Kitchen Renovations

Forgive me for the history lesson....   

I foolishly got married at 19 years of age.  Though I refused to live up to the reality of that mistake for quite some time, eventually the farce that was my marraiage came to an end.  But, it took me over a dozen years to come to my senses, and at 35 years of age I found myself single, and living back at home with my parents.  During that time I met Margarit, who had grown up a couple of doors down from my family.  Because my family didn't move out to the Windermere neighbourhood until after I had finished high school, Margarit and I did not go to school together, and so could never become high school sweethearts.  She did go to school with my two younger brothers, and years later we figured out that I had actually driven her, and a few of the neighborhood kids to a fall bon-fire party.  For whatever reason, sparks didn't fly at the time.....

In 1999 we met again and things got serious.  We moved in together that fall... both bitter and scorned by divorce.  By 2000 we were getting more serious, and at the prompting of my parents, bought a house together in the Greenfield neighborhood of southwest Edmonton.  We got married in June of 2001, and our 14th wedding anniversary is coming up in a few days.  Three daughters later we are both slowly growing tolerant of each other and getting old together....

Forgive me for rambling on as this is where the story really gets started...  Shortly after we moved in to our house, I took it upon myself to renovate our kitchen.  Our house is 1968 vintage and like most houses of that era had kitchen cupboards made of mahogany plywood.  One of the previous owners had taken it upon themselves to paint these cupboards blue.  Not a nice dark navy blue, or a light and airy sky blue...  But a Blue, blue... like a Kokanee beer can... like the Toronto Maple Leafs.... there was no mistaking this was blue, even for someone that is color blind.

Initially I thought that refacing the cupboards might work.  So, I bought 300 bucks worth of rough sawn maple and some cabinet hardware, and cast myself into the project with a lot of ambition.  I planed down all that maple and set about building some new shaker style cabinet doors.  Slowly but surely I pulled off the old doors and drawer fronts and began repainting the cabinet shells and installing new fronts.  I got all the way through the top cupboards and the upper valance and got a start on the bottom cabinets.  Then I ran out of gas....  I guess partly I was a little unsure about what to do with the unusual bottom cabinets and the manner in which they were fitted around the dishwasher and the range.  These must have been modifications to the original cabinets as I don't think there were too many built in dishwashers in 1968...   These cabinets also had the most unusual design.  The kick below the lower cabinets was about 8 inches high, as opposed the usual 4 inches or so.  And the kick was set back at least 6 inches from the face of the cabinets... also rather strange.  I figure that whoever designed these cabinets must have had a wife with really big feet!!

To a large degree I became disinterested in the renvoation, as there were so many other things going on in our lives at the time.  I was becoming more involved in my business with the transition from my old alcoholic partner to new shareholders that were somewhat less than silent, silent partners.   This is also about the time that I became a lot more involved in my photography and managing the Monochrome Guild, and also the time that I got into recreational hockey.  And of course there were the three little girls that were commanding more and more of our time.

I have to give Margarit a lot of credit because she never complained much over the decade or so that this project became stalled.  She was pretty forgiving and understanding and allowed me to pursue so many other commitments and interests, and rarely complained about her unfinished kitchen.  In the last year or so, and with good reason, she started to get on my case, and pleaded with me to make time to finish the unfinished project.  I used to always be able to pacify her and say that these sorts of projects required a lot of careful planning and contemplation... but that was wearing thin.  This past year I finally came to a conclusion.  I realized that even if I could find the motivation to finish the project, the result would be nearly 50 year old disfunctiional cabinets, with an old worn out counter top, and nice new doors.  It was time to earn some real brownie points and get this project dealt with once and for all.

So this past winter we went to a custom cabinet shop down south of the city in Millet, and re-designed our kitchen.  Our pantry and kitchen are being gutted.  Most of our appliances are being upgraded and replaced, including our dishwasher.  The rather expensive one that we have had for the past eight years or so has been a real lemon.  I think I have spent at least 500 bucks on replacement parts for this thing and I have torn it apart and rebuilt it so many times that I think I could do it in my sleep.  This last time around, about a year ago, something electronic crapped out and I gave up on trying to fix it yet again.  Of course this meant that Margarit was resigned to doing dishes by hand....

