I totally did NOT realize that I had not posted a blog entry last night until well after I had gone to bed. It has been quite the weekend. My birthday is on Monday so I did attempt some pre birthday fun (attempt as weather interacted negatively to either cancel or alter plans) but even more so… I am sure that most of my readers are aware that I am originally from Canada, Alberta in fact… this has been a rough weekend for Southern Alberta. My brother James and his family (Holly and Jimmie) live in Calgary as do many of my Reinsch family relatives. Thankfully all in the higher portions of the city. Likewise my friends Esther, Kathy, Bianca… all safe and relatively dry. Starting late Thursday a flash flood warning went out for Calgary and area… It was much more extreme than expected (rain on the mountains facilitating melt). The city of High River is basically underwater as is Black Diamond I am told. Other towns have also been affected. 

Calgary has been hit hard. Downtown (which is where my brother works) is shut down, underwater and without power… Stampede grounds (Stampede is in 2 weeks) are also underwater… the zoo is looking at 2 weeks closure to fix the mess they are faced with, though there have been no animal losses. There has been 3 confirmed losses of life, thankfully there was some signs so people were able to start evacuating in time. BUT there is always the chance of a surge of water or a dam giving up. Add to that Medicine Hat (where my Aunty Becky and Uncle Lyle live) going under flood warning and it has been a round time all round in southern Alberta. 

It is very surreal to see locations we had previously considered renting in (before the big move here) now underwater… to realize that that could have been us! Not only do I feel very grateful that my family are safe, friends sound but I am equally aware that we really are where we need to be here in Minnesota. Although we too were under a flash flood and storm warning Friday night… my brother in law Joe and his family have downed branches and their neighbourhood has seen worse. Power has been off for AGES! 

If you are able to help HERE is a list of drop offs and ways to financially donate to help all the different people (and animals) who are in need after the flooding… Thanks to Huffington Post. Life is not going to go back to normal in these areas any time soon… again I am just thankful that for the most part everyone is ok… and saying a prayer that this is the end of the flooding and wonky weather! 

Picture thanks to Roman Sotelo (HERE is his Facebook page)

I love the little blurb on the cover of the book Penelope by Anya Wylde…

It is monstrously unfair that whenever a girl needs her wits about her, she goes and does something completely idiotic.

Right there that sets the tone for this tongue in cheek regency era romance. Young Penelope has been sent to London to stay with the woman who once promised her mother to look after her. Sadly Penelope’s mother died when she was young leaving her to the not so tender mercies of her stepmother… oh and stepsisters (who are neither evil nor important to the storyline to a great degree). So she has spent much time “talking” to her mother’s portrait and growing up to be a very singular young lady in possession of a very friendly… goat?

In fact, on Amazon it is listed as a Madcap Regency Romance. I will say this is NOT a historical Regency… little care is spent making sure the manners and language of ALL characters remains in period… but the laughs are there in spades, including a rather interesting dressmaker, who was my favourite secondary character – one of my favourite lines is spoken by Madame…

Girl, let me educate you. I have the soul of a woman, and that means my bonnet jiggles for a man.

Although a close second comes from our main character discussing her emotional state in the face of the duke:

“I am frightened because of… peanuts.” “Peanuts?” Madame asked faintly. “Yes, peanuts. Beth, one of my stepsisters, is allergic to peanuts. Whenever she eats a peanut her face flushes, her tongue feels swollen, her heart starts racing, and she feels queer. I feel the same when the duke is around, so you see the only conclusion is that I am allergic to the duke. I know he does not truly want to kill me but he might do just that by simply being around me.”

This madcap miss and her duke are a joy to read, if you are willing to giggle your way through a book and not too stuck on historical minutia this could be the book for you!!!

Penelope

We do enjoy our unique looking herbivores and Pinacosaurus is another of these. With its unusual head, armoured body and clubbed tail, this Cretaceous period dinosaur was found in one of our favourite countries… China. It is believed that is must have been a desert animal as most of the fossils have been found in sand dunes. In fact, quite a few herd type deposits have been found.

Now the I’m a Dinosaur video.

Now for our links… in point form… enjoy…

• EnchantedLearning HERE.
• KidsDinos.com HERE.
• Dinosaurs.about.com HERE.
• Animal Planet HERE.
• Dinosaur King HERE.
• Age of Dinosaurs HERE.
• The Dino Directory HERE.
• Dinosaur Jungle HERE.
• Wiki HERE.
• I am not sure where this image came from originally, but you can find our colouring page HERE.
  

  With Zander