Back to Nordegg

Our plans to head out to Nordegg on the weekend of July 16 and 17 were postponed.  It rained a lot over that weekend and the days before.  I understand that nearly five inches of rain fell over the course of several days.  Our contractor managed to rough in the driveway on our property, and got a base coat of gravel fill spread out.  We headed out this past weekend and spent a pretty enjoyable couple of days.  I was a little tense and worried all weekend long as I burnt out the clutch on my truck trying to back our trailer up the slope onto our property.  But we were out there with two of our trucks so we were never really stranded.  I managed to nurse the truck with the damaged clutch back home, and now have it in the shop for repairs so everything turned out all right.

We hauled an old trampoline that my brother gave us out to the property and set it up in the bush for the girls.  They spent the better part of the weekend bouncing on it and it seems to be a hit.

My mom came along with us for the weekend and got to see our property for the first time.  We took a day trip up the Forestry Trunk Road to the Blackstone River on Saturday afternoon.  Here Margarit gathered a bunch of rocks for her rock garden back in the city.  The girls went swimming and splashing in the cold water of the Blackstone.  It was running pretty high and dirty in light of the recent rains, but they found a couple of side pools that were out of the main stream.  I tried out the new rifle that I recently purchased, a Browning lever-action 30.06, and also took a few shots with my view camera.

We put a salt block out in the bush on our property for the game animals, and I set up a game camera on Saturday and left it out until Sunday, just to see what was around.  There has regularly been a white tail doe wandering around and the camera demonstrated that she was a regular visitor.  She quickly discovered the salt block and on Sunday morning brought around her fawn.  We also had a buck stop by to check things out.  I set the date incorrectly on my game camera so these were actually taken on July 24... not the 25th...

Summer Hockey - Regular Season Ends

The Renegades just played the last game of the summer regular season last night.  We went through a stretch, near then end, where we lost two or three games in a row.  Our season ended with two back to back games against a team called Snake Arm.  The first of the two games was on Monday July 18th, and this followed a game in which we had been blown out by the Crestwood Rockets.  On Monday it was our turn for a blowout and we defeated Snake Arm by a score of 10-4.  Their goaltender got rattled after about five goals and couldn't focus as we shovelled a bunch more past him.  Last night we played them again, but this time around they had a different goaltender.  It was a much closer game and we managed to hang on for a 5-3 victory.

All the teams in our division make the playoffs.  The bottom four play in the first round while the other six teams get a bye to the second round.  The standings were very close with no teams winning more than nine games through the season.  We finished with a record of 8 wins and 7 losses, good for fourth place overall.  We now get to rest for a week while the bottom four teams play the first round.  Our playoff round will begin after the long weekend against a team called Shootin' Blanks.  We played these guys once during the regular season and defeated them.  My team is really looking forward to some post season hockey...!!!

Kodak High Speed Infrared in T-Max

In late May I processed two batches of Kodak High Speed Infrared Film in 4" x 5" format in my old stand-by... Kodak T-Max developer, diluted 1:6, for 6:45 minutes, at 24C.  The results were much better than what I had achieved with my experimental development in X-Tol.  I see no need to continue experimenting and will stick with what has worked in the past.  This film is still very finicky and is susceptible to uneven development, dust spots and finger prints.  But the results in T-Max developer are as good or better than anything else I have been able to achieve in alternative chemistry.  This batch included a selection of images taken on various outings through very late 2015 and into the first half of 2016...

Kodak High Speed Infrared in X-Tol

I still have quite a bit of Kodak High Speed Infrared in 4" x 5" sheet format, in my freezer.  This film was discontinued in the late 1990's and all of my stock reached it's "Best Before" date in 2000 or 2001.  I've kept it frozen and continue to shoot with it.  In the past I have mostly processed it in Kodak T-Max Developer, diluted 1:6.  This is slightly more dilute than the normal 1:4 dilution called for by Kodak.  I have been pretty happy with the results, but always had some issues with uneven development, fingerprints, dust spots, etc.

