Wow, it's been three weeks since the last blog entry. It has certainly been a busy three weeks, so there hasn't been a lot of modelling. The family newsletter section is going to be much longer than the modelling section this time.
We got 10cm of snow last Friday, and it is cold enough to stay. I took that as a hint and spent Friday getting the snowblower ready and putting the winter tires on my bike. Saturday was 2 hours shoveling, cleaning up dog poop in the back yard, and playing with dogs. Sunday was fairly warm, just under freezing, and really sunny. Perfect weather to get the bike out on the trails. I didn't go very far, as the ride was more a shakedown of the winter tires, and refamiliarization riding in winter conditions, but it was nice to get back out. Some pictures from today's ride.
No to go back three weeks, catch everyone up, and move forward in chronological order.
Three weeks back Marie, the dogs and I headed to Calgary for a few days. The previous Calgary trip, at the end of October, was to move Marie's Mom to a new room, and to help my parents reconfigure a bedroom. My Dad unexpectedly ended up in hospital just before we left, so we spent some time each day visiting him in hospital. He eventually stayed in the hospital for almost two weeks, and had just returned back at home, so we decided to make another trip south in order to visit him. It was a busy five days, with daily trips to each set of parents. We found a great little taproom called Bitter Sisters, where we had a really pleasant lunch with Marie's mom. We also managed so squeeze in a day trip to Banff, and I got a chance to visit some hobby shops with my friend Dave.
The day trip to Banff was uncertain because of weather. The forecast was for rain and then lots of snow. We waffled back and forth before finally deciding mid afternoon to go. The weather was overcast, making for some atmospheric pictures, but the snow held off until we were well on our way back home. Travelling with dogs means always being ready to walk them for bathroom breaks, and the two youngest dogs were still getting used for the concept of pee/poop on command. We found a brand new, really nice dog park to walk the dogs, wandered around Bow Falls, and had dinner at Magpie and Stump. It has been 32 years since Marie and I were last at Magpie, where we had gone on our first not-date. Coincidentally, it was almost 32 years to the day, and the weather was almost an exact duplicate.
Photos 1, 2 - Magpie and Stump. Great nachos!
Photos 3-6 - An accidental find we will return to. Bitter Sisters was a tap room at Heritage and MacLeod, with good food and great beer.
Photos 7-11 - Walking around Lake Minnewanka
Photos 12-15 - Lunch with Daniel on the way home
Staying with dogs in hotels means a lot of walks. Staying at an airport hotel means a chance to watch airplanes while walking the dogs. Beddington and Southland Dog Park is other great places to walk dogs and watch airplanes. Beddington had the added benefit of trainwatching, as a southbound potash train passed by, headed into Calgary. Here's an airplane video because I can include it.
We had only been home a couple days when we got a call that my Dad was back in hospital. I headed back alone this time, and was there for 5 days. On the way down I had a very pleasant visit with Daniel, meeting up with him at a Tim's while he had his car serviced. My Dad was in really good spirits, and looked really good, when I arrived the first day back. He progressed really well, and we were hoping that he would be released on my last day in Calgary, so I could help take him home. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and he stayed in the hospital for another 3 days. The weather wasn't very good while I was there, with a lot of snow and all kinds of resulting problems on the QEII. Fortunately, a window opened up and I was able to head back home without any weather issues. My dad was released from the hospital last Thursday and has been doing really well since getting back home.
I arrived back home to a happy puppy posse!
The kids haven't been quiet over three weeks. I am sure I am going to miss something as it is hard to keep up with all they are doing. Nicholas and Christine had their respective reading weeks the last week of October. Nicholas used the down time to get some sleep, finish some assignments, and visit the Nordic Spa for a day. Sounds like the spa visit was easily the highlight of the week. He has now finished midterms, and feels he did alright. He has also handed in his capstone project, a major group assignment that will determine a large part of this term's mark.
Christine had moved out of the toxic rental in mid October, and was staying with a friend in Ottawa. She was finally able to move into her new place at the end of October. It is a very nice place as seen in the video below. Amongst all that, she also completed a major assignment, handing in a 91 page report that will form a large part of her term's mark.
Daniel's reading week was the past week. He too is now finished midterms, and also feels he did well. He spent most of his reading week completing assignments and working on his various teams/projects. He celebrated the end of the week by eating two, six pound poutine orders with a group of friends on Saturday night.
I managed to squeeze some baseboard painting in among all this stuff, painting the garage man door, the bathroom door, and all the trim in the vestibule. Next up will be the dreaded repainting of the main floor bathroom baseboards and trim., It's dreaded because it is so tight, and will be difficult to mask and paint.
I am sure I am missing some things but on to the model updates.
Halifax
The Halifax has moved forward and is almost complete. The exhausts have been added, gear installed and finished, rear turret installed, matt clear coat applied, and the masks removed. The only things left to do are to install some of the small bits on the nose, add the landing gear doors, and rig the antenna. It should be finished for next update.
Photo 1 - Fighting a losing battle with static. The white dots are bits of stuff I can't seem to get rid of
Photo 2 - No longer generic. The Medicine Hat nose art in position
Photo 3 - Masks removed
Photo 4 - A close up of the nose
GT40
There was some work at the start of the period, but nothing has happened since. The red area masks leaked slightly in several places, requiring minor touch up. And that is where the model sits. Part of the reason is that the next step is the final polish of the paint, a difficult job that I don't really enjoy. There are too many opportunities to polish thru the paint, with potential for a never ending repair/polish/repair cycle. With the Halifax winding up, I will spend next week on the GT40.
Photo 1 - Masked for repairs
Photo 2 - Red repairs complete.
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