At the beginning of June the contractor that we hired came in and started demolition.  Our old cabinets, and the doors and drawer fronts that I had mostly finished rebuilding, ended up in a pile of rubbish out in the yard.  While the renovation has been ongoing we have mostly been staying with my Mom out at her acreage.  I stay at the house during the week, as it makes my commute to work faster and easier.  Margarit and the girls are mostly staying with my Mom.  We have no kitchen to cook in, and all of the stuff from our kitchen and pantry is being temporarily stored, much of it in boxes, in our dining room, our living room and our rumpus room.  The demolition and reconstruciton is now just about dealt with, and the new cabinets are set to be delivered in the coming days.  A couple more weeks of disruption and we are hopeful that this will be coming to an end, and we can make a new start.

The renovation contractor that we hired to undertake the demolition and reconstruction is also based out of Millet.  The tradesman that has been assigned to the project, and has spent most of the last two weeks at our place is a really nice guy named Murray.  Turns out that he shares the same last name and we discovered that he is my second cousin....!!  Since we met, I've done a little research on the family, digging back into some information that was compiled by my uncle and another relative, some years ago.  From one husband and wife, dating back to the 1860's in Russia, there were 959 Pohl descendants that were known... plus a few that the family lost touch with during the war years.  This count was back in 1996 and as nearly two decades have passed since, I expect that the number is probably up around 1500 now...!!!  Sure would be a challenge to put together a reunion for a crowd that big....  sounds like a challenge.....

In any event, here are a couple of snapshots.  These date back two or three years and show our kitchen in a state of partial renovation.  This is a point a which the project became stalled for about a decade....

As the project got underway, a couple of weeks ago, all of the stuff from our kitchen and pantry had to be packed up and moved out of the way.  This mostly fell on Margarit's shoulders and she handled the brunt of this while I was away at work.  Here are a couple of snapshots showing what our living room and rumpus room look like at the moment.  Our range and our microwave stand are pushed into the dining room.  The kitchen table is in the center of the living room.  The refrigerator is plugged in and running, but it is parked in the far corner of the kitchen, sort of overlflowing into the dining room.  The new range is still in it's box at the front entry, and various other new components including a sink, cabinet hardware and a range hood are piled up in the living room.  The rumpus room downstairs is worse.  All the contents of the old kitchen cabinets, as well as our pantry have been packed into boxes and are piled up down there......

As of today we are two weeks into the project.  The disfunctional broom closet by our back landing has been demolished and removed, as has a short section of wall beside our back landing.  The drywall has all been patched up and repaired and we are now beyond the filling and taping stage and are into priming and painting.  Our old pantry, with its makeshift shelves and hangers has been gutted and is awaiting the installation of new custom made shelving.  We are looking forward to the installation of all the new stuff, which will be getting underway in the coming days.  Here are a couple of snapshots of the gutted kitchen, just as the drywall taping and filling was being finished up....

The brownie points that I earned as a result of this initiative have been largely burned up.  I seem to have a knack for getting in trouble and doing stupid things.  You would think that a project of this scope would generate a significant bankroll of brownie points.  I think I was in a deficit before things really got going, so that burned off a bunch.  Of course, disappearing to photo shoots, hockey games, and getting together with friends have burned off most of the remaining surplus.  It won't be long before I will have to initiate another project to get me back in the good books....

More Mystery Images....

At the beginning of June I processed another batch of Kodak High Speed Infrared Film in 4" x 5" format.  I threw the last three sheets of the "mystery" film in with this batch.  There were some duplicates... including one that is very similar to a previously posted image.... and two shots, taken at probably the same location.  I've attached scans of a couple of these images.  Hopefully the mystery will be solved soon...

