As promised - finally - here are some pictures.  For Margaret and Tootous - the cats.  We have Snookums, Tiger, KeeKee and TwoBit.

This is Mr. KeeKee - sleeping on the computer chair - he is the elder statesman and only male.  He regularly goes after Snookums for no good reason.

This is Ms. Two Bit - she is a real character - her tail has been broken - leaving her with a paralyzed anal sphincter and a 'dead' tail.  She is a real lovey dovey - loves to sit on you and suck on your shirt.  She likes to get her nose under my underarm and knead and suck - not bad as long as her nails have been trimmed.  She loves to sit on her pedestal in the sun and keep track of the goings on in the neighbourhood - she goes right snakey when she sees magpies or ravens (of which there are plenty).

This and the next one are of Ms. Snookums - she has a purr like a tractor - she does not willingly get picked up - but if you do manage to snare her she starts purring right away.  She loves to chase her tail - have a video of her doing it - it is hilarious.

Last but not least is Madame Tiger - she reminds me of the cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland - she is quite standoffish unless you are reading, on the computer or watching TV - then she wants to be on you.  She is a real snorer - she loves chocolate, cheezies, cheese, bacon - if I am cooking bacon she is at the table as soon as I get it out of the fridge.

For everyone else - just random shots of Fort McMurray - and my sister with her bus.  She was driving to work - it was a Friday - and not many people actually work on Friday - there were maybe at the most six people on the bus - so I was 'allowed' to tag along - and we were looking for the wild tiger lilies in the ditch - much easier to see from the bus than from the car - being so much higher up.  Just picture this in your mind - bus driving down the highway - slamming on the brakes - pulling over to the side of the highway - and then these two women climbing down and walking in the ditch taking pictures - what  a sight to behold - was a good day.  Now that she only works Monday through Thursday - and I am working from 2-6 p.m. - no more bus trips.  SIGH.

Wild Tiger Lily found in the ditch between Fort McMurray and the oilsands.





Another tiger lily found in the ditch.



Not sure what this is - but it was also in the ditch.

Wild strawberries that we found in the ditch.

Another flower that was found 'in the ditch' - lots of ditch watching done this day.

Marian and 'her' bus - she has since started a new shift and has another 'newer' bus.

The following pictures were taken on our walks - that have since gone the way of the dodo bird - unfortunately my 'injury' keeps me from doing much walking - the after effects are not nice at all - can hardly hobble around.  But you will get the idea of why I enjoyed walking here so much.

This is my favourite shot - always made me want to take another picture - have quite a few of this spot.

Wild - hmmm - want to say columbine but that is not right - but whatever it is it grew on the path.

And of course the wild rose - the floral emblem of Alberta - lots of these.

Not the best shot - but you get the idea - I have no clue what kind of flower this is - just that it is pretty.

This is the view of the Athabasca River with the Snye entering it - on our walk.

A 'close up' of the above view.

One day we went on a tour - we stopped and took pictures of a few areas.  The first is a 'creek' that runs not far from the Shell Albian work site.

Very picturesque - and not very far away there is an oilsands project.

The next stop on our 'tour' was the Oilsands Discovery site - hard to get into pictures the size of the machines that were used when they first started 'mining' - technology has changed - do not think any of the companies continue to use these machines.

Cannot remember what this is - but it is a small piece on the large machine.

This is one of the 'small' scoops that scooped up the oilsand.

Man am I bad - I need to look at all the pictures - because I did take pics of the descriptions - suffice it to say this is a piece of machinery that was used to mine the oilsands.

Next stop on our trip was a stop at the buffalo paddock - Marian had seen that there were some on her way home - usually you cannot see them this close to the highway.

The one in the foreground was looking pretty good - had already gotten rid of his winter coat - the one to the right - you can see still had a fair bit of his winter coat - they looked quite shaggy. 

Such a majestic looking animal.

The following is a picture of me and my friend Helen in her back yard in Pinawa - taken the weekend of the big High School Reunion.  Thought about posting some pics of the reunion - but nobody knows anyone - so will post them on Facebook instead.

Helen and I in her backyard - do miss Pinawa - loved the size of the yards and just the peace.

Now this is just a candid picture of my sister - just could not resist.

Luv ya Marian

The next shot was taken at Marian's work barbecue.  One of the women brought some puppies in the hopes of selling them - the runt was by far the cutest - they are not big dogs to start with and the runt was only about 2/3 the size of it's siblings.

Hard to get a pic - puppy would not sit still.

These next pictures were taken at the fall fair - just a very small sampling of the handiwork of the local artisans.

This teddy bear was hand made out of real fur - there were three or four of them - they were adorable.

This was a beautiful bowl handcrafted out of wood - when the fellow went to put the 'oil' on it the grain just popped out.

This quilt one first prize - beautiful - there were lots of fantastic quilts.

And that is it - took me over three hours to figure out how to upload these pictures - will either have to do it more often or never again - right now I am going with never - but I am sure I will relent.