Back to Work

On Thursday November 25th I headed back out to the cottage.  I got a bit of a late start as there were a bunch of things to look after in the morning.  I picked up a load of 75 boards of the aspen paneling that I had previously purchased and stored.  I wrapped these in a tarp for the trip out to the cottage.  I also had to drive Margarit to pick up her vehicle, which was in for service.  It was about 1:00 in the afternoon before I finally hit the road.

The late start was probably a good thing as we had freezing rain over night.  Everything was coated with a layer of about an eighth of an inch of ice.  It would have been easier to get around on skates, than shoes.  I understand that there were nearly 60 collisions in the city that morning.  I saw four of them just in our part of the city, as I ran my errands.  I had my truck in four wheel drive, with the engine brake turned on, and was just carefully driving.  I had no issues.  I understand that there were nearly 30 calls for ambulance services by pedestrians that fell on the ice and got hurt.

By the time I left the city the temperature had got up to about +3 and the roads were just wet and sloppy and no longer icy.  I saw lots of cars and trucks in the ditch as I headed out of the city.  There was a big accident on Highway 2 north of Ponoka.  The RCMP had the northbound lanes of the Highway closed and were detouring traffic on Highway 2A.  One big semi-truck jack-knifed on the ice and two other big trucks piled into it.  One of the drivers was killed.  I drove by the scene on my way out to the cottage and one of the 50 trailers was spilt right in half with its cargo strewn all over the highway.  By this time the southbound lanes of the highway were clear and dry and I had no issues getting out to the cottage.

I arrived just as the sun was dropping towards the western horizon.  The days are very short at this time of year and the sun sets at around 4:45PM.  But it was very warm, and the temperature peaked at about +10C.  I managed to get all 75 pieces of paneling off loaded from my truck and stacked up in the guest cottage, finishing just after dark.

Friday wasn't quite as nice a day, and was mostly overcast.  It still got up to about +8C, and the wind was not as strong.  I got a fire going in the guest cottage to take the chill out, and set to work about 10:30AM once it had warmed up.  The sun doesn't even break over Eagle Peak in the east until nearly 9:30AM, so it takes a while for things to warm up.

I brought along one of the five gallon pails of water based lacquer that I bought, and set to work finishing the paneling.  I gave one coat to the back side to seal the wood, and three coats to the exposed surface.  This stuff takes a long time to dry... a lot longer than the solvent based lacquer that I previously used.  That stuff would dry in minutes.  But its far to volatile and flammable to use at this time of year, with a fire going for heat.  I only have room to lay out eight boards at a time.  But I managed to get two sets of eight fully finished, before the day was done.  

There is no entrance step into the cottage yet as the backfilling is not complete.  I have been using a step ladder to get in and out of the building.  At one point I slipped as I was stepping from the ladder into the door.  My shin came down hard on the edge of the aluminum threshold, and my knee, elbows and hands crashed to the floor inside.  As I lay there in pain I thought to myself... I'm out here alone, and if I've broken a leg or something, I'm really screwed.  But nothing was broken.  Just a bunch of bruises and a big cut on my shin.  I walked it off and carried on.

I stoked up the wood stove when I left for the evening and let it burn itself out overnight.  The next morning at 9:00 when I went over to start the fire and check on things, it had only dropped down to zero in the cottage, despite being -8C outside.  Once the place warms up, I'll get back over there again and get back to work.

Two Weeks Apart

Back on November 15th we got a snowfall in Nordegg.  I posted a panoramic shot on my blog that showed the fresh snow around our cottage.  Today, on November 28th, we have been blessed with a few days of mild weather, and what was left of that snow is now almost gone.  We have had high temperatures up into double digits in recent days, but mostly it was overcast.  Today it made it up to about +7, and as I write this, at 11:00PM, it is still +1.  Once again, it was overcast, but what was left of the snow really melted off.  I took a panoramic shot with my phone this afternoon, from more or less the same spot that I did two weeks ago.  The difference is remarkable....!  I like winter, but its a little too long in this neck of the woods.  The longer it stays away, the better.

Forgotten Chair

This is another image taken on Foma Retropan Soft 320 and developed in Microphen.  When Arturo and I were out exploring last summer, we found this abandoned community hall.  All of the walls were totally covered with graffiti.  It was very colorful, so I also took a shot on color film.  I haven't got around to processing that one yet.  But I think it looks OK in black and white too...

