I dropped Project 365 this year, am really enjoying a weekly photography challenge over on flickr (also hosted by PJ), and recently decided to add a monthly Photo Blogging Challenge to the rhythm of things.
The overall idea is to take photographs throughout the month (not a problem as I take at least one camera along pretty much everywhere I go) and then create a blog post to share your five favourites.
This first month (March 2013) the theme was “My World.” I interpreted this to mean things I like to do and places I like to be.
1. My Kitchen
One member of our family has multiple anaphylactic allergies. The silver lining in the diagnosis is that we eat almost exclusively home-cooked-from-scratched meals and home baking. I often spend two or three hours a day in the kitchen. My guess is that I try at least 4 or 5 new recipes each month. This month, I added four new recipes to the rotation, including this soft pretzel recipe from things we make.
2. My City
Calgary’s city centre is pretty compact and very walkable. I usually head downtown once/week and try to make time to walk through the large city park at the north end (the vantage point for this photo). It’s almost impossible to make the walk without spotting at least one of Calgary’s unofficial “birds” – the construction crane. The skyline has changed quite dramatically since I moved here, with the dramatic Bow building (on the left, with the “X” external girder structure) one of the most recent additions.
3. West LRT
The newest leg of Calgary’s Light Rail Transit system just opened in December and it’s made a huge, positive difference in my life. Not only is it quick (40 minutes to city centre including the 20 minute walk to the nearest station), but I arrive at my destination a lot less stressed and I get some exercise with the 2 km walk to the station and again on the way home. The bonus is that the new stations are quite attractive and are equipped with push-button trigger infrared heaters to keep passengers warm on the coldest winter days.
4. Canadian Rockies
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” ~ John Muir
The mountains are all of that for me. I start to go a little nuts if I go more than 3 or 4 weeks without surrounding myself with the beauty and majesty of the mountains. Enough said!
5. Anywhere Out and About with the GeoKs
Although the GeoKids are often reluctant to get underway, once we’re all out hiking, biking, snowshoeing, walking, geocaching, or whatever, we almost always have a good time. In March we enjoyed several walks in and around Canmore, a couple of winter hikes, a photography lesson and a visit to a museum. This photograph was taken using the 12 second delay, while we were eating lunch at a viewpoint overlooking Peyto Lake, a short hike off the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park.
I`m looking forward to learning what April’s theme will be. Maybe you’d like to join in?
Pingback: Photo Blogging Challenge – Three (March 2016) | Out and About with the GeoKs
I have to laugh because I live in Denver, Colorado and I’ve been to Calgary a couple of times (my son’s a hockey player) and I’ve always thought our cities are very similar. Like Calgary, Denver has a compact downtown, a new light-rail system, and is close to the Rockies. Our rodeo is pretty big, too. 🙂
Anyway, nice photos. Those pretzels look delicious, although I can’t imagine not eating out. I love eating out.
We spent a couple of days in Denver during vacation a few years ago. It has the same energetic vibe as Calgary. If I remember righty, we went shopping at a Lego store and REI when we were there…two of my favourite shops!
Restaurants have one huge advantage over home cooking. Everyone can have exactly what they want! We do eat in restaurants a couple of times/month; it just takes a little up-front time & energy to be comfortable the staff can accommodate the allergies.
I heart soft pretzels and they’re my favorite live sports event food. Yours look delicious. As much as I adore the mountains, I completely lose my mind if I’m away from the ocean for any length of time. Thankfully, we have both here – nothing like the Rockies, but the Whites are pretty impressive. That train looks like the perfect way to travel, especially in winter. Really love all your photos. Where do you get the energy to DO all that stuff?
Thanks for stopping by! Glad you’ve discovered that the ocean is your “go to” place. I’ve never lived be the ocean, but grew up near Lake Osoyoos in the beautiful Okanagan valley, so I know how calming the waves can be.
As for the energy to DO all the stuff, I don’t work full time, so I find it’s not too hard. I love to cook and consider myself very fortunate to enjoy a work/life balance that allows me plenty of time to enjoy the great outdoors. Plus I don’t watch much TV and that seems to make quite a difference.
Looking forward to checking out your blog.
Hey, another Canuck. Okay! Love the photos. I wish I had the rockies to view everyday. We have the Gatineau hills but they kinda pale by comparison. Your soft pretzels look very yummy.
Love the photos. And I think the thing that got me the most? The pretzel recipe. I may have to try that. Looks good. Did the pretzels stay soft?
The Canadian Rockies look amazing. I hope to see them in person one day.
We finished the pretzels by 2 o’clock that afternoon, so who knows how long they stay soft! They were still soft and delicious when C ate the last one. We put salt/butter on half and a cinnamon/sugar mixture/butter on the rest.
Let us know if you make it up this way. We’d be happy to act as tour guides.
That’s finishing them quickly! I might try it at some point. Would go well with my home brews. 🙂
And for sure I’d let you know. I’d like to see every Canadian Province one day (as well as all 50 states), so we’ll see how it goes!
What lovely photos! The pretzels look so yummy, and I absolutely love the photo of the mountains. We have nothing like that here in Finland.. And it’s such a beautiful photo. 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to check out this post. I think it’s great that we have people from such diverse locations taking part in PJ’s photo blogging challenge. One of my favourite things about the blogging world is how it offers close-up views of the diversity of our world. Looking forward to learning more about Finland through your entries in the challenge.