In recent months I've been shooting some duplicate shots so that I could attempt to process some in X-Tol, and then compare to the T-Max.  I was hoping to eliminate the issues that I have been having with uneven development, and also find a developer that is a little more economical and forgiving.  On May 20th I processed a batch of 11 sheets of film in Kodak X-Tol developer, diluted 1:1, for 10:45 minutes at 24C.  When I compared this to identical negatives processed in T-Max by my usual routine I found that these X-Tol negatives were a little too dense.  More importantly I found that these negatives suffered from uneven development, mottling, spotting and fingerprints to an even greater degree than what I had experienced with T-Max.

I have a finite supply of this film left.  This little experiment taught me that there is no point wasting it on testing and experimentation.  I need to continue to process in T-Max, which has afforded me generally good results.  I will still continue to lose a few images to fingerprints, dust spots and minor development issues, but probably to a lesser degree than what I have expereinced with the alternative.  Here are some scans of a few of the images that came out of this batch.  The compositions are generally OK, but virtually all of then exhibit some sort of development issues, at least to a minor degree...

Renegades - Summer Hockey

The team has been on a losing skid in recent weeks.  We went from being near the top of our division, to near the bottom of the standings.  Earlier tonight we played what I think is one of our worst games ever.  It was close through the first two periods and at one point we were up by a score of 4-2.  We were tied with the Crestwood Rockets, a team that we have already defeated a couple of times and who were tied with us in the standings.  We very obviously ran out of gas and the scored eight straight goals to defeat us 10-4.  Our last several games were not much better.  We have two games left in the regular season, both next week.  We need to turn things around and build a little momentum going into the playoffs.  The playoff round starts late next week and continues until mid August.  Hopefully we can get our act together.

Clearwater County Landowners - Nordegg North Subdivision

Back on May 21st I took a solo trip out to Nordegg to take a closer look at the lots that were offered for sale by Clearwater County, in the north subdivision.  This little known area has been undergoing development for a number of years.  Most of the northern part of the subdivision consists of year round residences.  More recently the County has offered up some recreational lots in the southern part of the subdivision.  These lots vary in size from about 1.0 to 1.5 acres.  There are strict rules in place about building on these properties within three years of purchase.  There are design guidelines in place that limit the size of the cottages to be constructed on these properties, and there are design requirements mostly related to forest fire suppression.  At this point we were seriously considering the purchase of one of these properties.  This area is less than three hours drive from Edmonton, and is situated right in the front ranges of the Rockies.  There are all sorts of really interesting locations within a short distance of this area including great fishing and hiking opportunities, not to mention the photographic possibilities.  We have spent a lot of time camping in the immediate area in recent years and this is what has drawn us to the possibility of owning a property of our own.  Our previous trip out to the area narrowed down our preference as to which lots we were most interested in.  On this trip I decided that the property located at 1252 Tamarack Trail was the most desirable.  This was the largest and most expensive of the recreational cottage lots in the subdivision.  I wandered around this property for a while and spooked a white tail deer as I first wandered back into the forest.  Even at this early point in the season there were wildflowers, and a potentially great view towards the mountains in the southwest.

On my way back home I pondered the possibilities...  To break up the drive I stopped at a beaver pond along the David Thompson Highway west of Rocky Mountain House.  I have noticed this pond many times in the past, as by mid summer it is covered with a carpet of pond lilies.  Even at this early point in the season it was seeing the emergence of the lily pads.  I parked on the side of the highway and wandered around the pond for a while with my big view camera.  I took a few digital snapshots and then put that camera away, to more seriously explore the subject on film.

