Walk by the River

We took advantage of a high pressure system over our heads yesterday for a blue sky walk by the river in OK Falls. Today it is grey and rainy....
Did you know that "riff raff" comes from old French ( rif et raf ) and used to mean one and all? Now it just means rubbishy people or stuff....weird.

Looking over the weir bridge

Hanne with wild roses

The start of our walk

Walking by the river

You don't need to know this, but it was because our local TV reporter used it for a pile of boulders and rocks used to shore up an eroding river bank. Should have checked the dictionary! The river is high because they are letting more water out of Okanagan Lake because it is 10 points over maximum level....

Father's Day Lunch

Some of the Celebrants. Photo by Bob MacDonald. Note Norman has a jacket and tie. He was the only one from the old school of formality conscious folk.

Cecil at 99, his birthday portrait. What lovely Blue Eyes!

Cecil's Table

Yesterday we celebrated Fathers' Day at ACL with a fancy luncheon including barbecued steak and apple pie with ice cream, all washed down with beer, wine, or Champagne!  It was also Cecil's 99th birthday so we sang a song for him. The ladies went out for lunch!
Oh by the way, I discovered a wonderful phrase to describe me today: "An i-Pad toting dilettante!"

Keremeos

Swollen by Spring Snow Melt, the Similkameen River roars by.

Parked for Photos; See the wind blowing from right to left....

Drying Hay

Vineyard on River Rd Keremeos. No fences in this town!

Yesterday was very windy, with cloud shadows and warm sun, we were out exploring Keremeos again down on River Road, and stocking up on Gala apples. You can see the trees bending to the left in the wind, and the waves on the swollen Similkameen river. Flooding is still going on in the Okanagan, especially the Shushwap river basin. One chap got very hot hiking, and jumped in the river to cool off. He hasn't been seen since! Some of the scenery is so reminiscent of the English Lake District. The cherry tree branches were here and there tied down to the the ground to stop wind damage. They will be picking in a couple of weeks; they are already harvesting further south in the USA, and we could have bought a box of theirs for $5 at the roadside stores in Keremeos.

Clouds

Pigeon Lake

Pigeon Lake Alberta

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Thunder Cloud, Hinton Alberta

Dust Cloud, Thorsby Alberta

We have a keen photographic interest in clouds, hence today's photos. But did you know of Luke Howard ( 1772-1864 )? He was clever enough to use Latin to describe clouds, otherwise we could probably be describing them using French words ( Lamarck ). Luke was responsible for the words cumulus, stratus, cirrhus, etc., and their transitions, which we still use today. There is a blue memorial plaque on a house in Tottenham, London, where he died. Clouds are made of water technically called an aerosol, and on other planets, are made of methane or other chemicals. Oh by the way, the "Cloud"  in computer technology is so named because of its shape. ( see diagram).

Pappa's Cookhouse

Decorations in the foyer set on top of an old Aga cooker

View from our table

Inside Pappa's

The only competition

On our last evening at the Lake we went out for supper, having eaten up everything in the cabin, so we tried out Pappa's. It was run by a nice lady and had been open a month. We had a tolerably good meal washed down by excellent stout from Dublin. I think it is called Guiness (my Goodness). Above are a few photos...

Communication

There are many ways to get in touch available to us in this modern age. These photos illustrate a few of them. I was struck by my grand-daughter's comment "if you want to see my grad pictures go on Facebook". But what if you aren't on it? and don't want to go on it?

1. Going to a Concert.  Seen On our deck. Some kind of Rock Concert for Spiders? ( The band is on the left)

Modern Communication ( They are both texting/surfing the net ) Add your own Caption!

The best communication of all- Face to Face...

Signs for Communication. Do you know where YOUR Muster Point is?
This is in Hinton Alberta. They must be expecting some disaster like a tornado or an atomic bomb?

One of our other problems as ancient citizens is that our young ones speak and write in strange foreign tongues, and too fast anyway.( Even on TV ).
But never mind, there are always our pictures in photo albums, so we shall be fine...

The Theme is Yellow

Backwards Dandelion

Sleeping Boat, Pigeon Lake

Marsh Marigolds

Yellow Canary ( Warbler ) next to our hammock. She was complaining as we were too close to her nest in a wild rose bush, with four cream-coloured eggs with speckles on them in it.

The Old Shoe, Abandoned Farmhouse near Thorsby Alberta

Signs on a fence, Argentia Beach, Mulhurst Alberta

Our Fire at the Cabin with Dandelions

Today's theme is Yellow. There are so many things in nature and elsewhere that are yellow. It seems to be a popular colour. It is the colour of the sun; the leaves of the maple trees in  the fall; taxis in Vancouver and New York; yellow lines on the road; and stands out if you wear it. It is mentally stimulating. Here are a few photos from our recent trip to Alberta with yellow in them...(and orange). Oh yes, by the way, Debussy liked blondes too, that's why he wrote a piece called "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair"....