So, what's he up to now?

It seems like only yesterday when this dude touched down on planet earth. Then, before we knew it, he had his engineering degree and was off to Denmark on a student exchange. This week he took off for France and two more years of training.

He loves to play soccer and does so with finesse and blazing speed. However, this isn't his main goal in life. The following pics of NASA's recent "Endeavor" will give you an idea of what he's really up to.

If I were to tell you that the University in Toulouse has accepted him into their Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering program, you might guess he has aspirations of astronomical proportions. You also wouldn't need to be a space scientist to figure out that he wants to be (and is), well . . . a space scientist.

Yup. One of these days Logan Jones will be that astronaut climbing out of the space shuttle and giving us all a big wave . . . over North America no less.

All choked up

There was a bountiful supply of chokecherries in Edmonton's river valley and we made good use of them. When we moved back to Calgary, we found another good source down by the Elbow River. But this year? For some reason, no berries. Since our supply of jelly and syrup has run out, we've been on the hunt.

Actually, we have a couple of black schubert cherry trees in our back yard. They're also called prunus virginiana, Canada Red Cherry or Rocky Mountain chokecherry, depending on where they grow. The birds have harvested most of ours so I've been looking over the fence a bit. The neighbours are generous. Our boulevards are also prolific with these trees but no one bothers to pick the berries. Not even Darlene. So, I guess it's up to me and the birds.

The snow is gone!

All that snow you saw in my last post finally disappeared. This is what our summers are supposed to look like. But, we have lots of surprises. Less than two weeks after those pictures were taken, we were hit by one of the heaviest downpours on record. Out for the evening, on the drive home we witnessed a dazzling display of light and sound. It was a thunderstorm like none I had ever seen before. Though spectacular, it was also frightening. Cars were caught in the underpasses and many homes were flooded.

The sun always comes out again in Alberta. The flowers grow as do the trees. But not the vegetable garden. The soil isn't that great and the trees need the moisture. So, a decision was made; we'll grow rocks this year!

This is what we came up with. What is special about this little corner in the yard is that you can enjoy the warmth of the sun while you have your morning coffee. And it's quiet. Plus, in the evening, it's cool. No more weeds to worry about either.

So, do you take yours black, or would you like some cream and sugar?