The Wood

One of my favorite restaurant bar in Canmore is the Wood, we have been going there for a beer, the past 20 years, it’s the best for food, drinks and view.

I went early June of this year, few weeks back with one of my friend, and this time I went for the dessert menu, my selection was,

Gluten Free Chocolate Almond Torte

 

"Two layers of moist, flourless chocolate almond torte cradle a creamy almond filling. This mouthwatering torte is then topped with a smooth chocolate almond mousse"

 

 It was unreal, amazing, delicious, divine!!!

Next time you pass by Canmore stop by the Wood you won’t regretted it.

 

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On the Move,

Comfree image of our Dining before selling

Dining on the move

Some news about our move to South America!

As everyone knows moving is not easy, even if it's the other side of the street.

Selling your home, your car, your furniture is a lot of work, that's why I had be absent of the social media like FB since the last few months, with my husband back surgery, and the move to prepare, time is so restrain, too busy.

Comfree image of my office before selling

My office on the move

We did sell our condo in Okotoks Alberta, extremely fast only few weeks, we only showed it 4 times, and that was it, we were very happy with Comfree services, they were very professional and saved us a bundle. Now with the possession date coming shortly, we are in a process to sell all our furniture and a lot of other stuff. We decided to put few things in a 5x10 storage for when we are back north if we come back!

Comfree image of our living room before selling

Our living room on the move

During June we are not only selling our stuff but also will visit our family down east and our Son and his wife in Vancouver, it will be another busy month.

Comfree image of our bedroom before selling

Our bedroom on the move

After the possession date we will share a condo whit friends in the same condo complex where we lived the last 7 years, we will board the plane destination Mendoza Argentina Aug. 15.

But before boarding the plane we will try to travel a bit in AB, in our surrounding, we are planning  road trips to Jasper, and Canmore.

The last thing we will have to do will be to sell the car, that will be the hardest part, I luve my little car, I was hoping to bring it with me, but that's not an option, means it will have to find another house.

I will keep you posted, on our new adventure...



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Marc Art

My husband  Marc started his working life as an electrical draftsman/designer, which was a long time ago, a lot before the use of AutoCAD, it was all done manual, with a pencil!

He worked on big projects, from East “Pointe Lepreau New Brunswick Nuclear Generating Station” to Fort McMurray Alberta Oil Sand.

In 1982 recession was hard, and I was pregnant, that’s when we decided to move back east, but recession was across Canada, no more projects no more needs for electrical draftsmen.

Marc never went back to drafting, he worked in sales, as Territory Manager and Sales Manager he did well, till he got sick around 1998, that’s when he was schedule for his first neck fusion, since then he got a second upper one and a back decompression.

Marc last surgery lower back decompression spring 2014

He has been handicap for many years now, and sometimes especially in winter it is quite hard on his moral, that’s why we are embarking in this 2 years adventure in Argentina, we are going to remain Canadian, and keep a residence in Alberta, but if possible we will avoid staying in Canada during winter.

To keep his moral high Marc began to draw again, before being an electrical draftsman he was doing a lot of art drawing with ink, now he is back to it, using ink fineliner and highlighter and writing poetry.

This is a therapy for him, he is getting more creative and happier every day, even if the kind of work is doing is not for every taste, and his poetry is only in French, I am extremely happy about his progress, and I don’t speak about his art only but also about his joy to create, he is a new man, winter wasn’t that bad this year!!!

 Marc in Canmore

Marc in Buenos Aires Argentina spring 2011

You can see his gallery on my website under Marc Art Tab, the slide show is a bit fast to read the text, you have the option to stop the slide show, to read the test if you read French and to hide the caption to have a better look at the image.

My favorite even if is no poetry attached to it is “DogsLife, Parle moi de chat, toro toro” that means Dogs Life, Speak to me about cat and Parrot Parrot!

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The Best Fish Ever!!!

Thanks to our great friends, Tom and Marge we passed another memorable evening, a fantastic meal, with amazing friends,

"All the shot were done with my little Panasonic Lumix at auto and extremely high ISO "3200" for a little sensor camera this is quite high that's why the image are noisy, when I drink and enjoy time with great friends, I try not too get hook on the shooting aspect, this post is not about photography, it's about great memories, and one of the best recipe you can get for a moist and amazing fish.

The best fish ever!!!

Teriyaki Salmon:

Large Salmon Fillet

2 Table sps. Teriyaki

1 Table sp. Soy Sauce.

Juice of 2 large oranges.

3 cloves of garlic, finely diced.

1 Table sp. of ginger

2 Table sps. Of red onion

Cook salmon in olive oil ( 1 tblsp. ) and butter ( one tsp. ) for about five minutes fat side up.

Turn salmon and add all ingredients and reduce heat to med.low and cover for about 10 minutes.

Enjoy. If juices start to dry up, add a small amount of wine. ( white)

And the finishing touch ice cream and strawberry, yum!!!

