Froggy's froggy's everywhere!

This little froggy was a present from Kate's cat Rufus. Here he is sitting next to a plug hole. He is so tiny you can't even tell it's a plug hole! Anyway, I'm a bit fascinated by frogs at the moment as we have been surrounded by them! You can't see them but in the evenings, out the back of the house, you can here them everywhere clicking and singing. It's kind of like a cricket noise but more froggy. I heard them for the first time a few nights ago. Apparently they are Boreal Chorus Frogs and they live underground through the winter and actually freeze solid! After the snow all melts, they defrost and come out of the ground and start clicking. It's a very nice and soothing sound to listen to when going to sleep.

BBQ time!

The sun has been shining quite a bit recently. Apart from the one day of snow we had a week or so ago, it has begun to feel a little summery. the grass is even looking green in places. So, this weekend Neil decided that he wanted to go and buy a barebeque. Anyone who knows Neil will remember that BBQing is one of his favorite things to do in the world. As you can imagine, he was quite excited when we woke up Saturday morning and the sun was shining.

We left the house and headed to BARBEQUE COUNTRY!




As we got out of the car Neil became a little bit more excited. This was only the beginning........we spent the whole day going from Home Depot to Home Depot and back to Barbeque Country and back to Home Depot again looking for Neil's perfect BBQ. Eventually at 9pm we returned home with almost the perfect BBQ and a lovely new table and 4 chairs. We were too exausted to put it all together and decided that Sunday would be BBQ day.

Neil awoke at 6am and ran downstairs to start work. When I eventually came down at 10am he had it all put together and ready to go.

The sky started to turn a bit grey and just as we got cooking it started to drizzle.


We carried on!





And then it started to really rain.

and rain.....
and rain....

Even though we couldn't actually sit and eat outside, we did have a lovely lunch. Hopefully it'll be a bit more sunny next time.

Lake Louise....Land Of The Giants!

This is me at Lake Louise. We stopped there on our way home from Emerald Lake last weekend. I really like this picture, don't you think I look like a giant?

I decided to play a little game with you all. Its called spot the difference.

Email me with the number of differences you can find in the following pictures.

Amazing how different it is, I love this place. When at Emerald lake the peacefulness of not having a mobile phone signal, Internet or Televisions is such a good feeling, you really feel like you are getting away from it all. During the evening you can smell all the wood burning in the open fire places. You can hear the different animal noises in the distance, But best of all, no car noises, no sound at all.

Its great.

I am finally over my spell of Bronchitis and pneumonia! Phew that was horrible. Some days when I had to drag myself in to work I really thought to myself that I wasn't going to survive. The running is killing me. Running in -20, -30 really did me in and I think that was the cause of the problem. The weather is now warming up and spring is in. The snow is slowly melting and the sun is starting to beam out and heat this city up. Thank god! It has been a long winter and I found it hard, but fun. The novelty of snow wore off though, after about 4 months of it. The novelty of breathing in air at - 30 also wore off after about a minute! its a bizarre feeling when you breath in and your nose instantly freezes and you feel like you have loads of boogers up there, when in fact, it is just frozen inside. Anyway hopefully Sophie will take a few snaps of the warm weather for you all to see.

On another note. Anyone who hasn't booked Emerald Lake MUST do it now for the time they wish to stay there. The hotel is getting booked up quick and we need to know who is staying and for how long. SO emails please. Or call the lodge and say you are part of the Parham/Ralston wedding and you will be able to book.

Thank you all

Neil

Easter weekend...

The road to Emerald lake.

Sipping tea overlooking the lake in the morning. (Wearing Neil's shoes. My feet are big but not that big.)

A particularly rocky mountain on the way through Kicking Horse Pass.

Neil on a small rock.

Sophie on a big rock.

The Easter bunny!

Munching lunch at Truffle Pigs cafe/general store in Field B.C.

Elk!

The Kicking Horse River just near the natural bridge. (The bridge in the background however is actually not natural. It's man-made.)

Emerald Lake Lodge in the evening.

Neil sun-bathing on some rocks by the Kicking Horse river.

Reading by the fire at Emerald Lake Lodge.

Standing on Emerald lake. We walked right across it which was probably a stupid thing to do considering the time of year and lovely warm weather we've had lately. Oh and there was a sign saying DANGER! THIN ICE!

Neil, Sophie, Nigel and Sarah resting during our lake hike.

The fire pit at the lodge.

At the old lodge building.

Half way around the lake, just before we gave up and decided to cross the ice.

Looking for cracks.