Tree Line

Yet another image from the recent batch of Fuji Neopan Acros 100 developed in Rodinal 1:50.  This shot was taken on the same day as the Lumber Company shot that I previously posted.  This row of trees was some distance away from the road, out in a field.  I'm guessing that a farm yard may have once been located here as the trees appear to have been planted.  I think they are Manitoba Maples.

I shot with with my Ebony view camera and a long 400mm telephoto lens, fitted with a #25 Red Filter.  The filter deepened the value of the sky, and increased contrast.  The 4x5 negative was cropped to panoramic proportions, which was my intention when I composed the shot.  This one was taken on October 17/2022 at about 2:45 in the afternoon.

Lumber Company

This is another image from the recent batch of Fuji Neopan Acros 100 developed in Rodinal.  I shot this image last fall when I was on a road trip down in central Alberta.  Can't quite make out what that sign used to say...?

This shot was taken on October 17th 2022 at about 1:30 in the afternoon.  I shot it with my Ebony view camera and a Fujinon 125mm lens.  A #8 Yellow Filter was used to increase contrast a little, and deepen the value of the sky.  The clear fall light was beautiful and heavy filtration was not needed.

Beaver Pond

I may have posted another version of this shot previously on my blog.  This is a beaver pond on Shunda Creek, not far from my cottage.  I've shot here with my view camera a number of times.  This is from a recently processed batch of Fuji Neopan Acros 100 developed in Rodinal Developer. 

Rodinal is a very well known developer that has been in use for decades.  It was originally manufactured by the German company Agfa.  Agfa went out of business a number of years ago and many of their fine products are no longer available.  Several manufacturer's have made replacements for Rodinal and I have tried a number of them.  As far as I can tell they seem to perform in a nearly identical matter. I used a developer called APH-09, manufactured by Adox to develop this particular batch.  Development was at 1:50 dilution for 11:00 minutes at 24C.  This yields about a half zone of expansion, increasing contrast somewhat.

This image was taken on June 10th 2022 at about 12:20 in the afternoon.  I shot it with my Ebony SV45TU 4" x 5" view camera and a Rodenstock 90mm lens.  A #25 Red Filter was used to deepen the value of the water, increase contrast, and create separation between the clouds and the sky.

Very Productive Week

I arrived out at Nordegg in the afternoon on Saturday April 15th.  I left a week later, in the afternoon, on Saturday April 22nd.  I worked all week and got a lot accomplished over at the guest cottage.  I only left the property twice.  Once for a short walk around the neighborhood, and a second time, for an hour, to do a beer run to town and drop some garbage at the dump.

I worked pretty much 8 hours every day, with the exception of the last day, when I was running out of supplies to work on the things I have started.  I got the drawers for the cabinets assembled and lacquered.  I need more 1/2" plywood to finish the last two drawers.  I also lacquered and cut to size the hardwood rails that the drawers will run on.  I test fit everything, and it is all good, but I can't mount the rails in place as I don't have the right size screws.

Most of the week was spent working on mechanical and electrical stuff.  One of my main goals was to install some of the electrical necessary for the mechanical contractor to finish up.  But I also managed to get virtually all of the rest of the remaining electrical work completed.  There are only three little electrical projects remaining.  I have to install the receptacles on the kitchen counter.  The wiring is all in and connected to the breakers in the main panel.  I have to finish the counter top and tile backsplash before these receptacles can be installed, so for now the breakers remain turned off.  I connected the hot water heater and the water pump.  Both have shutoff switches up on the main floor.  I didn't have the right size breaker for the water pump so that final connection will need to be done when I return with the materials.  There is one last circuit to install and I roughed in the wire for that.  It will supply power to the tank alarms.  There are two alarms... one is on the water storage cistern, which is set up in the crawl space.  The alarm gets mounted outside on the wall by the fill pipe, and there is a float switch in the tank.  When the tank is being filled, the alarm sounds and a light flashes when it is full.  This prevents the tank from being overfilled.  There is a second alarm that will be installed in the septic tank.  It has a buzzer that sounds in the house, when the sewage level is near the top.

