Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang

Wasn't that the title of a film? Anyway, this is more Kiss, Kiss, Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang. I wish the banging wasn't just with a gun...

Naked Sunday

More from Alberta

Geoff, pictured here with Donna, was carving a kind of meat thermometer to put in the fire pit and measure when the meat was cooked. He explained where the technique came from as he sliced off bark at intervals, and how it worked, AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF US BOUGHT IT. As one of the cousins later said, since when did wood conduct heat? But Geoff was really convincing...

The Legislature in Edmonton

The steam train that takes you round to the different periods at Fort Edmonton Park

Island Lake, Athabasca
The end view of my cousin's house at Island Lake , seen as long ago as the previous post...

A goat at West Edmonton Mall

Hi, honey, I'm home!

I got home from Canada yesterday at about 5.30pm local time after a great and punctual flight, only to have to wait several lifetimes for my luggage, then struggle to the train with it. The train didn't stop at the station where I wanted to change, even though it was meant to, and I won't describe what happened next, but suffice it to say my language got very colourful and my body got very strained from lugging around the suitcase.

Zoom's planes are darker than they look here - a sort of royal blue. They were reasonable inside - but then planes have become much more sophisticated since I last flew over 30 years ago.

West Edmonton Mall is the largest in the world and I was astonished at what there is inside - this wave pool for one. There's also a skating rink, a theme park (!), a mini-golf, petting zoo and much, much more.

Fort Edmonton was a fur trading post. It's been set out in 3 periods, the most recent being the 1920s. We got there rather too late, but it wouldn't have made much difference, because it had rained very hard that day and most of it had been shut. My cousin John and his wife Myrna and I did get to go on the merry-go-round, though. This is the station-cum-gift shop.

This is the end of the house where the reunion was, and where I stayed for two nights. It's a log "cabin" which my cousins built themselves. It's set on the shores of Island Lake about half an hour out of Athabasca.

This is a view of the house from the lake. It's unimaginably beautiful.

On the last day before I moved to stay with other relatives, my cousin Linda's daughter, Leah, took a couple us out on the raft. My couple are sticking right out in front of me.

The weather was glorious right up to the Wednesday, when the heavens opened.

They really have big mosquitos in Canada!

Bye-Bye Bobby, Arrivederci Vincent

Blogger's stopped posting pictures, so this is all for now.









This is my last post before I zoom off on Zoom Airlines to Canada.

The Radio Times letters page today has an enquiry from a LOCI fan asking what's happened to the missing episodes, and Hallmark has told them the missing ones were news-sensitive (? all five of them?) and will be shown on "a Saturday in September" not specified. So there will be a Bobby-fest waiting for me when I get back!

See you all on September 1st or 2nd (depending on jetlag).

The face says it all

How a bad back led to a bad back

A while ago I bought a new Panasonic 100% stainless steel microwave when the previous silver one, with a painted interior, started to develop bubbles and flaking inside. It's a great machine.

On Sunday I managed to rick my back, and the osteopath recommended putting heat on it, and on my stiff neck. I have two pads which are heated in the mocrowave. In I threw them. They must have jammed against the ceiling of the oven, and the next thing I knew, the oven had burn-out. Just a couple of days before my pet-sitting friend is due to move in. I think it's under guarantee, but even if I could find the receipt, there isn't time to get is fixed.

So off I went to the electrical store and found the same model (sadly for the same price, too, no reductions) and I brought it home. Of course, bringing it in from the car, sertting it up, and removing the old one didn't do my bad back any good. But at least I can now warm my heat pads!

Shoulders and Hands

And a wonderful face.

A Vincent Lookalike, Egad!

Okay, so the post is the real Vincent in a selection from Season 2 (thanks to Frogger). But on the Tube yesterday I was sitting opposite a young man who bore a slight (not huge) resemblance to our man. He was Asian (which in the UK means Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi, not Chinese/Japanese) and very handsome. Not big enough, though. And not actually Vincent. Still, it was a pleasant experience looking at his lovely features for ten minutes.