Sand

Anyone ever gone swimming with me in a lake or river? Yeah, not a common occurrence. So I´m at the beach today. One would assume that being at the beach is synonymous with swimming and sunbathing. I have the sunbathing part down okay. Well, unless there are clouds. But the whole swimming thing has got me. Sunday I managed to walk in the water =) But I didn´t swim.

Tuesday we went to a new beach, so I had to start all over again. And my God! The waves crashing on the shore were intimidating. We laid on shore for a bit, then off we headed. Today I walked out with the pretense of swimming. But I had to cross a knee deep tide pool to get to the ocean... I waved my family ahead and slowly worked my way into the water from toe to knee. After about half an hour I was able to successfuly navigate the puddle and unite with my family. But! They were in the water!! Not to worry. I stood at the edge and again started into the water. I made it in knee high - what a proud moment. When a wave came and crashed over my head when I was looking the other way. Well Alex has refused to go to the beach again without a camera. My face was evidentally priceless. =) Needless to say, I was just regaining my composure when I was bowled over by a second wave close on the heels of the first. It was okay. I felt prepared for the next wave, which subsequently bowled me over again - a 9.5 for face plant technique. I lost .5 for losing my hat. I know! What was I doing wearing hat in the water?

But that´s not even half of it! Who would guess that swimming in the ocean means coming home with a cup of sand in my swimsuit? Plus a minimum hour long shower to remove all the sand clinging to my skin and entangled in my hair? I swear I would wash my arm, and the next thing I knew it was covered with sand again.

By the way, I´m in Spain visiting my sister and brother-in-law. Guess what that means? Yes, my blog instructions are in Spanish. I thought about writing is Spanish to match, but then was unsure of their translating abilities =).

I have to admit though that my sister´s keyboard makes better sense than mine - and Hannover Just scored against Madrid. Wow.

Sorry, no pictures.

Flowers

I love flowers!

I think if I didn't have to work I would like to take pictures of things... but then what would I do with the pictures? Right now I horde them with plans of framing some for my folks... I suppose I can say it's on my list =)

Here is one of my favourites from the trip to Jasper this year.

Perhaps if I didn't have to work, I'd have time to work with my photos. =) My dream job - to be a stay at home hobby-ist. =)

I'm hoping before the year is out I can update about the landscaping, but so far there is nothing too impressive. I am pulling weeds and bit by bit the landscaping is creeping across the yard. Now if I could give it a boost so that it would be done when I returned home at he end of the day. =)

Eavesdropping

"Hey it's stuck in the leg of my pants!"

WHAT!! I formally apologise to all those bystanders who only heard this part of the conversation.

You may recall a few years back, the saga of the purple toque; I can post it on request. Anyways, I have a new saga. A few weeks back, we decided to go biking at Terwillegar despite the surely muddy trails following our weekend rains... sure enough it was muddy. And during the last stretch of our ride what should happen, but the heavens open up and torrents of water turnt he already sticky muddy parking lot into a quagmyre (I may need a spell check here). I meticulously as usual put my glasses and gloves in my helmet to keep them safe. But alas they are muddy. My car is muddy... inside... the sides, the roof, the mats... why didn't I put my bike rack on the roof??? Your guess is as good as mine.

Of course, upon arrival at my house, I went staight to the washing machine and dumped my biking gear in with some other assorted duds I found scattered across my bedroom floor... or was I wading through those duds and grabbed the closest ones... can't remember, must have been trumatic.

The following week, bike night roles around and I can't find my gloves, well I can find one, but the other is alas lost. Sadly I find my back up hand-me-downs and off I go. Unfortuantely they are black, not purple. And to top it off, I am late for biking.

In desperation I stay up past my 10pm bedtime sorting my clothes, seaching for my stray purple glove. But to no avail, I cannot find it and imagine it is some dogs chew toy at Terwillegar, or buried under layers of clay packed down by careless vehicles. Poor glove. =(

This last weekend I went to Jasper, and seeing the variable weather forecast, I pack for sun and rain. I'm dressing Saturday morning when I find there is a "sock" in my pants... well imagine my surprise when the cosk sticks to my pant leg! Ah ha! My glove is velcroed to the inside of my pant leg. Hurray! I'll match again next week Pink and Purple!