Short, chilly, bubbly and a bit festive. No, no, not me – this post. Enjoy the season, and happy holidays to you if you choose to celebrate!
Happy Holidays!
Category: Alberta
Belgian style
Style – if you haven’t got it, then there’s no need to worry about it. That’s what I tell myself. Belgian style? Not sure what it is exactly, but having investigated, I think I could get to like it?
Oh, ok, this isn’t a fashion thing, you’ll be relieved to know. It’s a beer thing, you’ll be shocked to read. We set off on a quite chilly late morning last week to discover for ourselves a nearby microbrewery promising beers in a Belgian style. Given the properly seasonal weather, we were hoping for a glass (or two?) of strong, dark, monkish beer, and we were not disappointed!
Should you be in the area, and you like a well made big beer, then Two Pillars could be for you. We liked it! If we were feeling the cold and had to move fast to keep warm on our walk over, we were well insulated (or even ever-so-slightly inebriated – those were some mighty big beers in small glasses) and taking extra care in the slippery conditions walking home. We might have dozed off for the rest of the afternoon – must have been all that exercise…
We bought a few fireside sippers home with us in preparation for a couple of winter cabin trips we’ve got coming up soon, and they’ll be just the thing after an hour or two of snowy playtime. Yum!
Let’s keep it short and sweet, not unlike a shared after dinner winter porter. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
December! Winter! Phew!
Phew! We got through the somewhat dull days of November, helped enormously by the very much appreciated end of month snowfall – for us, everything looks better with a light (or heavy) dusting of snow! Once the last leaves drop, it might as well snow, and, for now, it has!
So it’s goodbye November and welcome to winter!
I’ll keep it brief for this post and limit things to a few photos taken out and about the past week or so.
We have our fingers crossed that the temperature dip to more seasonal numbers is consistent, and that the promised snowy winter predicted by forecasters this season comes to pass…
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Empty head
I’m working hard to stay patient, same as always this time of year. The most colourful part of the fall season is behind us, and it’s not quite properly cold enough for snow and snow related activities. November is, or has been, my boredom season!
Boredom season? That’s quite a childish approach to an entire month, but I’ll own it – years of teaching mostly Junior High and elementary school means childish is often my comfort zone. Still, this November I’m trying something different, and going for a glass half full (or more) month – it won’t be empty, not this time…
Getting out and about in the city, we’re aiming to fill the month with music, coffee, hockey, and some new beer haunts. We’ve already been to see a friend’s band, Magnolia Buckskin, play, and an added bonus was a new to me performer, Rory Makem, on the same bill. Both recommended if you get the chance to catch them live.
Getting along to watch some junior hockey is always a fun afternoon or evening, and our first Calgary Hitmen game in years was a good ‘un, with a fine home win!
Since the last time we lived here, it appears umpteen – possibly more – new microbreweries have started up, with at least three within walking distance of us. More to follow on those!
So perhaps November won’t be quite the empty month I sometimes think it is, and maybe I won’t have an empty head. I’ll go steady on the new beers though – wouldn’t want a sore head…
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Fall flavours
I’ll start at the end this week, with a short piece on a day out last week, spent visiting a nearby park under bright blue skies. We’ve been able to enjoy so many blue sky days this fall, we feel most fortunate. The day last week ended with this little beauty:
I like the big Belgian style beers this time of year, particularly the doubles and triples made by monks, so this one above, a different take, intrigued. A single? A tiny monastery? A baby Belgian? A lot of questions? Why not?! A suitable saison for a splendid season, very good, not too strong, and probably perfect with a picnic lunch if you weren’t going to drive shortly after. We did drive to the park, so this was enjoyed at the end of the day back at home. A suitable saison for a splendid season enjoyed at supper time with soup. Super.
No idea what I’m on about in that last paragraph. Let’s get back to the park visit – we were after mountain views without driving all the way to the mountains, so into the foothills and a nearby park it was! We got there mid-morning, parking in an almost empty lot. Scout could not get out of the truck fast enough, likely because she’d remembered this place, a favourite of hers when she was a pup. We did what we could to keep up…
We wandered the trails through tree lined hills, stopping to listen to the last of the leaves rattling and rustling in light winds.
As we climbed to the top of the valley, the trees were almost totally leafless, their tough and twisted trunks and branches quite the arresting sight.
We didn’t spot any of the bald eagles that can sometimes be seen from the top of the valley, but we did enjoy sweeping views across to the Rockies.
What a day of brilliant big sky Alberta-style fall flavours! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Silly
Silly? Silly?! Oh no, dull, dull, and dull… What’s going on? Have you had a vocabulary breakdown, OldPlaidCamper? Silly? Ugh… is silly the new dreary? It’s not a word I use very often – most likely because I’m distantly acquainted with one or two people I’m not overly fond of who do use it (they’d probably say I’m silly if they were being kind, although kindness isn’t really one of their strengths…) Anyway, why silly? What prompted this silliness? Why, because I couldn’t resist this beer:
We’ve certainly found the weather a bit silly throughout September, in that it was way above seasonal almost every day. Trips along the river and to nearby parks have been pleasant enough, and the planted gardens have certainly held on longer – perhaps due to the silly weather?
