Catching Up...

Wow... it's been nearly two weeks since I've posted anything.  It sure has been busy the last little while.

The Renegades played and lost our second playoff game of the summer.  So hockey is now over until the winter season gets underway in the fall.

The home renovations are well underway.  The new laminate flooring is finished, except for a couple of pieces of trim that have been backordered.  Margarit has all the painting done, with the exception of a some casings.  We are now waiting for our new fridge to be delivered, but it too has been back ordered.  I am trying to find time to get to installing new baseboards.  We have some of the furniture back in the house, but need to finish up the baseboards before we move it all back in.

We were back out to the Ranch in the badlands this weekend, camping with some neighbors and out for a couple of trail rides.  The girls are in a riding camp this week and hopefully they get good weather and can be out with the horses a lot.

I sent off a couple submission packages for the Procession West project last week, both to British Columbia.  One went to Nelson and the other to Kelowna.  I have at least three more that I need to get together and out hopefully this week.

I've decided to buy a new view camera.  I really like the Sinar F1 that I have been using since I purchased it new back in 1996.  But it does not fold down to a compact size, and is quite heavy.  The pack that I carry, which includes camera, lenses, meter, filters, film holders, accessories and tripod weighs in at about 75 Lbs.  This is very limiting as I simply can not carry it very far, or when there is significant elevation gain, or on rough terrain.  I am making up a lighter pack that will be reserved for hiking into more remote locations.  The camera that I have ordered is an Ebony SV45TE.  It is made from Ebony wood and titanium.  It folds up to 7-1/2" x 8-1/4" x 4", and weighs about 6 Lbs.  I plan on including three or four of my smaller lenses, about 10 film holders, the camera, a meter and a few filters.  With a light tripod I think I can keep the whole outfit down to around 25 Lbs... about a third of what I have been carrying.

I won't get this new camera for a few weeks, so I will not be able to use it on an upcoming backcountry hike in Kananaskis.  But it should arrive in time to see some use in the late summer and fall.  I'll still keep my Sinar and use it whenever I am not walking too far from my vehicle.