Blackstone

On Wednesday Hailey went on line and did her school lessons from the cottage.  She finished up shortly before 2:00 in the afternoon.  Right after that we set out for a drive.  The weather was much better than it had been the day before.  It was mostly cloudy, but the sun broke out from time to time.  The temperature got up to around +15C, and the winds were much lighter.

We took a drive north on the Forestry Trunk Road.  About 32km north of Highway 11, the Trunk Road crosses the Blackstone River.  This is a favorite spot of ours and we used to camp here with our trailer quite regularly.  Now that we have our cottage nearby, this has become a favorite spot for a day trip.  There are some extensive gravel bars, littered with driftwood.  Mixed in with all the river rock are some fossils.  These are invertebrate fossils that are marine in origin.  I'm not sure exactly what they are, some sort of preserved worm burrows...?  Or maybe coral of some kind.  In any event they are quite fascinating, and fairly common.  On very rare occasions we have also found shell imprints.

Hailey and I wandered around for a couple of hours.  We brought Quinn along for some exercise, but had to keep her on a leash so that she didn't wander out onto the rotten ice at the edge of the river.  Hailey collected some rocks, and I took a bunch of photographs with my 4x5 view camera.  It was a great afternoon.  By early evening we headed back to the cottage.  The BBQ came out of the garage and I got a meal of steak, baked potatoes and salad on the go.

Tuesday at Nordegg

The weather on Tuesday was not great.  It was mostly sunny, but the temperature only got up to about +9C, and there was a brisk wind out of the east.  That wind felt really cold, and made it unpleasant to be outside.  Most of the day was spent indoors.

Hailey had to do online schooling, so she spent a few hours at that.  She brought two of the pets along, so Joey the rabbit and Quinn the dog hung out with us.  In the early afternoon I ventured out into the yard and attempted a photograph of some aspen trunks in nice side lighting.  Later in the afternoon I worked on yet another watercolor painting, this one my eighth.  I made us a dinner of baked enchiladas with refried black beans on the side.  In the evening I had a zoom meeting with my two brothers.

All in all a very low key day, and not much was accomplished.  I'm hoping the wind lets up and that we can get back outside again later in the week.

Monday at Nordegg

The weather improved dramatically on Monday April 26th.  I was finally able to put aside my sketching and watercolor painting, and get some work done.  I cleared a path through the bush, making way through all the deadfall, over to the building site on our second property.  I also wandered around in the forest a little bit and admired all the mature trees, the game trails, and just enjoyed being outside.  It was a beautiful day and the skies were sunny.  By mid afternoon the temperature topped out at about +14C.

After I finished clearing brush I put my chainsaw away and dug my power tools out of the garage.  I brought along some pine lumber, and set about building some trim.  I can't believe how much the price of lumber has increased.  An 8 foot length of #2 grade 1x6 cost $11.  As recently as a year and half ago, it would have been about three dollars.  I used my thickness planer, tablesaw and chopsaw to prepare the wood.  I glued together a trim frame that will be used to mount an antique window into the rolling door in the cottage.  I also sanded out a piece of pine that will be mounted on the top of the door to conceal the rollers.  Then I cut up all the baseboards for our guest bedroom.  I had previously made and finished these, and had the stock ready in the garage.  Then I dug out my air compressor and brad nailer and installed all the baseboards.

I have that door trim all sanded out and ready to finish but unfortunately I didn't bring along any stain.  So the finishing and final installation will have to wait for another day.  Once that is installed then the finishing of the cottage will be complete.  The only things I have left to do will be to hang some pictures and decorations, and do a little touch up painting.  With work about to start on the construction of a guest cottage on our property next door, the timing couldn't be better.

Late in the afternoon, once the work was all done, I went for a ride around the subdivision with my ATV.  With the snow a few days ago, the trails are all pretty muddy.  But it was a beautiful afternoon to get out and do a little exploring.

In the early evening Hailey arrived.  She had decided to head out from the city and spend a few days out here with me.  With school being switched to online for the next couple of weeks, she can keep up to her classes from here.  She brought along her pet rabbit Joey, and the family dog Quinn.

Second Sketch - Brush Hill

I grew tired of making a mess with watercolor, so after finishing my seventh small painting, I set the materials aside and went back to pencil sketching.  I bought some sketching supplies a few weeks back, and did my first one shortly afterwards.  The sketching kind of got set aside for a bit while I took a stab at watercolor painting.

