Eye Examination Day

      Today was the day for my annual eye examination. Seniors here get a yearly eye examination paid for by our health care. The thinking is that if eye problems are caught early enough they will be treatable for less money and better quality of life for the patient.

     Now the most satisfying part of my examination is that my optometrist is a former student. Dr Dean was a great kid in middle school. He excelled at sports and a little bit of competitiveness didn't hurt matters. He enjoyed sports and school. He was all round nice to have in the school. 

     When kids leave Middle School and go to high school it seems like they disappear. Some we meet later on and many we don't see again. So Dr Dean was away to get his optometry degree. He came back and set up a practice. As I had an optometrist I did not go to Dr Dean until I parted company with my old optometrist. 

     I've been happy with Dr Dean. He has a quiet calm but firm manner. He's in control. Of course , we have a great visit during the examination. He's genuinely interested as he wants to know about the person.

     So once again there is no problem with my eyes. I keep the same prescription, but I should wear sunglasses. 

So I can keep on wearing my cool glasses!!!

    I feel very confident and assured that I am getting great care for my eyes.

    I just wish I'd taken my camera this morning,

Natural Playground

     Recently the Kerry Wood Nature Center in Red Deer built a natural playground. What's that you say? It's a playground built using natural materials that have been refined very little. The playground has been set in trees. Slices of logs have been cut and placed in the ground to act act stepping stones. The logs have been given a clear finish so that the patterns of the tree rings show well.  So kids hop from log to log as stepping stones. I good old maple tree has been laid on it's side so that kids have a good time crawling over the limbs.

     

he playground has been heavily used since it was set up. I'm amazed at how hard the kids play in this area.

    Now the other day I was hanging around waiting for the Nature Center to open so I went through the playground. I had not intended to do a blog post or I would have taken different photos.

    I hope you get the idea what a natural playground is.

The camera picked up the light in the background.

Fort Normandeau Part Three

      The setting of fort Normandeau is worth a good look. It's pretty, native habitat has grown in well and there's the river.

      The setting is pleasant and clean. There's a wide open area for picnics and hosting various functions and displays.
  

Size and type of teepee that was used for regular life.

A fancy large tent for larger groups

Old days transportation

Help yourself to some cool water.

      The parking lot is placed among some very healthy native habitat. There are many shrubs such as choke cherries and Saskatoons.

A cairn with a brief history

     There is an open space to the river so that you can see how a crossing could be made with horses and wagon.

The river widens here and becomes shallow

This guy is short and the water is just above his ankles.

This kid was hung up in shallow water.

Ft. Normandeau Part 2

      The second facility at Ft. Normandeau consists mainly of dioramas that give the history of the land and it's people

     This area has recently  been redone and it is bright and airy. Many of these facilities have soft light. You are more or less standing in the dark. This one is very pleasant.

 This is a replica of a trading store.

The buffalo was the main part of the culture and economy.

Surveyors appeared

Police jacket

Police saddle

Police rifle

Where Do I Go?

    I had visitors coming for a few days last week. Quick! I need to find some places to take them .

     One good place here to take visitors is Ft. Normandeau.

     Ft. Normandeau was the first place Europeans lived in this area. Freighters had been going from Calgary to Edmonton, but there were no settlements or settlers on that route. In 1882 someone decided to set up a stopping house on the Red Deer River where the freighters forded the river. This was a place that the aboriginals forded the river. Some Europeans were smart enough too use local guides and used the river crossing. Even today, when the river is low you can wade across it. The river widens at this spot so the water is shallow.

    This location is marked by two different types of museums. One is a regular museum with dioramas and the other one has historical artifacts.  Both are small but well worth visiting.

    So on this post I'll show the rebuilt fort which is close to what the original was.

     A log house was built which was about 20 ft by 24 ft. There was a half story where people slept. It's hard to believe that the bottom story served for a kitchen, living room and work space. They crammed a
lot of stuff in a small space. A palisade was built around the building with wooden towers at the four corners.

    Our European history here is very recent as this building was erected in 1882.

The log house

The work area for washing spinning, sewing and tool storage.

A fancy sleeping area on the bottom floor.

The kitchen

A great dining table.

Now I think this sewing machine is much later than 1882.

Fort walls and tower.

That Dang Camera

      Last fall I bought a new camera. I was so proud of my new possession   that I wrote a post about it.

      As I told you before I wanted some zoom, pixels and a good handle. I got those things and "much more."I don't know if I'll ever use the "much more." I set it up on Easy auto. This setting allows the camera to do most things for you automatically.

     Every once in a while I look at the menu and some of the options. As I'm meddling I sometimes accidentally change settings. 

     Apparently I changed something a while ago. It took me a while to notice the change  so I can't recall what I fiddled with. 

     So I recently noticed that the flash was not working. At first I wondered if there was something wrong with the flash. I went to look for the 216 page manual. I couldn't find it on my computer. I tried everything. Finally, there it was in plain sight all the time. So look up flash. There are two different sets of numbers so It took awhile to find flash. In my first session I discovered that I had probably turned the flash off but I couldn't find out how to turn the flash back on.

     So after a few days of worrying I finally got back to the challenge. It all depends on how you read the book. After half an hour today I finally got the flash turned back on. While puzzling the problem, I learned other things about the camera. So I'm going to have to go through the manual step by step to learn more so that I don't accidentally turn something off that's important.

     Well, it didn't spoil my summer!
   

Lily Bonanza

       My favorite flowers are  wild flowers. I'm not that crazy about the multitudes of flowers that have been developed by man. Yes, I'm impressed that someone I know developed a tulip that was accepted by Dutch growers.

      I have a lily that is fairly close to the original Western wood lily (tiger lily) (Lilium philadelphicum). It's my favorite flower on my yard. Usually they have a single flower, sometimes two and rarely three.  This year I had one that had seven flowers on the one plant. So here goes my bragging.

Singles below and seven decker above.

About 9:30 but no color