We finally have an official Canadian citizen in the Goodman-Baines household when after approx. £10 and a five minute phone call with a lovely lady at the 24 hr city offices, a lovely shiny dog tag arrived a few days later, making Domino an official Canadian Citizen.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Monday, 22 June 2009
PR Applictaion
Just a really quick post to let you all know that we finally finished all documentation required for our permanent residency application and sent it off to the Canadian Immigration office the middle of last week. I'm sure this is just the beginning of a very long and complicated process with many more hours of form filling to come, but Nige and I will keep you all posted on the developments as they happen.
Johnson Canyon, Upper Falls and Inkpots
As we were due to start our Jobs on Monday 22nd June, we decided to take a day out on Thursday back to Johnson Canyon to have a look at the Upper Falls which we never got to see when we visited last time. We thought it would be a nice day out for Domino aswell!
This sign shows the distances to the two locations we were going to visit, the Upper falls - 2.4km and the Inkpots - 5.9km! It was going to turn into a hike through the pine forest of the Rocky Mountains.
This was our first view of the Upper falls at Johnson Canyon from the bottom.
As we neared the top of the falls, we were amazed at the colour and look of the rock face which still showed signs of snow (through the trees).
A picture from the top of the Upper Falls with our own rainbow!
After we had hiked up and through the forest for about 3km, we came to a clearing with a view of the river and mountains in the background. I don't think we'll ever tire of the stunning scenery here!
The sign explains a little about what the Inkpots are. (Click on the pictures to enlarge them).
The colour is fascinating and quite difficult to get a picture to do it justice, but it was definitely worth the effort to get here.
Domino and Sophie cooling off in the stream before we had to turn around and hike 6km back to the car!!
As if our day hadn't been fantastic enough, we were treated to the sight of an Elk quietly grazing at the side of the road as we headed back to the Trans Canada Highway. As we approached a right hand corner in the road, there were 6 or 7 cars at a standstill and people out with their cameras, so as we'd been reliably informed that if this happens it usually means there's wildlife present, I quickly stopped the car and grabbed the camera. The first shot is the actual distance we were to the Elk and the one below is perfect as he posed for me! These really are BIG animals and from this distance I was quite happy (especially as I knew I could out run most of the other people taking pictures!!).
We had a great day out which just left me the 1 1/2 hour drive home while both Sophie and Domino slept in the car.
This sign shows the distances to the two locations we were going to visit, the Upper falls - 2.4km and the Inkpots - 5.9km! It was going to turn into a hike through the pine forest of the Rocky Mountains.
This was our first view of the Upper falls at Johnson Canyon from the bottom.
As we neared the top of the falls, we were amazed at the colour and look of the rock face which still showed signs of snow (through the trees).
A picture from the top of the Upper Falls with our own rainbow!
After we had hiked up and through the forest for about 3km, we came to a clearing with a view of the river and mountains in the background. I don't think we'll ever tire of the stunning scenery here! 
The sign explains a little about what the Inkpots are. (Click on the pictures to enlarge them).
The colour is fascinating and quite difficult to get a picture to do it justice, but it was definitely worth the effort to get here.
Domino and Sophie cooling off in the stream before we had to turn around and hike 6km back to the car!!
As if our day hadn't been fantastic enough, we were treated to the sight of an Elk quietly grazing at the side of the road as we headed back to the Trans Canada Highway. As we approached a right hand corner in the road, there were 6 or 7 cars at a standstill and people out with their cameras, so as we'd been reliably informed that if this happens it usually means there's wildlife present, I quickly stopped the car and grabbed the camera. The first shot is the actual distance we were to the Elk and the one below is perfect as he posed for me! These really are BIG animals and from this distance I was quite happy (especially as I knew I could out run most of the other people taking pictures!!). 
We had a great day out which just left me the 1 1/2 hour drive home while both Sophie and Domino slept in the car.Our new Deck and Additions to the Family
After only being in the house for a week, our Landlady arranged to have the deck replaced, so we thought we'd share the pictures with you.
