...and ACTION!

Dan's 15 minutes of fame should air on an obscure cable show in about two months, and possibly on mainstream network T.V. as a commercial for Enmax too.




Enmax called a couple of weeks ago and asked Dan if he would mind appearing on camera to tell the world why we chose to go with solar power, and he said that he would. Of course, he was thinking that it would be a 3 minute interview in the back yard with a representative from Enmax, and a guy with a videocam, and maybe 10 seconds of that would actually make it to air. WRONG!!!

At 8:30 on Friday morning our house was invaded by a full crew, complete with a script, make-up, and enough Starbucks coffee and pastries for a small army - and they were still here when I got home at 5:15!!!

Apparently they did two separate tapings. One was a commercial for Enmax, and the other was part of a news segment on the aforementioned cable show.

Friday morning was cold & raining - not a great day to be standing in the back yard talking about the merits of solar energy, so our house was rearranged and staged for indoor interviews, and shots of Dan turning on the T.V. ,and light switches, and using the microwave, etc.
They brought a nice flower arrangement as a prop and also to thank us.




Luckily, the sun popped out in the afternoon, so they were able to get the outdoor stuff done also. Too bad they didn't come before the hailstorm when the garden looked nice, but there's nothing we could do about that.
Dan says that Taz made a couple of accidental cameo appearances by wandering into the backyard shots :-) Please, no pawtographs, we don't need a diva on our hands.

Dan, of course, is a pro at that kind of thing. He has no problem with speaking in public and he has experience in front of a camera. He was the hot air balloon pilot in that hokey movie in Argentina, and he's had his mug splashed on the front page of the Lifestyle section of the Calgary Herald wearing a flight suit that he sewed himself, but I think he was a little bit intimidated when the 3-ring circus showed up at the door. He says that he's not happy with his performance, and he's hoping that it never sees air, but I'm betting he did a great job! As the crew was leaving, they were gushing about how easy it had been to work with him, and what a natural he is!

I'll try to get some autographed 8x10 glossies out to his fans soon.

Gotta go. There are lots of pastries left, and they're calling my name.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

After the hailstorm

Holy crap! That was the LOUDEST storm in the history of the world! Just ask Taz - she thought the sky was falling, I'm sure. Well, it sorta was. Most of our hail was just a bit bigger than pea-size, but there were some pretty significant chunks in there too!




Bigger than a dog's nose.







The good news is that our new solar panels appear to be un-damaged, the bad news is that my garden is completely flattened! I've spent most of the day on clean up duty. I've filled 6 garbage bags so far - and that's just the deadfall, I haven't gotten around to dealing with the damaged plants yet. That might have to wait until tomorrow; my back is starting to complain.







This was the pretty pink Lavatera.




This was the big, bushy bleeding heart.




The clematis vine that made a miraculous recovery from last year has been pretty much stripped bare.




The window box before & after.




The hostas really took a beating.




And my breakfast view has changed from yesterday.



Oh well, I can always look forward to next year's garden.

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In the garden

It's gonna be another HOT weekend and our plan is to spend most of it just hanging out at home. Works for me!
30 degrees, and Taz chooses to lie in the sun, silly dog.




My choice is the shady patio.







I've spent 2 months looking for a bamboo spout to replace the fally-apart one that lasted a record 3 years. Finally found one at a little garden place that assured me 2 months ago that they probably wouldn't be stocking them anymore because of their inherent fally-apart nature, but they would certainly phone me if they did get any in. If it wasn't the only one in the city, I would've left it there.




Every year I say I'm going to replace the dish that I use for this fountain because the spout isn't a good fit for this one, but I never do. I like this one, and as long as I don't lose the rock that holds the spout in place, this one works just fine.




This is my favourite corner! Or it will be once the transplanted bleeding heart recovers and the day lilies are bigger.




I'm not sure why I don't have more lupins, they're such cool looking plants.




The hollyhocks are a pretty colour, but not very tall yet. There are TONS of buds on them, and I'm expecting them to grow another few feet yet. Coulda sworn I planted singles, but these appear to be doubles. Drives me crazy when greenhouses mis-label things.