This is is my second sketch.  I based it on a photograph that I took last year.  This is the old Brush Hill Reformed Church up in Minburn County.  I understand that it was built in 1916.  It has obviously been abandoned for some time, and the door and windows are boarded up.  The steeple is beginning to deteriorate fairly badly, and I wonder how much longer it will continue to stand.

This sketch turned out a lot better than my first one, and for that matter, a lot better than my painting attempts too.  Perhaps I should stick to sketching....?

I included a few snapshots that I took as the work progressed, as well as a photo of the finished sketch.  The photocopy of the photograph that I was working from, is also visible.

I started on this sketch quite some time ago, and then set it aside.  I returned to it on Saturday afternoon while I was out at the cottage by myself.  I continued working through Saturday evening, and finished it up on Sunday morning.

It seems the weather is improving now.  There was snow in the forecast last night, and we got a little, but it didn't accumulate.  It is supposed to warm up considerably for the next few days so I look forward to getting outside.  I can work on some of my projects around the property, and maybe get out with my camera for a while.

Watercolor Day

The weather out at Nordegg has been kind of crappy.  The recent snowfall that accumulated to a couple of inches, mostly remains on the ground.  It has been cold and blustery.  It dropped down to about -10C on Friday night, and so far on Saturday it has only bounced back to about +1.

I didn't feel motivated to try and work outside in the cold, so I stayed in the cottage all day long.  I ended up doing three small watercolor paintings, and then on Saturday did one more.  The first one was the winter scene that I put up in a separate post.  That painting is OK, and it succeeded as a lesson in painting snow.  Later in the day I did two more paintings.  I'm not thrilled with either of them, but at least I'm beginning to understand some of the techniques.  I don't think I have the skill to ever become a realist painter.  I think I have to evolve into an abstract style, perhaps with some vivid and bright colors.  I am partially color blind and have trouble differentiating between greens, browns and greys.  I don't think I'll ever be able to master proper color mixing as a result.  So a departure from reality is probably a better option.  

Artisan Rolls... again

The weather was pretty crappy on Friday when I was out at the cottage.  It couldn't seem to decide if it wanted to be sunny, or snow.  The sun peeked out off and on, but only for a few moments at a time.  In between snow flurries would come and go.  At times the snow got fairly heavy, but there wasn't any further accumulation.  I spent the day inside, starting with making a batch of Artisan Rolls.  I mixed up the dough on Thursday night after my arrival.  It has to sit overnight to rise and for the yeast to become active.  Then in the morning I kneaded and shaped the dough into rolls, before giving them another 20 minutes for the final rise.  Then I popped them into the oven and baked them.  It was nice to have fresh baking for breakfast.  I like this recipe a lot and will continue to make it on a regular basis.

Fourth Watercolor

I headed out to Nordegg on Thursday April 22nd.  When I awoke on Thursday morning, after the photo daytrip, the weather had indeed taken a turn for the worse.  The temperature was just a degree or two above freezing, it was overcast and breezy, and there was a skiff of snow on the ground.  None of the girls felt like heading out to the cottage, so I went by myself.  I have a few little construction projects to work on, plus I also hope to find a little time for photography, watercolor painting, sketching, and guitar.

There was about four of five inches of fresh snow up on Saunders Ridge when I drove out to Nordegg.  But the highway was free of snow and mostly dry, all the way out.  At the cottage there was about two inches of fresh snow on the ground.  It stayed cold on Thursday, and Friday was no better.  The temperature barely got up to around the freezing mark.  The construction projects I need to work on require me to set up a thickness planer, tablesaw and chopsaw outside.  I didn't feel like doing that in the cold, so I set about working on another watercolor. 

Unlike other painting techniques watercolor requires no paint in the white areas, and just the paper is allowed to show.  This is a little different mindset then other types of painting.  In light of the weather, and wanting to work on this technique, I chose to paint a simple snow scene.  I think it turned out reasonably well.  This little painting is approx. 6" x 6".  I'm generally happy with my snow, but not thrilled with the little spruce seedling I attempted to paint in.

Accepted

On the morning of April 23rd I received an e-mail advising me that I had been accepted as an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists.  It's and honor to be a part of this prestigious organization.  I was accepted for my photography.  Perhaps in the future my painting and sketching will become good enough that I can be acknowledged for that as well.

