Poking around Parliament

A busy and hot weekend on this end!   Saturday we were over to Gatineau for the day and spent it with friends around a pool (well in the pool), beer, wine, steaks and great company.   Sunday Keaton came up for a short visit to exchange birthday gifts and to see him before he heads back to college later this week.   No way he was going to sit around all day and rape my internet on such a beautiful day, so we headed downtown.

Many of these are very common Ottawa images so I tried to shoot from different angles and perspectives.   The one thing I did discover with all the blue skies is how much dust I have on my sensor....argh.  Thank god for photoshop's spot healer.

Click image for big versions.

National War Memorial

Parliament

Library of Parliament

Queen Elizabeth II

Col John By, the man responsible of my beloved Rideau Canal

Outside the National Gallery of Canada

My favourite shot of the day, the peacekeepers memorial.

Have the rest of this week off and then back to work after labour day :-(     but the weather is looking great so more travels to come, I hope ;-)   Now to go clean dust out of my camera!

Canadian War Museum and the Jock River

Good morning all.

Probably should have broken this up into two posts but just to damn lazy hahaha.   Gotta love it when your doing so much stuff that your behind on blogging, particularly after being bad about not posting or taking pictures for the past few months.  Now that the move is complete and I'm actually taking a bit of vacation time, Jen and I are trying to catch up on summer with the canoe and getting out and about.  So here we go.

Believe it or not, I had not been to the "new" Canadian War Museum after all the years I've lived here in Ottawa and we finally got moving and went for a visit.   We knew it would be awesome and it didn't disappoint.   After so many years of having many of their artifacts stored away, the new building is pretty cool and it looks like they could use a bigger building yet.   Bit of a tough place for photography with the windows located where they are but to be honest I kinda forgot about the camera while poking through the many exhibits.

Boar War Soldier

A Nieuport 17 (the type of plane flown by Billy Bishop during WWI)

One of Hitlers Mercedes complete with bullet holes.

The pictures above and below was one of the things I really wanted to see.   This was a WWII remoted German weather station codenamed "Kurt" that was covertly installed in Labrador to send weather reports to U-Boats.   It was found after a researcher found documents in Germany and a search team went to the spot in the early 1980's and found the equipment.   40 years and would never have been found. This has gotten some interest lately due to the possible locating of a German U-Boat in the Churchill River in Labrador.   Just shows how things can be placed in the Arctic and never found.

For more info - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_Station_Kurt
and about the U-Boat - http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/07/25/nl-u-boat-labrador-discovery-725.html  (this is going to be an interesting story to follow)

For those who spent time in Alert during or before my era,  you should recognize the the machines above and below :-)  To bad they aren't bright yellow.

When I was a young lad I joined the Air Cadets just as the Voodoo was being phased out, but I did get to see some of these flying up at CFB Chatham, New Brunswick.  Might even have some old photos somewhere, should find them and scan them in.

That killed a day, if my feet weren't so sore I could have gone through the exhibits one more time but given that I'm ex-military I can get in for free (just bring proof of service and you can bring 2 guests as well) so I can come and go as I please and just pay parking.   I can see going back for a few more visits.

Yesterday was beautiful weather again so we packed up the canoe to see how the water levels were on the Jock River.   We were told that during the drought it was pretty low and given how busy we were with the move we just avoided the area.   But the water levels were back up so a great spot for paddling again.

The sun was very harsh and almost none of my photos of the outbound trip turned out as the sun was pretty much in our faces with no cloud.  This is always a tough spot for me as it has lots of wild life so I want to take a lens that can "reach out and touch someone".   I have a really good 80-200mm Nikon ED but it's big and I find it cumbersome in the boat, but I also have a 70-300mm Sigma.  Pretty cheap but it can give some pretty cheap results if not handled properly.   In the end I took the Sigma, still not sure if that was the right decision given how many pictures are crap but I did manage a few really nice ones on the way back with the sun behind us.

Click the image for a way bigger version!

There is an Osprey nest in this area and we had 4 birds following us throughout the trip.

Lots of turtles around, Jen got more photos of them then I as I was steering the canoe to "sneak up" on them.

There are lots of Heron's on this section of the river, but I have never seen them so "cagey", never got close enough for a decent photo.  Even more surprising is that at one point there was 3 of them all flying together.  I have never seen Heron's travel in groups before.