I also planted a bunch of pink lavatera seeds - surprise! Most of them are white. I only got one pink plant out of the bunch.







I spend a lot of time yanking morning glory seedlings out of my garden. Not that I don't like them, I do, but they're so prolific that they've been choking out the clematis vines. This little volunteer popped up beside the hose, so I've decided that if it can survive beside the dryer vent, it deserves to live. I'm pretty sure I'll have 6000 plants here by next year.




The hostas at the side of the house are doing well this year.




I thought I'd lost this jackmanii last year. It was the middle of August before it even popped it's head out of the ground, but it appears to be just fine this year.




This day lily just gets better every year.




On the other hand, the monkshood that was transplanted from Lesley's garden is struggling. They're blooming, but they don't look very happy.




This is my breakfast view from the kitchen window.




Dan's home! Dan's home! I heard the car! Taz patiently waits for the garage door to open.




All of Taz's Flickr friends have wading pools, and because it's been such a hot summer, we broke down and bought one for Taz too. So far her enthusiasm has been underwhelming. She has to be coaxed in one paw at a time, and is usually in a hurry to get out again. It makes a great water dish though, she stops for a drink on her way to the park and again on the way back to the house.










Oh well, Muñeca is coming to visit for a week, maybe she'll enjoy it.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Flickr friends

I joined Flickr about 3 years ago after lurking on the fringes for a few months.
Flickr is kind of a social network for photographers. People post their photos, and comment on photos belonging to other people. It doesn't take long to make contact with people with similar interests. For example, most of my original contacts owned Golden Retrievers.
After awhile, the personalities of the dogs and their owners emerge and before you know it, you're fast friends with a bunch of people that you've never even met. You celebrate their joys and you grieve their losses.
Some of those friendships have spilled over to Facebook, and I can honestly say that some of my closest friends are people that I don't know other than through the wonders of the internet.
One of my Flickr friends, known to me only as Red Golden, lives near San Francisco with her husband and Golden Retriever, Rico. Red Golden doesn't just post photos, there is always a funny caption and a cute story to go with them. From the photos, stories, and the comments that she's made on my photos, I filled in the gaps of her life. It didn't seem like she had children, she loves her dog and she is well educated and well travelled. (I was right on all counts.)
A random comment on one of her photos indicated that she was visiting her Mom in the Canadian rockies. I contacted her through Flickrmail and discovered that her Mom actually lives in Radium Hot Springs. Well, that's practically in my back yard, so we arranged to meet there. Turns out that her Mom owns a motel in Radium, and Taz and I were invited to stay there even though her Mom has recently retired and closed the motel.
Road trip!!!








We stopped along the way at the off-leash park in Canmore, because it's just too pretty to drive past.












No park fee because Radium is just outside of the park, so we were just passing through.




Thoroughly enjoyed the drive




And the scenery












We pulled into Radium, and the first thing I saw was this beautiful bighorn sheep just standing on the side of the road. I couldn't believe my luck! Of course it didn't take long to figure out that this is a VERY common occurrence.








In the 24 hours that I was in town, I saw probably 30 of these guys!
Anyway, I pulled in to the parking lot of the Columbia Motel, and Yuchun came flying out the door to greet me like a long lost relative!
The Columbia Motel is very basic, but spotlessly clean. I'm sure you've all been in identical motels - maybe in the 60's.
















Yuchun is a hoot! She's super friendly, has lots of great stories, and is just plain nice!








We had a nice dinner and Taz was even allowed to come with us because the restaurant had an outdoor seating area. After dinner we took a long walk and met this lopsided guy. I guess he must've lost a battle.








We talked for hours when I got there, we talked all through dinner, we talked all along our 3 hour walk, slept for a few hours, then talked all morning until it was time for me to leave!!








We did the long drive home on Friday morning. It was a tiring couple of days, but totally worth it, we had so much fun!








I've now met 2 of my Flickr friends. Yuchun from California, and Daniel Lopez from Mexico. What's weird is that one of my Flickr/Facebook friends lives in Calgary and we've never met. We have to fix that!
Sorry if the spacing and the picture sizing is off, I'm still learning how to blog
on the iPad.