In just the last few days we’ve seen more of a fall arrival, and most definitely on our quick trip earlier this week to see friends in Canmore. The cool fall temperatures were a relief, and the dashes of colourful larches on the slopes were very pretty. A deciduous conifer? Is that a bit silly? Not at all!
We’re off to K country for a few days of quiet camping – no cell coverage or wifi, some beer, some short hikes, a few good books, and maybe spotting a bear or two in the distance. Not too silly…
Thanks for reading – I’ll aim for a wider vocabulary next time – and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Ol’ Beautiful
It took a week or two, but I eventually remembered we meant to try a beer or two from Ol’ Beautiful Brewing, having seen their delivery van at a nearby beer store. As we were making our choices, we learned that the taproom at Ol’ Beautiful was closed after a fire, but they were still brewing. OK, we’d best do our bit to keep ‘em up and running…
The Japanese-style lager came highly recommended, at least by the enthusiastic vendor, who told us it was the brewery’s biggest seller – well, chalk up another sale! It was pretty good, smooth due to the rice added from left over sake production (it doesn’t taste like a Bud) and fine if you’re after a lightish taste on a sunny day. Decent, but I prefer a beer with a bit more edge – and this leads us to beer number two!
The second beer we tried was their American Pale Ale, and, if you’re a fan of hop-forward flavour, then this beer is a winner. Perfect for a hot summer day, or a mild fall day, or a crisp winter day. Oh, I’d probably (definitely) drink it in the spring, too. Yes, I liked this one!
So, where did you sample these ol’ beautifuls, OldPlaidCamper? Glad you asked – we took them with us on our recent trip to Kananaskis, camping near the Sheep River. The beers were just the refreshing thing after lazy days of reading, short hikes along or above the river and deciding if we needed a campfire or not. (Not, too hot!)
As for Sheep River Provincial Park, a new to us spot in K-country, how could we describe it in a word or two? Oh, beautiful. Perhaps I’ll share more about it another time.
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful (long) weekend!
PS As I finish up here, writing on an unseasonably warm late August Wednesday morning, a long V of honking geese has just flown over. It might feel like high summer, but those geese and the occasional rust tinged leaf suggest otherwise… Is this farewell pale linens and hello plaid flannels? Soon, OPC, soon!
South, then west!
But not too far from home – we’re trusting the medium term forecast is accurate, and by the time this is posted we’ll be somewhere down the cowboy trail SW of Calgary and camping in the foothills.
We have a new camera – nothing fancy, a replacement for our old not so fancy one that seems to have disappeared – so expect a few out of focus and wonky photographs with odd framing next time we post here…
I keep saying it, but summer is speeding by – so we’d best get out there and make the most of it? Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Elevation!
I’m still not walking any great distances, and certainly nothing with significant elevation gain, but we did take a brief trip into nearby Kananaskis last week. Why? Mountains!
We parked up at what we still call the Delta Lodge (it’s had a makeover or two, a name change and has sometimes hosted the great and not so great and good since we last stayed there – looking at you, G7 1/2) and trotted off at a brisk pace – well, Scout and Mrs. PC managed a brisk pace – to take a turn around the hotel perimeter walk. Hmm, that last one was a messy sentence. Oh well. Let’s look at a photo.
If one has reduced or restricted mobility, then this is a place to come and see many mountains from an already elevated perspective. The pathway is paved and mostly flat. You’re above the river (the Evan Thomas Creek that flows through the golf course and beyond) and beneath the tallest peaks, and it is spectacular! We were quite dizzy…
We couldn’t believe how quiet it was, visitor-wise, and sat on a bench eating our lunch with no more than a few passersby. The sun was warm but not too warm just like our cheese sandwiches, and it felt like a very pleasant way to return to a favourite spot. We aim to be back in the not too distant future and venture down some of the very inviting trailheads we passed heading back to the truck!
Let’s leave it here for this week – dizzily optimistic! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
…and beer!
Seems a good place to start – and finish (scroll down to the last photo for “…and beer!”) On second thoughts, perhaps beer isn’t the best place to start – it’s still early. How about a coffee instead?
Since the advice has been to take things steady, that’s what we’ve been doing. Walks in the different local parks have been enjoyable, with mornings cooler, sunnier and drier than the more humid and sometimes stormy afternoons. The colours have been a welcome sight!
I’ll be popping in later today, see what Ol’ Beautiful delivered yesterday. I’ll let you know what I find, but I’m thinking probably a bottle of wine? And beer?! I could get used to overdoing the not overdoing it.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 