These last few shots were by far the best, sun was behind us, we got fairly close and he/she cooperated.  The Osprey's and the Heron's kept playing with us for the entire time, letting us get into photo range and then taking off.   Also not fun shooting from a canoe, it can try your patience.

There you go, caught up on the vacation thus far.   Still puttering around with the radio antennas.  I got the 20ft tower up for the 6m quad but still need to install the rotator and mount the antenna on top but should be up and running on 6m's in the next few days.   But for now just enjoying the summer.

Poonamalie, Smith Falls and Kilmarnock

What the heck are a Poonamalie and a Kilmarnock you ask?   They're lock stations on Rideau Canal of course!  But if your an avid follower then you know that already ;-)  Not my first visits.  Poonamalie is here    and Kilmarnock is here

But, I had never paddled north of Poonamalie to Smith Falls before so we decided to give that one a go.   Not a very long paddle but given that we hadn't been on the water in almost 2 months there was no complaints from us or our muscles.

For the "details" of Poonamalie Lock, go here.   (Click image for bigger view)

The Poonamalie Lockstation.  This is a very pretty lockstation located just minutes from Smith Falls.  Very easy put in for the canoe, a lovely canal and friendly staff.

The lock is only 1 of 3 that still has a used lockmasters house.   I couldn't image a nicer spot to live.

Looking north along the canal, the direction we're headed this time.

Someone at the lock has a green thumb, planting flowers this year.  A nice touch.

The paddle from Poonamalie to Smith Falls was a pretty typical stretch of the northern part of the Rideau, swamps, lowlands, marsh, twists and turns, nothing that we hadn't seen before.   Along the way we spotted Herons, an Osprey, a baby Loon, Ducks and a water snake of some type.   I didn't bring my big zoom so no photos of any of those, or in the case of the snake I couldn't get the camera out soon enough.  Has me thinking I should be using my 18-200mm for these trips vice my 17-50mm.

You'll know when you hit Smith Falls lock, this monstrosity suddenly appears;

This is a  raised bascule bridge. This Scherzer rolling-lift railway bridge was built in 1912-13 and was used until the rail line ceased operation in 1984. Since then it has been permanently kept in the raised position. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1983.  It's in pretty rough shape with trees growing out of it and most of the wood now gone but still quite the sight.

The paddle back was pretty uneventful.   We poked around and did a very slow paddle for the entire trip and we were just under 2 hours.  It could be done in an hour if necessary.  I didn't have my GPS but I would judge 5-6km's round trip.

We poked around Poonamalie for a bit and took most of the above lock photos before starting back through Smith Falls where we stopped for an after paddle tradition - Timmies Ice Cap's ;-)

I've always found the Kilmarnock Lock to be kinda interesting and Jen hadn't seen it before so we made a stop.   It's a kinda unknown and over looked lock in my opinion.   It only has to raise and lower boats about 2.2 feet, definitely the smallest on the canal but it has an interesting swing bridge right in the middle of the lock.

The lock station is set up the hill a bit from the lock itself.   As it was a weekday, boat traffic was pretty light, thus the lockmaster chilling out a bit ;-)

Looking East from the lock.

The swing bridge right in the middle of the lock.   

So that was our day trip, nothing to stressful ;-) given that we're on vacation.   Looking at a trip over to Gatineau at some point and down to Kingston as well.  Hope to visit some of the locks on the south side of Smith Falls during that trip.

New Home

Hey everyone,

Well we successfully completed the move to the new house and have been settling it.   It was a very rough move and I definitely learned my lesson.   Last year we moved and hired a guy and things went very smoothly.  This year as we were only moving a 1/2 km I figured "hey I can do this".   After 4 days of lugging stuff over and up and down stairs during one of the hottest summers I can remember, I was dead!   Lesson learned, the money spent last year was well worth it and the only way I'll ever do it again.  ;-)    Thanks to all those who helped with the big stuff on the Saturday to help us complete the move.

The new place is fantastic.   Still a few small reno's going on and while we were moving in they were up to their ears in the reno's, they ended up being a few days behind so I had to dodge them throughout the move.

No indoor photos, given that blogs are very public, but I did send some photos off to those of you who are close enough.  But here is an outdoor look;

The front.  The garage is being used by the owner but I have full access.   The house looks older, and it is, but the inside has been completely renovated and has tons of room.  I call it "the tardis" cause it's bigger on the inside.

