Good and the Bad

Side Boards
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy

So.... what's first?

Might as well get the bad out of the way.

When I did my first big fill, I discovered a smallish hole in the liner along one side... After it had frozen. The water level didn't get nearly as high as I would have liked because of it. So I found the leak, chipped out an area of ice and patched it up using soley "200 mph duct tape". Great stuff that.

So I decided I needed another "big" fill... So I did on a relatively cold night. Added about 3" of water overall. Apparently this is a bad idea. It froze alright... at least the top did anyways. In various spots around the rink though air was trapped between the bottom layer of ice and the new top layer and created soft pockets where the ice broke easily.... We found that out while the kids were skating on it today. Nothing too serious though, but not something I'll repeat.

Today I added 2' side boards on one 1/2 of the rink, at a cost of approx. $75. The boards actually turned out quite nice. I'll just have to paint them white and put that pressure treatment stain on them in the spring. I hope to do the otherside before Christmas... but money will of course be tight for awhile because of the season, so may have to wait.

That being said, Hannah and Parker skated and had fun out there for almost 4 hours today.

It was a good day.

My homeboni!

My homeboni!
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy

So I finally got around to building my homeboni this weekend... I've yet to try it out because it's been a little warm. I'm hoping for cooler nights this week :D

Parker was also the first skater of the year... November 23rd offically, although it could have been a week sooner. Not too shabby :)

I'll let everyone know how the 'boni works as soon as I can!

First Skate of 08/09
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy

Working Saturday

So today I had a few hours to kill... I turned them into some very productive hours. First off, I stopped at Home Depot and picked up the parts to make my very own Homeboni! I'm going see how the PVC homeboni works, but it may just get too cold up here and crack... if that's the case, I'll have to make one out of copper... So thats done. Going to try it out tonight. Hannah and I also put up the back stop netting behind one end of the rink. Too many of her wrist shots are sailing over now... which actually isn't a bad thing. And, I replaced a burnt out halogen bulb in one of the flood lights, and put the lights on timers so they should kick on around 6pm and shut off at 11 every night.

Yay for productive days!

It's Done

The rink is frozen... We had a bit of snow overnight, so Hannah, Parker and I shovelled it off and then played some boot hockey. I found a small tear in one end of the liner, below ice level that was leaking. I'm going to have to try and fix that tomorrow...

Flooded... and freezing

-15C tonight, and cold for the next few days... Parker and I were out and flooded Saturday night. The hose ran from around 7 until almost 1 am. Looked out there today and a good solid 1.5" of ice... I'm hoping it's all frozen up by mid week. Its darned cold at night, and still below zero during the day.

No snow either! Things are looking good!

The Iceman Cometh...

Here we go, a promising outlook of cold and no rain for the next 5 days.

It's rained here so much, it melted the minimal ice I had.

So tonight, I flood again!

Rain...

So its raining and overcast today... Just slightly above zero.

It's actually a good thing. Some rain and cool weather = free flood for me. As long as it doesn't snow, we'll be okay.

Looks like we're in for cool/cold weather next week! Can't wait.

The First Flood

The First Flood
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy

So I needed something to do to keep my mind occupied for a few hours the other day. It was cold and windy... Albeit more windy than cold... And I decided to fill the rink.

Earlier in the day, I decided to drop by Home Depot and see if the tarps were in... They were, for $109 CDN this year... I picked one up and threw it in the back of the truck, figuring I'd flood next week some time.

One thing to keep in mind - don't unravel a 40x60' tarp in -10C weather in hurricane force winds. Alright, they weren't that bad, but bad enough: my neighbour saw me struggling and dropped by to lend a hand. Mark: I'll help you keep that back alley clear for ya this year!

With Mark's help, an hour later I was filling the rink. This involved scrambling to find various tools - stapler, hose (which was still attached to the house and frozen solid), heat gun, staples for the stapler (thanks again Mark!) and things to keep the tarp from blowing away. You know, rocks, chairs, random pieces of wood.

So I basically just stapled the tarp around the rink and filled it. As the weight of the water pushed the tarp down, it ripped out the staples and I just had to restaple it in the new position... Worked actually quite well.

8 hours with the hose on and I turned it off.

Today there was a good inch, inch and a half of ice. Tonight it's going down to about -12C, which is great news.

Only one semi-problem. Near freezing temps this weekend and a pretty good chance of rain.

On the plus side, its a free flooding.


I'm dedicated my rink this year to Jack Falla and my mother, who I've been estranged from for some years. Even though we didn't get along she got me involved in ourdoor hockey when I was quite young, and it is probably the greatest gift she gave me.

She died this week at the age of 58.

And so it begins anew...

Rink Rats 2008
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy

Monday afternoon I held a rink raisin' party with my buddies from work. The day was overcast and cool, but turned out to be perfect buildin' weather.

The weather has been unseasonably warm up here lately, but I'm hoping within the next couple weeks I'll be able to put the liner down and fill it in the hopes of skating before Christmas :)

This year, I decided to put up the boards at the same time as the base 2x10's. It was definately a multi-person job. Some of the boards had warped a little bit over the summer, but overall it went together with little problem.

We seemed to be missing a few braces here and there, so some new ones were quickly produced.

Lookin' good... better than the weather forecast anyways!

The Time Approaches...

The grass in the backyard still holds much of the green that it did in July... In fact, it's probably longer than it was for most of the summer, seeing as how I haven't cut it in a month. Recking your lawnmower will have adverse effects on your ability to keep the grass trimmed.

This being said, it is time to put the rink up. (Weather permitting of course)

The call has gone out to a couple of good friends for a "Rink Raising" Party.

I will supply the beer and lunch, and hundereds of pounds of lumber to haul around for a couple of hours. They will supply the manual labour, witty comments and cheerful banner (hopefully) for the duration.

Check back on Tuesday for pictures!