Finally Back to Nordegg

On Saturday August 1st I headed back out to Nordegg.  This would be my first time out to the cottage in almost two months.  With the plumbing repaired at home, the risk of further flooding is virtually eliminated.  I needed a break, and to catch up on some stuff at the cottage.  The break will be short-lived as soon I will need to return to the city, and carry on with all the repairs.  But at the moment we are still waiting to hear from the adjuster, and finalize our insurance claim.  So I took advantage of the situation and escaped.

I tried to convince Margarit to join me, but she felt the need to stay behind.  So I headed out by myself.  I made a stop in on the way out of town and filled the truck with fuel, before grabbing a Leduc burger at the Burger Baron.  Then I stopped in Rocky Mountain House and picked up some groceries.  There was obvious evidence of the recent tornado at the edge of town.

Hailey has been living out in Nordegg for the summer.  She is staying in the guest cottage, doing her online studies at Athabasca University, and working part time at the Nordegg Golf Course.  So I was not totally alone once I finally arrived on Saturday evening.

Nordegg didn't get nearly as much rain as Edmonton and in recent weeks has been quite dry.  In fact there is a fire advisory in place, though we got a shower and a few millimeters shortly after my arrival.  Only about 17mm of rain fell at the cottage in the last 30 days, as compared to Edmonton where we have been constructing an Ark and rounding up the animals two by two....

When I arrived in Nordegg I found that the electronic gas valve on our hot water tank had been zapped by a power surge... possibly lightning.  All the clocks in the cottage were flashing when I arrived.  Like I needed more shit to deal with.  I also had two fallen trees to look after.  They came down during some recent high winds.  One took the armrest off one of the Adirondack chairs by the fire pit and the other just grazed the north wall of the cottage.

I got these cut up, and then pulled out the string trimmer and cut down all the weeds that had sprung up over the past two months.  Aside from that I managed to get out for a couple of rounds of golf.  The first one was on holiday Monday, with my neighbor Rob.  Then on Tuesday I headed out again, and played a solo round.  I actually shot my best round ever... a score of 37 on the par 32 course.  No one will believe me as I had no witnesses...!  On the seventh hole I put my chip shot... the second... to within a couple of feet of the pin.  Then on the par 3 eighth hole I hit the pin with my chip shot, the second, and then putted in for par.

I'll be staying a few more days before heading back to the city.  My plumber friend Leonard, who did the original work in the cottages is coming out this week to repair the gas valve.  And I have a bunch of other chores to look after as well.