Friends – Skelton Sketches

He has arrived!!!

Posted on May 22, 2017 by lindaskelton

The timing was perfect. I’d booked my flight before the announcement came, but just just two days after baby arrived so did my flight!

Then happy surprise–at the ferry dock, for the sailing across to Powell River, the brand-new Salish Orca pulled up for her maiden passenger voyage! I couldn’t have timed that better. And so a once-mundane crossing became a time of exploration and picture-taking to capture all the newness…

But the real bit of eagerness and wonder lay just ahead… my daughter’s first baby–a strapping 8 1/2 + pound boy with a toddler’s head-full of dark hair,
just waiting to be whisked home from the hospital ( ;

And oh how captivating…

What an expressive little tot at just over a week old!

For eight days I got to hang around watching JAXON take in his new world,

and finding great delight myself in the world all a-bloom there…

It was SO good to be back ‘home’–for visits and walks with friends and quiet sits in the sun by the sea…

The crossing back to the airport was a melancholy one as I sat watching the shoreline diminish… where now three daughters and one precious grandbaby reside…

But the Lord worked it out that there would be friends on the other side too who would host me for the afternoon and see me off at day’s end…

And I needn’t even have dreaded my return to the bleak-slow-to-waken-after-winter prairies. For in my absence spring had come here too!

We serve a glorious King who lavishes us all our days with grace upon grace!

–LS

God has made everything beautiful in its time!

Eccl. 3:11 ESV

A Little of this and a little of that…

Posted on June 19, 2016April 28, 2017 by lindaskelton

I Have been wondering where the sweet scent in the air lately is coming from—couldn’t see any flowering bushes, just a lot of silvery leaves, but then I took a closer look. They may be tiny but there are profusions of tiny yellow bells dangling under the leaves and they give off a strong musky, sweet scent.

It’s called a “Wolf Willow”, and produces a mealy berry, thus the alternate name, ‘Silver Berry’. Apparently it produces beautiful seeds that have traditionally been used to make necklaces! I’d better keep an eye on these bushes. No doubt the bears and elk will be too!

Well since last post we’ve done a bit of riding on the tandem—climbed Mount Norquay in Banff in hopes of a fast descent, only to be foiled by a strong headwind. Ski runs always look strange without the snow…

And we had a bit of company this week and did a bit of hiking…

We got to see an owl’s nest with its bumbling fluffy young hopping about on a cliff face. But the pictures left everything to the imagination… so it was fun to find a close-up nest along the trail down, even if these aren’t owls!

We’ve done a lot of settling into our own nest this past week—the best part is getting to unpack the kiddie books and toys for the grandkids… and cluttering the fridge with memories of when ours were young…

I couldn’t get through spring without a few plants,

so now there are flowers at the door and a fig tree on the mantle..

. ahhh…that’s better!

And we’ve had spectacularly warm weather, my favorite kind– though they say it won’t last…

And I’ve found a play/work space and have been dabbling in color.

God does this too–

And that’s the latest from our nest.

–LS

Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men… Col.3:23

The Ole Buck and the Troll…

Posted on April 29, 2016April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

I’ve just begun to discover Kananaskis Country in spring…thanks to some long-time local hikers who are introducing me week by week to new places…

Here we are in the Sibbald Lake region venturing out to the Ole Buck Loop.

Spring is just barely springing. Its new green is such a refreshing sight!

We gained 500ft. before stopping for lunch at what used to be a viewpoint, before the pines grew tall…

It was lovely nonetheless and even boasted a geo-cache which we duly signed.

My PB&J sandwich was all the better for the lovely setting ( :

This Crocus chorus greeted us along the way back.

But that was last week’s hike. The following day a grizzly was reported in the area making advances toward a hiker and the trails were closed till further notice.

**********************

Today our hike took us to a lovely falls, also in Kananaskis Country.

These trails double as cross-country trails when the snow falls.

The leader of our expedition has a very long history here; she’s written books about the area and one of the trails is named after her—a downhill stretch that’s sure to be a ‘screamer’ on skis!

This is Ruthie. She is fast approaching 80 but still on the move and still very much in love with Kananaskis Country.

She names for me the flowers along the way…

(names I am disappointed to have now forgotten…)

And points out the spot where she would like a bench placed in her memory…

As we near our destination, the effects of the 2013 flood are clearly in evidence despite extensive clean-up. This area was hard hit.

Troll Falls is our destination–

Named for the troll who keeps watch as it tumbles…

The nearby Nakiska ski slopes were built for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics…the meadows we traverse used to be full of wildflowers but they have yet to recover from being used as parking lots for this event.

But the valley is lovely still, from beside…

and above…

…and has become a popular setting for wedding parties.

We, though decidedly less glamorous, pose for a picture anyway.

In 2002, top world leaders met in this out of the way place for the G8 Summit of 2002.

It became the largest peacetime security operation in Canadian history.

For today though, we have the place almost to ourselves! Though over the weekend the Prime Minister and his cabinet were here for a cabinet retreat!

These and other bits of trivia I hear as I walk for the first time in Kananaskis Country…, but it’s the flower names I wish most to remember!

And I have it now…Calypso Orchid is that flower’s name!

–LS

The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. Ps.93:3-4

Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity. Ps.98:8,9