My mechanical contractor came out on Wednesday from Leslieville.  He brought a refrigeration contractor along with him.  Between the two of them they got the air conditioner installed and charged and functioning properly.  I only had the thermostat temporarily wired prior to this but once the A/C unit went in, all the proper connections could be made, with the proper cable.  All of the plumbing is now complete as well, with the exception of a drain on the water tank.  We were missing one fitting, so this will need to be done later, before we fill the tank for the first time.  Once the tank gets filled we will also have to fire up the water pump and make sure that it is purged and primed so that it functions properly.

Off and on during the week I also worked on installing the hardwood facing to the bathroom vanity.  I filled all the nail holes and primed and painted everything.  The body of the vanity is now complete and awaiting final paint.  I will cut the doors and drawer fronts so that I can paint everything at once, though I didn't get that far this time around.

I learned that my building permit expires in July so the push is on to wrap things up.  The inspector does not need the building to be 100% finished, and it does not matter if things like flooring, trim, ceramic tile and interior doors are not installed.  But the space needs to be liveable, which means a functioning kitchen and bathroom.  So the push is on for me to finish up the cabinets and get the counter tops installed.  Then I can install the kitchen and bathroom sinks and tie in to the already roughed in water supply lines and drains.  Then, once the wood work is done I can clear out the place and sweep and vacuum all the sawdust.  Then installation of floor tiles can commence.  I only need to get enough tile in place to install the toilet, and put the kitchen range in place.  At that point I will be ready for final inspection.  I'm not sure yet if I'll make it in time, and may need to request an extension, but I'm going to do my best to be ready.

Slop Oil

This is the last scan from my recent batch of Ilford FP4+ 4x5, given plus development in Kodak HC-110 Developer.  My friend Arturo and I were out exploring in the summer of 2021.  We were consciously looking for subject matter that fit the idea of things abandoned.  We had the concept in mind, but the Apparitions project had not truly been launched by that point in time.  We came across an abandoned industrial site and wandered around for a while.  These barrels were full of used oil, some were leaking, and they were just left behind at the site.  I don't really think this image captured the mood of the place and perhaps I will return and see if I can do a better job of it.

This images was taken on July 11th 2021 at about 2:00 in the afternoon.  I shot it with my Ebony 4x5 view camera and a 125mm Fuji lens, with no filter.

Aspen Trunks

Yet another shot of some aspen trunks.  I don't know why, but I am always drawn to these trees.  This grove was on the hillside near Saunders.  The angle relative to the sun is not the greatest, as the view is southward, and the trees are always backlit.  I shot this with a long focal length lens to compress the prespective, and fill the frame with trunks.  This shot was also from the recent batch of Ilford FP4+ 4" x 5" rated at 160 iso and given plus development in Kodak HC-110 developer.  Development was for 14:20 minutes at dilution B, to expand the contrast one zone.

I shot this with my Ebony 4x5 view camera and a Nikkor 300mm lens.  A #8 Yellow filter was added to brighten the value of the trunks a little, and to further increase contrast.  I shot this on August 25th of 2021 at around 5:00 in the afternoon.

Old Plaster

This old plaster wall, in an abandoned building, is heavily water damaged.  It is badly stained and I think moldy.  It is also significantly bulged and about to fall off of the backing lathe.  It is probably better suited to a large print than it is to a small digital image here on my blog.  Nonetheless, I quite like the shot and thought I would include it.  This is also one of the recently processed Ilford FP4+ 4x5 negatives that received plus development in HC-110, Dilution B.

I shot this on August 10th of 2021 with my Ebony 4x5 view camera and a Fujinon 125mm lens with no filter.  It was taken shortly after 2:00 in the afternoon.

