Jill Browne, from home and away

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The robins came in droves over the weekend. It was also snowing the whole time. The whole scene was unusual. Robins and snow aren’t supposed to go together. Snow in April is not particularly welcome (though not at all uncommon). Robins in flocks, very unusual for me.

Chamber of Commerce Building, Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne, January 3, 2011.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Snow. Had lunch with an old friend at a Mexican restaurant with a pagoda-shaped sign where the Chinese restaurant used to be. Fun lunch, yucky weather.

I took this picture in January. The old Chamber of Commerce building is the home of the Chamber, and a beautiful building it is. It’s been integrated into the modern skyscraper behind it and can be reached via the Plus 15.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

It snowed and snowed and snowed.

To quote Dr. Seuss, “Snow, snow, snow. All that snow has to Go!”

The shadow of a hawthorn tree, by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 13, 2011.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

That picture of the shadow of the hawthorn tree is from Sunday. Today I noticed the shadow again, but since we’ve had light fluffy snow all day, the branches’ shadows look twice as thick.

Wednesday is Breakfast With Suzanne Day!

Today: Cora’s in MacKenzie Town. Or maybe that was just MacKenzie. And maybe it’s McKenzie. Anyway, if you live in Calgary, you know what Mac or McKenzie is. The restaurant isn’t obvious but it’s in the same little corner on 130th just east of Deerfoot as The Keg.

The food today: Bacon, scrambled eggs, fruit, blueberry crepes and a latte. Beans as an extra (for the protein, dear).

What we found out when it arrived is there was also toast and potatoes.

Enough food for a day, in other words.

Nice food. Atmosphere better than Ricky’s, not as relaxing as Over Easy, my current #1 pick. I think I prefer Nellie’s in the Loop to Cora’s for the #2 spot, but only by a whisker, and it’s only if we get the right table. For the food, Cora’s, for the atmosphere, Nellie’s, so take your pick.

We were at about plus 12 on the weekend. Minus 17 today with snow.

And unfortunately when I went for a grit refill, the box was empty. Oh no! May have to buy cat litter if we don’t get grit, for our sidewalk.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Pictures from the past week or so.

Snow on the street. Photo by Jill Browne, Calgary, February 7, 2011.

There was more snow, though today a lot of it is gone, melted, lost.

Canadian flags at the arena, by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 7, 2011.

We went over to the local arena. There’s something about arenas that makes people want to hang things from the ceiling.

My toque and mitts to keep warm in winter, by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 7, 2011.

I put my hat (toque) and mitts on the table and thought, maybe for posterity I should snap their picture.

On Wednesday, I went to a restaurant on Edmonton Trail called Over Easy, liked it. Here’s what I et and what the restaurant looked like.

Omelette, potatoes, toast and fruit at Over Easy, by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 8, 2011.

Another day, I was down south doing some errands and saw some men working on the sign in front of a shopping centre. Not the job for me. Don’t like heights much.

You couldn't pay me enough to do this job, by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 11, 2011.

That was during the week. Then on the weekend I had to do another little errand at South Centre. (Seems like the week before everything was at Market Mall, in the north.)

When I came out of South Centre, the parking lot was empty, the moon was shining, and the sky was a beautiful evening shade of blue.

Field of lights, Calgary South Centre parking lot, by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 13, 2011.

Light standard, by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 13, 2011.

Evening, by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 13, 2011.

The shadow of a hawthorn tree, by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 13, 2011.

A big hardware store and parking lot, Shawnessy, Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne, February 5, 2011.

Grey sky with snow lightly falling, Shawnessy, Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne, February 5, 2011.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

A colder day with light snow falling and a very grey sky. The camera flare exaggerates the sun; really it was just a dull yellow hole in an even duller sky.

I didn’t mean these pics to be depressing but they really don’t have much life to them!

We had to go out foraging for food and office supplies, thus ending up at this mall in Shawnessy. The mall is at MacLeod Trail and Highway 22X, but there is a lot more of Calgary even south of there. If you haven’t been here for a while you may be surprised at how much the city has expanded. This is the last shopping I can think of this far south on MacLeoad, though.

Snow on the tree looks like a Christmas card. Photo by Jill Browne, Calgary, January 30, 2011.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The snow continued, though not all day and not as much. But for a little while today THE SUN CAME OUT and it was a beautiful sight.

I think I am getting cabin fever.

Will report on advancing hallucinations etc.

By the way, that lattice thing in front of the tree is almost 2 metres high. The snow is about (very approximately) 30 cm to 50 cm deep, depending where you stand. In other places, there’s almost none thanks to the shelter of the tree.

Snow on a Calgary street. Photo by Jill Browne, Calgary, January 29, 2011.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The snow hit us in a calm and deliberate way. It has been falling steadily all day, but with next to no wind, and also nobody walking in it.

This is perfect, perfect snow. Light, fluffy, beautiful. I didn’t even mind shovelling it.

But a grey day.

In other news, the other day I saw the new LRT under construction near Crowchild. Massive! Want to get back and take some pictures. When the snow has stopped.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Bright and sunny for much of the day, and a little above zero.

I celebrated the good weather by taking the dogs for a walk, one at a time.

Rudy and I met up with a little black dog called Muffy who came up to his knees.

Maggie and I saw a giant white jackrabbit bigger than Muffy.

Then I chipped some of the packed snow off the sidewalk and felt very virtuous about it.

Rudy and Maggie’s blog is pretty lame, but they are after all, dogs so take that into account. I think there are pictures of them on the blog.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Weather: Sunny, warmer, snowed a bit and it was actually quite bright and sunny and nice when I went out to shovel it.  The snow was light and fluffy, not sticky and wet.

We live in a desert.  We need all the water that comes from the sky, whether it’s falling as rain or snow.

When it gets too warm in mid-winter, the snow melts. If the snow would melt slowly enough to sink into the soil, it could replenish the invisible water supply in the ground.  However, it often melts so fast that instead of sinking into the ground, much of the melted snow (water, in other words) runs off.

This is made worse by the fact that much of our city’s actual surface area is paved and impermeable.  Water can’t sink in through sidewalks, roads, and rooftops.

So, the water flows off the street and down the culvert and eventually into the Bow River.

Then in the spring and summer, when we (the large-scale “we”, that is, including all the farmers) need it, there isn’t as much water stored in the soil as we would like.

Another way we lose water is by the dry Chinook wind picking it up and blowing it east.

We can do something about the city being covered in pavement (at least, theoretically we can), but we can’t change the Chinook.

Another bad thing about having the temperature go above freezing in winter is the wear and tear the freeze-thaw cycle puts on things like concrete bridges and roads. Freeze-thaw isn’t that good a thing to wish for. It is the mother of potholes.

Join me in hoping the temperature stays around minus 10 C with sun.