Summer Hockey - Regular Season Game 5

Last night the Renegades played a game against the Squid Squad at Castledowns Arena.  These guys were winless in the regular season and had been struggling to score.  Having lost thier first four games they must have been determined to put an end to their losing streak, and brought out all their ringers.  We played a really strong solid game, with an almost full bench, and these guys were all over us.  We were badly outshot, outplayed and outscored and lost the game by a score of 10-5.  I don't feel that bad about this loss because it was a fun game to play, and as a team we gave it our best.  The officials called it really well and just let us play.  There was some crashing and banging and hitting, but only two minor penalties were called.  I took a heavy slap shot off the toe of my skate, just ahead of the skate guard that I wear.  It hurt... a lot.. and a shook it off and played the rest of the game.  I am a little hobbled today, but have to heal quickly as we play again on Wednesday night.

Acceptances and Rejections....

Last week I received an e-mail from the Visual Arts Association of Alberta advising me that one of my images had been accepted for display at their upcoming Open Image 2015 show.  The VAAA has been running this competition and show for a number of years and I have been accepted, and won an honorable mention, in the past.  New this year.... they now pay a small exhibition fee to all accepted artists.  The exact exhibition dates have not yet been confirmed but the show runs at the Northern and Southern Alberta Jubilee auditoriums from late August to late November.

I also received a package in the mail this week from the Vernon Public Art Gallery.  My submission package for our Procession West project was returned.  There was no cover letter and no explanation, just our materials sent back.  I take this to be a rejection....

Another gallery out on Vancouver Island acknowledged receipt of our Procession West package and confirmed that their jury will make a decision and notify us later in the summer.

More Mystery Images

On May 5th I posted scans of a couple of mystery negatives.  I had discovered a box of Kodak High Speed Infrared 4" x 5" film that contained 8 sheets that had been exposed.  These images aren't mine, and I continue to wonder who they belong to.  I processed two of the eight back around early May, and posted scans on my blog.  Just after the long weekend I processed another batch of infrared film, and once again I included three sheets from this mystery box.  I scanned them and posted them here.  I'm sure these belong to one of my friends, just not sure whose they are.  This time around there are two shots of Spaca Moskalyk Church near Mundare, and an alpine image that I do not recognize.  It will be interesting to figure out who these belong to...

Hmmm... the shadow of the photographer appears to be visible in the first image.  I wonder if that will provide any clues as to his identity...?

Summer Hockey - Regular Season Game Four

The Renegades played our fourth game of the summer season last night.  The game was against a team called the Rhinos, at Clare Drake Arena.  This is the big arena at the University of Alberta, where the Golden Bears team plays.  We started out a bit slow, but kept the game close through the first period.  In the second period we jumped out to a 4-1 lead.  Then in the third period, we took our foot off the gas and let the Rhinos back into the game.  They tied the game 4-4 with just a couple of minutes left.  The game went to a shootout and both goalies were solid.  One of our forwards scored the only shootout goal and we won the game by a 5-4 score.

Weekend Stuff

The Renegades played our third regular season game of the summer season on Friday night.  I was unable to attend, as I was away for the weekend.  The guys defeated Biohazard by a score of 14-6.  Great to see that the team was able to turn things around after two losses to start the regular season.

My family, my brother's families, and my Mom took our annual family weekend trip to Jasper.  We started doing this years ago, when my Dad was first stricken with Alzheimers, and the tradition has continued.  We pulled the girls out of school on Friday and headed out to the mountains in the morning.  My brothers and their families met up with us later in the day.  It was a pretty relaxing weekend and mostly we just sat around and visited.  We had a big pot luck dinner on Saturday night, and a Sunday brunch the next morning.  Several of us went out for a two hour trail ride on Saturday afternoon, while the rest of the gang went white water rafting.  On Saturday we had a big game of frisbee football with my brothers and I and all the older kids.  I took a whole bunch of camera gear along with me, but it never even made it out of the case, and I didn't take any serious photographs over the weekend.  Too much other fun stuff going on....

The only photographs I took all weekend were a couple of snapshots of this cool cloud formation that occurred while we were playing frisbee football...

Summer Hockey - Regular Season Game Two

The Renegades played Game Two of the regular season on Tuesday evening.  The game was against the Reapers, at Castledowns Arena in north Edmonton.  This team is a new opponent to us, but one of the players used to play on my team, several years ago.  The teams were fairly closely matched, though at times we dominated play and controlled the puck in their end.  Despite that we ended up losing the game by a score of 7-6.  This was due to some poor defensive play on our part, and a poor outing by our goaltender.  So, despite that fact that we went undefeated through the pre-season, we are now winless in the regular season. 

