What am I?

On a weekend outing, I took my parents to a local greenhouse with exotic plants.

This is one of the flowers which we saw but did not get the name of. Does anyone know that this is? My mother now wants my father to building new house so that she can have a green house.... The next family get together may have to be homebuilder.

OPEN 24/7

It is 4 am and you are in downtown with a car showing empty, what do you do? Go to Petro-Canada's gas station and fill up. Most of the gas stations are open 24 hours a day and are self service so you pay only for the gas. Full service stations cost usually half a penny more per litre.

And if you careful, you can see an independents station next door. Gas at the independent's is 4 cents cheaper per litre. Unfortunately, their station closes at 10 pm.

By special request...

Tonight the temperature was just above freezing and so it was time to head out into night and find a picture or two. Well, I needed to get home before CSI hit the airwaves and so this is the picture that I came up with. This is the legislature building for the province of Alberta. For those who do not live in a Federal system, this is capital building for the province of Alberta. As a province, the natural resources of this area are governed by the province.

This is one of the warmer days of February and so it was fun to finally get out.

An eyesore... it depends on your perspective

Refinery Row at minus 20 Celsius...
At minus 20, the refineries around Edmonton expel a lot of water vapour used during the refinery of oil. Many of Canada's largest oil companies have operations in the area including this small refinery on the eastern part of the city. This PetroCanada refinery produces gasoline for many of the PetroCanada stations in western Canada.

Off to work... Don't forget to bring your skis

Edmonton has two ski hills within the city's bondary. These ski hills are usually very busy during the weekend and most evenings during the week. However, when the temperature dips below minus 15, the hills stay surprising quiet. This morning, the temperature reached minus 30 Celsius and even the lifts decided to take the day off.

The Edmonton Ski hill is right across the valley from down town. At its base, one finds the four glass pyramids. The Muttart Conservatory is the premier horticultural attraction and is nestled in the river valley. The conservatory features more than 700 species of plants in arid, temperate and tropical climates.

On the other side, one has clear view of the Shaw Convention Center. If you are looking to have a massive party in Edmonton, the convention is the place to host it. A versatile Centre offering concert capacity for 4,700, bleachers, dressing rooms, support rooms, and sound experience.

Look up ... way up..

While standing at the LRT (Light Rail Transit) station, I looked up and this light fixture...


This is the last of my artistic images for awhile. The next few pictures will show some of the Capital main attractions; however, I got lost in this piece and had to share...

Exiled from the family...

With an economy firing on all cylinders, many Albertans are upgrading their household items.

In this case, this sofa which has likely been part of the family for years finds itself outside looking in.

In most cities, commercial and large apartment buildings have their garbage handled by a private company. In most cases, they pickup once or twice a week and usually they only pick up their own bins. If this is the case, this sofa may be sitting in the cold for a few more days....

Here is another picture from my Niagara Fall's visit.

As hard as it is to believe, I felt colder standing at the falls than I felt walking in minus 40 degree temperatures.

The mist generated by the falls was incredible, and coated most things in the general vicinity. Just ask the trees in the top left hand corner of the picture.