Winterlude been there now back

Well winterlude was excellent.
We met new friends and created a piece that was worth some accolades.
The chain saw could help now that we have worked in the region and they let you use one.
Our block was a layer of ice between 8 and 12 inches thick on two sides. The chain saw would have mowed right through this like nothing. The sharp tools required that much more work to accomplish the same task of removal.
But we have finished and we are back home now.
Where will the next adventure be.

Winterlude

No it has nothing to do with anti-depressants nor running around naked in the snow. It is a winter carnival in the Capital region, Ottawa/Gatineau.
I will be joined by Craig Mutch in this competition, our other teammate is staying home with a bad back.
We have our flaky theme, and a big block of snow to sculpt.
Rules abound at this event, I guess because the government or capital region is in charge. All the rules however seem to deal with the use of a chain saw, which I can not see being of any real use. But some seem to think there is an advantage.
The regular sharp hand tools do the job and it allows the team to work together instead of one guy working with a chain saw and the others watching him.

And that's my comment.

Preparations

Well now we prepare for Chicago, The bagpipe player.
We will be working with a new guy from the Chicago area that would like to learn.
I hope we don't drive him nuts. We are a bit eccentric.
Well at least I am.
The holidays were good a primer for being in the cold all day while working.
I don't get much of that cold stuff where I live, it gets cold but not that cold.
Everyone has had a good holiday I trust.
Oh where is that summer thing that we love so much.

Back from Europe

Well that, I will say, was a lot of fun. We sculpted the story Kabouters. The gnomes of Lapland.
I have a copy of the book in Dutch, and will find the English version to compare the visual content. To see just how much it was edited for North America. Maybe not at all.
The gnomes were fun and I think the public will react very well to the sculpture. This now leads us to Christmas and then snow sculpture in Chicago , followed by Gatineau Quebec.
Then it's back to Belgium, Holland, Belgium, Germany.

Almost finished

It's been a few days now, I have almost finished what I have set out to do. The end of the month is coming soon and with that a whole lot of travel is in store. Yes I may also do some shopping.
I will be purchasing tickets to the homeland after I arrive back from Belgium. The land of beer and chocolate. Chocolate. It is so good. Like I do not know what exactly they do, but it is good, and the beer, well don't get me started. They take some simple ingredients and produce a range of beer styles and flavors not to be found anywhere else. If the taxes weren't so high I might like to live there. But alas I am a humble Canadian.