River Rocks

I've seen paintings and photographs of ocean pebbles in the past, and was always moved by them.  I don't live close enough to any ocean to really attempt anything similar, but every once in a while I try it with River Rocks.  River Rocks, particularly mountain ones, look totally different.  They are much less worn and often more varied.  I've never really been overly successful with any of my attempts, and this is my most recent result.

I believe that rocks are best photographed in subdued light.  If the light it too harsh the images becomes nothing but shadows and highlights and doesn't show any of the detail in the stone.  But I think plus development helps to pump up the contrast a little.  That is what I attempted here....

This is yet another image from the recent batch of Ilford FP4+ 4" x 5", given expanded development in Kodak HC-110 Developer, dilution B.  I underexpose the film a little by rating it at 160 iso.  This one was shot along the Blackstone River on April 28 2022, at about 4:50 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony 4x5 view camera and a Nikkor 200mm lens, with no filter.

Lady's Slippers

Another shot from that recently processed batch of Ilford FP4+ 125 sheet film in 4x5 format.  Like the previous two, and some more to follow, this one was given plus development in Kodak HC-110 Developer, Dilution B [1:31] for 14:20 minutes.

The girls and I went out for a walk at Wagner Natural Area on June 20th of 2021.  This would have been the last day of spring, and one of the longest days of the year.  There were Yellow Lady's Slippers blooming all over the place.  I also have a color version of this, but always seem drawn to Black and White.  I shot this at about 3:40 in the afternoon with my Ebony 4x5 view camera and a Nikkor 200mm lens, with no filter.

Just Another Workday

I headed out to Nordegg on the afternoon of Saturday April 15th.  I originally planned to head down to East Coulee, and pick up some stuff at the shop, and then meet up with Chris and Connie.  But our plans to visit one of the small town hotel taverns for the Beer Parlor project did not materialize.  Instead I left a little later and headed directly to Nordegg.

Sunday was a beautiful day and it was sunny and got up to about +16.  The snow was quickly disappearing.  I helped my neighbor with a couple of things, and then dug out my tablesaw and cut up some material.  Later I got my contractor Scott to move a little dirt in front of the guest cottage for me.

This allowed me to level a spot to place the air conditioner condenser.

I visited with several neighbors during the course of the day, and in the evening had a nice BBQ for dinner.  By Sunday evening pretty much everybody from the subdivision went home and it was gloriously quiet once again.

I spent my 60th birthday on Monday April 17th working for the entire day.  I started out by assembling the remaining drawers for the cabinets.  There are a total of six drawers, including the one in the bathroom vanity.  I only had all the pieces made for four of them, and these are the ones that I assembled.  I am short some 1/2" baltic birch plywood to make the bottoms for the last two.  I was going to pick some up from my stock in East Coulee, but that part of the trip fell through, so those last two drawers will have to wait for a bit.

After that I installed hardwood to the face of the bathroom vanity.  I filled all the nail holes in everything and I'm ready for final sanding and then application of paint to the vanity, and lacquer to the drawers.  I procrastinated for quite a while, and then eventually motivated myself to work on the electrical.  I routed all of the remaining wiring over the to main panel... with the exception of one additional circuit that I have to set up for the tank alarms.  I managed to bash my head on the low joists and beam down in the crawlspace/basement a couple of times... hit it pretty hard too...!  I'm sporting a couple of goose eggs on my noggin but don't think I did any damage to the beam.

After that I shovelled a little more dirt and gravel and did the final leveling of the spot where the A/C condenser will sit.  Then I carried over the concrete sidewalk block that I had stored over by our firepit on the main property, and brought it over in front of the guest cottage.  With that in place I started on the wiring.  I installed the exterior box on the wall near where the A/C unit will sit.  I ran the wires into it for both the power supply and the thermostat connection.  Everything here is now ready for the mechanical contractor to come out and finish the installation.

Afterwards when I got my electrician friend Rob to check the photo of what I had done, he advised that I had a couple of wires reversed.  No harm done, as nothing is energized yet, but I'll be sure and fix that up right away.

