I went to Calgary for Easter to see my family and the pets. I took some pictures of mostly the pets.
See the pictures below. Continue reading Easter
Star Wars Identities
Over Christmas Erin and I had wanted to go to Star Wars Identities because it was in Edmonton. We decided that early on New Year’s Day would be a good time to go and it was. It was not that busy until near the end when we had spent a long time going through everything. It was quite neat and I recommend any one who is into Star Wars to see it.
There is a lot of information about all the props, costumes, etc. There are neat concept art and ideas that they had but changed later like Luke was going to be a female! There is a science aspect to it about what influences people to be the way they are and uses Star Wars characters as examples.
As you go through you build your own identity. Here is mine http://sw-id.com/50e338e225926
Here is Erin’s: http://www.starwarsidentities.com/hero/en-ca/50e338f298be3
Click below to see my pictures Continue reading Star Wars Identities
Calgary Zoo Winter Time
After Christmas on a cold sunny day we went to the zoo. Our main goal was to see the Penguins, Tigers and Hippos.
We were successful in all accounts. The penguins weren’t busy because it was so cold and we could stay there as long as we wanted.
The tigers were running and walking around and let us get some pictures. Once we got cold we went indoors and our lens all fogged up!
The hippos were eating and swimming once done. I guess they don’t have to wait!
I got some quite good pictures I was happy with the results.
Click below to see the pics Continue reading Calgary Zoo Winter Time
Oh Christmas Tree
On Saturday was my company Christmas Party and Erin won a reindeer full of Chocolate and goodies! On Sunday we went to Erin’s parents and they gave us a live tree. A Norfolk Island Pine to be exact.
Click below to see pictures. Continue reading Oh Christmas Tree
Roasting Grains
I needed some Crystal Malt and the store didn’t really have exactly what we need for our next beer so we decided to roast some grains to make them instead.
I soaked them over night then put them in the oven for an hour and they seemed to turn out pretty well.
Click to see the pictures Continue reading Roasting Grains
Night photography
A little bit more than a week ago, I decided to try to take some night/sunset pictures for some practice with my camera. It was a nice night and I knew they would be quickly getting colder.
I went to the Legislature and some shots of the river valley and High Level bridge. Click to see them. Continue reading Night photography
Jacques Lake Backpacking trip
On the last weekend in August I went backpacking with Erin and her dad. We drove up to Cadomin Friday night. Dealt with a leaky tire Saturday morning then went to Jasper.
We got to the trail-head around 11am. It is 12 km to the Jacques lake campground and has a slight elevation gain but not very much. We had perfect weather – it was nice and sunny but not too hot. There was not too many bugs so that was a plus!
My backpack seemed to work pretty good. I rented it from MEC for the weekend. My shoulders were quite sore by the end of the trip but not too sore.
It was a nice hike. The beginning of the trail is an old fire trail so it is a little wider. There were gravel washes in multiples from previous storms that we had to walk over. It made things a little more interesting. After about 4 kms it turned into a single track trail through trees and next to lakes. For most of the trip there is either a lake or creek next to you. There are many nice views of the mountains and the water. It took us about 4.5 hours to get to the camp including stopping for lunch and snacks.
It was a nice campground. We were the only ones there and some of the sites hadn’t been used for awhile. We got a nice site. After we had set up camp we went for a little walk to a ranger station next to the lake. On the way to the ranger station we saw a moose in the water. It was pretty neat and didn’t really care that we were there. Each day we saw about 6 people on the trail. Most of them went to the campground and back in a day.
After a nice long sleep we got up and noticed that there were two moose eating in the picnic area! The sun wasn’t yet over the mountains so it wasn’t too bright out side yet. Jake tried to scare them away using a bear banger. First he launched a flare by mistake and they didn’t really move. He then used a bear banger and they moved a little bit more but still not really and they went back to eating. The bear banger was a bit like a firework going off. Eventually the moose moved far enough away and we could get to our food that was hanging and start a fire.
It was quite cool in the morning so we wanted a fire to help us warm up. It probably went down to around zero at night. I was warm in sleeping bag but once I was out of it, I quickly got cold!
After breakfast and packing the tent up we again left around 11. This time it took 4 hours and a bit. We were a little faster.
Both ways we saw some fairly fresh tracks that looked like maybe a wolf was hunting a deer or something. The tracks were pretty neat.
We got back in the car and we were on our way back. All in all it was a good introduction to my first real backpacking trip
We took Erin’s camera as it is more weatherproof and not so heavy! Erin took most of the pictures. I took some and Jake took some. Some pictures turned out quite well! Other ones not as much but it is hard to tell if you got a good one or not.
The pictures are below Continue reading Jacques Lake Backpacking trip
Legislature walk
Erin and I took a quick walk around the legislature today. It was a nice day that wasn’t too hot or windy. We took some pictures. Erin did most of the flower ones. I did some of the other ones. Click below to see the photos:
Continue reading Legislature walk
All Grain Beer
Saturday was beer day.
Earlier in the month we had bought the grains, hops and yeast that we would need to make beer using grains and no extracts. Previously we had made beer using only extracts and thought it would be neat to try it with grains.
On Friday we rented a grain crusher and went to Erin’s parents to crush it outside.
Saturday I got up planned my exact recipe and determined that we could not fit all the grains that we had crushed into my pot. We decided we would then make two batches and put it together in the end to up with the same amount of beer that we had planned on. Making 2 batches of beer takes a long time. Though there is lots of time in between doing things you have to keep an eye on it. I woke up around 7:30 am and it wasn’t until 7:30 pm that we were all done.
Click to see the pictures of the day: Continue reading All Grain Beer
Pickle Making Long Weekend
For the August Long weekend Erin and I went to my parents. We mostly relaxed while in Calgary. We also made pickles. Here are the pictures from the weekend: Continue reading Pickle Making Long Weekend