The Bulge

The day after I completed the batch of FP4, I decided to process a second batch of film.  This was a batch of 4x5 sheet film... Foma Retropan 320 Soft.  This is kind of an old school emulsion that gives a soft, dreamy sort of look.  I try to enhance that somewhat by developing it in Microphen.  This developer dramatically increases the grain in the film, and in my mind helps to soften the image even further.  I don't use this film a lot, but from time to time I shoot something with it.  I've accumulated a batch of 20 sheets that need processing, dating back to 2017.

This is the first one from that batch.  It is some bulged and water stained plaster in an old abandoned building.  I thought the soft look might add to the nostalgic feel of the image.  Not sure if it helped..?

Sandspit

This image was taken about six or eight weeks prior to my previously posted Mistaya image, in May of 2020.  Obviously the mountain runoff had not yet started and water levels are very low.  This is Abraham Lake, near Windy Point.  The reservoir is filled to capacity by fall, and water is slowly released over the winter.  This image was also taken on FP4 film, and developed in the same batch of Perceptol.  It suffered from the staining issue like all the others.   

Mistaya

These past few days I processed a couple of batches of 4x5 sheet film.  The first was yet another batch of Ilford FP4 in Perceptol developer.  This time around I reduced the development time a little and used stock strength, rather than diluting it 1:1 with water.  The result was the same, and if anything perhaps slightly worse... more blue/purple staining.  This will be my last attempt at using Perceptol and I will move on to something else.  Hopefully the images are not ruined and I can print through the stain.  The stain doesn't really show up in the scans, so I'm hopeful they won't in the prints either.

This shot of the Mistaya River in Mistaya Canyon in Banff National Park brings back some memories.  I was photographing there with my friend Rob in June of 2020.  Water levels were very high everywhere as the mountain runoff was in full swing.  At this spot I was right beside the rushing torrent of the river.  The water was shooting over this rock ledge at tremendous speed... like cars zipping by on the highway.  Anyone or anything that fell into the water would have been shot down into the canyon with great force and pulverized to bits.  A still image really doesn't do justice to the force of nature that was evident on this day.

Ice Bloom

On November 22nd it was forecast to be sunny and get up to +7C.  Well, the clouds rolled in late in the morning, and the temperature only made it up to +3C., so the forecast didn't hold true.  But, it seemed not too bad, so I headed down to the river valley to try and capture the annual Ice Bloom on film.  There was a wind blowing through the valley, and high humidity down near the open water.  As soon as I stepped away from the cover of the shore, and out onto the pedestrian bridge, it suddenly felt a LOT colder.  This time around I attempted to photograph at the footbridge down at Hawrelak Park.  

In the past my best photos of the ice bloom have been long time exposures.  The lily pads of ice float along at a pretty good clip.  During a long exposure they become a streaky raceway of white lines against the dark water.  It's particularly interesting when there are some gravel bars to shift the current from side to side.  You never know exactly what you're going to get until to you process the film.

It's challenging to shoot on the bridges because the railings are so high.  You have get the tripod really elevated and then it is difficult to see the ground glass and compose properly.  I attempted two setups, and took a couple of shots of each.  Hopefully something turns out.  

Damn that duck must have been cold....!!  There were actually three of them paddling around among the ice lily pads.

Moonlit Snow

I can't believe how bright it was at night, out at Nordegg.  There was a clear sky, and a full moon, and fresh snow.  When I got up in the middle of the night to feed some logs to the fire, it seemed like it was early morning, and the sun was about to rise.  But it was the bright full moon reflecting off the newly fallen snow.  My phone was even able to capture it... to a degree...

FP4 in Perceptol and Purple Stains

I've been having a lot of challenges with Ilford Perceptol developer.  Mostly I've used this developer with Ilford FP4 film.  I have also been using it with Bergger Panchro 400 and Rollei RPX-25.  The developer does not completely wash the anti-halation dye out of the film.  As a result there is a purple/blue stain left on the negative.  It varies from sheet to sheet within the same batch.  Sometimes it is very light and almost non-existent, while other times it is very distinct and obvious.  I'm hoping that for the most part I can print through this, and salvage the negatives.  But sometimes the stain is uneven, so this may not always be the case.

The problem is consistent through various manufacturing batches of the film.  As the problem is also evident in other films from other manufacturer's, it is obvious the issue is with the developer.

I've tried all sorts of things to attempt to narrow down the problem.  I tried processing the film without a water pre-soak, as Ilford recommends this.  That made no difference.  I was doing some reading online and it seems that others have had similar issues.  Someone suggested an afterbath [following fixing] in Dektol developer.  This is a very strong and robust developer and the theory was that it would wash out the stain.  It did not.  I normally use Perceptol diluted 1:1... so I tried a batch with stock solution and reduced development time.  This also made no difference.  My friend Arturo suggested trying some film that had never been frozen.  I generally keep all of my film in the freezer until I load it in film holders.  I bought a fresh box of film, loaded some, took some photographs with it, and processed the film.  There was little to no visible stain in any of the film that had not been frozen.  It seems that is the answer...!