It was about 7:00PM when I finished everything, and I was beat.  My back was reminding me that I'm now officially to old to be dragging concrete sidewalk blocks through the bush and up onto a mound of dirt.  I settled down to make a pasta dinner for myself, and to watch the first playoff game of the season for the Edmonton Oilers.

Six-O

Today is my sixtieth birthday.  In recent months I have slowly been coming to terms with the fact that I have more life behind me than ahead.  I'm certainly glad that I made the decision to sell my business and retire at the end of 2020.  Retirement life is fantastic...!  As I tell all my working friends, "every day is a Saturday to me".  I can't imagine working until age sixty-five and then hobbling off to pasture.

I'm out at the cottage by myself this week... a very quiet and relaxed birthday with no celebration... just the way I like it.  I'm doing some more electrical work this week, in advance of my mechanical contractor coming out to finish the plumbing, heating and cooling installation.  I'm also doing a little work on the cabinets, in preparation for building counter tops.

Coulee House

This one is also from that recently processed batch of Ilford FP4+ 125 sheet film in 4x5 format.  Like the previous image, and some more to follow, this one was given plus development in Kodak HC-110 Developer, Dilution B [1:31] for 14:20 minutes.

My friend Arturo and I were out exploring in the spring of 2021, looking for subject matter for our Apparitions project.  The project was in it's very early stages at that point, and did not have a name yet, nor a refined artist statement.  We both feel as though the project was already underway before we consciously realized it.  We found this old house near the road, in a cow pasture in central Alberta.  I loved the way the old wall paper had become water stained.  I had to set up my tripod outside and shoot in through an open window to get this shot.  I used my Ebony 4x5 view camera and a slightly wide Fuji 125mm lens with no filter.  It was taken on June 3rd 2021 at about 1:45 in the afternoon on a sunny and mild spring day.

Winter Aspens

I recently processed a batch of Ilford FP4+ 125 sheet film in 4x5 format.  These sheets had been set aside from my regular FP4 stuff, as the images were all subjects with a limited brightness range.  I find that images shot in flat light conditions respond well to plus development.  I use Kodak HC-110 developer for this, as it is a robust and fast acting developer.  It is not suited to everything, but works nicely for plus development.  A rather extended development time of 14 minutes 20 seconds, with Dilution B [1:31] gives a full one zone expansion.

This image was taken on the Monochrome Guilds 2022 Fall Photo Weekend.  These are the aspen trees along the road up to Pyramid Lake, just above the Jasper townsite in Jasper National Park.  The area used to be beautiful forest of mixed spruce, aspen and pine.  The Mountain Pine Beetle infestation of recent years has wiped out all the pine and only the spruce and aspen remain.  The dead pine trees were in the process of being removed and burnt to hopefully stop further spread of the beetles.  It will be years before the new clearings are colonized by new pine trees as well as the aspen and spruce.

I shot this on October 24th 2022 just before 11:00AM.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a long Fujinon 400mm telephoto lens, with no filter.

A Drive East

On Easter Saturday I took a drive to the southeast of the city.  Although the snow is quickly disappearing around the Edmonton area, further to the southeast more snow still remains on the ground.  The melt is well underway, but it seems there was more snow there to begin with, so it is slower to disappear.

Saturday was one of the nicest days of the year so far, and the temperature got up to about +14 late in the day.  It was clear and sunny all day long, with only a light breeze.

I took a drive out to the Viking Ribstones historic site.  Years ago when I first visited the place there was no fence around it, and it was easier to photograph.  The site is sacred to first nations people and they leave offerings here of tobacco, beads, sweet grass, tea, coins, and bones.  Prayer flags are tied to the fences and to a small grove of nearby trees.

I shot here with both my 4x5 and 8x10 view cameras.  Maybe something works for the Apparitions project...?  On my way back to the city I checked out a number of the small towns along Highway 14.  I was looking for small town hotel taverns that may prove to be good locations to explore for the Beer Parlor project.  I found a couple, as well as a small unused church that was really photogenic.

