Jasper 2012 (a slight return pt 3)

Well late, late, late I here you call, yes I sit here having returned from our last full Tribe camping trip to Jasper it has met its demise. #1 son not at all happy in protest did not shower for 4 days wore his Jeans and hoody and refused to change, I think he even slept in them. He was however made to clean his teeth, we are ever the responsible parents. So we have to find a babysitter for him as he is refusing to come out with us at the end of July on our Camping/Photography expedition. So I will post Jasper town site and places that were closed this year that I had hoped to share with the Wife.  (Fort Point road, and Edith Cavell Meadows due to sensitive alpine plants). If you want a good Hiking Guide I use “HIKING JASPER and Mount Robson”, by Rob Bryce it’s absolutely great. last years pictures will have to do, #1 daughter is pretty handy with a camera she has a natural instinct maybe she has my Pro-Photographer genes in her, she composes so well. I have taken up Landscape Photography again and will post a slide show of the results in the next few weeks. Don’t worry about the long hair I am sporting  in the photos, 2012 was the year of the Dragon and being born a Dragon I vowed to not cut my hair in order to maximize my essence so to speak fearing the Samson effect. Also my mum couldn’t see it to tell me to get it cut . I was never allowed to have it this long even during the NWOBHM.  I only managed to get from January 21st  to the 19th of October when I had it cut.  This was a monster year it nearly killed me. I completed my Supervisory Development Certificate  at N.A.I.T and managed to get that promotion which finally came through in April 2013 I now have a Career instead of a Job which is a relief, and if you review some of the components of the course I took you can see why I interpreted  it as  a rallying cry to end the doldrums and once again live with imagination. So I started my Journey to improve myself, including this here Bio-Blog a big thanks go...

Carnival of Thieves “Welcome to the Carnival....

The other night sitting out in the yard, BBQ fired up, (Once I had been on a magical mystery tour to replaced the propane)  roasting a nice Cajun BBQ Whole Chicken I needed something special to play on the musical rock. It was getting late and still as hot and sticky as it can get, I  call out to # 1 Daughter, still up as school has finished “Give me 2 numbers” (This game corresponds to shelf and CD  allowing me to access truly random music). What The Hell ! out pops Carnival of Thieves “Welcome To The Carnival” So how did a signed copy of this most excellent and obscure (to the uninitiated) album get into my music library? Well sometime around my  Birthday Oct 1995 visiting my home town of Sheffield my best buddy Mark  drove us over to Chesterfield  dragged us up some stairs into a bar to see Mr Nick Harrison & Carnival of Thieves Mark IV play , sort of they were doing a three man show can’t remember why. Now you may think this is when I got hold of the signed copy of this  and you would be wrong. This is how the next morning I ended up in Carlsboro Sounds buying a Westone Thunder 1a Bass as a birthday present to myself. (The first consequence of my Birthday promise to myself to turn over a new leaf, from now on any foolishness uttered while drinking had to be followed up by dedicated action the next day a sort of credibility check, you have no idea how much trouble this has caused and how hard it is to stick by, but mostly believe it or not I have.) Twelve months later sitting in “The Lossie Inn” (a bar at the time that had its fair share off bikers) on the front at Lossiemouth in the wilds of Northern Scotland its  October 1996 I was busy enjoying an Indian Summer and the cold beers that go with it. Discussing how great the summer has been and how as always the three day Folk Festival at the “Beach Bar” had been excellent and wouldn’t it be great if we could have a Rock Festival as well. (Sounds like a sensible beer drink topic while sitting in a Biker Bar feeling very Rock & Roll in...

A Heartbreaking Truth.

Well it had to happen sooner or later, something I want with all my soul has turned up out of the blue, something I would almost give up everything for and if I did and was capable of upsetting my son, bribing my daughter and demanding my wife accepts my decision I would be poor or poorer but have something that would fulfill all my wildest dreams for the rest of my life. But you know what, I will not put them through this, I will suffer in silence. Now what is it that has me so heartbroken, something I have subconsciously wanted from birth ( well that’s my story and I am sticking to it).  A Faberge egg, a DB5 well 007’s DB5, a Monet, an island with a Malt Whiskey distillery on it? No this trifle is only $399,900 and if I sell every thing and talk to the bank its mine. A FARMHOUSE, “A Farmhouse!”, I here you say what possibly could be exciting about a Farmhouse? well everything all my rise’s and dear demise’s can be completed in one grand project, and my memorial will be left for generations of my offspring to wonder at. Not any old Farmhouse but one sitting here on the Prairies on a miniscule 6.5 acres some arable some grazing some woods and outbuildings. Not just a Farmhouse but a Red Brick built two story Heritage Farmhouse built in 1918 ( That’s old here my local city had its 100th anniversary only recently ) To cap it all its described as requiring the correct handyman to appreciate and love it. There  we have it a lost cause a project so beyond reason. I have not slept for a week we have an opportunity to have an Architectural Salvage business in the 69′ barn together with what my daughter is describing as ornamental pigs an old garage big enough for an Art Gallery and restoration shop and arable for heritage vegetables room for greenhouses . A local hops grows here in the summer I could make Bitter, enough room for Nov 5th, Dogs hunting variety, Partridge , Grouse, Pheasant and Ptarmigan. And a whole period Farmhouse to re-finish in traditional methods and fill full of period pieces of course I would pretend it was older and I could invite the people who care about me...

Long-board 2013

Well as mentioned at the end of HEB Softball 2013  we have the pride before the fall. You guessed it we have an accident and a broken elbow #1 Son (Who was a bit upset about this) ended up missing the rest of the Softball games, he was not able to play Sax in the spring music concert and had to sit in the middle of the raft and not paddle during the river watch on the North Saskatchewan river last week. Now I know what you are thinking there is some risk in long-boarding to school. and I agree I was set up for an accident but believing in a bit of prior preparation #1 Son did a trial run the evening before using paved bike trails and carrying the board over major intersections we discussed pedestrians and to be respectful to other path users etc. So off he sets, gets up early (which is something in its self) so he has plenty of time to get to school, 19 minutes later a I get a call from an upset wife # 1 Son is all bleeding and battered dragging his long-board home. Fell off ? Well no on his way to school he moves aside for an oncoming bike and the arse on the matt black BMX with his Chicago Bulls cap on backwards leans over and clotheslines him instant wipe-out. I rush home take him to the emergency room X–rays later one broken elbow which is set in a splint and a forecast of three weeks before it will be healed. Why did he have no protection on well I don’t know so now he has a broken elbow I sort him out a new helmet that actually fits over his mop of hair and isn’t too embarrassing how this will stop him breaking bones I have no Idea but a Dad has to do something. The school also suggested that the incident was pretty serious and needed reporting to the police so that took up the rest of the day and its not a bad job watching out for concussion (you can see we also sorted out how he could continue online gaming and use his keyboard).        ...