Snow & Ice...

It's snowed!!!!! We were not ready for a dump of snow but on Wednesday morning I opened the curtains and there it was - everything white and still coming down. Fraser asked 'is it Christmas?' and was a little disappointed to be told that he still had weeks to wait, however he soon forgot when he ran out into the garden to play. So the start to my day was a little more hectic as I had to get Tegan and Fraser dressed in all their snow boots and snow kit - it was like a work out all of its own. Jinx also thought it was great and bounced round the garden trying to eat as much snow as she could, maybe it tasted different from German snow? No bikes were needed for the school walk that morning as we all trudged through the snow with lots of snowballs flying, thank goodness the school isn't that far. I went to my spinning class and kept looking out the window expecting the snow fall to stop any minute as it does in UK but needless to say by the time I walked Jinx it was still falling and I needed sunglasses to walk as the glare was so bright. All in all we had 5inches - so this was my first introduction to snowfall in Canada. The good news is that it stayed for a few days but the temperatures rose and by the weekend it had all gone, so it can now stay away until Christmas! I think I mentioned previously that with the change in weather more wildlife is entering the village, so much so Fraser and I were in the kitchen having breakfast and a large deer just walked down the street, a nice start to the day.

Wednesday night was ice hockey training session, this week at a more sociable hour starting at 8.15pm. Thursday night it was 'game on' White Devils vs Black Devils with a draw score 3-3. The game was really good as both teams were evenly matched, followed by drinks in the pub. Sunday I was up and at the rink for 8am as there was a 3 on 3 tournament. I didn't really know what to expect but you are given a number and then during the day, 8am to 2pm, you play 6 games which last for 12 mins each. You have 6 players in your team with 3 on the ice playing at one time, the pace is much faster and you cover a lot of the rink, so a really good workout. It was a brilliant day with families coming to watch and our friend Sam won with 5 goals. We then had a bbq with a couple of friends to end a great day (I did say this place was strange snow one minute and a bbq the next). So with Tegan and Fraser skating on Saturdays, myself several times during the week we are spending a lot of time at the Arena - so Chris could no longer resist and has started skate school this week - this is an additional skate school for all the guys who have been on the prairie and therefore missed the first school. So now it is Leonards on Ice, who will be the best in 2 years time????

With the weather changing and all the family getting kitted out with 'all the gear' we thought we had better get Jinx a coat.

Jinx now has a nice bright red coat a: to keep her toasty warm and b: in the hope that I won't loose her on the prairie, her nose is to the ground as the coyotes and deer are all coming into the village and she is just off hunting!

Thanksgiving Weekend ...

Yet another week has flown by along with a considerable drop in temperature, this weekend the weather has just reached zero degrees during parts of the day with several snow flurries. Walking Jinx on the prairie is not quite so pleasurable as it was through the woods in Hohne at this time of year, together with the wind chill we are both glad to come home fairly quickly. I am about to order Jinx a winter coat as she really is going to need one is the coming weeks, something Chris and I have previously laughed at over the years however Jinx would get frostbite as she has very little fur on her tummy, not quite so sure she will keep boots on!

Monday night we attended the bbq & drinks which was hosted by the visiting battlegroup who have just completed Medman 4. We were due to be at the mess for 7pm but at 6pm the wind started to get stronger and by the time we drove up to camp the road was littered with branches of trees and the sky was black. After having a few drinks in the bar we were invited to an outside marque where the visiting battlegroup chefs had done an amazing bbq including lobster, duck, dressed salmon, ribs, fillet steak and salads however some of the guys were having to hold down the marque. Somehow I was first in (well there was food to be served) and when asked where I was going to eat I couldn't turn tail and sit inside where is was warm as the chefs had produced such good food in awful conditions - so we sat in the marque with the wind battering at the canvas. The weather on the prairie is really the most unpredictable that I have come across.

Wednesday and Thursday was taken up with ice hockey training and a shinney with us (White Devils) vs Red Devils - good fun and I learnt more about what I am supposed to be doing - apart from staying upright on the ice.

Chris has had a long weekend which is great so Friday morning we went for, I would like to say a lovely dog walk, however the wind was biting cold so it was a brisk march round the prairie and little talking towards the end along with our friend Sam & her dogs. We were then very indulgent and watched a movie - I don't think I have ever since having children watched a movie in the morning when I could be doing so many jobs but it felt very luxurious. That evening we had friends round for supper which we can now do with more frequency as prairie season is over.

Saturday morning Tegan and Fraser had their first ice skating lesson - which was going well until Fraser fell onto the ice with his head, a large egg quickly appeared. He had his cycling helmet on but it wasn't suitable so that afternoon we were into Medicine Hat and have now purchased 2 new ice helmets for them both, along with new skates for Tegan - children they do cost so much. Sunday morning was all about clearing the garden of leaves ready for when the snow does come followed by skating again over at the arena. We are very lucky to have the ice rink in the village which we will be visiting an awful lot of the winter. For Thanksgiving I have bought an enormous turkey which Chris is going to roast along with pumpkin pie. So with all the ice hockey, skating, NFL (on tv for Chris) and pumpkin pie - we are living the dream of Canada, we can't wait for the skiing to start.

Weather, Wildlife, Ice Hockey, Rockies, Pat & Rick Visit ...

Where has the month gone, so sorry it has been a month since I updated my blog, I really thought I was going to be bored living in Ralston village but as usual I am so busy and the weeks are flying by. So here goes with an update of what we have been up to.

