Ice and Snow

Our retired neighbours Gillis and Vivi-Ann have taken it upon themselves to prepare the schools ice rink every year. Fortunately for us our house is no more than approximately 50 metres away from it, so thanks to them we have "our own" ice to skate on. This is great since neither Lorienne nor I are good skaters and now we can practice our skating skills (or lack of) without throwing our names away. Swedes usually learn to skate before or during their school years and therefore can't understand how some people can't do it.

Keeping the ice rink in good condition is almost daily work. First a more or less even surface must be prepared and after that it takes many layers of water before it actually becomes skateable ice. Maintenance means clearing it every time it has snowed.
These photos were taken last winter when Gillis and Vivi-Ann went to clear away snow. They had only just started when the skies dumped what seemed like a whole years supply of snow on top of them. They bravely carried on working but had to give up after a while since the snow was actually falling at a greater rate than they could get rid of it!