But, this doesn't solve my problem.  I have hundreds of sheets of film in my freezer that I would like to use.  I can no longer consider using this with Perceptol developer, despite the fact that I very much like the soft look of the results.  I guess I'll have to buy a couple of boxes of FP4 and keep it unfrozen, for use with Perceptol.  The rest of my film I will need to use with some other developer.  Arturo suggested Rodinal would be a good choice as he is very happy with that combination.  That will be my next experiment.

The snapshot below is one of the sheets that showed the greatest amount of stain.  They weren't all this bad.  And when the film is wet, and catches some surface reflection, as this one is, the stain is much more evident.  But even after washing the film and drying it, the stain is still there.  I wash my film by soaking for 24 hours with at least ten water changes, after two rinses and a bath in Hypo Clearing Agent.  I rinse the film with distilled water before drying in a cabinet.

November Snow

I woke up on Monday November 15th to snow.  Not a lot, but there was about half an inch on the ground, and it snowed lightly through most of the day.  By the time it got dark there was about an inch.  The forecast had called for it to get up to +6, but it never made it above freezing.  Between that and the cold wind out of the northeast, there was no melting taking place.  This time it feels like winter might be here to stay.  There is more snow in the forecast so I will have to decide when I want to head back home to the city.

Despite the poor weather and crappy road conditions, my plumber Leonard and his helper made it out to Nordegg.  They roughed in the plumbing vents for me, so now I can carry on with insulation and vapor barrier.

The next big stumbling block is the siding.  I need that on so that I can cut through all the exterior wall penetrations... intakes, exhaust vents, electrical receptacles, lights and the power supply.  The sooner I can get to that the better.  Once this is done, then there is nothing stopping me from finishing all the inside walls and ceilings.  In the short term I can start on the high ceiling and some of the bedroom walls.  So I am not at a standstill and have lots of work to keep me busy.  But I am kind of anxious to get the meter base mounted and the power supply run into the building.  Then I can energize some of the circuits and not have to keep stringing an extension cord.  Beggars can't be choosers....!!!  A few weeks ago it was looking like I wouldn't be able to get the guest cottage closed in for winter.  Now I am done to the point that I can work inside in relative comfort, even though some things are a little limited.

This is a panoramic snap shot I took this afternoon with my phone.  The guest cottage is barely visible, through the trees on the left side, behind the firepit and the adirondack chairs.

It seems it has wintered in.  There was even more snow on Monday night into Tuesday morning, and we ended up with about 2 to 3 inches.  The skies cleared late Tuesday afternoon and it is forecast to get very cold over night.  I've decided I will head back to the city on Wednesday morning.  Hopefully the roads are in a little better shape by then.  The forecast is calling for below freezing temperatures for the next week, so it seems likely this snow will stay.

Beaverdam

Once I got rid of my load of garbage at the dump on Sunday, I decided to go and check out the area around Beaverdam.  This is a small lake, at the toe of Coliseum Mountain, that is formed by the widening of Shunda Creek.  I always thought there was sort of a natural rock dam here that had created the lake, and I think there is... But, this time as I wandered around there was an actual beaverdam at the outlet of the lake.

There was also a cross in the opposite bank of the creek, just below the outlet.  It looks like a memorial of some sort, but I couldn't see any markings on it...

I set up the big camera at the lake a couple of times and made some photographs.  Although the temperature had risen since earlier in the morning, and the sun was burning through the clouds a little, it was quite open along the shore of the lake.  The wind was rather brisk out of the west and it was somewhat chilly.  But, it is mid November after all, and many times at this time of year it is much colder than it was today.  I was grateful for the mild fall we have experienced this year.  Not only does it allow me to continue getting out with my camera in relatively pleasant conditions, but it also allowed me to get the guest cottage closed in and ready for winter work.

I will remain out at Nordegg for a couple more days and continue working in the guest cottage.  There is some electrical that I can start to rough in down in the crawl space.  And I can also prepare for installation of the aspen paneling.

Dry Haven

On my way back to the east and towards the dump I decided to stop at the campsite along Dry Haven Creek.  The tracks in the snow suggested that there were two campers there over night, and that they both bailed out in the morning.  There were some bird tracks as well and I'm not sure if they were from a Raven or a Grouse.  There was no one else around.