Weather - someone has flicked a switch and changed the weather. As of a week ago I was still walking around in summer skirts and little tops with temperatures around 28 - 36 degrees however on Wednesday last week it all changed. Mornings you can now expect -4 degrees warming up slightly to around 6 degrees I am now just waiting for the snow to arrive, it has already snowed up in Canmore and Calgary this weekend. Since we moved to Canada in May we have on the whole had good weather and for the first time in many years it has felt like a long summer each day putting on summer clothes that for so long have been buried in drawers. This weekend we have bought Tegan and Fraser snow suites, gloves, hats, scarves, thermals, boots - I don't think they realise how cold it is going to be. As the weather is turning deer are returning to the village which is lovely to see as you walk around, Tegan and Fraser love it.

Ice Hockey - I played my first game on Friday 25 Sept what an adrenaline rush! I played with the 2nd year girls against the 1st year boys - I had no idea what I was doing except skating as fast as I could down the rink to try and catch everyone and the puck and then having to try to stop, turn and skate the other way, the time went so quick. That evening we all went to the Prairie Rose club to find out what teams we are in - I am officially a White Devil. Due to the high number of girls this year there are 3 women's teams, Red, Whites and Blacks - so already the rivalry has begun. Every Wednesday night is training and then games on a Thursday night, we play against the Reds & Blacks and all the guy teams from the base such as Icemen, Flames etc - I can't wait. Only down side is that some of the training times are late such as this Wednesday I am not on the ice until 9.45pm - 10.30pm - I'm usually in bed and it will be hard work once all the snow arrives to go out at that time - oh well great fun.

Medman Season - yipeeeee it has finished at last, we have survived our first season. Chris finished the medman on Friday and had a restful weekend, well sort of with Tegan and Fraser around! So we now know what to expect next year although it will be a month longer. Chris now has a regiment of engineers arriving from UK to do repair work on the prairie for the winter, some of who are going to living out on the prairie, good luck to them in -30degrees hope they have brought their thermals! So although he will still be busy weekends should be ours again which is great.

Terry Fox 10km Run. Terry Fox was a Canadian humanitarian, athlete and cancer treatment activist. He became famous for the Marathon of Hope April 1980, a cross Canada run to raise money for cancer research, which Terry ran with one prosthetic leg. He is considered one of Canada's greatest heroes and is celebrated internationally every September as people participate in the Terry Fox Run the world's largest one day fundraiser for cancer research. Unfortunately Terry Fox was unable to complete his run, as his bone cancer had metastasized to his lungs and he died in June 1981. So the base at Ralston holds a 10km Terry Fox run each year to which Sam and I decided we were up for it, along with Jinx who could have kept on running. Unfortunately due to poor communication we thought the run was commencing at 10am in fact the actual run didn't start until 11am which was too late for Sam & I as we had to collect children at 11.45am and no way could we run that fast so we had our own start time at 10.30 am. It was great as we had the whole course to ourselves and came first!!!! We did the run in 61mins although the winner actually did it in 36mins - so we are up for it next year in record time. Fraser also did a Terry Fox run with Little Gophers - they ran round the running track and then a circuit on the prairie, followed by water and snack.

Pat & Rick Visit. We have just had Chris's mum and dad visiting for a couple of weeks which has been great, Patsy is so good at ironing!!!! The weather was fantastic for them with even Patsy getting her shorts on a couple of times. Mon to Fri was dominated around Tegan and Fraser's schedules so Pat & Rick were up to the school & Gophers several times a day and off to swimming lessons. They also got to see Tegan and Fraser ice skating for the first time along with watching me during my ice hockey match. We popped into Medicine Hat a couple of times and managed to go out for dinner at Earls with Chris one evening, who unfortunately wasn't around much. The last weekend Pat & Rick were here I arranged for us to all go to Canmore for the weekend (minus Chris who was working). So we left Ralston on Saturday and set off on the Trans Canadian Highway 1 all the way to Canmore - one road - it still amazes me that I can drive for 4 hours with no turnings on the same road. Saturday evening we were off to watch the Oh Canada show with our friend Sam, her mum (who was also visiting) and girls. It was a very cheesy show but great fun with lots of shouting and participating and the kids loved it.

Sunday we were off to Lake Louise for the day, the weather was still on our side making it a beautiful day for seeing the mountains. After visiting the lake we had a spot of lunch and then headed over to the gondolas for a ride up the mountains, after watching a short film about looking out for bears! Monday morning Sam and I met up to visit the house that we have rented at Silvertip, Canmore for Christmas so excited as it has a hot tub which will be surrounded by snow and looks out over a golf course and mountains. The house is lovely and big enough for all of us, 4 adults, 4 children and 3 dogs including a den downstairs for the kids. After collecting Pat, Rick and kids we headed to Banff for a walk around the town and then off to Lake Minniwanka for the boat cruise, Johnnie was our guide who gave an 1hr 15min talk on all the animals that live in the Rockies with Tegan having a great time answering all the questions on animals. We did quite well on our animal coverage whilst we were there as we managed to see chipmunks, deer, mountain goats, elk and a very large stag, unfortunately all the bears had gone to the other side of the mountains ready for winter. Tuesday morning we vacated the room and drove Pat & Rick to the airport ready for their flight back to Toronto where they stayed with Pat's sister for a few more days and rested after spending time with us.

So this week it is back to some sort of routine with Chris up early and off to the gym before going to work and me off to do my exercise and run Jinx after depositing Tegan & Fraser at respective schools. Tegan and Fraser have swimming every Tue & Thu, Tegan is off to Sparks (rainbow & brownies equivalent) on Wed and they both start ice skating lessons on Saturday. And of course ice hockey 2 nights a week - shame about the housework which really does get in the way of fun.