Wrapping Things Up

I'm inching ever so much close to wrapping up the last of the woodworking and painting in the guest cottage at Nordegg.  For lack of a better name I refer to it as the Lodge Pohl Bungalow.

On Friday June 30th I felt as though I was coming down with a cold.  Probably the result of getting soaked to the skin the night before, when I got caught in that thunderstorm on my evening walk.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and the temperature peaked at 30C.  I spent the day working in the bungalow but at that the same time, I was also making a batch of smoked candied salmon.  I had picked up 50 bucks worth of salmon fillets at Costco, and a day before leaving the city I put them into a brine.  I got the recipe from my friend Scott, and it was simply water, coarse pickling salt, brown sugar and maple syrup.  I cut the salmon up into 1/2 in strips and put them in the brine the day before I left the city.  I had them in a big ziplock bag and brought them out to Nordegg with me.  I also brought out my Bradley smoker.  I've had this thing for years but it seems that in the city I rarely get around to using it.  I figure if I keep it out here at Nordegg it will see more regular use.  The recipe called for the salmon to be smoked for 10 to 12 hours at low temperature.  During the smoking process the fish is basted a few times with a mix of honey and water.  I started at around 9:00 in the morning and by early evening it seemed to be done.  I really don't care for fish... smoked or fresh... but my neighbor Rob tasted it and he said it was done.  I made this batch for Margarit and the girls because they really like it.  I'll chill it and take it back home to the city with me in a few days.  Hopefully that earns me a few brownie points to make up for all my misgivings.  Sadly, it seems that any points I earn are quickly blown away by my next transgression.......

Meanwhile I kept working in the bungalow.  I got hardwood facing installed on the pantry that I had previously built.  Then I filled all the nail holes.  Then I sanded out all the filler and primed and painted it.

On Saturday morning my plumbing contractor Leonard came out to finish up the last few odds and ends.  We had previously been missing a fitting that was to go between the water storage cistern and the pressure pump.  Leonard brought this along and installed it.  Then we primed the pump and got it going.  Everything worked well, and we checked all the lines for leaks.  We only found one small leak, at the line to the shower head.  This simply needed a little tightening and then all was good.

With the plumbing now officially finished I was able to close in the interior wall between the kitchen and the bathroom.  

Worked continued on Sunday and with the paint fully dry from Saturday, I put the doors on the pantry.  Then I slid the pantry into place.  I also uncovered the fridge and plugged it in.

With that behind me I used up the last of my scraps of aspen paneling and closed in most of the chase that boxes in the plumbing vent.  I am short a little bit of aspen, and the next time I come out I will bring more with me.  I still have a little stock left, in storage at my Mom's acreage.  There are also a couple pieces of aspen needed at the very top of the bathroom wall.

With that interior wall now mostly finished I was also able to install the door jamb in the bathroom.  Once that was complete I circled back to the interior doors.  The two bedroom doors previously received a coat of primer, and a first coat of paint.  But I never did get around to the bathroom door.  So on Sunday I also applied a coat of primer and the first coat of paint to this door.

Before I head back home to the city I hope to finish all three doors with the second coat of paint and hopefully install the door knobs.

It's been pretty busy in Nordegg over the Canada Day long weekend.  Although the weather was really nice on Friday, by Saturday it really cooled off and we had showers most of the day.  On Saturday night the temperature dropped down to a low of +2C, and it only got up to the mid-teens on Sunday.  I wasn't feeling great on Saturday night as my cold was getting a little worse.  As I lay in bed, trying to fall asleep, I could hear the pop of fireworks being set off in the rain, in town.... Sunday was mostly overcast and cool, but by evening the sun started busting out again.  Once all the weekenders go home after the holiday weekend it will be a lot quieter, and I may take a break from working and do something else.  But, while all the people are around I have no desire to be out and about so I never even left the property through the entire weekend.

Even the wildlife generally stays away over the long weekend when so many City Idiots... Citiots... are around.  I saw the usual chipmunks and birds, but not much else was active.  On Sunday morning a nice big White Tail buck wandered into the yard and paused right under my Bat House.  I got a couple of snapshots of him with my phone... through the kitchen window.

Singing in the Rain

I packed up a bunch of gear and supplies and headed back out to Nordegg on the morning of June 29th.  The girls decided to stay home in the city for the long weekend.  Hailey and Helena just got back from a road trip to Vancouver, to see a concert, so they didn't really want to be on the road again.  And Margarit wanted to catch up on some chores that needed attention since our trip down to southern Alberta.  I wanted to take advantage of the chance to get some quiet time to myself, and get back to work on some stuff in the guest cottage.

I know it is going to be very busy out in the mountains for the Canada Day long weekend.  I plan to not even leave the property until the weekend ends and most people go back home.

In the early evening I decided to head out for a walk.  As per usual I decided to walk the loop around Tamarack Trail and Pine Martin Drive.  This is about 1-3/4 miles.  I got about half way and a thunderstorm began to roll in.  By the time I hit the 2/3 mark, there were a couple of flashes of lightning, followed immediately by thunderclaps.  Then the clouds opened up and it started to pour.  We got about 5mm of rain mixed with pea sized hail, in about 15 minutes.  The rain was at my back, so I was soaked the skin on my backside, but dry in front.  Just as I got back to the cottage and walked up the driveway to the door, the rain quit and the sun started to bust back out.

