The ladies of Banff took to the Rockies this past weeknd. Wait, we’re already in the Rockies. We spent a weekend in the woods (better.)

The weekend was spent knitting, napping, chatting, snowshoeing and tanning by a nice wood burning stove. Ahhh.

One fantastic book while in the woods is Off the Beaten Track, stories of Canadian women studying botany, hiking, camping and exploring the Rockies by horseback.  After a few stories I had visions of trying to trace their adventures myself this summer, to test their tracks myself. Until a co-worker told me it would be near impossible in one summer. Oh well, I can still paint flowers down by the river with a basket full of chocolate brownies. And did you know that Mary Vaux married Charles Doolittle Walcott? Dr. Doolittle.  He could apparently “smell a fossil.” I love it.

Have a lovely Saturday,

Sarah

I’ve decided to grab the ‘ol binoculars and head down to the Cave and Basin marsh and check out the magpies, crows and the little fish caught in the swamp.

If you’re in the city today, or stuck at your desk, why not check out Paul Morstad’s bird paintings instead?

Have a lovely Monday,

Sarah

Tonight is the 19th annual Spelling Bee and Trivia Challenge at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies. It’s one of the more brainy activities as part of Banff’s Winter Carnival happening right now in town. Now, this would normally be the type of thing you read about in the back of the community news section of your paper a week after the fact. But in a small town this is the place to be on a Tuesday night!

Chris and I will be going head to head on opposing teams this year; he’ll be playing with the Banff Centre marketing team, and I with the Cranium Crawlers (the nerdy ladies from softball!). There’s about a dozen teams ready to take on such subjects as local history, geography, and “name that tune.” My rock and roll history class will finally pay off! heh.

I sure wish these ladies were at the carnival this year. May the biggest brain win!

But it’s also been a bit restless. Books and movies started and not finished. Cell phones in limbo. Projects started and put aside. (Well, that’s not really that out of the ordinary I guess.)

I think it’s time to get the ball rolling again. I’ll need to wade through about eight months of spam and dust off the ‘ol html, however.

While I’m cleaning up, why not take a peak at one of my favourite sites: Orangette. So many good recipes and pictures.  The author even has a book coming out soon,  A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table.

Check in again soon, won’t you?

When my brother was in Australia I used to find it a delicious torment to know what the weather was like in Sydney. It was nice to know that someone might be on the beach while I was making bank drafts and trudging home through slush at night. If you have similar tendencies, you can check out the weather out west while we are away. The Weather Network (.com) has amazing live cameras that let you take a peak at cities, parks, and ski hills across the country.

This picture was of Banff Tuesday morning. It makes me think of the opening to an Indiana Jones movie. The view is of Sulfur Mountain, and a quick click here will let you pretend you are watching us in a movie. Also, there’s a link to Flickr, over to your right, that will have lots of pictures of our trip. It will be just like traveling with us.. minus the dorky jokes and constant breaks for snacks along the way. Although, I really think those are the best parts.