Domino getting in on the pictures again!
The additions to our family are Tom (in the front with the bright orange tail) and Joan (keeping a watchful eye at the back) which we got about 3 weeks ago. After being the most boring fish in the world to begin with, they have now come out of their shells and follow us round the room, nibble our fingers and continually beg for food. These were about the only cold water fish we could get for a fish bowl (or should I say oversized Brandy Glass).
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Jobs!
Well, I guess it's about time we talked about our job situation here in Calgary. After 2 1/2 weeks getting our house and vehicle sorted along with the other paperwork exercises we've had to do, we decided we'd better try and find some work as the pot of money was rapidly emptying and our parents nails were getting shorter every day!
My first thought was to get a job at a local Golf Course on the Green staff for the summer and hope to find some work in my trade as an Instrument/Electrical Technician as and when things pick up in Calgary. However, all the local golf courses I visited were fully staffed and already had a number of Resume's sitting in the draw due to people taking any job they can this year to bring some money in as a result of the recession, which left me slightly stranded. I took to Craigslist, Monster Jobs, Kijiji and Workopolis online to see what else was available and also contacted the Calgary Stampede to enquire about some work during 'The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth'. Stampede was also booked up, but I found a couple of things on Craigslist that appealed, one being a Lighting and Sign Service Technician with a company called Chris's Signs who were expanding into Alberta from BC. I sent them a cover letter and my Resume on Tuesday morning 2 weeks ago and got a phone call from the owner, Chris about 2 hours later to discuss the job. They were traveling back from the states after picking up a new vehicle with a 45ft lift on ready for Alberta and after another couple of calls over the following couple of days, I eventually met up with Chris and his business partner John last night for a meal and an informal interview at the Red Lobster opposite Chinook Mall in Calgary, which went very well. I spent today out on the truck with them and did a bit of work at one of their customers, Futureshop before they offered me the job!! Looks like I start my training next week so all's good. There is still work about here, but it's a little harder to come by than it has been in the past I guess, however I'm hoping that the opportunity I have with Chris and John should be good with some good prospects for the future as they have a lot of work to get through!
Now Sophie. When we started the emigration process about 12 months ago, we believed Sophie would walk straight into a position here as an Operating Room Nurse, but Oh, how things have changed! Anyway, Sophie managed to get two interviews set up for Tuesday last week, 1 at a private Diet and Health Clinic and 1 at the Foothills Medical Centre in the OR department. She flew through the interview in the morning at the clinic and was offered the job there and then, but had to hold them off for a short time as she really wanted the job at the Foothills where she was heading that afternoon for a hands-on type interview in an OR environment. The Foothills interview also went really well, but she didn't know for 2 days what the outcome was, so phoned her contact to see how she had got on. Of course, she was also offered the job there to start work on June 22nd, which although it's on a casual basis to begin with, it puts Sophie in exactly the right position to apply for a full-time post when they become available as the economy strengthens (Oil prices are on there way up!). So, all in all, the job hunting process hasn't been too bad for us, compared to some of the horror stories we'd heard, but there are still a lot of jobs advertised around Calgary at places like Ikea, Safeway, Timmies, Walmart, Home Depot etc etc etc, so it's not all doom and gloom!
Now all we've got to do is prove our worth and get into some sort of routine and try and forget about the exchange rate as we'll now be earning Canadian Dollars!!
Happy Days!
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Golfing and BBQ in Canmore.
Got invited along to Canmore (just into the Canadian Rockies about 1 hour from Evergreen) by our next door neighbour Brian, to play a round of golf with some members of his family, which was an offer I couldn't refuse. We were playing at www.kananaskisguestranch.com/ and were even lucky enough to get the golf and BBQ for free as one of the guys we were playing with worked here. Weather was excellent, 25+, but unfortunately my golf was not. However the stunning scenery and good company more than made up for it.
A couple of pictures to show you what I had to deal with!