Kodak High Speed Infrared

I just processed another batch of Kodak High Speed Infrared 4" x 5" Film.  This included the remaining images from our spring trip to the Oregon Coast, as well as several taken this past long weekend down in southern Alberta.  I have been having some issues with the film in recent batches.  At first I thought that the film was just getting old, and fogged... I thought that maybe some of the film had been left unexposed and sitting in holders for too long before I used it.  I thought that heat and humidity might play a role.  But in checking my notes, which include detail of batch numbers and dates loaded, there does not seem to be a pattern.  Now I suspect that I am having some issues with light leaks in my darkroom. Sheets that were left laying on my counter as I loaded hangers for processing showed greater fogging and uneven development than those that I pulled directly from a film holder and loaded immediately into a hanger.  I'll have to do some experimentation to narrow down the problem and perhaps shoot duplicates over the next little while.  Many of the images from the Oregon Coast showed significant fogging and uneven development.  Fortunately all of these images were also taken on at least two other types of film.  The ones from this past long weekend turned out really well....

Bunny

While we were at Red Rock Coulee on the long weekend, the girls found a juvenile Nuttall's Cottontail.  At least they told me they found it.... though perhaps it was more of a capture.  In any event, when I returned to the trailer after an afternoon of making photographs, they had the little guy in the trailer.  Of course they wanted to keep it, and take it home as a pet.  I convinced them that it was a wild animal, and it belonged here.  They ended up keeping it in the trailer overnight and all mooned over it; holding it, feeding it and petting it.  The next morning they worked on me again, trying to convince me to let them keep the little guy.  But, I insisted that we were not permitted to remove anything from the natural area, and that the best thing they could do was return him to the spot that they had found him.  It was with long faces and a lot of tears and sad good byes that the little bunny was placed back under the rock where he had first been located.....

Summer Hockey - Regular Season Game One

The Renegades played our first game of the summer regular season last night.  We went through the three game pre-season undefeated, and the league has now set the divisions.  We are now matched up against teams that are much more competitive.  Last night we played the Mighty Peking Ducks out at Kenilworth Arena.  It was a tight, penatly filled game.  The officials weren't letting anything go and there must have been about 16 minor penalties called.  We played with a backup goalie and short a couple of skaters.  Though we held the lead a couple of times during the game, we eventually lost by a score of 4-3.  I enjoyed the game and it sure felt good to get back out on the ice after having missed our two previous games.  I'm looking forward to game two next week....

Red Rock Coulee Natural Area

We planned to leave home on Friday, right after work.  I had been frantically preparing for the Long Weekend, getting the trailer home, starting the fridge, buying groceries, filling with water, re-packing our camping gear, etc.....

By Friday I was worn out, so despite the fact that the girls had the day off from school, my fatigue, and the fact that the weather was kind of crappy, convinced me to stay home and catch up on some sleep, and prepare to leave on Saturday morning.

We hit the road on Saturday morning at a reasonable hour, but living in a house with four girls I have come to understand that nothing happens all that quickly, particularly when morning and departure are included in the same sentence.  Eventually we got going, and after a quick stop for fuel we were on the road, heading south.

We arrived in Drumheller by about 2:30PM, and I stopped to top up the fuel tanks.  I knew that we were heading off into southeastern Alberta, where there are limited services, and it is always good to start with a full tank.  We stopped for lunch in Drumheller, and then rolled on down the valley.  The skies were overcast and it was cool and windy, and raining off and on.  Rather than drive into the late evening, we decided to stop at Dorothy and continue on the next morning.

The girls played a little in the playground at Dorothy but it was a very cold and blustery evening.  No one was in a particularly good mood and we all turned in early, hoping that Sunday would be better. When we awoke on Sunday morning it was in fact a little better,  The rain had stopped and the sky was a little lighter.  But it was still cool and breezy.  After breakfast we headed off to the south east.