There is still a little snow up on Baldy Mountain and Coliseum Mountain from the storm a week ago.  All the little streams are running significantly, and the storm water pond is full.  Unfortunately, so was the crawl space in the main cottage.  The downhill third of the crawlspace had about 4 inches of water in it.  Judging by the high water line, it must have been almost ten inches at the peak.  The garage and the guest cottage never flood because there is a natural slope at both locations and the weeping tile carries the water away.  There is a low spot in the bedrock at one corner of the main cottage and water gets trapped there.  I have an exterior sump, with a sump pump in it, but I don't like to leave it on when I'm not around.  Sometimes the vibration of the pump causes the discharge hose to fall down into the sump, and then the pump runs continuously, just circulating the same water.  Even worse, sometimes the float switch on the pump gets hung up and the wall of the sump and then the pump runs dry and burns out.

I turned the pump on when I arrived and got rid of all the water.  But now it is going to take a while for everything to fully dry out.  I guess I'll have to run the furnace fan for while to speed up that process.  This happens once every couple of years whenever there is a heavy rain and we are not around.  So I know enough not to leave anything valuable or water sensitive in the low part of the basement.  As a result, there was no damage to anything.

July Image - David Thompson Country Calendar

This is the image I selected for the July page of my David Thompson Country calendar.  A number of these calendars have sold at the Beehive Artisan Market in Nordegg over the past few months, and I think they may have a handful left in stock.

This is a shot of the old Bank of Commerce in Nordegg, before it was restored.  I took this photograph around 2016.  Since then the bank has been moved onto a new foundation, and fully restored.  I understand the need to preserve old historic buildings, but photographically they are more interesting if left in their original condition.

Sadly, Clearwater County has done a really poor job of preserving the old Nordegg townsite.  The only two buildings that remain are the restored bank, and the church, visible in the background.  Everything else has been knocked down in the name of progress, including Shanks Garage and the old Bighorn Trading Company.  The County put in services and developed commercial lots in the old townsite several years ago.  To date, not a single lot has been sold and there is NO development.  All the action seems to be down closer to the highway where the new buildings have been constructed and currently house The Miners Cafe, The Beehive Artisan Market, The Shell Gas Station and Convenience Store, and the Liquor Store.  The golf course club house is also down there, and the Beehive Cottages, some short term rental accommodations, were recently constructed.  The County seems to be completely out of touch.

Threshing Machine

It was getting to be late in the afternoon when Arturo and I headed back towards Edmonton after what had been a successful day trip out exploring.  We made one last stop at an old threshing machine that was sitting beside the road.  The light in the late afternoon was pretty direct and very flattering so we attempted a couple more photographs here.  

I have photographed these machines on numerous occasions in the past but never come up with anything that I was really happy with.  Hopefully that changes this time around.

Once we wrapped things up here we headed back into the city.  We made a stop at a local pub and treated ourselves to chickens wings and a cold beer and a glass of wine.  It was a nice way to close out what had been a very enjoyable day.

Community Hall

The second stop on our daytrip was at an old abandoned Community Hall.  It was in very poor condition.  Like many old buildings the ceiling was beginning to collapse, and the floor was covered with pigeon shit that had fallen down from above.  They must have hosted live performances of some kind here back in the day as there was a stage with a painted backdrop, and the remains of some curtains and partitions.

We were fascinated by an old table and chairs that remained in the hall.  We found a few playing cards laying around and placed them as props on the table.  We spent the better part of the afternoon here photographing the table and chairs from all angles.  Both Arturo and I are confident that at least one of us will come up with a strong image that can be considered for the Apparitions project.

Forgotten Cemetery

On June 26th Arturo and I went out for a day trip to the northeast of Edmonton.  With the exception of our recent trip to southern Alberta, this was our first outing of the year, at least as a day trip.  As has become our usual strategy we were looking for subject matter to photograph for the Apparitions project. 

Our first stop was an old forgotten cemetery.  I knew of the place and had photographed here before, but never in the summer.  It was Arturo's first visit to this location.  The Cemetery is very small and not all of the grave markers remain.  The last person was buried here in 1926, and many were somewhat before that, so it is over 100 years old.  There is a historical plaque at the site that refers to two former churches that shared the cemetery.  If I understand the information correctly it seems as though those churches somehow amalgamated with one that still remains.  I suspect that church probably has a separate cemetery, and this one fell out of use.  The plaque is dated 2000 but it appears that little is done to look after the place.  It is overgrown with weeds and many of the grave markers are tilted and broken.  It certainly makes for an interesting place to visit and photograph. 

July Calendar Image

This is the image that I selected for the July page of my Fine Art Photography calendar.  This old house is out on the prairie, in Special Area Two.  I took this shot in the summer of 2020.  We had permission to explore this old yard, from the landowner.  I also did a watercolor painting, accented with graphite and ink, a couple of years ago.  I included an image of that as well.....

Hanger

Further along on our way home from Lethbridge we stopped at a small town airport.  This old hanger remains, and was really photogenic.  The site and the building, despite it's poor condition, appears to be used for storage.  There was a secure fence around the property and everything was locked up.  We were unable to gain access to the site and had to be satisfied with taking a couple of photographs through and over the fence.

I understand that there was an airbase in the area back in World War II that trained pilots for the Air Force.  Perhaps this was the location... I don't know....

We didn't have a lot of time but added this one to our to do list.  Perhaps somehow we can track down the owners and get permission to go inside and have a look around.

Empress Theatre

The Town of Fort McLeod owns the restored Empress Theatre.  It is still operational as a theatre that shows movies, but they also have live preformances from time to time.  It is a really cool old building.  While we were in town photographing all the old signs on Historic Main Street, the manager of the Theatre invited us in to have a quick look around.  Unfortunately he was unable to stay longer, so we only had quick tour.  

The old original seats are still in place and it is the only theatre I have ever seen that has a few "double" seats.  How romantic that must have been on date night.  Further restorations are in the works and the next time we are down in the area we will have to try to check out a show.