Snowbird 5 Has Begun

Snowbird 5 has not only begun but is well underway.  My diligence at regular posts has deteriorated a bit more each year.  I took a look back at my last post in April and realized I left off after our hike at Arches National Park and never did a post on Dead Horse State Park, Canyonlands National Park, our trip home or our stop to see Jeff and family in Lethbridge.  Perhaps I will get back to some of that at a later date but suffice it to say poor wifi at the RV Park in Moab, Ut. prevented me from posting at the time and once we got back home life took over and I never got back to it.  

Our summer was filled with the usual trivia of life that seems to fill up our days.  Lori's mom had some medical appointments in Winnipeg so came down to stay with us for a few stretches this summer.  This effectively made my office her bedroom and I never did get back to spending the time learning the photo editing software that I had purchased.  Lots of time for that this winter I hope.  

I did manage to spend most of July and Aug in the basement fixing it up to Lori's specifications so we now have a large fitness area.  No more excuses.  I had never done drywall before and while I will label my efforts as a success I hope to never have to do it again.  A new wall and doorway blocked off the furnace and water heater, etc into an out of view mechanical storage room.  All thats left is the baseboards and door trim which I will do next summer.  Only a couple more small projects left and the Honey Do list will be complete.  That of course will all change as you will read in subsequent posts.  

We had a very hot and dry summer but by late August that all changed and the rain started and never stopped.  The farmers were already looking at reduced yields due to the lack of rain in June and July which turned into a major challenge of getting the combines out in the muddy fields to get the crops off.  Apparently its the second year in a row where the potatoes have had to be left rotting in the fields.   My hats off to anybody in Agriculture where so much of their livelihood is beyond their control.   

We had a major snow storm go through just before Thanksgiving leaving large areas of the Province without power.  It was weeks before some of them got power back and some northern communities had to be evacuated.  We were on the eastern edge of the storm and escaped most of the carnage however as we departed west along the Transcanada on Oct 15 we saw the aftermath with Hydro lines down and snowbanks in the fields.  

2 years ago Lori took a fall and broke her arm just a month or so before our scheduled departure.  That departure had to be delayed for a few weeks until the followup X-rays showed the healing process had started.  This year, about 2 weeks before we were scheduled to depart Lori was out at Birdshill Park for a walk with Charli and she came back with a 3 legged dog.  A trip to the Vet and turns out Charli ripped a ligament in her back leg.  At her age, almost 13, the best and least costly option was bed rest, anti-inflammatories, and injections of Cartrophen to help with the soft tissue regeneration.  Those first few days were pretty taxing on my back as I had to carry her everywhere, including outside to do her business.  After almost 2 months Charli is back to her usual prancing on her walks although with a distinct limp.  No more long walks in the desert for her.  

Well thats enough verbiage for now.  I did manage to get out on a few local photo shoots of flowers at Pineridge Hollow, see below, the English Garden at Assiniboine Park and a large collection of the life and times of Monarch butterflies.  I'll post some of these later as well as pictures of our stop in Bryce Canyon National Park and a few other points along the way.

Enjoy the pics.  As usual, best viewed in full screen mode.  

Framing in the wall dividing the mechanical/storage room

Framing in the common wall between our neighbour and ourselves

Boxing in the duct and plumbing was fun.

Mudding and Taping.  Uggggh!
Happy with results with the exception of one seam which has a bit of a hump.
TV will hang their to cover my fopa. 

My able bodied assistant helping with the painting. 

Almost there.  The flooring was hard on my knees and back.
Thanks to a flooring sale at Costco total project came in under $4,000. 

To borrow from Canadianna.
The last spike.
Or in my case the last board.
Thank goodness for gel knee pads. 

Finished except for baseboards.
I added 13 pot lights but no plans to finish the ceiling.
Good Enough Construction strikes again.

Here are some shots from the gardens at Pineridge Hollow.  If you are in the Birdshill Park area and haven't been to the restaurant for lunch or dinner you gotta go.  Excellent meals and all locally sourced.  They have a great farmers market on Saturday mornings and the gardens are beautiful.  

I had just purchased a 90mm macro lens second hand from a wedding photographer who wasn't getting much use out of it.  Its going to take a little practice as the focal plane is very shallow but together with process in Luminar 4 and Topaz Studio I like the results.  There is no end to the creative options available in this digital world.  

Some basic processing in Luminar and then the Topaz filters take it from
 a photo to a painting.  

The 90mm Macro is one of the sharpest lenses Sony makes.
Can really see it in the Bee's wings and hairs.

Just waiting for an occupant to sit and enjoy the beauty.
I masked out the chair to keep it crisp but the rest is all swirls and brush strokes.  

Thats it for now.  Thousands more pictures to cull and edit.  Just need to make the time.  

Later.