The backside of the house.   The deck is rather small and I have a modified ramp for Jackson, although he is still scared of the deck.  He jumped off the first few days we were here and hurt his leg and limped around for a few days, so he's a bit gun sky.  We have been hinting to the owners that a larger deck would make the house more attractive ;-)

The view from the back deck.  There is no one behind us, on the other side of the garage is a neighbour that we have yet to see and to the left is a pile of heavy machinery that is being used to develop a bunch of roads for a new subdivision at some point.  When they are done, a soccer field is supposed to go in beside us and be fenced by the city.   Time will tell.   The little part behind the garage is ours and we can store the boats and stuff in there.

We definitely find this house much more comfortable then the last and it has character.   Although we liked the last house it just never had that character I've been used to after living at the farm.   Just another house that had been put up along with hundreds of others.   This one is 90+ years old on the front with a modern open concept on the back.  The basement still has logs holding up the main house and tons of old wiring and plumbing that appears to go nowhere.  It's pretty cool and scary all at the same time.  Tons of windows and natural light, and breezes on all 4 sides thanks to the array of windows.    Even the basement is pretty cool and my hamshack setup is pretty decent.  Gas furnace, fireplace, water heater and stove tops it all off and the old place has central A/C.   Even has a huge water softener/treatment system.

We had quite the horror story with Bell and Rogers.   There was no sign of a phone cable going to the house or into the house.  They finally found the cut phone cable and ran it up to the house and I later wired a phone line into the house but while we were running the underground cable we hit on rock.  After some digging we discovered it was interlocking brick.  Some more digging discovered a completely overgrown walk way.  Like I said, character.

The recovered walkway.

Speaking of ham shack, I did managed to get the HF vertical back up in the air yesterday.  Tried it out this morning chatting with Bermuda without difficulty, so now I just have to bury all the radials and coax - argh!   and then I'll be on to putting the 6 meter quad back up in the air.

The backyard and the old, beatup, 22 year old vertical back in the air. Little worried about how the metal roof on the garage is going to effect things to the north but we'll see.

The 6 meter quad awaiting the tower to go up (in the left of the picture laying on the lawn).

Jen has been on vacation since the move, lucky girl, but I just started my 2 weeks off - yippee.  Nothing major planned, hope to get a day trip into Kingston, check out some lock stations on the Rideau, some paddling (canoe and kayak), some photography, catch a move or two, visit with friends over in Gatineau and just plan chill out for a few weeks.   Jen's daughter, Erin, is off to Disney later today and will be gone for the next 10 days or so.  So just the 2 of us, the cats and Jackson man!

So fingers crossed lots of photos in the next 2 weeks and more blog items that talk about interesting stuff besides moves and antennas. :-)   Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Moving Week

Yes, it has been FOREVER since I last posted and I do apologize.   It's been a crazy spring and once you get out of the habit of blogging it can be tough to get back into it, particularly in the weather we have been having this year.

A very long story short, we expected to have our current house for 2-3 years before the owner returned from Newfoundland, she decided to return after just 1 year.   I can't blame her, it is her house, but DAMN!  It's a pissoff when you've spent so much time, effort and money to make a home and then have to rip it all up and move again.  In my case this is the 3rd summer in a row that I've moved.   Fortunately we found a house less then 1/2 km away and this time it's a dedicated rental unit.   No one moving home after a year.   It's an older place that has been renovated but it is a bit of a downgrade for us.   No garage, no dining room and 3 small bedrooms but, IMO, it actually has more usable living space.  I don't really think of bedrooms as living space, I go there to sleep!  How big do they need to be?   The current place has a great rec-room that we never use.  It's too damn cold in the basement to really spend time down there.   The new place has the living room, kitchen and rec-room all on the same floor, thus even heat, the rooms will get used.   It has tons of windows, all new gas water heater, fireplace and stove, newer windows, modern bathrooms a decent yard.   Without the garage and a big basement it's going to be a tough fit to get everything in but we'll figure it out.