Rocks and Sand

Yet another image from the recent batch of Ilford HP5+ 4" x 5" film developed in 510 Pyro Developer.  This one was taken on October 21st 2022, at Jasper Lake.  I shot this just minutes after I took my previously posted Jasper Lake Image.  This one was taken facing in the opposite direction of the previous image.  This view to the east shows Roche Miette in the background, and the smoke from the nearby forest fire is not quite as dense.

I shot this with my Ebony 4x5 view camera and a wide 90mm lens.  No filter was used., but perhaps one should have been to increase separation in the sky.

This second image is another version of the same shot, taken moments later.  For this second one I used Ilford FP4+ film, and processed in Kodak HC-110 Developer, Dilution B.  I gave increased development to raise the contrast.  There are certainly subtle differences between the two, but the telling of the tale is to print the negatives in the darkroom and see which yields a better print.

April Showers

Temperatures were really mild out at Nordegg at the beginning of April.  The highs hit double digits a few times and the snow was going quickly.  The first of the images below was taken on April Fools Day, and I sent it to Margarit to show her how much the snow had melted since she left, a few days prior.  But then later that evening it started to snow.  There was an accumulation of about an inch of snow in an hour or two, and then it kept snowing lightly through the night.  By morning it was a winter wonderland and it seems like spring is not arriving just yet after all.  Even the squirrels were having fun running around in the snow...!

Renegades - Winter Hockey

My Renegades Hockey Team finished the winter season on March 31st.  I missed the last game as I was out at Nordegg at the time.  I made it out to 19 of 30 games this season, not bad, considering that I live about half the time out at the cottage.  I attempted to plan my travels this season around the hockey schedule as much as I could.  I finished the season with no goals, seven assists and five penalty minutes.  Obviously I am not a huge contributor to the team on the ice.  But I am more than a decade older than the next oldest player on our team.  In fact most of our players average between 30 and 35 years of age... about half my age.

The team finished the regular season tied for third place, out of a group of eight teams that are in our Division 6C.  We were dropped down to fourth place because the team that we were tied with, had a better record against us.  We were moved up one division at about the 2/3 point of the season, and despite that we still did pretty well.  We finished the winter season tied for the most wins [21] and for the fewest losses [6].  The team points were adjusted after the divisional move so this resulted in our finish in fourth place.  We also had the most penalty minutes in the division at 376.

With the win the playoff seeding is now set.  Our first playoff game will be on Monday April 3rd.  If we had not won the last regular season game we would have had to play on April 1st, and I was prepared to head home from Nordegg that morning.  But, with the victory we moved up to fourth place and our first playoff game was moved back a little in the wildcard round.  This allowed me to stay at Nordegg for an extra day, and get a little more work done, without having to rush home.

But, a playoff run was not in the cards for the Renegades... at least not this year.  We lost that first playoff game against the Showboats at Clareview arena.  With the loss we were eliminated from the Wildcard round and our season is over.

There will be more hockey coming up shortly.  The team plays in a tournament in Banff at the end of April, and then the summer hockey season gets underway at the beginning of May.

Spring

There is the old saying about March.... in like a lion and out like a lamb.  I've found that this doesn't really hold true... at least not in the mountains in Alberta.  In Nordegg, most of the time it comes in like a lion and goes out like a lion too.  This year was no exception, and we had some really cold temperatures and quite a bit of snow throughout the month of March.

Earlier in the week of March 27 to 31 we had some snow, and night time temperatures that approached -20C.  I even managed to take my snowmobile out for a short ride on March 28th.  But after that, the temperature started to rise, at least during the day.  By the end of the month, the road that I had been riding my snowmobile on three days earlier, was now bare.  The snow is melting quickly and there are puddles everywhere.  I wouldn't rule out a snowstorm, as I've seen that happen in May, June and even once in July.  But I think we are past the really cold temperatures, and spring will gradually begin to creep in.  We even got a gorgeous spring sunset the other day, though it was fleeting and only lasted a few minutes.

