Before we left on our road trip I thought I had finished the hull of my model of the 1795 Frigate Themis.  But when I came back it turned out I had just a few more details.  Here is a picture.

Still I believe it is now complete and I can turn my effort to the rigging and masts.

I spent 4 afternoons this last week bending and soldering brass wire to simulate the chain brackets that go on the hull.  These would be normally cast iron but I have found over the years that I can simulate them very nicely with a loop of copper wire, soldering and then clamping for the small end.  I had to make 46 of these brackets but it is fun as I listen to recordings of old Mayday episodes on the TV.  I chose brass instead of copper for some reason that I cannot remember now.

I had the idea to soak them when they were finished in an acid to try and blacken them to make them look more like cast iron.   I have done this many times before but for some reason the brass did not blacken so I left them in the acid for longer than I intended.  Did not turn black.  Started to hook up the dead eyes and chains to connect to these brackets and all the solder connections failed as the acid ate the solder away.  Had to throw them all out.  The picture just shows a few but you can clearly see the failed joints.

Big mistake.  I will have to spend the next week making new ones (this time from copper).  Good thing I do not do this to make money.

When Meagan set up this blog site for me it was intended to pass on my deep thoughts and observations on life that  well let us say, she believed required dissemination.

I often use the site to share events in our life including developments in my models.  But here is an observation about today.

This afternoon I went off to the local grocery story to buy the ingredients I needed for the supper tonight.  I was walking out and there was a table with 2 Shriners selling tickets.  Two older guys (I mean older than I am) in their fezs with their display.  Most people were avoiding eye contact and move on but I like what Shriners do so stopped and asked what they were promoting.

They were selling 2019 calendars for $20.  Now I do not need a calendar.  We get an annual calendar from the family to die for and free ones from our investment company.  But this calendar comes with a draw for $2000 or a chance to get $25 per week for a year limited to just the calendars sold in the Valley.  Still a donation to a good cause.

So I hand over $20 and the guy on the left is helping me fill out the ticket.  When I finish the guy on the right (the one with the cash box) hands me a $10 bill.

I walked away for a few steps, stopped and looked at the display board they had and the pile of calendars.  I went back and said “are these calendars not sold for $20, you gave me back $10”

The guy on the left thanked me for being so honest and I explained that that was the way I was brought up (and I assume the way our children were brought up)  But as I was giving back the $10 bill the guy on cash had his eyes as big a dinner plates.  I suspect he had been giving back $10 all afternoon and at the end of the day he would have to cover for the shortfall.

Thank goodness we belong to clubs that are not into fund raising.

We just returned from out 20 day Miata adventure .  The first part of the trip was around BC with two friends which included a side trip to Alberta.  The first few days were in the Okanagan wine region where we had the chance to stay in Naramata and sample lots of wines.  Amazingly good wines.

After that we stopped in Ainsworth for some hot spring activity and on to Fernie.  We were planning on going to Canmore and then through Lake Louise to take the icefield highway to Jasper but found out that there was snow coming and none of us had winter tires.  We changed our plans and immediately drove to Saskatchewan River Crossing which is a lodge half way between Lake Louise and Jasper.  The drive there was great with clear blue skies and the views were fantastic.  But the next morning we awoke to snow flurries so turned around and headed south stopping in Bragg Creek to stay at the home of the sister of one of our compatriots.  Beautiful big house with a custom gourmet meal.  Wonderful evening but again woke to snow so headed south again.

For the next few days it was lots of rain until we made it to Wenatchee in Washington State.  Lots of blue sky and warm weather.  We stayed a few days to visit Blaine and Lisa along with Ryan and Corrie and her parents who were staying at an RV resort.  Great chance to spend time with Ryan’s 3 boys.

Then on to Hood River Oregon which is on the Columbia river in sight of three big volcanoes Mount Hood, Mount Adams and Mount Saint Helens.  There we joined 60 other Miatas for a series of runs.  One of the run was an all day drive through twisting forestry roads to a ridge that looked into the St Helens crater only 7 miles away.  Great drive although the roads were quite rough.

Then home.  The pictures are of the three cars at the Naramata Inn, a glacier on the icefield highway, Mount Hood and Mount St Helens