The past few weeks has been sorting through the stuff I haven't opened in the last 2 moves and finally getting rid of it and this past weekend packing and getting ready.  Jen has been doing the same and the pile is a bit better looking.  Amazing how much crap you accumulate in your life.  Found a home for about 250lbs worth of paperbacks (Watson's Mill in Manotick will take them) and the last of the big CRT TV's are in my truck to be dropped at Salvation Army later today.  The biggest kicker was after 2 years I finally decided to put the radio's back on the air.   I put antennas up, buried radials and made everything look professional so it wouldn't freak the neighbours out and just as I finished it we got the notice to move.   I had to take it all back down and dig it all back up.   Going to be hard to get motivated to go through putting it all back up again, but we'll get it done in the coming months.

I'm at work today and Tuesday then off Wed, Thur and Fri for the move.   Will just be me the first 2 days putting things in the truck and taking them over to the new house.   I hope to have the garage stuff all moved on Wed, the main floor stuff done on Thurs, Jen will join me on Friday and we can move the bedrooms, clothing and kitchen on Friday and then I have a rental cube truck on Saturday and some friends coming over to assist with all the heavy stuff - coaches, dressers, mattresses, tables, etc.....    Then clean the old place Sat and Sun and be done with it.   Then back to work on the Tuesday (long weekend holiday in Canada).   It's going to be a BRUTAL week.   Fortunately for Jen, she starts 5 weeks holidays on the Friday and she can crash and burn when it's done.

If that wasn't crazy enough, everything else has been just as silly.   Jen came down with shingles so she was out of commission for a few weeks and nothing happening on the divorce front (right after it was looking like we were making headway) can't get any info about anything from my ex all she does is give me a hard time about everything instead of just answer the question.  For someone who wants money she sure isn't willing to tell me how much she paid or needs to pay.   Want to get this foolishness behind me.  Not to mention get my name off the mortgage so someday I can buy a house again.   Once the move is done I guess I'll have to start kicking things again to try and move it forward. 

You'd think with all this amazing weather every weekend we would have put some major miles on the canoe.   Nope, we've only been out 3 times so far.   Piss poor showing.  Busy packing and with Jen down sick it's been tough to get out.   The drought has caused one of our prime spots, the Jock River, to be no good for paddling so we'll have to get out on the Rideau soon.   Fingers crossed that the weekend weather holds for the rest of the summer so we can have some fun once the move is done.

No new pictures or videos :-(    They have pretty much remained packed since I left Bermuda back in April.  Terrible I am!   Will do my damnist to start getting some pics up soon - particularly of the new place.   Hope everyone else is having a good summer!

Later - and I have a few topics to write about when I have more time :-)

Super Moon 2012

I know I know I haven't written much lately.....soon I promise!   Lots of stressful things going on in life these days that are wearing me down but still smiling with no regrets!   ;-)

Super "Orange" Moon 2012

New Ham Shack and Happy Easter!

Many of you know that for many years I was a very avid Ham Radio Operator.  I've operated from the Canadian Arctic (VE8RCS), Bermuda (VP9MM), Newfoundland (VO1XA) and finally here in Ottawa (VA3XA).   After my separation I packed up the radio gear and promptly walked away from the hobby except for when I was in Bermuda where I used a friends radio.   This past trip to Bermuda my buddy Glen (http://bermudaglen.blogspot.com/) was bugging me to get back on the air and to be honest I was starting to feel the bug a bit.

So this past 2 weeks I pulled my old vertical, a Butternut HF9V, out of the barn and found my radio gear and set it all back up.   Not as big as the old days where I had towers, yagi's, amplifier, etc etc...   Just a radio, no tuner, coax straight to the antenna.   Seems to work well, just had a nice chat with the guys/gals in Bermuda.   Glen asked to see a few pictures, here ya go;

 My man cave ;-)   We live in a side split so this is just under the kitchen.   I have my TenTec Jupiter setup with a W2IHY box and Goldline Microphone.   Off to the side I have my old IC-751A ready to go if needed.  No tuners in use, straight out to the antenna.

Couple of shots of the old Butternut HF9V.  It's not very straight any more, after being moved around this past 21 years but it's all original parts and still holding.  Of those 21 years it has probably been outside and standing for at least 15 years.  Says something of it's durability.   Only 3 radials down for now but it seems to get out well.   More permanent anchors going in soon and will bury the coax and radials so people don't trip on them.

For now I continue to resist the urge to put up towers and long wires hahaha.  But I do miss my 160m Inverted L, that thing was fun!

Hope everyone is having a great Easter weekend.  16C here today and turkey is in the oven!   Have a great week everyone!