary.

Tomorrow's theme is "Dreamy".  Can today's pictures count twice??

April 5 Photo: Something Good

Something good: The fact that it was Friday would have been enough but turned out I ended the night with a movie night with my mom and niece! And I had thought I was coming home from work to sit at my computer again. I will be online most of Saturday instead but this was a good end to a busy work week.

Flickr Friday: Lighthouse at Church Point

Lighthouse at Church Point, originally uploaded by whistlepunch.

originally uploaded by whistlepunch

I decided to get back to sharing photos from my Flickr account since there are 9,238 photos posted there and it isn't likely that anyone is browsing these in their entirety. I like that I can share and search my photos on this site as well as finding my photos used on random blogs and websites, even in a couple of published books.

So the formula I used was to add up the date 4/4/13 and that landed me on page 21. Then I just picked my favourite photos from this page.

Two years ago, I traveled out to Halifax for a TESL Canada conference and added an extra week onto my trip to drive around the south tip of Nova Scotia. This lighthouse is located at Church Point, the home of the only Francophone university in Nova Scotia and the St. Mary's Church Museum, the largest wooden church in North America.

St. Mary's Church Museum

This lighthouse was built in 1874 and stands 9.4 metres tall. The lamp was lit until 1984 and since that time the University has been responsible for its maintenance.

I thoroughly enjoyed my drive around the province, stopping at as many lighthouses and wooden churches as I could.

Post script:

So I obviously didn't have my talking calendar this morning to get the current date set in my mind. It isn't the 4th today - it is the 5th. So I should have been looking at page 22.

I guess that means a bonus picture - I won't change my entry but include another photo from the same trip.

St. Alphonse de Clare, Digby, Nova Scotia

Another wooden church for you to enjoy!

April 4 Photo: This Happened Today

Wellness Drumming Circle at MRU today. 

Nothing too exciting to report today. I could have taken a picture of my car encased in a shell of ice or a photo of all the piles of paper that I sorted through today to get ready for the next term start. There was food to eat and dishes to wash. Emails to answer,  Skype meetings with students and opportunities missed.  I wish the picture had been from the ward temple trip or a birthday dinner with a friend but the responsibilities of life took over. 

April 3 Photo: Something Beginning with A

A is for Adjustment

I've had a pinched nerve in my neck for a few days now and so the timing of this adjustment couldn't be better. I work too many hours at my computer and what always helps put me right is a visit to my chiropractor at the Calgary Centre for Health.  Today it was combined with an hour massage. Heaven.

At work, we have been invited to participate in a 5 week Wellness Challenge. One of the weekly challenge activities was to enjoy a holistic treatment.  I was excited to join in this event and see what kind of difference it would make. Ironically, I spent Week 4 mostly in bed feeling lousy and the late night on Monday definitely didn't fit the challenge requirements of getting 7 hours of sleep, but despite that set back, I've enjoyed doing the tasks associated with the challenge.

The challenge covers five different areas of wellness and in each area, we have to track whether we have done different tasks each day, once a week or once over the course of the challenge:

The areas are

• Physical
• Nutritional
• Psychological
• Intellectual
• Social/Community

Climbing stairs at work counts as one of the Physical tasks. 

Daily tasks in Nutrition include drinking 2 litres of water and
eating 5-6 servings of fruits and vegetables. (photo by HossainKhan on Flickr)

Weekly Psychological tasks include appreciating beauty and art
and clearing clutter. 

A one time Intellectual task is attending a play or musical event.
I wish it had been more, I could have earned this one almost weekly!

Volunteering is one aspect of the social/community activities.
With all the volunteering I do on boards or serving at church,
 it was an easy way to earn points as well. 

So with the Wellness Challenge coming to an end on Sunday, I have seen improvements in some areas of my life and some challenges I have yet to move forward on. But it has been a worthwhile event to participate in. I just hope I can get back on track after the set back I had last week.

Take some time to find some "wellness" in your life!

Photo by Hotel Der Oeschbergh

April 2 Photo: Blue

Blue

Oops, only Day 2 and I'm late in posting.  I actually had this ready to go on my phone but wanted to get on my computer to check if it worked correctly and well, I fell asleep in my chair after a late dinner. (Stayed late at the office for a provincial teleconference)  Have you ever done that? I had only had about 3 and a half hours of sleep the night before. And should have known not to lean back for a minute... or what I thought would only be a minute after a late supper of Easter dinner leftovers.

So okay now it is 12:50 and I am awake and dragging myself up to my real bed. Not one of my better nights - a waste of an evening. Or not - I guess I should have gone straight to bed instead of even trying to salvage anything left of the night.

Blue - I didn't meet anyone today that was acknowledging the theme for this choice - World Autism Awareness Day.  Glad to see that the Atwood boys wore their blue to show support for this cause.