Building Drawers

With the Renegades hockey victory on Friday night this delayed the start of our playoff games and as a result I was able to stay in Nordegg for an extra day.

On April Fool's Day I spent most of the day working in the guest cottage.  I sanded all the drawer parts that I had cut the day before.  Then I applied two coats of lacquer to all the interior surfaces.  It is much easier to finish this material now, before everything is put together.

I was finally able to start using the plastic laminate that I bought months ago.  I bought two sheets in a retro "charcoal boomerang" pattern.  This is the same material that is on our dinette table.  I will be using it for the counter tops in the kitchen and on the bathroom vanity.  I have enough of it, and will also use it on the bottoms of the cabinet drawers.  This was the material that I cut up today.  With this plastic finish on the drawer bottoms it is difficult to finish the interior drawer sides without getting it all over the laminate.  For this reason that I applied the lacquer now... prior to assembly.

I'm short two pieces of plywood... one for the bottom of a kitchen drawer and a second for the bottom of the vanity drawer.  But I got all the laminate glued onto the bottoms of the other four drawers.  The next time I come out to work I will bring more plywood, and get started on the assembly.

Bathroom Vanity

In between working on all the parts for the drawers, I also continued with the bathroom vanity.  These parts all needed one coat of primer and two coats of paint.  So in between application of this finishing, I ran the tablesaw and worked on the drawers.

By Friday March 31st all the painting was done, and I was ready to assemble the vanity.  I actually started on it late on the afternoon of the 30th.  I discovered that I had cut one of the dados of the vanity in an incorrect location.  Fortunately this was inside the cabinet, against the back wall, where the intermediate shelf meets the back.  I was able to recut this, and infill the incorrect one with a strip of wood.  I patched this with filler and repainted the area, and considering it's location, it will not be visible when the cabinet is done.

By the end of the day Friday, the vanity was pretty much put together.  I left it clamped up so that the glue could dry.  The next time that I work on it I can fill the nail holes and prep the exterior for final painting.  Before I do that I need to face the front with hardwood, and prime and paint that as well.  I don't think I have quite enough hardwood left and will need to pick up a small amount before I can finish.

My Renegades hockey team plays the last game of the regular season on March 31st.  I will miss that game, but intend to be back in the city for the Winter Season Playoffs.  If the guys win or tie that last game, we will finish in fourth place.  In that case our first playoff game would be on Monday April 3rd.  But if the guys lose that last game, either in regulation time or overtime, then we will finish in fifth place.  In that case our first playoff game would be on Saturday April 1st.  I'm awaiting the outcome of that last regular season game and will either head back to the city on the morning of the 1st, or hang around for one more day and continue working on the cabinets.

Horseshoe Channel

This is a shot of Horseshoe Lake in Jasper National Park.  It is not far from Athabasca Falls.  I visited on October 22nd 2022, and this was my last shot of the day, taken at about 4:30 in the afternoon.  With the short daylight hours in the fall, the light disappears relatively early in the valleys between the mountains.

This lake is a popular spot in the summer, and people are known to go cliff diving off the rocks at the left side of this image.  The water of the lake is very deep here, and it is a fairly safe thing to do, despite the very cold water.

To the right the lake extends into a small shallow area and then drains away into cracks in the rock, and on down into the Athabasca River in the valley below.  The lake gets its name from is horseshoe shape and in the background, beyond the narrow channel the lake curves around to the right and extends into a rather large body of water with more cliffs.  It is a beautiful spot and very popular with visitors as it is right beside the highway.

I shot this with my Ebony 4x5 view camera and a wide-ish 125mm lens.  With the light falling off into shadow, and the overcast sky, there was no need to add a filter as it would have been of no benefit.

Don't Stop

A long time ago someone defaced the Stop Sign on the corner beside the now abandoned East Coulee Hotel.  It was there for many years and always brought a smile to my face everytime I saw it.  The words "Don't" and "Believin" were scratched into the sign above and below "Stop".

