Spring Time

reflection, originally uploaded by Lovewine / Graham jones.

Everything is sprouting around here and the colors are amazing. I love the different shades of green in the Spring.

Below is the same shot with PS watercolor filter.

Fire Training

roof venting, originally uploaded by Lovewine / Graham jones.

Last month the fire hall I belong to had the opportunity to do a control burn on a house that was slated for demolition. We used to the house for various training scenarios. There is no substitute for this kind of training....everything went really well. Here are some photos.

The photo above is roof vent training.

Below is some ladder egress training. Smokey...

Here we have some fire.....we had to prevent the fire from spreading to surrounding buildings.

There was some people I knew doing a photo shoot for a clothing store in Nelson so here's Dini looking a little guilty.

Changing out the air packs.

Here's Mark, one of our training officers, looking on.

Things are getting HOT!!!

Another shot of Dini. Wardrobe change #7.

It was all said and done in 2 hours....here's the crew of the Crescent Valley Fire Dept.

Calgary over the Long Weekend

palliser lobby, originally uploaded by Lovewine / Graham jones.

Had a great trip to Calgary over the weekend. Hanging with my bird and enjoying the beautiful weather. Having beers at the Ship & Anchor wearing a t-shirt.....nice!

We got a super discount room at the swanky Fairmont Palliser downtown and had lots of fun. The Avenue Diner has amazing breakfasts.

There was a lot of hanging in the yard going on....Our friend's son Eli was ecstatic over the BBQ lighter fluid.

Pilot, the dog, is not sure he wants to be ridden so he's about to make a run for it.

We made some colored easter eggs for the hunt on Sunday.

The drive home was quick and the last day of riding at the hill was awesome yesterday....lots of fresh snow.

I'm always excited for Spring but I'll miss snowboarding...I've already been golfing once.

Spring Wagon / Spring Riding

Spring Wagon, originally uploaded by Lovewine / Graham jones.

I love when its spring down here and winter in the mountains. I fired up the '63 wagon the other day and took it for a spin down the back road...can't wait for drag race season! It fired right up.

This is what the riding looked like 4 days ago.......sick!

Then.......

Sunday was the last day at the hill (WH2O) and the riding was very spring like....in fact it was the only spring riding day we had this season. It had snowed over a meter and a half in the last 2 weeks so there was lots of powder turns before the closing weekend. I'll miss the turns but if I'm not golfing to soon I can always go for a tour.

A group of us hit the hill on Sunday and made a couple of snow couches where we could catch some rays and have some beers in between runs. Soooooooo fun!!!!!!!!!!

Pat does his diving act....

Ymir Peak in the back ground....

Night Terrors

night terrors, originally uploaded by Lovewine / Graham jones.

Its been a great season playing hockey on Monday nights with the Night Terrors group. We had our final game last night. We're trying to form an official league next season with 4-6 teams. That would be fun.
There is one more co-ed game but I won't be here for that and the Sunday Moose hockey finished last week. I'm not sure how many games I played this season but it was quite a few....2 or 3 days a week.

The ski hill closes this weekend so it will be time to pull the mtn bike out and get it tuned up. Yeah Spring!

Wagons of Steel North - A Retrospective

I've compiled quite a few photos over the last several years of drag racing with the 'Wagons of Steel North' Race Team. Lots of good times have been had and the final tally on Pilsners consumed is almost unfathomable. Enjoy.

Thank You Groundhog

Paula and Jesse, originally uploaded by Lovewine / Graham jones.

Really, really happy that winter isn't over just yet. I was painfully aware that I hadn't done enough riding this season because of poor conditions. Well that has been rectified......out like a lion. Many folks around here are happy to let Spring skiing go right on by in exchange for powder.

Dang!

gerry lopez, originally uploaded by Lovewine / Graham jones.

So the riding has been good around here for the last little while....just in time for the end of the season. Happy to have the snow.
Here's a shot of Gerry Lopez at Baldface...he was always a blast to ride with.

In other news....I had a bunch of my camera gear stolen along with my wallet and my car ashtray full of change. I was dumb enough to leave my gear in my car out front of my house overnight and it was gone in the morning. Apparently the thieves worked over the whole neighborhood. The RCMP told me they'd had numerous calls. So yeah I don't think I'm going to get any insurance.....DANG!

Another shot of Kurt Wastell killing it. The Billibong group was fun to shoot and hang with.

Spring?

There's been a lot of emotionally charged events going on around these parts in the last couple of weeks. RIP Travis, SLB. Heal fast Rusty. Play safe out there kids.....

I was lucky to make it back from Kelowna. My rear wheel bearings bought the farm on the way down the Blueberry/Paulson pass. This in turn super heated the inside of the drum and fried the brake cylinder causing a brake failure...that's what I was fixing on Saturday. 

The riding has been really good but the dreaded high freezing levels have messed things up for the time being. Last week was a friends B-day at the Salmo Ski Hill and we had a great time riding the longest t-bar in North America.(?) There is more than enough time to finish a beer on the way up.

Way back on Valentine's Day I was waiting for my girl to drive back from Calgary so I went out to Ymir for their snow-fest and spent some time playing hockey on the outdoor rink. Good times!

Road Trip

ice_bumps, originally uploaded by Lovewine / Graham jones.

I was out for a walk the other day and there is a small lake not far from here that was iced over. These snowy bumps are rocks. I was wandering around on the ice taking photos not knowing how thick it was and wondering how deep the water might be. I had the strange desire to walk across the center of the lake.....I convinced myself this would be a bad idea since I was alone. Its kind of like that desire to jump off a cliff......you want to do it but without the tragic consequences....or is that just me?

So anyway I'm off to Calgary for the weekend to hang with my bird....I have tickets to see Calgary and Nashville play and I'll try and stay out of trouble. When I drove to Calgary at the beginning of January it dumped a shitload of snow so I'm hoping this trip will be just as fruitful.

Fishy Fishy on CBC Radio 3

You'll find this image on CBC Radio3 today.

Outdoor Rink

rink2, originally uploaded by Lovewine / Graham jones.

So if its not going to snow I guess we'll find other things to outside like skating on a friends outdoor rink. It has taken longer to get it going this season but now that it is cold again and the end boards are up we can finally play.

The beginning of January looked promising for snowfall but it was short and sweet. It has not snowed in weeks and this makes me sad.

Saturday night was a friend's Birthday party and it was a 50's theme. Dressing up is always fun.

Things are getting crazy........

Happy New Year!

view, originally uploaded by Lovewine / Graham jones.

Xmas 2008

Xmas2008, originally uploaded by Lovewine / Graham jones.

Happy Xmas from us to you....and from the kitty to.

Its snowing outside and piling up quick.

The tree

The tree, originally uploaded by Lovewine / Graham jones.

So with less than a week until Xmas we thought it was about time to get the tree up.....well maybe not straight up since it seems to lean a little. Not bad for 9.99 at Superstore. Usually we go and find a tree in the forest and bring it home but what about all the trees that are made just for Xmas that don't get to have a home? This is the first scotch pine Xmas tree we've had and it seems a little hard to hang ornaments on...all the needles point towards the end of the branch so the ornaments slide off easily.

When I was a kid my Gramma would buy ornaments for me every year and I managed to amass quite a collection.

Yay rum and eggnog!