Thanksgiving Weekend

The second Monday in October is Thanksgiving Day up here in Canada. Our long weekend began with a two day road trip. I decided to play tourist and snap a few shots. Here's a bit of the British Columbia scenery we passed--shot from the passenger window of our trusty old 4-Runner. Well, what can I say, we're not really tourists--and it was cold outside :)

There...

Signs signs everywhere there's signs. This one is between Clinton and the Hat Creek Ranch.

Thompson River at Walhachin. Between Cache Creek and Savona.

Walhachin again. I love this stretch, it never fails to inspire me setting wise. The television series X-Files did some filming in the area, as did the movie Firewall with Harrison Ford.

Ginsing field at Walhachin.

I googled this sign. A big truck was parked in front of it and I would have had to get out of the vehicle, walk around the truck... nah.

I did brave the chill morning to capture this shot--it's the site of the old Six Mile Ranch between Savona and Kamloops. This has recently been developed into the Tobiano Golf Course on the shores of Kamloops Lake.

A small farm between Kamloops and Monte Lake.

My camera batteries died so I borrowed this pic of the Enderby Cliffs. This is apparently a popular climbing spot. I hear there are high winds up there that blow people off once in a while... So I'm going to just say no to that particular adventure. They remind me of The Cliffs of Insanity. Any other Princess Bride fanatics out there?

We had an early Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. Why does that little flag waving turkey look so happy you ask? I think it's because we had an untraditional meal for our celebration. There were a few squacks regarding the lack of fowl upon the table, though nary a complaint when the four pies and the ice cream cake came out. Go figure.

Personally, I approved of the decision not to serve up a bird on this occasion. The purpose of our trip, you see, was the annual family gathering at the inlaws farm--to 'do' the chickens. I'll spare you the details and the pictures of that fun process but at the end of the day everyone rides off into the sunset with some nice plump organic chickens for their freezer.

...and Back Again.

Carmel of St. Joseph's Monastery near Armstrong.

Horses near Falkland.

The beaver is one of our national symbols, not very glamourous or exotic as creatures go. They are the largest rodent in North America. Not impressed? Huh. Well, they do mate for life and I personally have to admire that quality in any species. The Beaver Manufacturing company is located near Kamloops. 

Between the Beaver Manufacturing company and Kamloops.

I love these rock formations and this farmer has an impressive amount of hay piled up in his stackyard.

The sun began to set as we passed Cherry Creek.

Nearing Savona I lost the light but not the spark of excitement I felt knowing that I would soon be home.

    I'm looking forward to starting my revisions this week and catching up on my blog visiting. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

On the Road

I'm on a road trip for the next couple of days. I'll be passing by this lake and some of my other favourite views. I hope I remember to bring my camera...

Have a great weekend all!

The Google Game

I'm playing along with Stephanie Faris's group blog thursday. Check it out at Steph in the City.

For Group Blog Thursday, we're playing the Google game. The rule is, you take these ten things (posted neatly at the bottom of this blog for those who want to participate) and go to Google, do a search of images, and post the best image you see on the first page of images for these ten things:

1. Your Favorite beverage: Canada's national coffee--thought I'd go patriotic here :)

2. Your hometown: I've lived in a lot of towns--this is Port Alberni, B.C., Salmon Capitol of the World!

3. Your favorite TV show: Canadian made Corner Gas for a good laugh. I don't watch TV or have cable but we do borrow from the library.

4. Your Occupation/You are in school for: Okay, I couldn't resist this one :) Kathleen Turner as romance novelist Joan Wilder.

5. Your first car: 1979 Datsun 310 GX

6. Your favorite dish: I love Italian food!

7. Celebrity you've been told to resemble: Can't think of one but there was a time when I was likened to Goldie Hawn in Overboard. City girl adapting to country life. lol

8. Celebrity on your "to do" list: I watched Australia this week and Hugh Jackman reminded me of the cowpoke so think I'll go with him :)

9. Favorite Childhood toy: I can't think of anything I liked better than my books!

10. Any Random picture: This amused me. I wonder if poor Diane can laugh about it yet?

RANCH GIRL RAMBLINGS

I'm still here! If you pop by and my blog is nameless it's because I'm attempting to come up with a new header.

P.S. I'm not having fun yet...

October Fun-Who am I?

October is here and with it come thoughts of Halloween. I thought I’d share some of the costumes I’ve put together in the past.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I managed a beauty salon for a while. What does that have to do with costumes you ask? Quite a bit actually. While promotion is key in any business venture, I can honestly report to you that promoting a salon is FUN.

The name of the game was hair shows. Some poor sap (guess who) spends weeks putting together wacky costumes and then the stylists go to town creating weird and wonderful ‘do’s’ and the end result is a spectacular fun fest. *drama, drama, drama* but we'll get back to that another day.

As I’m about to tackle my revisions, I’m thinking this could all work well into character development.

I hadn’t decided quite where to begin—until today. Novice Writer Anonymous did a post on Edgar Allen Poe’s mocked up funeral and it called up a memory of a 40th birthday party I attended.

This didn’t take place at Halloween nor was it a hair show but it did involve mock mourners and a wee bit of role-playing. It was also a great theme party for a 40th birthday, lots of clever tomestones, a coffin, a spooky cake, dead flowers, nametags which read things like "My Name is Deb and I'm not 40", and a rather creepy looking guest book.

As the 'professional mourners' we did our craven best to liven the party by dressing the part and standing up to do a bang up version of Amazing Grace in honour of the birthday girl.

Any one else like dressing up and role playing? And here's the Where's Waldo question of the day--which mourner am I? 

(Excuse the horrid pictures, I seriously need to pick up a scanner for these oldies.)

WiP Update

Valkrey's Moon first draft complete at 80,300 words.

I've so looked forward to saying those words. And now that the moment has arrived, it feels a little bittersweet. Something akin to watching as your child walks through the doors of the big schoolhouse for the first time.

You know in your heart there’s still a lot of road to travel, a lot of shaping and growing to happen before your job is done. Yet, there’s a sense of loss, things won’t be quite the same after today.

Huh. That might not be the best analogy. It occurs to me that I still have a lot of diapers to change before this baby is ready to be sent out on its own.

I think I’ll let it rest for a while and catch up on some fun stuff. Like cleaning my house perhaps or searching for my sidebar…

New Blog Layout

So what do you think of my new colourless blog? Is it easier on the eyes, easier to read? All thoughts and feedback gratefully appreciated.