Edmonton 2025 - Calgary Zoo

Mike and Aimee had a few days off and there was much debate regarding how to spend them but a trip to Waterton Lakes was the final decision. Packing was an experience as there were 6 of us in the car and much of the luggage had to go on the roof rack carrier. We broke up the drive south with a visit to the Calgary zoo. We had been there in May of 2017, with Avery toddling and Maya in a stroller, but River had never been.

 

She was very excited. First up ....

Penguins We could see them above and below the water and River squealed with excitement.

As I was awaiting the arrival of a new camera, I was using my phone to take pictures and it does not give good quality when I am zooming in on something.

 

The high point for most of us was the River Otters. 4 of them were running around in their enclosure and then diving into the water to swirl and play. 

I just wanted to sit and watch them but we still needed to finish the Canadian Section.

The bears were also a big hit. The enclosure had a brown bear, black bear and a gold coloured bear.

 

Most of the enclosures at the Calgary Zoo are large and the animals have a lot of room to roam with many elements to interact with. The animals are also regularly moved to different enclosures to give them some variety in their environments. We never saw the "pacing" that is the behaviour often found in large animals confined at a zoo. There are also lots of viewing areas and the public can walk around the enclosures so it is usually easy to see the animals. The exception to this was the Hippo enclosure and pool which was ridiculously small for the 2 large animals.

Avery kept hoping for "exotic" animals and the Peacock was our "greeter" when we crossed the river to the island that holds the savanna and rainforest creatures.

The Meercats are so cute 

and inquisitive that I took way too many photos of them.

The Lemurs have a huge enclosure and you can usually go into it and walk around with them but today was too cold for them and they were inside. A notice at the entrance had listed Polar Bears and Red Pandas (one of my favorites) as being unavailable that day.

Last time we were here the fish were Avery's favourite part. This time he was more into the reptiles and happy to see a Boa Constrictor.

We walked through a couple of huge Aviaries, one with hawks and owls and another with colourful rainforest birds. We saw more animals than I can name here and River got to see the Zebra that she had been asking for. We left as the park closed and drove another couple of hours South.

After settling into our hotel (sort of a one bedroom cottage) and having a quick supper, Avery, Maya and I took a short walk in the village. This is the Prince of Wales Hotel (not where we were staying!)

The Prince of Wales Hotel has stood proudly on a bluff overlooking the Waterton Village since 1927. An iconic marker for Waterton Lakes National Park, the hotel was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1992. from watertontourism.com

Even in the evening the surrounding mountains are beautiful and I was looking forward to seeing them in the daylight.

Edmonton 2025 - 1st week

 

Before leaving for Edmonton I took a quick trip to Northlands Nursery. The Fern Leaf Bleeding Heart replaced one that had died last year, in the front bed, and the rest went down on the bank to the lake.

Mike picked me up at the airport and our first job was to sex and band the Quail. 

 Mike has 3 coops in the garage with 14 Quail. The ideal ratio is one male for 3 or 4 females. With too many males they fight. After watching a video on how to tell the males from the females we got a system going. Mike would catch one and turn it upside down. I would determine the sex and then put a zip tie on the males leg. Maya would snip the ziptie close to the leg. We discovered that there were 7 males. He needed one for each coop so the other 4 were for the "pot".

 

Maya and Mike decided which ones to keep. This one is Snow. Once the "keepers" were identified they were all named.

The eggs are tiny. 3 of them equal 1 chicken egg.

There are 7 females and we are getting 5 little eggs each evening. 2 are "freeloading"

 

Next job was picking up the municipal compost and purchasing soil. Mike planted potatoes and I planted herbs, lettuce and spinach in the planter boxes on the deck.

Mike and Aimee are exploring the lakes around Edmonton with the idea that they may, some day, buy a lot or cottage on a lake. On one of Mikes days off we went to Isle Lake where

he kayaked and

I went for

a walk.

Maya relearned how to crochet and got thoroughly addicted. Crocheted for 2 days straight and finished a scarf.

If River doesn't get a nap she just suddenly crashes. This was while eating dinner!

The weather has been lovely most days. Cool overnight and then up into the 20s during the day. Buds are emerging. This is one of their apple trees about to blossom.

Meanwhile Rick has been sending me pictures of a rather needy

Rasta,

a clean and shiny Spellbound, ready to launch

and his first photo with his new camera.

Video of a musk rat taken when Mike was kayaking.

"Girls Weekend"

 A group of my rug hooking friends used to get together regularly....at the cottage, at the OHCG Annual and sometimes just randomly we would go somewhere for a weekend of hooking, eating, drinking, shopping and socializing. Over the the last 5 years or so life has got in the way and we don't get together as often, or as easily, as we used to. But recently we manged to find a couple of days that we could all make. 

We haven't been "girls" for a long time but "Girls Weekend" was how I described it when I was picking up lunch contributions at the Dover Cheese Shop. Its an expression that is universally understood. "Womens Weekend" does not have the same ring to it. It also wasn't a weekend. We are all retired so it was a Sunday to Tuesday.

As host I was gifted some lovely wine and flowers.

 

We each dealt with our own breakfasts, provided lunch in two teams and ate out, or ordered in, for dinner.

Coffee in the sunroom or as Heather labeled it "Looking out to sea". Photo by Heather.

.

Ruby gave everyone lots of smiles and was rewarded by lot of  loving. Photo by Heather.

I finished hooking this cushion top and

started working on this. Heather also hooked while Sue, Pam and Pat all worked on multiple knitting projects.

There was not as much drinking as there used to be. No shopping. But we still caught up with each others lives and families, talked about projects and workshops and got some fibre work done. Fun.

I have also now finished this cushion and it is in the Woodhouse Gallery for sale. I forgot to take a picture of it before taking it in. The back is the front of a blue jean shirt.

More swans and dog walking

 Rick had seen swans on a pond behind the Aylmer police college before, so we went to see how many were there.

When he was here before, the swans filled the air with 100s of them landing and taking off.

 

There were a lot in the water but none in the air. It was very windy and maybe that had them grounded (or ponded)

We walked around to the 4 different lookout areas. Just swans and geese, we didn't see any other waterfowl.

We had driven this far so continued down to the lake and drove around Port Stanley and Port Burwell

where a tug was out in the harbour entrance using its engine to move the silt and dredge the river entrance.

Port Burwell lighthouse.

On the way home we passed the damaged windmill. It happened during the big storms the previous week. The motor and blades fell to the ground. Unknown whether it was the high winds or perhaps a lightning strike.

Ducks are back on the Bay.

I love it when the lake is calm enough that they leave these long, watery, vees.

Looking after Ruby for a few weeks and that means

some walks on the Backus trails.

So many furry coyote scat that I can't believe there are any rabbits left.

Spring is trying but

bu the nights are still crisp enough for some clear stars. Horsehead Nebula, photo by Rick.