Exploring the University of Alberta Botanic Garden

September 19, 2024September 19, 2024 / edebock / 2 Comments

As part of his 50th year university grad celebration, hubby received complementary tickets to the University of Alberta Botanic Garden (formerly called the Devonian Gardens) just outside Edmonton. It was a beautiful fall day; perfect for a peaceful stroll through the 80 acres of themed gardens and winding nature trails.

While the garden wasn’t the riot of colour that it might have been earlier in the season, there were still many beautiful flowers to be seen.

With its geometric granite and limestone terraces, still reflective pools, and the soothing sound of moving water, the expansive Aga Khan Garden, a contemporary interpretation of Islamic landscape architecture, was a very peaceful place to stroll. The central focus is a waterfall tumbling over textured stone.

Recently renovated, Connie’s Secret Garden at the north end of the Alpine Garden is home to a more natural looking waterfall.

Indoor showhouses feature plants from three very diverse climatic zones… tropical, temperate, and arid. Everywhere we went, we were surrounded by an abundance of plants of every description. Some of the most unique ones were the cacti in the Arid Showhouse. Just look at that amazing flower.

During the year that we lived in Japan, I fell in love with the beautiful strolling gardens, so we purposely saved the Kurimoto Japanese Garden for last today knowing that it would be my favourite part. With it’s lanterns, arched bridge, and pagoda, the design is authentically Japanese, but the garden utilizes plants that are hardy enough to survive our northern climate.

This is really just a sampling of what the Botanic Garden has to offer. We walked every pathway, some of them twice, covering a total of 6.21 km (3.86 miles) leaving me less than 10 km to go to complete my 300 km in 150 days goal!

Sunshine, flowers, and a successful surgery

April 5, 2022 / edebock / 12 Comments

As we approached the Rocky Mountains of western Alberta last week, the sun was shining and the views spectacular. These shots were taken at Talbot Lake, just east of Jasper.

Though conditions were wintery when we crested the Coquihalla Summit the following day, driving conditions were excellent most of the way to the coast and we were thankful not to have to dig into the “just in case” bag that I mentioned in my last post. Immediately after arriving in Vancouver, however, we started to hear of winter storm warnings that were expected to drop an estimated 20 to 40 cm of snow in that area over the weekend! Motorists were advised to consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improved. We were very thankful to have made it through safely before that hit!

The primary purpose of this trip was to be with my brother who had surgery yesterday. I’m happy to report that it went well and he’s on the mend. Donald was a real trouper, patiently enduring everything that went on. I was very impressed that the surgeon arranged for myself and one of his primary caregivers to be with him in the recovery room immediately after surgery and we were able to stay with him until late into the evening. As Donald is non-verbal, I think it was reassuring to him and helpful to the hospital staff to have us there. I know it was definitely where I needed to be! Donald was released from hospital this afternoon and we were at his house to greet him when he arrived. It was a relief to see him looking and feeling so well.

277419332_1349953098813316_4599929961705375207_n 2

Our first few days in Vancouver were rainy, but today the sun shone and reminded me why April is one of my favourite months at the coast. Cherry blossoms and spring flowers abound.

277572490_10159649976405915_7018905728953021841_n

These first two photos remind me of our time in Japan!

277554556_10159649976510915_7991603493793714920_n

277780982_10159649976315915_2193511163792426864_n

277806123_10159649976140915_7416136951240551014_n

Soft pink rhododendron bushes were in bloom around the Vancouver City Hall when I walked by on my way from the Skytrain station to the hospital yesterday.

277579516_10159649995305915_741463671610771280_n

Now that Donald is clearly on the mend, we’ll spend a couple more days visiting with him as well as with our son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons. Then on Friday morning, we’ll catch a ferry and cross the Strait of Georgia to Victoria for a few days of actual holiday before we head back to Alberta.

Rose gardens and city views

June 10, 2013July 17, 2013 / edebock / 3 Comments

Located just a few blocks from the downtown train station in the shadow of Lushan Mountain, Labor Park is best known for its enormous red and white soccer ball that commemorates Dalian’s glory days as China’s famed football city. Like Dalian’s current football team, however, the park is a bit lacklustre in comparison to some of the more beautiful ones we’ve seen. It does have some pretty spots though as well as an amusement park and acres of space for relaxation. Though I read about “a game farm full of peacocks, deer, and cranes” we saw only a few beautiful cranes strutting around cramped and bare quarters and an empty pool that might have once housed otters or something of that nature.

What the park does have is beautiful flowers, lots of statues and some great views of the city. When we passed it on the bus earlier in the spring, it was festooned with cherry blossoms but now the roses are in full bloom. We saw several bridal couples having photos taken in and around the rose gardens.

Yesterday afternoon, after strolling the broad avenue up the centre of the park, between the statues of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac (I’m a dragon) to the giant soccer ball, we took a chair lift up the mountain. As we passed over treetops and even a busy highway, I was glad that I’m no longer afraid of heights. I was even happier about that when we took the glassed in elevator to the observation deck high on the communications tower at the mountain’s peak. Though the day was a bit hazy and the ever present smog hung over the city, the views from the top were definitely worth the ride up. I’m glad we waited to do this until we’d been here for awhile and seen much of the city as it was fun to pick out the various places we recognized. Sadly, the smog and the dirty windows (nothing in China stays clean very long) made it virtually impossible to get good pictures.

Today, the second day of our Dragon Boat Festival holiday, was supposed to be a beach day with one of my students but the sky is grey and it’s pouring rain so that plan has been nixed. Instead, it might just be a relax at home day.