Note To Self

If you're going to use predictive text, be sure to proofread your SMS before you send it....otherwise asking your yoga savvy friend for some tips that would be handy for Aikido may well be sent as:

Can you please show me some yoga breathing techs?
Would really help my libido.

Follow In My Footsteps...And You'll Get Lost

My beloved husband is a man of many talents...map reading is not one of them! He does persist in being the self-appointed Keeper of The Map though, as apparently I’m even more hopeless on the navigation front.

Going on a walk with him is always an adventure, as we invariably go off course; walk twice the distance we had planned and end up somewhere we probably shouldn’t be. Not such a problem in Britain, where the biggest dangers are perhaps a patch of stinging nettles or a field full of bullocks...but this is why we tend to stick to organised walking tours when we’re in foreign climes.

But today we were on home turf where, true to form, a 4-mile stroll ended up as a 7ish-mile hike. Still fun though.....

Do we take the path more travelled....

Or the one less trodden?

It's enough to drive anyone round the bend

Mielies! (That's maize or corn if you're not southern African)

Cob

Luckily not a load of bullocks!

Storm clouds gathering

Abandoned church

Abandoned church

And one that's still up and running

65 Years Ago Today...

Enola gay, you should have stayed at home yesterday
Aha words can't describe the feeling and the way you lied

These games you play, they're gonna end it more than tears someday
Aha enola gay, it shouldn't ever have to end this way

It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been
We got your message on the radio, conditions normal and you're coming home

Enola gay, is mother proud of little boy today?
Aha this kiss you give, it's never ever gonna fade away

Enola gay, it shouldn't ever have to end this way
Aha enola gay, it shouldn't fade in our dreams away
[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Enola Gay]

"Life is short, but memory is long."

[UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, presenting flowers at the Eternal Flame in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park]

Photographs from the BBC

Ray Of Light

It's another exciting day in the glamorous life of a medical writer...I'm trying to write a technical spec about what's essentially just a piece of plastic tubing that hooks a patient up to a machine.

Man, I'm bored.....bored, bored, b ooooo r e d.....

BORED!

So, I've been having a look at what photos I have stored on my phone camera, and here are a few random shots taken on my evening walks...

On Top Of A Mountain, All Covered In Snow

Staying with the mountain theme of Tuesday, but back in Canada today...I'm taking you to the top of Whistlers Mountain in Jasper National Park, Alberta (not to be confused with Whistler Mountain Resort in BC). The mountain gets its name from its rowdy inhabitants, the Hoary Marmots (known for their whistling alert call).

First, we take the Jasper Tramway to the Upper Station located at 2,277 m (7,472 ft) above sea level...

Jasper Tramway car

Alpine view from the Upper Station

Then we begin the 1.4 km (0.9 mile) climb to the true summit at 2,470 m (8,104 feet)....breathtaking in all senses! Only a short hike, but in the thin mountain air and at such a steep ascent, this trail had me gasping all the way up....

Hiking path from the Upper Station

Reaching the snow line

Views from the summit

View towards Mount Robson

Sundial at the summit

View of Jasper town and lakes from the summit, with the Victoria Cross range in the background

Wish I Was There Tuesday

Drum roll and fanfare.......

It's the first post of my all new, "original" and exciting 'Wish I Was There Tuesday' feature....and I hope that lots of you will take part. The idea is to post on somewhere wonderful in the world you’ve been, will be going or even just dream of going to one day. It could be somewhere really close to home, or on the other side of the planet or even galaxy, and could be a real or imaginary place. If you are taking part, then please leave me a comment so I can see where you're dreaming of being today...

The past couple of weeks, I've been suffering from serious cabin fever. I'm hating being trapped indoors at work on the PC, when I could be out walking in the fresh mountain air of the French Alps....and this is where I wish I was today. Anyone who knows me will be wondering why I'm dreaming of being in a place where I've twice almost met my demise...the first time when I tried to ski with distastrous consequences, that I wrote about here.... and the second being the time I almost fell off a mountain in an aborted attempt to go paragliding, that I wrote about here. Luckily, I survived the concussion of the skiing accident, and discovered the wonderful world of snowshoeing instead... and the second attempt at paragliding was a success!

Alpine chalets

Alpine cows

Sheds in a row

A good spot to put your feet up!

"The End of The World"

We Interrupt This Broadcast...

Well, not exactly breaking news but a quick update of some blog changes and upcoming events on Just Nat.

Blog Pages
You may have already noticed the new stand-alone pages that have appeared at the top of my blog....this was inspired by Pat Tillett (who recently added this feature to his great blog), and is an attempt to categorise some of my blog posts, including those from way back when I first started throwing random stuff together here. If you’re really bored one day interested, you can read more about me, my travels and my life in the UK by clicking through the links on any of the pages. I’ve included a separate page for the posts about my Canadian trip as these are getting quite numerous, and there’s a couple or so still to go...yes, I’m really milking this trip for blogging material!


New Tuesday Feature
Some of you may remember that I used to participate in ‘Where In The World Wednesday’, a travel photo feature that was hosted by Classy In Philadelphia. Without wishing to blatantly pinch Classy’s idea, I’m thinking of starting up my own similar feature called ‘Wish I Was There Tuesday’ and it would be great if any of my readers who wanted to joined in too.

Seeing as I hate Tuesdays (forget Mondays, bad stuff always seems to happen on Tuesdays... any rejuvenation from the weekend just passed has evaporated and the next weekend is still too far away) this would be a momentary escapism from an otherwise crappy day...the idea being to post on somewhere wonderful in the world you’ve been, will be going or even just dream of going to one day. It could be somewhere really close to home, or on the other side of the planet or even galaxy, and could be a real or imaginary place. Let me know what you think....


I was recently very flattered to be awarded the Glam Blogger Award by TK....you really should take a look at her vibrant blog Postcards From Malaysia. Thanks, TK!