Then, a couple years back the Town changed the sign to a new one.  It was just not the same.  It was nice to see that someone defaced the sign once again, and returned it to it's previous glory.  That was a couple of years ago.  When I was recently in East Coulee I drove by and was happy to see that the sign remains and has not been replaced....

April Image - David Thompson Country Calendar

This is the image that I selected for the April page of my 2023 David Thompson Country calendar.  The calendar is available for sale at the Beehive Artisan Market in Nordegg.  Some copies of the calendar have been selling, but it is approaching it's best before date and I am running out of time.  As three months of 2023 are now behind us, the remaining calendars have been marked down in price.

This is partially my fault, as I put together the calendar at the last minute.  I did not have them available until shortly before Christmas.  If I am to attempt a 2024 version of the calendar I will have to be more on the ball, and have them ready by around Thanksgiving.

This particular shot is of some late spring ice on the Blackstone River, along the Forestry Trunk Road.  I shot this image in late April of 2021 with my Ebony view camera and a long 300mm lens.  I used a #29 Deep Red filter to lower the value of the water, and increase contrast.  The film was Kodak Tri-X Pan, one of my all time favorites.  I developed in a staining pyro developer which restrained the highlights and retained some value in the bright river ice.

Five by Five

Wednesday March 29th was another really mild day in Nordegg.  The sun was shining, and the temperature got up to around +10C.  In the evening I went over to the rink in town to see if anyone was going to show up to play hockey.  The ice was really soft along the south facing boards.  About 15 skaters showed up and we managed to play for about three hours... though we had to stay away from the soft edge and played on about three quarters of the ice.  This was likely the last outdoor hockey game of the year.

Earlier in the spring I bought a five foot by five foot sheet of 1/2" baltic birch plywood.  This will be used for fabricating all of the drawers for the cabinets in the guest cottage.  Normally plywood is made 4 feet by 8 feet, but this stuff is made in Europe and I'm told that the 1.5M x 1.5M size fits better into a sea can for shipment.

At the time I bought the sheet I didn't have all my drawer sizes figured out.  I suspected that one sheet would not be quite enough, but didn't see the point in buying two, as the stuff is rather costly... around a hundred bucks a sheet.  So I only bought one, and it has been sitting in the guest cottage until now.

On Thursday March 30th it again made it up to +10C, so I dug out the table saw and went to work on cutting up that five by five sheet of plywood.  I have most of the drawer sizes figured out now.  There are three drawers in the main L-shaped kitchen cupboard, plus two more in the separate section where the microwave oven will be situated.  There is also a sixth drawer, in the bathroom vanity.

I cut up most of the sheet to make the bodies of the drawers.  These strips all needed to have dados and rabbets cut into them, so I was on the table saw for quite a while.  Once these were all done, I used the large offcut to make the bottoms.  As it turns out I had one little scrap left over, and a few offcuts of the body parts, and also managed to cut four of the six drawer bottoms.  I am short two small pieces of plywood for the remaining two bottoms.  But I know I have a few cuttings left in storage in the shop in East Coulee.  These were leftover from the cabinets I built for the main cottage.  Next time I'm down there I'll root around and see if I can scrounge up enough to finish the job.

These are the only pieces of waste I had leftover after cutting all of the parts for all six drawers.  I don't know the exact final size of the drawer for the bathroom vanity yet, and there will probably be a couple more small cuttings once I cut up the last pieces for that one.

While I had the tablesaw out, I also cut up some hardwood.  I had some 1/2" thick maple stock that I used to cut the rails that the drawers will run in.  These can be seen in the photo below, standing beside all the drawer parts.  The next step in the process will be to glue plastic laminate to the drawer bottoms, and then start assembling the drawers.  I have to sand out all this plywood a little, particularly the cut edges, as I want to finish them with lacquer... not paint like the rest of the cabinets.