You can probably see it's a course for straight hitters and I didn't have my sights dialled in (probably distracted by the awesome views). Anything off the fairway was trouble and even if you found it, you usually had to drop it out, however, the cans of beer on the way round, which seems to be a common Canadian golfing aspect, certainly helped the poor golf!
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Calgary Weather!!
Just a quick note to let you all know just how unpredictable the Calgary weather can be. On Thursday, June 4th I was playing golf at a local course, Mckenzie Meadows and managed to get sunburn in the 23+ degrees of glorious sunshine we were enjoying, then on Friday evening.....................
-1 and snowing!
We woke this morning to a nice covering on our newly built deck, with the snow still falling.
Welcome to Calgary Nige, Sophie and Domino!
Monday, 1 June 2009
Our House and New Vehicle!
Firstly we want to apologise to all of those who have been asking for photos of our new house. What with the unenviable task of searching for a car (pictures also included) have been out most of the day so haven't been around to take the pictures while the sun is shining. But due to popular demand we took some pictures this morning (the only day this week that the sun hasn't shined, typical!!) so here we are......
and plentyof space in the front...
This is a picture of the front of our house (well the house we are renting)
Our huge porch area......
This pot looked huge when we picked it up from the store, as you can see it looks small compared to the large porch and front door!
This is the view as you open the front door..
...to the right is the downstairs bathroom, large coat/shoe cupboard, utility cupboard, utility room and door to the garage.
This is our 2005 Ford Freestyle.......
As you can see there is plenty of room for potential airport runs!
and plentyof space in the front...
This is a picture of the front of our house (well the house we are renting)
Our huge porch area......
This pot looked huge when we picked it up from the store, as you can see it looks small compared to the large porch and front door!
This is the view as you open the front door..
...to the right is the downstairs bathroom, large coat/shoe cupboard, utility cupboard, utility room and door to the garage.This is our utility room with the washer and dryer that came with the house (picture was taken standing in the doorway to the garage)
Our garage. As you can see it is just waiting to be filled with junk!!
This is going left from the front door, with the stairs up to the 2nd floor, stairs down to the basement, and through to the great room, nook and kitchen.
The great room (formal living room) nook (dining/breakfast area) and kitchen. The table set is a 10pc 4-8 seater pub style table/chairs that were purchased at the weekend 2nd hand, at about £250) 
The kitchen area, with the walk in larder!
(the artwork on the fridge is our Godson Regans from the UK)
Our Great room, as you can see we have yet to buy tables, frames etc, which will be purchased as money allows. The 3 piece was an ex-display and cost us £560 (less than half price) from 'The Brick'.
Another shot of Domino's behind!!!
A look at the front door and stairs.
The stairs down to the basement door
The stairs down from the door. The door on the right of the picture is a storage area. (oh and Domino's behind, again!!)
Our funace room, to the other side of the furnace is some large shelves, a large storage area and the future home of our chest freezer and enormous beer fridge.
This is my current location and the place where all our webcam conversations will take place (well at least until we can buy a wireless router). Laptop brought with us, printer from Staples and the chair and office mat from Costco.
This is the main room in the basement, future home of our bar, dartboard and cinema area.
The bedroom in the basement, which just to the left has a large closet and next door is a large bathroom.
Our garage. As you can see it is just waiting to be filled with junk!!
This is going left from the front door, with the stairs up to the 2nd floor, stairs down to the basement, and through to the great room, nook and kitchen.
The great room (formal living room) nook (dining/breakfast area) and kitchen. The table set is a 10pc 4-8 seater pub style table/chairs that were purchased at the weekend 2nd hand, at about £250) 
The kitchen area, with the walk in larder!(the artwork on the fridge is our Godson Regans from the UK)
Our Great room, as you can see we have yet to buy tables, frames etc, which will be purchased as money allows. The 3 piece was an ex-display and cost us £560 (less than half price) from 'The Brick'.
Another shot of Domino's behind!!!
A look at the front door and stairs.
The stairs down to the basement door
The stairs down from the door. The door on the right of the picture is a storage area. (oh and Domino's behind, again!!)