I wandered around for a bit and here in the trees it was quite sheltered and pleasant.  The temperature was a little above freezing at this point, and it was not was snowing as it had been further west.  I dug my big camera out of the truck and wandered around down by the creek.  I managed to do a couple of sets ups of the snow and ice with the open water.  There were some cool ice bells hanging on a spruce branch, but it was in an almost inaccessible location, and very difficult to try and get a clear shot of.  I attempted it with the view camera, but it was probably just a waste of film....

After spending a pleasant hour here and attempting these setups with the big camera, I packed up and continued on to the dump.  By the time I got back near Nordegg, the skiff of snow that had fallen overnight was pretty much gone.  The clouds thinned a little, and the sun sort of showed a bit, but it never really broke through.  All the same the temperature did get up to about +5 or so.

Abraham Lake

On the morning of Sunday November 14th I got up early.  I was awake at 5:30 and out of bed by 6:00.  No particular reason, I just couldn't sleep anymore.  I had a shower and some coffee, but had to hang around the cottage for a while, waiting for it to get light, and warm up.  The forecast was calling for a daytime high of around +10, but it never made it that high.  I think it got up to about +5 or +6, but no more.  The cloud cover stayed rather heavy and the sun never really made it out.

By mid morning I got going and headed for a drive up to Abraham Lake.  I was originally intending to drive up to the Kootenay Plains and maybe to the Spreading Creek Burn... but I never made it that far.  By the time I got to the elbow of the lake it was snowing fairly heavily, and not very pleasant.  I stopped in a couple of places along the lake and wandered around for a bit.  The wind was actually not as bad as it usually is.  But the snow was coming down, the clouds were low, and the light was flat as a pancake.  I took a few snapshots with my phone but quickly realized that large format photography was just not going to happen here.  I did find some snow blasted tree trunks that looked kind of cool, and some squirrel tracks in the snow... but setting up the big camera was not realistic.  I turned back to the east and decided to drop off the load of garbage that I had with me, at the dump.

November Weekend

On the morning of Saturday November 13th the girls and I went into Nordegg and checked out the Christmas market.  There were actually two going on....  One was in the Beehive Artisan Market, which is open year round.  At this point in the season they were featuring a bunch of seasonal stuff in advance of the holidays.  Across the way over in the Community Hall there was sort of an overflow event that featured a number of other local artisans.

After we checked everything out, the girls packed up and got ready to go home.  By early afternoon they hit the road back to the city. 

After they left I went over to the guest cottage and puttered around for a while.  I got all of the fiberglass insulation installed into the joist ends in the crawlspace.  This should help to keep the place even warmer.  A person could sleep over there now, even on a cold night, as long as you were willing to keep getting up and feeding logs to the fire overnight.

It snowed again overnight on Saturday night.  I've lost count, but this must be about the fourth or fifth time since August.  Once again, it didn't amount to much and this time we got less than half an inch.  It probably won't hang around for long as the forecast calls for continued mild temperatures.  But one of these days it will come... and stay....

Wood Stove

It had been less than 48 hours in the city for me, before my return to Nordegg.  I left the cottage on Monday November 8th and by the afternoon of November 10th, Helena and I were back out, with the new wood stove on the back of the truck.

On Remembrance Day, while Helena was playing with her friend Arlette, from next door, I tinkered around in the cottage.  I installed a backing of 3/4" plywood behind where the wood stove will be positioned.  I intend to mount a stainless steel reflector here on standoffs.

Margarit came out and joined us on the evening of November 11th.  On the 12th I set up my thickness planer and planed down all the boards that I had glued up for door jambs.  The finished stock is now about 1" thick, and of the proper width for the various interior doors.  I'm not really ready for the jambs, but I wanted to get this wood glued up, planed down and put away.  Prior to this it was stored outside, and I was a little concerned about it getting weathered.

On Friday morning the building inspector came out to have a look at the framing.  I had almost forgotten about this step and its a good thing I remembered to call for the inspection before I closed up any of the walls.  Everything was approved with no issue, much as I expected.

In the early afternoon my contractor Scott came over with his skid steer.  He lifted the wood stove off of my truck and hoisted it into the cottage for me.  We placed it on a dolly, so that it could be maneuvered into proper position.  Once I had the crate that it was packed in all taken apart, I called on my neighbor Dan to come over and give me a hand.  We were able to lift the 450Lb stove off of the pallet and into position on the stone floor that I had prepared.  Margarit gave us a hand and was able to pull out the pallet when we lifted the stove.  The stove is manufactured by Blaze King and this model is called an Ashford 20.  We have the larger version of this same stove in our main cottage, and are really happy with it.  It burns very efficiently and easily keeps the entire cottage warm, even on a very cold winter day.

