Skip to main content

Backyard Rink 2.0

The old Coronavirus got us this week. Despite being sick things still needed to get done. 

Still botheringhis sick dad.

As you can see, Theo likes to be a pill from time to time.

Meadow is always finding ways to lure Pecan into her room. 

The weather this week looked like winter so we needed to get our ice rink built. 

This year we decided to expand it over the sidewalk. 

It was a wee bit small for us adults last year.

Theo helped at times. 


First we just had to figure out what we could build with the lumber we had. We had enough for the base wall at least.

Even Meadow joined us outside for a bit. 


I'd like to move this raised bed back a couple of feet next year to simplify the geometry.

Brooke lent a hand when I needed the help.

We use a DIY Iron Sleek setup. 2 x 12s and these metal brackets are all you need if your slope isn't too extreme.

I had to fill in some low spots with dirt on the part that went over the middle garden.

I had to wait a day or so to hammer in these support brackets. Our garage power runs under this area and through the middle garden.

Day one in the books.


I did a little research and bought this underground cable tester. For this use you plug in the emitter, on the right, into an outlet and then it sends a signal through the wire. The receiver, on the left, detects that signal. Slick.

This is going to be so awesome. Let's hope we get an actual winter this year. 

If we didn't have a few trees, we'd probably go even wider.

Theo told me he wanted to learn to use the sewing machine. 

We started with a simple project of a pillow. 

Nice job Theo!

Look at these crafty little kids.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Yardwork, Ikea and Pumpkins

My new parents-in-law got us a dehydrator for the wedding. Knowing we were going to be cleaning up the garden and going to farmer's market, we took a gander at our millionth kitchen device during breakfast.   Scott added granola to his oatmeal.  The oatmeal was rather bland, just the way Brooke likes it.   Scott was actually cleaning up so I had to take a quick photo of him as proof.  Scott told me he was, "putting a blanket down for Peanut," while singing. During the winter months peanut needs a warm place to peer through the window. Seeing as it was nearly November, I setup his blanket for him. Seeing as the farmers market season is dwindling down, we headed to the market...once again. The close proximity to the cities central farmer's market has to be one of the best assets of living in NoMi. We were both amazed by the bounty of produce still on sale. We quickly filled up our first bag and took it back to the car....

Back to the BWCA - Red Rock to American Point via Voyageur Canoe Outfitters

The  kickoff to our Boundary Waters trip started with a cookout in Duluth.   Right along the rocky shores of east Duluth. Burgers and playing in Lake Superior, what could be better for this little bub. We camped at Jay Cooke state park for the night, then drove back to Duluth for some Duluth Grill breakfast. Had we known that we were meeting with Blake and Daniel on the far side of Duluth, we'd have stayed in Two Harbors. But I guess it worked out. Duluth Grill is still delicious. Meadow is now in her, "Why are you taking photos of me" phase. We had some time before getting to Voyageur Canoe Outfitters so stopped in Grand Marais. 

When Brookie Met Scottie

Scott and I first met back in February 2006. I drove up to Minneapolis for the weekend to visit my cousin and future roommate Stacey. She had been invited to a friend of hers birthday party. We actually gave Scott and his roommates a ride to the party. I thought he was super cute and never thought in a million years that he'd even talk to me. I instantly felt comfortable around him and we talked the whole night. I called Cevonne the next day to tell her all about this guy I met and she said, "You're going to marry him." My reaction was, "My initials will be BAT." We spent almost the entire weekend together. Seeing as I was not living in Minneapolis I was worried we wouldn't see each other again, but Scott assured me he would come to Appleton during his spring break. I remember coming home excited to find that he already friended me on Facebook. We had awkward phone conversations and chats on AIM and then a month later he did indeed come u...