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Lensbaby New Circular Fisheye Lens

Lensbaby new Circular Fisheye lens, is quite different to a regular fisheye lens, you can focus as close as 1/4" and as far as infinity.

I was anticipated the arrival on that new lens, with a lot excitation, everything about it seems amazing, but my first experience wasn't what I expected.

HOW TO USE from Lensbaby Site

1. Adjust your camera's diopter for your eyesight. 
2. Set your camera to manual or aperture priority mode.
3. Set your aperture.
4. Rotate the ring to focus.

Seems easy enough, except if you are like me using a full frame camera, as it produce a lot smaller image circle, it means for me anyway that I cannot use my viewfinder, I cannot see any details way too small.

A bit of frustration, I put it away for few days, as I am so busy preparing our move to Argentina!

Even if I wasn't happy at first, I decided to give it another try, just few shots, using my camera digital screen and using the magnification button up to x10 it is pretty easy to focus and see all the details.

I am going to do other test shots using my tripod, and I am sure that with time and practice this little piece of equipment will become a favorite not only for imagery but also for movie clips during my adventure to North and South America.

I cropped the image to give you a better view,  Jpg's at very low resolution,  my tiff high resolution images even if I cropped them and used high ISO "800" are very clear, even at f3.5

View from my window early morning, rainy day, Very low resolution image, Lensbaby Fisheye Circular mounted on Canon full frame 5D Markiii,  f3.5, 1/160sec, ISO 640

As close as I could get the lens almost touching the tomatoes, Lensbaby Fisheye Circular mounted on Canon full frame 5D Markiii,  f3.5, 1/4sec. ISO800

As you can see the possibility are amazing, from many hotel room windows to directly into different meal plates, I am positive this will be a great travel lens.

I am going to try different shooting techniques with it, and keep you updated with my results,

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Sunday Morning in Mendoza

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 95mm, f7, 1/200sec, ISO 200

 We are preparing our departure for Mendoza, if everything goes to plan, we should be there by the end of Summer, I mean our summer "August", that will be early spring in Mendoza.

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 58mm, f8, 1/320sec, ISO 200

I took these shots a long time ago on a beautiful Sunday morning, walking the path inside The General San Martín Park the oldest and principal park of Mendoza,
"In 1861, during the process of rebuilding the city following the devastating earthquake of the same year, the then Minister of Public Works and Services, Dr. Emilio Civit, took the initiative to populate the western sector of the capital city through afforestation, by placing a “particular” lung that would simultaneously serve as an atmospheric purifier and alluvial defense against flooding in the city. The law was approved on December 6, 1896 and Dr. Civit’s project, together with the architectural diagram and French landscaper Carlos Thays’ design, gives birth to this park, which is not a park but a paradise.

For over one hundred years, San Martín Park has been one of the most important urban green spaces of Argentina, not only for of its size, but because of its proximity to the city.

It covers a surface of 759 cultivated acres (307 hectares), 11 miles (17 kms) of roads and interior streets lined with different types of trees that give them their names: Los Plátanos Avenue; Los Tilos Avenue; Palmeras Avenue and Tipas Avenue, among others. Also, 213 acres (86 hectares) were added and the number of species (more than 50,000 trees) that compose its varietal patrimony is surprising (including species from North America, Asia, Europe and Australia).

A wide variety of rose bushes greet each day in the Rose Garden, a French style promenade (1919) situated in front of the Park Lake (1906) where rowing is practiced and across from the Mendoza Regatta Club, which thanks to its location is always bustling with activity. The outdoor activities increase its appeal; symphonic concerts on the island of the lake, gym classes, aerobics, cycling….all within a space free of vehicles that circles the lake, permitting roller skaters, skateboarders and athletes to enjoy practicing their favorite sports.

This green orb, filled with roads that lead you to gardens, sculptures (over 34 works of art), clubs, restaurants, universities, among many other wonders, is a tourist attraction difficult to match. The tourists can choose to hire private transportation and take guided tours in comfortable mini-buses or decide to participate in this multi-colored universe and enjoy walking, riding a bike or horseback riding down its streets; simply take part of everything this unique, incredible and incomparable place offers.

The Park Gates (1909), with its doors permanently open inviting you to explore its interior, define the main entrance and beyond this point ensure an encounter with the “magic” to be found in every corner. " info found in http://www.mondoexplorer.com, 
 

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 58mm, f8, 1/80sec, ISO 200

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 105mm, f8, 1/200sec, ISO 200

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 24mm, f8, 1/60sec, ISO 200

Even if Mendoza, had that big earthquake in 1861 a 7.2, I am not too concern, the building code was change, like many other place they were not ready for this magnitude, today  the new constructions, which incorporated modern architectural tendencies, are markedly different from the old colonial buildings.

Our place in Mendoza is very close to  General San Martín Park a 10 min. walk, I cannot wait to go back.

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