I headed back out to Nordegg on Sunday May 21st. It was actually the Victoria Day Long Weekend, but I don't really pay attention to that any more. Now that I'm retired I don't really take note of holidays, or even the day of the week. I really prefer to come out to Nordegg during the week, when there aren't as many people around.
On Saturday May 20th my brother-in-law Shawn and his girlfriend Lisa had a house warming party. They just moved into a new rental home... an upgrade over the one they had before. Margarit's cousin Martina, and her sister Natalia, both attended with us.
The smoke from all the forest fires burning in Alberta has been really bad in recent days. Last time I checked there were around 90 fires burning, mostly in the north and northwest. Winds have been really erratic in recent days, so the smoke conditions were really dependent on the wind direction. When I initially arrived in Nordegg in the early afternoon, there was no smoke. Later in the day the wind direction changed, and soon we were enveloped with heavy smoke.
I spent Sunday afternoon and all of holiday Monday working in the guest cottage. I installed the valve and head in the shower. Then I proceeded to caulk all the seams. By my own admittance I am absolutely and positively the worst caulking applicator in the world. I make nothing but a mess every time I attempt it. It won't leak... but it doesn't look very pretty. This time around I used a translucent caulking inside the shower so at least that won't be quite so conspicuous.
I also worked on the counter top for the bathroom vanity. I got the opening cut for the sink, and then glued on the plastic laminate. I also put together the faucet and the drain. The vanity is pretty much done now... just have to seal down the sink and connect the water supply and drain. I didn't bring the parts along for that, so won't do that plumbing this time around. I had to build a jig to cut a slot in the edge of the counter top. This is necessary to install the chrome edge trim. I actually bought a slot cutter bit to attempt this, but is didn't fit my router properly, so I had to use a circular saw instead. Not sure how well it will work and I guess I'll find out when I cut the chrome to size and try to install it....
In the morning, I dug out my tablesaw and cut up most of the plywood for the pantry that I have yet to build. The forecast was calling for rain in the afternoon, and I wanted to get this done before it got wet.
I was up at first light, at about 5:00AM. I had a leisurely breakfast and coffee and was at work before 9:00AM. I packed things in around 5:00. I never left the property, but when I checked my phone I learned that I had walked over two miles. I was pretty tired, and it was nice to just shut down and relax for the evening.
In the late afternoon the rain finally rolled in. A steady rain got going by late afternoon and just kept going. This will hopefully help to wash some of that smoke out of the sky. I hope that the rain also hits some of the areas in the north, and helps to get the fires under control.
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