The First Skate

My girlfriend Laura had her son out skating on the rink last week while I was sleeping off a night shift.


I hooked up the hose to the kitchen sink and did 3 full floods of the rink with hot water. I had a couple of areas that were large raised patches which I spent some more time on with the hot water to try and level it out... It worked pretty good.

While I was gone to my daughters hockey tournament in Moose Lake, MN (they came in 2nd out of 8 teams), it rained a bit and helped to further level out the rink.... but unfortunately its been way above normal, temperature wise, and the rink is soft...

Here's wishing for cold weather!

Something that resembles ice...

Boot Hockey
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy

As you may have noticed (Thanks Steve!), I haven't had a chance to update much over the past month. Life, in all its frantic, hectic, turbulant joy left me with little to no time to work on the rink as I would have liked...

The initial fill went off smoothly, although by myself it took 45 minutes to lay out the liner properly...

Not long after the big fill was complete, we received a heck of a snow fall, followed by rain, sleet, hail and more rain. It was a disaster... And all of this while I was out of town for a week and a half before Xmas on training.

So finally.... FINALLY, I had enough time this past day off to shovel off some of the piles of ice crystals/snow that had settled and formed on the rink. My biceps, back and shoulders would testify to the time spent doing this... Ouch.

After I had removed the majority of the shards, I hooked up the kitchen tap to the hose (after making multiple trips to Canadian Tire to acquire the right size of hose/faucet attachment) and let the hot water flow!

The next day, the rink was still in subpar shape (by my standards) to skate, so the kids and I (and Tony, the neighbour) spent a couple of hours playing some boot hockey...

And just before we went out to watch a hockey game last night I did another hot flood... I'm thinking 3 or 4 more hot floods and the majority of the bumps/ridges should all be one, and we should be skating on glass ice once again *knock on wood*

FINALLY!

2007-2008 Fill
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy

So today, after an hour and a half of snow removal from the rink and 45 minutes of laying out the liner, I've finally got the water flowing. The tarp isn't as smooth as it was last year... but not bad, all things considered.

Life just got a little hectic, and then mother nature threw the big snow storm at us... and well.

So the lights are on outside, and the water continues to flow.

Will post pics tomorrow for an update!

And now for something... cooler?

Weather has been too warm here the last couple weeks to even think about filling the rink. Hopefully after we get back from the Twin Cities this weekend (we're going to watch the Minnesota Wild play the Vancouver Canucks) things will change for the better and we'll get some colder nights.

I still have that liner issue to deal with as well... *sigh*

Home Ice - 2007/2008

Home Ice - 2007/2008
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy

There we go, the frame is up, the soccer netting has come down. I just have to pound a few more 2x4 stakes in and she's set.

I did cut back the hedge on the left hand side about a foot, but I'm thinking of trimming it a bit farther. I had to replace a few screws that pulled out over the summer, but other than that, the boards held up admirably.

I'm a bit concerned over a liner though. I bought mine last year from Home Depot, and it was a 40x60. A bit of overkill on the 25' side, but I needed the 60' on the length. To my dismay, Home Depot is carrying a different liner this year, and it only measures 40x50.

I picked it up anyways, just in case I can't get my hands on another bigger liner. If need be, I'll use the 10' I end up cutting off the sides and some how glue/caulk it to make the full tarp long enough.

Now just waiting on the cold weather... it was 9C today and overcast.

First things first...

So I recently purchases a "new" truck. New to me. Its a 2000 Chevy LS Z71 extended cab 4x4. And its in mint condition. It has high miles, but the guy I bought it from (a friend) babies his vehicles like you wouldn't believe.

And less than 24 hrs after I bought it, someone keyed the drivers side door. Asshats.

So anyways, I headed out to my dads place and picked up all the boards/wood for the rink, and transported them to town. Now they sit in my back yard, waiting to be assembled. The weather forecast looks favourable tomorrow, so thats what I'm leaning towards.

I've got to visit Home Depot again to see if their rink liners have come in yet... Should be any time now. If I don't get my hands on one, I might be in for some trouble. I'm contemplating buying TWO liners this year, to make sure I have a spare for next year so my anxiety doesn't sky rocket again.

Yehaw!

October rolls around...

The chilly winds of October are on the horizon... in fact it has fallen below 0C a few times at night lately... It's only a matter of time now.

So, that being said, I think it's time to go out to dad's place and pick up all the boards for the rink and bring them back into town.

I would like to do a bit more preparation painting on them. I'm going to paint the bottom 12" yellow to simulate the kickplates in real arenas... And I'd love to paint some logos on the boards as well.

I am also planning on putting up 2' side boards this year as well...

and maybe some more lighting...

and some more netting...

and maybe some lines...

and...


and...


This year, I anticipate that the rink is going to get a lot more use... You see, my girlfriend Laura and her almsot 4 yr old son, Parker moved into my home in August... And he's starting his skating lessons today, actually, at a local rink. So, ya, exciting :)