Fall Weekend

I was back out to the cottage this past weekend.  As has become the norm, Hailey had to work, so Margarit had to drive her, so I headed out by myself.  Hailey has to wait until November 1st... the one year anniversary of getting her Class 7 License [Learners permit] to take the road test for her Class 5 License.  Unfortunately the previous NDP government terminated all the private contractors that were doing the driving exams, and now the government examiners are overwhelmed.  The are no exam dates available through the rest of 2019, so she will have to wait for a while longer...

I headed out on Friday after work.  Now that we are at the end of summer, the days are a lot shorter and it was dark when I arrived around 9:00.  It was pretty cool and damp and was only about +6c when I arrived, and it had dropped off to +2c by the time I went to bed.  I had to get a fire going in the woodstove to take the chill out of the cottage.

On Saturday I attempted to install a smart thermostat.  I had to pull the two wire thermostat cable out of the wall and replace it with a new 3 wire cable.  Unfortunately when I tried to pull the new through with the old, I broke the wire off in the wall.  It too me quite a while to get the new 3-wire cable through and I actually ended up pulling two of them.  If we ever expand our mechanical system and add an A/C unit, I will have enough wires to control it.  I couldn't figure out the wiring diagram on the vague instructions included with the thermostat so I had to leave my old thermostat temporarily hooked up in the basement until I can return with better instructions... or some help... to hook up the new one.

I went for short drive on Saturday afternoon and took a couple of photos with my big camera.  The fall colors are in full glory and Saturday was a beautiful day with clear sunny skies and a high temperature up around +22c.  I had a beer in the afternoon with my neighbors and visited for a bit before heading home to make dinner.  It was a beautiful mild evening and the temperature only dropped down to about +10c overnight.  I went out for short walk around 10:00 and the sky was clear and the stars and the milky way were in plain view.

Sunday dawned clear and sunny but by about 9:30AM the clouds rolled in and it stayed heavily overcast all day.  I cleaned out a bunch of construction waste in the basement and hauled it all to the dump.  This was supposed to be a chore for the girls, but they avoided it all summer.  I also cut up a bunch of spruce logs as I want to use them to build a bunk bed for the girls bedroom.  I'll bring them back to the city so that I can dry and peel them and prefabricate the bed frame.  Another chore to add to my long list of things to do....

I packed up and left earlier than usual, hoping that the skies might clear and that I could do a little photography on the way home.  I drove back on the Sunchild Road that passes over Brazeau Dam and into Drayton Valley, and then continued east to Leduc and eventually into the city.  It was a nice drive but the skies remained heavily overcast and even though the fall colors were beautiful, I wasn't compelled to stop and photograph anything.

These are a couple of phone snapshots that I took of the aspens in fall color on my property......