The second bit of good news that I received on the same day, was a negative Covid test for my daughter Annelise.  She was exposed to a positive case at school a week ago and has been required to isolate for two weeks.  The isolation will continue, but at least now we know that she is not at risk.

The Old Home Place

After we left the yard with the windmill, we headed back to the old family homestead.  This was the spot that we were originally exploring, when we met the landowner.  This old home is heavily overgrown with bush, and unfortunately it has been significantly vandalized.  The structure is badly deteriorated, and likely beyond salvage.  This was our last stop of the day and we spent an hour or so here taking some more photographs.  The last time we were at this location it was in the middle of winter.  The light was softer, which made photographing the interior a little easier.  But it was also quite cold, which made working with the big cameras a challenge.

When we first pulled up to the site there was a male Ruffed Grouse strutting his stuff on the side of the road.  His namesake neck feathered were all splayed out on display and he was holding his tail feathers in a fan.  I didn't have my digital camera ready, but managed to get a snapshot of him with my phone.

The Windmill

After photographing the Old House, Arturo, Fred and I continued on to a nearby farmyard.  This one was owned by the same landowner, and we had permission to photograph here as well.  The was an old windmill here, still spinning in the wind. By this point in the day the wind had picked up considerably, and become rather brisk.  In fact the forecast was calling for a major change in the weather and a cold front was supposed to be rolling in with snow and rain.  It certainly felt like it.  The windmill spun pretty freely in the breeze, though it did squeak a bit.  The crank was still working, and a connecting rod was rocking a wood lever back and forth.  There was still a waterwell beside the windmill, but it had an old hand pump on it, and was no longer connected to the mill.

There was some old junk in the small stand of trees beside the windmill.  Mostly some farm implements, and an old transmission.  There was the front grill of an old pickup truck, disconnected from the nearby cab, which was upside down.  There was also an old house, that showed some nice texture in the old weathered wood siding.  We photographed for a while at this location, before eventually continuing on our way.

Inside the Old House

On April 21st I took a day trip north of Edmonton, with my friends Arturo and Fred.  We had arranged permission to photograph the interior of an old house.  On a previous trip, back in the winter, we had met up with the owner, and asked if we could return in milder weather.  The arrangements were all made, and we headed out first thing in the morning.

This stately old home dates back about a century.  In recent years it was fully overgrown with brush.  But, in the past year or so, the owner cleaned up the yard and now the old home is right out in the open.  The yard has another newer house adjacent to it, which is occupied, and we entered the property with permission.  The old house was unlocked and opened up for us, and we were provided the luxury of a couple of hours for photography.  In exchange for this courtesy we committed to providing the owner and his family with some prints.

The home has been unoccupied for many years.  Calendars on the wall were dated from the 1960's and 1970's.  The one hanging on the wall beside the bedroom window was from 1960... three years before I was born.  I had to kind of wrap my head around that one, considering the fact that I just turned 58 a few days ago.

There was an old copy of the Edmonton Journal in one of the bedrooms.  It was dated Wednesday January 27th 1971.  I was in Grade Three when this paper was published.  It was the old Broad Sheet size of newspaper.  There was an editorial written by Art Evans, who I still remember.  There was also an advertisement from the Johnston Walker Department Store.  I vividly remember that store being in the Bonnie Doon Shopping Center in Edmonton.  They had a large sunken area just inside the store, and a big staircase leading up to their upper level.  It was quite the classy place... back in the day.  I can't remember exactly when they disappeared, but it was quite some time ago....

After a couple of hours the owner had to leave, so he locked up the place and went on his way.  But we were permitted to remain on the property and photograph the exterior.  We stayed for a while longer and continued to take photographs before eventually moving on.  The same landowner also had two other properties nearby that we had permission to explore on this day.

Twenty years ago when I started out in photography you could just wander in to old places at your whim and photograph, without issue.  Nowadays things have changed a lot.  Mostly the modern photographers show no respect.  Properties are vandalized and things are stolen.  Most places are locked up, or posted No Trespassing.  In a worst case scenario, some landowners choose to knock down old buildings, to keep unwanted people away.  It is so nice to have permission to get in to places like this and visually explore.  The landowner was appreciative of our respect and gratitude.  In return we are showing our appreciation by not disclosing the location, and not bringing any other photographers to the property.