Wednesday, December 17, 2008

ON FUN ~ Skating Season...




Edition #8

Thirteen Things about THE BUMBLES -

and how we help our neighbor build the annual backyard ice rink...


1. Clear the area for leaves, twigs & other yard debris which may poke a hole through the plastic.

2. Lay out the area - his is approx. 30' x 70'. He changed the location in his yard this year but the size is about the same as last year.

3. Lay out the plywood, stakes and other building components.

4. Stand the plywood on end - his are 2' high - and attach together with pieces of plywood. Drive the stakes into the ground and screw through the plywood to the stakes.

5. Bolt all the corners together with metal angles.

6. Waterproof all the joints with pieces of rubber and old carpet scraps.

7. Lay out tarps on the ground to protect the plastic membrane.

8. Lay out one big sheet of plastic - can't have any joints in the plastic - and get it in place ready to fill with water.

9. We hook up hoses from 5 or 6 houses in the neighborhood and fill it. It usually takes about 10 or 12 hours. It is a big rink and deep in spots - up to 18-24". Good excuse to spend the day drinking and looking at water going into the rink.

10. Wait for mother nature to cooperate with a stretch of cold and dry days. It has to be more than a week of solid below freezing weather. This year has not yet been very cooperative.

11. The first day on the ice is the greatest. It is such a sense of accomplishment. It is still a lot of work though, and obviously the success is dependent upon the weather.

12. Lots of neighborhood parties and another good excuse to drink.

13. Maintenance - mainly involves cleaning after skating, occasionally flooding at night to resurface and hopefully not lots of shoveling.




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13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's really something. We've had plenty of cold days for it, but no place to set something like that up.

Unknown said...

That's wonderful. It's nice to see someone still does this. Happy Holidays!

Anonymous said...

I never knew folks did that sort of thing in their backyards. Having never been north of the Mason-Dixon, I'd be a bit ignorant on that score. Looks like y'all will be having some icy fun this winter!

Merry Christmas from She Lives!

♥♥ Willa ♥♥ said...

ohhhh..that was great of you,Bumbles to help out.Happy Holidays, :)
TT#14:Christmas Trivia

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, that looks like so much fun! It doesn't usually get cold enough here to even consider a skating rink!

Happy TT!

soleil said...

that's awesome! i didn't even know you could do that but i, also, have always lived in some state of warm climate. that is too cool. i went to NM for thanksgiving and ice skated at an outdoor rink on the mountain which was a lot of fun. your pictures are wonderful and i am still in awe of having your own backyard ice rink. wow.
happy tt :)

Anonymous said...

That was quite an undertaking! Well done!

Natsthename said...

That is wicked cool!!! What, you don't just wait for an ice storm?

♥.Trish.♥ Drumboys said...

wow - that looks amazing - this is something we will never see in Oz.

Thorne said...

Okay, that seriously RAWKS!!! I'm generally a stay-inside-by-the-fireplace-while-ooohing-and-ahhhhing at the snow through the window kinda gal, but I would lace up my skates (if I still had them) for that!
I know you already visited my blog, but did you see our first snow in 4 years, and the deepest one in about 20? It's my TT at Make That a Wite Holiday! (Of course, our damn pipes froze last night, so we'll have a fun plumbing repair/flood day in a week or so when it thaws!!)

Anonymous said...

Awesome! When we were kids the town I lived in in Massachusetts filled the park with water and it always froze for ice skating.

Anonymous said...

Sorry I'm so late in replying! You have an AWESOME backyard rink. Makes me regret not ever learning how to skate.

Bethany said...

That is so cool! What a fun neighborhood you must live in :)