Our funace room, to the other side of the furnace is some large shelves, a large storage area and the future home of our chest freezer and enormous beer fridge.
This is my current location and the place where all our webcam conversations will take place (well at least until we can buy a wireless router). Laptop brought with us, printer from Staples and the chair and office mat from Costco.
This is the main room in the basement, future home of our bar, dartboard and cinema area.
The bedroom in the basement, which just to the left has a large closet and next door is a large bathroom.
The view from the landing looking down to the front door.
The ledge on our stairs where we have put up all our leaving cards.
The vaulted stairway.
This is the 2nd floor bathroom
The 3rd bedroom with large closet.
The 2nd Bedroom, again with a large closet. As you can see we have yet to buy furniture as we are going to furnish the basement first, ready for impending guests.
The view oposite our bedroom door (the door that is ajar is the bathroom with the 3rd bedroom door next along) looking at the Bonus room.
The bonus room/family room with 9ft ceiling. The sectional was a bit of a indulgence but was so much of a bargain (about £580) we couldn't leave it in the shop!!!!! The tiny TV you can just about spot in the picture is on loan from our very kind neighbours until we can afford the 50inch+ TV we think this room deserves!!!! The ottoman is for our bedroom but we are using it in here til we can afford to buy the matching ottoman. This room looks rather bare and is the main reason we are looking forward to the arrival of our container so we can get some pictures up on the walls.
Dominos bed is ready for prime stroking position!
The coffe table and two side tables were another bargain from our local furniture store 'The Brick' at about £75 when it was originally about £175.
Our bedroom door (to the left just after the stairs if the 2nd bedroom)
Our bedroom with a brand new 5ft Canadian Queen mattress and box (about £240) , that when we buy a frame will become the spare bed when we can afford to buy ourselves a luxurious 6ft Canadian King size! (oh and the bedding which was a complete bargain at £25 for everything)
My favourite bit, the walk in wardrobe (this picture does not do justice to its size) which at the moment looks fairly empty as most of our clothes are still en-route.
The ledge on our stairs where we have put up all our leaving cards.
The vaulted stairway.
This is the 2nd floor bathroom
The 3rd bedroom with large closet.
The 2nd Bedroom, again with a large closet. As you can see we have yet to buy furniture as we are going to furnish the basement first, ready for impending guests.
The view oposite our bedroom door (the door that is ajar is the bathroom with the 3rd bedroom door next along) looking at the Bonus room.
The bonus room/family room with 9ft ceiling. The sectional was a bit of a indulgence but was so much of a bargain (about £580) we couldn't leave it in the shop!!!!! The tiny TV you can just about spot in the picture is on loan from our very kind neighbours until we can afford the 50inch+ TV we think this room deserves!!!! The ottoman is for our bedroom but we are using it in here til we can afford to buy the matching ottoman. This room looks rather bare and is the main reason we are looking forward to the arrival of our container so we can get some pictures up on the walls.
Dominos bed is ready for prime stroking position!
The coffe table and two side tables were another bargain from our local furniture store 'The Brick' at about £75 when it was originally about £175.
Our bedroom door (to the left just after the stairs if the 2nd bedroom)
Our bedroom with a brand new 5ft Canadian Queen mattress and box (about £240) , that when we buy a frame will become the spare bed when we can afford to buy ourselves a luxurious 6ft Canadian King size! (oh and the bedding which was a complete bargain at £25 for everything)
My favourite bit, the walk in wardrobe (this picture does not do justice to its size) which at the moment looks fairly empty as most of our clothes are still en-route.
Our very luxurious en-suite with the biggest bath tub I have ever used, I think Nige was worried I might drown!!
See I told you it was huge!!
Oh and the double shower, with a seat (not sure why?)
The view of our deck and the back of the house.
The view from the deck of the path behind our house.
Our deck with our little flower tubs from Costco!
See I told you it was huge!!
Oh and the double shower, with a seat (not sure why?)
The view of our deck and the back of the house.
The view from the deck of the path behind our house.
Our deck with our little flower tubs from Costco!
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