A few days after returning home, and after Margarit and I had discussed and considered things for a while, we decided to make an offer to purchase this property.  In the past the County has been pretty firm about the asking price for these lots.  In consideration of the fact that no lots had sold for over a year, and that economic conditions had depressed real estate prices, we decided to make an offer to the County through their realtor.  We offered about 12% less than their asking price, and kept our fingers crossed.  It was a cash offer, with no conditions attached and an almost immediate possession date.  This had to go to a County council meeting for approval.  I fully expected them to reject our offer, which would have forced us to reconsider our options and perhaps lower our expectations, and force us to consider one of the slightly smaller lots.  Much to my surprise the offer was accepted.  We turned everything over to our lawyer, and by the end of June we were the proud owners of a patch of forest.  The lot is 130 Feet wide and over 500 Feet deep and faces almost due south.  It is fully forested and slopes gently to the back.  Eventually we will have neighbors in fairly close proximity on either side.  The developed lots behind us our are out of sight as they are over the hill and some distance away.  We headed out to the area immediately after taking possession at the end of June, and spent the Canada Day long weekend.  There was just enough room for us to spot our trailer on the approach driveway to the lot.  We really enjoyed the weekend and made a trail into the center of the property and set up a fire pit.  Margarit's best friend and her family have a lot a short distance down the road, and it was through them that we found out about this subdivision in the first place.  Shelley and her daughter Amy were out with us for the long weekend and we enjoyed their company as we got familiar with our property.  We really enjoyed the peace and quiet of our own private space despite the fact that it was the busiest weekend of the summer.  We went for a half day trail ride at a nearby riding stable, the girls went swimming at nearby Fish Lake a couple of times, and we gradually became familiar with our new property.

At the end of the long weekend we met with a local contractor, and hired him to clear a driveway and construct a parking pad for us.  He is also routing in a power line so that when we eventually end up building a cottage, the utility supply will be in place.  Scott from Shunda Creek Contracting e-mailed a couple of pictures to me a couple of days after the long weekend.  These show the clearing work that has already taken place in advance of this construction work.  The next time we head down to Nordegg we will not have to park our trailer on the approach driveway.  Rather we will be able to back into the center of our property and set up camp in a much more private location.. Over the coming months we will design the cottage that we want to construct, apply for development permits and by next spring we hope to have a contractor in place to build our dream.  Very exciting times indeed...!!

Aurora Borealis

Friends of mine are into photographing the aurora, and astro photography.  I have never attempted it in the past.  With film it was much more challenging but with current digital cameras, it is much easier.  

When we got out of the last show at the Spring Fest in East Coulee back in early May, and headed back over to the trailer, set up at the shop, the two girls and I marvelled at the spectacular display of northern lights that was dancing across the sky.  I had my digital camera with me, and a wide angle lens, but no tripod.  I had only brought along a monopod, thinking that would be all I needed to photograph the musicians.  I made my first ever attempt at photographing the aurora.  Because it was such a spectacular display I managed a not bad shot of the lights dancing over the shop in East Coulee.  Its a little blurry and unsharp due to camera movement during the long exposure.  I tripod, as opposed to the monopod that I had with me, would have resolved this.

East Coulee Springfest 2016

Every year at the beginning of May there is a music festival in East Coulee.  It has been running for about 20 years now.  The festival is a fundraiser for the East Coulee School Museum and features mostly local bands.  It is a real mix of folk, bluegrass, country, with a little alternative and rock mixed in.  The shows run simultaneously on several stages in the School Museum and in the adjacent community hall.  This year it ran in the evening on Friday May 6th and all day on Saturday May 7th.

Yes... I am TWO MONTHS BEHIND in posting to my blog.  I hope to catch up on that in the coming weeks but it will be a challenge.

Middle daughter Annelise signed up for competitive dance this year and as a result she has been really busy through May and June with dance competitions, rehearsals and recitals.  Oldest daughter Hailey just signed up for recreational dance so she only has to go to her weekly class, and a year end recital.

The weekend of the Spring Fest, Annelise was in a dance competition in Banff.  So, Margarit had to take her and missed out on the Spring Fest.  I went down to East Coulee with the other two girls and we took in the festival.  Mostly Hailey and I took in the festival... Helena found it too loud so she mostly stayed in our trailer back at the Dinosaur Valley Studios shop and watched movies on TV.

I really enjoyed the festival this year and had a great time.  Small venues are so imtimate and it is a wonderful way to experience live music.  I ended up taking a few snapshots with my digital camera and got some good ones of the action.  There were no really big, high profile musicians at the show but I really enjoyed most of the acts that I saw... this included Nettie Mack, St. James Gate, Crystal Plamondon, Layne Syvertsen, among others.  There is just so much going on that it is impossible to see everyone and you have to just wander around and catch as much as you can.  I'm already looking forward to next year, and hopefully Margarit will be able to see it then too.