Hoodoos.

Hoodoos are one of the iconic images of southern Alberta, along with endless fields of canola and the steady rocking motion of a pumpjack. While small hoodoos are common in the badlands around Drumheller, larger ones are a sight to behold.

Formed where a harder type of rock sits atop the softer sedimentary rock below, the cap protects the underlying rock from wind and water erosion, producing a column. A hoodoo that has lost its cap is  vulnerable, as it will undergo accelerated rates of erosion, causing these to be some of the more fragile landmarks.

Dinosaurs.

If you have never been to the Royal Tyrrell Museum outside of Drumheller, you really should go. Situated in the badlands of southern Alberta, and devoted entirely to paleontology, it is a dinosaur lovers dream.

Black Beauty replica.

The badlands of Alberta produce a seemingly astonishing number of fossils. (I say 'seemingly' because there isn't really a greater number of fossils here compared to anywhere else... it's just the erosion of the rocks greatly increases your chances of actually finding them.)

Typical "badlands". Sometimes bones literally fall out of the hills.

Fossils are uncommon because the circumstances that lead to their formation tend to be uncommon. In order for an organism to turn into a fossil, it needs to be covered in sediments very quickly, which usually involves ending up at the bottom of a lake or in a tar pit. This needs to happen in an area where the remains will not be disturbed (you won't get much in the way of fossilized remains if scavengers carry off all the parts or they get washed away) and, depending on the type of fossil, in an environment where decay happens very slowly, or not at all.

 

Over time, this ichthyosaur soaked up oil bubbling up from the ground, and

 the oil is now seeping out of its tail. How Albertan. 

Millions of years ago, Alberta was at the bottom of an inland ocean. (It has actually been submerged several times, leading to fossils from all different time periods like the Cambrian Burgess Shale and the Triassic dinosaurs.) This ocean contributed to the large amount of sedimentary rock in the area, and, along with lots of time and several glaciers, helped turn Alberta into the fertile, fossil-filled prairie it is today.

For more info on the Royal Tyrrell Museum... click here.

Farming.

The animal kingdom is a pretty sweet place. We (humans) tend to think of ourselves are special and very different from the other creatures we share our planet with, but it's really not that true.

Checking out the sage bush.

While in Drumheller this weekend, I encountered something pretty neat. Dom, Heather and I were hiking in the Badlands when Dom noticed a strange looking sage bush with little black things all over it.

Turns out the black things were aphids. Aphids are little insects that suck the sap out of plants (making them the bane of gardeners). When the aphid taps into the sap-containing phloem in the plant, the high pressure phloem sap is forced through the gut and out the other end of the aphid. Sounds gross, right? This is known as honeydew, and it's irresistible to ants.

Crawling all over the aphids on the sage bush were ants. The ants are farmers of sorts; they eat the honeydew produced by the aphids, and in turn protect the aphids from hungry invaders in return. This is an example of a mutualistic relationship, one where both parties benefit from the interaction.

Road Tripping.

Dom and I are off to Calgary, Drumheller and Banff for the weekend!

Glass.

I mentioned yesterday that it has been hot, and I have been looking for non-baking things to do (in the sadly ineffective hope of keeping my house cool).

One thing I have been wanting to try for a while is etching glass. Since I have lots of time on my hands this week, it seemed like a good time to try! So I picked up some supplies at the craft store (hint to my fellow teachers... Micheal's offers 15% discounts to teachers! You have to ask for it at the check out, and sometimes they want to see some form of proof - I keep my ATA card in my wallet for such occasions... since I've never found any other use for it.)

Etching glass is very easy, since a glass etching cream does all the work for you! The most labor intensive part (for me anyways) is making the stencils out of contact paper, since I was unimpressed with all the pre-made stencils I found. Simply apply the stencil to the object to be etched, paint on the cream, wait (they recommend 60 seconds.. I advocate more like 6-10 minutes for the best image), rinse and rub! Done!

Whatever surface the cream touches will be etched, so you need to be careful when applying it. As well, the etching cream is extremely toxic and hazardous, so this activity is best not done with the kiddies. (The particular product I used, Armour Etch, is very effective, but covered in HHPS warning symbols for poison and corrosive chemicals, and the MSDS is enough to give anyone who knows how to read them the willies. You know it's good stuff when they print the Poison Control Center phone number on the bottle.)

I have since etched most of the vases in my house (they were so boring on their own) with little birds, spiced up some wine glasses for a shower gift, and made Jamie some Girl Gone Wild Docs themed mason jars!

Watermelon Lemonade.

"The night is young, Arthur, and we have umbrellas in our drinks."