It was a fairly pleasant day and I think the temperature topped out at around +9c.  For some reason Margarit was chilled all day, and I got the propane heater going in the cottage to keep her warm.  This is rather unusual as normally she is overheated while everyone else is cold.  In any event, we managed to get the stove into its final position and get it reasonably well leveled.  Then we installed the chimney and it all fit together as planned, with no issues.  I also put the fresh air intake into place, down into the crawlspace.  In the short term I will just make a point of cracking a window open whenever the stove is in use.  Eventually, once the siding is installed, I will put in a proper intake to the stove.  We christened the stove by lighting a fire in it, and it warmed the place up nicely, relatively quickly. 

Eating out of your hand

On the morning of Wednesday November 10th I picked up some groceries, and then went and picked up the wood stove.  By about noon I was ready to hit the road.  Helena came along with me, and we headed out to the cottage.  We made a brief stop in Leduc for fuel and for lunch and then carried on our way.  We arrived out at the cottage in the mid-afternoon.  At this time of year mid-afternoon feels like late evening, as the sun is very low on the horizon all day long, and begins to set around 4:30.

Thursday was Remembrance Day...  I tinkered around in the guest cottage through the day, and observed a minute of silence at one point.  Helena spent the day playing outside with Artlette, the daughter of our next door neighbor.  During the day I showed Helena how I whistled for the Whiskeyjacks and showed her that they would often come for food, and eat out of your hand.  She gave it a try, and was thrilled to have these very social birds around.  At one point she even had two of them sitting on her hand at the same time.

Margarit came out later in the evening and I made a batch of my Beef Stroganoff for dinner.  We all enjoyed a nice evening together... even though the other two girls weren't with us.

The Drive Home

I left Nordegg on the morning of Monday November 8th.  I left fairly early in the day as I wanted to make it a leisurely drive home, and maybe stop along the way with my camera.  We are only a few weeks from the shortest day of the year and there is a nice low side light all day long.  It was mostly a cloudless sky and the clear fall light was very pleasing.

I scouted around a little along the Cowboy Trail to see if I could find access to the river.  But all the roads were gated and that was not possible.  A little further north, near the junction with Highway 53 I stopped to shoot the edge of a pine forest.  I had seen this spot in passing many times in the past, but never been compelled to stop.  This time with the beautiful low light I decided to go for it.  I took a shot here with my 4x5 camera on black and white film, as well as a few phone snapshots.

I also stopped at an old house near Rimbey, but the north facing front was in shadow, and it didn't make for a very good composition.  I shot it anyway with the 4x5, just to test some film and developer combinations.  I continued further east and stopped to shoot an old hilltop house beside a pond.  I had seen this one many times as well.  Once I was tempted to shoot it in winter, as there was herd of deer down in front of it, with fresh snow, in evening light.  But, it was -25C that time, and I chickened out.  This time there were no deer and there was no snow, but I shot it anyway.

Working Inside... mostly

It cooled off a bit on Saturday and Sunday, the first weekend of November.  Daylight Savings time came to an end, and I rolled the clock back an hour.  Makes it lighter an hour earlier in the morning, which is great, but it will now get dark even earlier in the evening.  I'm glad that the proposal to go to year round daylight time in Alberta was narrowly defeated in the recent referendum.  I don't mind the clock change as it gives us the nice long hours in the summer evenings, but more usable daylight hours on those short winter days.

I set up a portable propane heater in the guest cottage and it worked really well.  It only took about 20 minutes to get the place up to a really comfortable working temperature.  So much so that I had to take off my jacket.  Now that the place is insulated, it retains heat a lot better too.  I ran the propane until just after dark, and then shut the place down for the night.  The temperature dropped down to about -5C on both Friday and Saturday night, but the bucket of water I left in the cottage had no ice on it either morning.  I have been trying to keep the temperature up a little so that the mortar of the stone floor can cure.

I also started working on the interior door jambs.  I ripped some 1x6 spruce up into narrow strips, 1-1/8" wide.  I am in the process of gluing these back together.  Once that is done and the glue cures, I will run the glued up boards through my thickness planer and bring them down to a uniform 1" thickness.  These laminations will be very strong and stay very straight.  Most of these laminated boards are quite wide as some of the interior walls are bearing walls that are framed with 2x6 and will be finished with 3/4" paneling on both sides.  So the jamb needs to be 7" wide.

I also spent a little more time trying to clean the stones in the floor a little better.  I was tight for time when I did the installation and ran out of both daylight and milder temperatures.  I initially didn't get the stones cleaned of mortar quite as much as I would have liked.  I'm continuing to scrub them, but may have to try with a wire brush.