At work, blue is a pretty common colour though. It is our school colour and I took a bunch of pictures of items in the bookstore that are blue but I liked this picture best. Blue lockers. These are the lockers where I set up the popcorn machine for our annual Technology Testdrive along the main hallway in the University. With new policies against serving open containers (bags) of food, I assume I won't be setting up next year in this location. As you walk around the campus, you will see many banks of these blue lockers.

My initial plan for the post was to take a picture of my blue bear. But I guess I used that picture already when I participated in the March Photo a Day in 2012. It was for a different theme but my blue bear still was a prominent feature of the post, including his larger counterpart in Denver. If you missed that photo and would like to see both blue bears again, you can click on the link below.

March 8 Photo: Window

Tomorrow the theme is "Something beginning with A".  I already know what I am going to take my picture of... or should I say "of what I am going to take my picture".  (No, I don't think I should really say it that way.  It is a reference to the play I saw last week.  If you haven't seen "The Ends of the Earth" at Vertigo, you should... if just for the trek-inspired battle between self-appointed grammar enforcer Frank Gardener and perpetually unlucky Henry Walker.  SO Funny!!!)

Goodnight! (humming this music as I go)

April 1 Photo: Play - Board Games

April 1 photo of the day. "Play"

I would have had a great opportunity to capture this word if I had gone ahead with my original plan for today and had two special little boys over to my house, but with feeling under the weather last week and hosting Easter dinner yesterday, it just didn't happen.

So instead, as I looked around me for inspiration, I ended up with a picture of just a few of the board games I have stashed in my office closet.

I used to love playing board games. 'Used to' not because I no longer enjoy them but because it has been ages since I played any.

As a kid, I remember playing board games as a family. Probe was one of our favourites. You lay a word out letter by letter in front of you and then take turns guessing letters. A more formal, multi-player kind of Hangman. Pretty simple to play since as long as you knew your letters and how to spell a few words, you could join in. Good for all of us to play together.

Another favourite was a game Mom brought back from Hawaii.  Sunka is a shell game for two that involves taking turns moving the shells around the board to add as many to your "home" as possible. Each round continues until a side of the board is cleared. The shells are then redistributed  from each home base and play continues. Half the fun of this is the feel of scooping up the shells and the clicking sound from dropping them into the bowls.

Sunka by Island Capture Photography on Flickr

Sounds are important when playing games. Whether it is marbles moving around a board or the sound of dice shaken to try to make Yahtzee, I have strong memories of hearing the sounds of games we played with the Rhodes family.  I spent one of my summers living with my grandparents when I worked at Valley Ridge campground and remember listening to my grandmother playing Yahtzee as I fell asleep on the fold-out couch in the adjacent room. Yahtzee is still a favourite with my family.

photo from jking89 on Flickr

Family home evenings always had a game - it was one of the assignments. Lesson, game, treat... all parts of a fun night and even more special when cousins joined us.  Here we are playing Mousie, Mousie made from rolled up newspaper on a string. I can't tell who has the pot lid to trap the mice. Maybe it was me.

Playing our homemade version of Mousie Mousie with the cousins

I had some favourite board games to play with my friends. I remember asking for board games as a birthday or Christmas gift. I remember playing Payday, Careers, Masterpiece and Clue. 

When I went away to University, Trivial Pursuit took board games to a new level. I remember so many fun nights with just a few friends, good food and lots of laughter as we played Trivial Pursuit all evening. I have to admit, playing board games with a guy I was dating was always a good measure  of whether he could be a good sport about the game. I didn't like it if he were too competitive or a sore loser. It's okay to want to win but to get angry, mean or pout after were always signals for me. 

Later, Pictionary was added to the mix and you knew you were at the right house when someone had a white board especially for playing with a group. That ramped up the game to a pseudo professional level!

Back in Calgary, my roommate and I watched Jeopardy every night after work together and this extended next to playing it as a board game. The game was a gift and we had fun re-creating the show. 

And it seems so long ago now but I used to play games a lot when I lived in NW Calgary. Ingrid and I would get together Saturday mornings to play games and do laundry or meet at a coffee shop for breakfast.  Where did I find the time? Saturdays seems so leisurely back then. 

Now it seems like all we play is Phase 10. I travel with Phase 10 cards, I have the app on my iPhone. And if we pull out any game after a big family dinner, it is Phase 10.   I like Phase 10 but I miss board games. I think I need to plan a games night. 

Check out the clip below from Simon and Martina in Korea. There, you can go to a cafe and play board games with friends.  Many young people there can't easily entertain in their homes so they often have to find places to go hangout and this is a great alternative to the many coffee shops that are everywhere. 

Wonderful Adventure Now Korea - Board Game Cafe

Playing the Building - Art Installation by David Byrne. Roundhouse, Camden Town, London.

Posting at 11:57 on April 1st!! I just made it in time!

What games do you like to play?