So... it's been REALLY HOT lately. Now, I like hot weather (especially after the 9 months of winter we tend to get) but when it is still 30 degrees in my house at 2 am when I want to go to sleep... well, that's a bit hot for me.

I am pretty useless in hot weather (so perhaps my chosen profession and location are good ones.) so I've been trying to find little things I can do to escape the heat. I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought it would be an excellent way to combat the heat, and use up some of the strawberries I had in my fridge (and take my new immersion blender for a test run... it's pretty fantastic!).

It was pretty tasty! I scaled it down from what they have in the actual recipe, but probably should have used more water/sprite because it was a bit thick. Quite refreshing on a hot, humid day!

Inconceivable.

Latest art installation in the house - a birthday present from the awesomely talented Nick!

"You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is never get involved in a land war in Asia - but only slightly less well-known is this: Never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line!"

Fried Pickles.

I love pickles. This is no secret. Still, I was a little skeptical about this recipe that I encountered on Pinterest. Fried pickles? Really?

Dill doesn't come pre-sliced.

Goodness, they were delicious. I made a small batch to test them out, and ate them all rather quickly. The only change I made to the recipe other than halving the batter was that I used dill pickles. I imagine the jar of sliced pickles the author refers to is bread and butter. I'm a dill girl all the way through.

Pre-baking.

I used two cooling racks to achieve the double sided broiling as the panko crumbs were a little fragile. When it was time to flip them over, I placed the second cooling rack on top, and flipped the whole thing at once. Worked like a charm!

Dipped in store-bought ranch.

Higgs Boson.

Neat things are happening in the world of particle physics! Researchers at CERN are pretty much certain they have found the elusive Higgs boson - the so-called "God particle" because it imbues all the other particles we know of with mass.

Article from National Post

Interesting article on the University of Alberta connection here. (The guy in the picture, James Pinfold? Taught me Relativistic Physics.)

This could be my favorite Higgs related headline... Thanks CNN.

Our current understanding of physics at the smallest level involves a number of particles that have different properties. However, physicists have been struggling for years to deal with one sticky point... there is no reason why any of these particles should have mass. On their own, there is no reason for the universe to really have mass. The Higgs boson was proposed in the 60's to explain why these particles become massive when they stick together, and named after British physicist Peter Higgs.

(A boson is a type of particle that includes photons and the force carriers, like gluons and gravitons. It all starts to get pretty technical. Don't believe me? Just try reading the wikipedia page on bosons and see how far you get.)

For those of you who are wondering why we care... the same could be said about Röntgen's discovery of x-ray radiation that gave us modern medical x-rays, or the understanding of quantum mechanics that allows our computers to work. It will be a while before practical applications of the knowledge of Higgs boson are realized, but it is no small thing to learn that we have that much more understanding of our universe.

More Weddings.

Running out of things to call these wedding related posts! Sheesh.

Went down to Calgary this past weekend for Gina and Felix's wedding.

Wedding reception was held in an old log cabin. Very cool.

Awesome party! Love dancing and celebrating with the Lake crew. We know how to have a good time!

Custom-made wedding jenga.

Made cupcakes for this wedding as well- chocolate and lemon decorated yellow to go with the color scheme. Thanks to Dom for the decorating help!

Yes, the initials were carved in AFTER the tree had been cut down.

In other news.. Happy Belated Canada Day.

Alberta Skies.

Dear Alberta Skies,

I adore you.

Love, Sandi

Lonesome George.

Sad news in the conservation world last week. Lonesome George, the last of the Pinta Island subspecies of Galapagos Tortoise died. Named because he was the last confirmed member of his subspecies, scientists had been trying for years to find a female Pinta Island tortoise for him to mate with, and when that proved fruitless, they attempted mating him with other Galapagos tortoise species. While George did eventually take to some of the ladies, the eggs were sterile.

Galapagos tortoises were among the animals observed by Charles Darwin to have adaptations that allowed them to be uncannily suited to their particular habitat. (Another being the more famous Darwin finches). The tortoises on each of the Galapagos islands all descended from a common ancestor, but evolved slightly different body structures and shell shapes to allow them to best survive on their particular island.

Tortoise populations were decimated when early explorers learned they could take the reptiles on their ships for long voyages because the tortoises can survive on little food and water, and aren't fast enough to escape pursuing sailors.

Lonesome George was an icon for conservationists everywhere, and a symbol of the devastating impact humans can have on the other creatures we share the planet with. At 100 years old, Lonesome George was different from other animals of species who go extinct- we didn't just learn of it, we struggled to stop it, but had to stand by, helpless, and watch it happen.

From here.