After yet another fuel stop in Medicine Hat, we continued on into Forty Mile County and eventually arrived at our destination, the Red Rock Coulee Natural Area.  By this time it was early afternoon.  We found a moderately level spot to park the trailer and got things set up.  The jacks went down, the slide went out, and the power cord got strung out to our generator.  There are no facilities here, and we were dry camping, completely self contained.

A short time later our friends Chris and Connie arrived from Calgary.  They write a blog called "Off the Beaten Track" and in recent weeks we have been corresponding and sharing information.  They had never been out to Red Rock Coulee before and decided to meet up with us.  We spent the afternoon out in the badlands photographing and exploring.

By evening we retired to the trailer and put together a big pot luck supper.  It was a rather unusual mix that included Rib Eye steaks, Barbecued Halibut, Deviled Eggs, Steamed Asparagus, Baked Potato Wedges, Salad, and Ice Cream Sandwiches for dessert.  After dinner Chris and Connie packed up and headed back to the northwest to Bow Island.  They had a room rented there for the night, and were planning to meet up with a guy the next day that had a running 1911 car.

We stayed at Red Rock Coulee and settled down for the night.  It remained breezy, and got quite cold overnight.  The next morning, after breakfast we headed back down into the badlands.  Although it was fairly windy, the skies were spectacular and I spent a good part of the day making photographs.  By late afternoon when I returned to the trailer and met up with the girls, I discovered that they had captured a baby cottontail.  The little guy spent the night with us in the trailer, while we put together another meal of Steak, baked potatoes, salad and corn on the cob.  Look for a separate blog post detailing our escapades with the little bunny....

The next morning the girls were devastated when they had to release the little guy back into the wild.  After that we packed up the trailer and made the long drive back home.  By this time it was Tuesday, and for most people the long weekend had come to an end the day before.  This was one of my scheduled days off from work and we enjoyed the fact that we not only had an extra day, but that the roads were not very busy as we made the long drive back home.  We made a couple of brief stops for fuel, for snacks and for ice cream, and eventually rolled up in front of the house by about 7:00PM.  We were all worn out and tired but it had turned out to be a pretty good weekend, despite the marginal weather conditions and the late start.

May Long Weekend 2015

The girls and I just returned from an extended May Long Weekend trip down to Red Rock Coulee in southeastern Alberta.  We got a bit of a late start... partially due to poor weather and partially because we have been so busy recently, that we just weren't ready to hit the road. For part of the weekend we met up with our new friends, Chris and Connie of "Off the Beaten Track with Chris and Connie" A blog that can be found at www.bigdoer.com.  This image is just a little taste of what the weekend was like... look for another detailed blog post and more images, in the coming days and weeks...

Another Rejection for Procession West

I sure hope this is not a sign of things to come....  Back in early May I received yet another rejection letter for our Procession West submission.  This time it was from the Art Gallery of St. Albert.  We were provided with the usual form letter, thanking us for our submission and politely declining us an opportunity to exhibit.  I understand that they received over 80 submissions this year.  I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that some other opportunity comes our way as we await replies from the many other packages that I sent out this spring.

Month of Music

Aside from the Springfest in East Coulee that I attended with the girls, Margarit and I also went to three concerts in Edmonton.  

On April 23rd we saw Def Leppard at Rexall Place.  It was a really good show and I always was a big fan of theirs.  We had seats in the lower bowl, but unfortunately the were immediately opposite the stage, which tends to be a little echo-filled and the sound a little harsh and unclear.

Then on May 5th we saw Neil Diamond back at Rexall Place.  Now 74 years old, he still has that wonderful voice and it was another great show.  Our seats were again in the lower bowl, but this time a little around to the side.  The location, plus a slightly lower volume level, provided for pretty good sound.

Finally last night we went to see Diana Krall at the Jubilee Auditorium.  We had seats in the third row, just a few feet away from Diana and her grand piano.  Her jazz styling is very different for me, and something that I have only recently become a fan of.  She had her own band, plus was backed up by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.  It was also an exceptional show that I quite enjoyed.

We will now take a break from festivals and concerts for the next little while, though we have tickets for a few more later in the year.  I am particularly looking forward to The Who 50th Anniversary Tour coming our way in October.