Fall Update

 I know the last three posts have been my races, but of course everyone else in the family is keeping busy as well. Really busy.

So when we last left off with the first fall post Hubby and I had installed the ice at the curling club, V had joined all the clubs in HS, C started college and H was settling into Gr 11. 

Ice got installed, then he and I got it into shape the first two-three weeks of curling season. Then early Nov he left it in the hands of myself and another ice tech while he went on a whirlwind curling tour of the Midwest US. 20 men from Canada spent  18 days of playing 1-2 games a day at different clubs. They started in Minnesota for a few days, then about a week in Wisconsin (Wisconsin has a lot of curling clubs) then Chicago, Indiana and Michigan before coming home.

Hubby said it wasn't the curling that made the trip unforgettable though, it was the hospitality at all the clubs, the Canadians were wined and dined at each one and welcomed.

So, how has it gone with us taking over the ice and Hubby being away? I know we were all nervous to see if we'd be able to do well in this job as a team, but also on my own with a helper while he was away.  The first week he was away, our helper's club was holding an event with outside ice team, so he was able to help a lot, the second week, I was on my own a lot.

I'm very happy to report we've gotten nothing but compliments on the ice. Some people didn't even realize the weeks Hubby was away!  When we had issues with some sheets (sometimes the outside sheets on a club do weird things-due to walls in the way and less insulation they will have issues with weird curling patterns before the inside sheets) hubby was able to talk me through fixing them until he could get home and get them back in shape. I think all of us were very happy it's gone so well and we get lots and lots of accolades about the ice being very consistent, fast and well maintained.  The only downside was that my shoulder and arms which I'd had previous issues with flared up with all the pebbling and lifting heavy equipment, so I'm back to working on fitting my PT exercises back into my day to get them back in working order. 

V has been very busy.  She finished off her Bronze Medallion class of swimming!  She's on her way to becoming a lifeguard.  She's taking winter off to participate in swim team and in the spring will join a program nearby meant to bridge the gap in qualifying lifeguards that occurred during the pandemic and will be taking her Bronze Cross as part of the program and hopefully her lifeguarding class in summer or fall so when she's 15 she can lifeguard.

She's working on her school play, participating in oddity film society (watching odd films of the past like Dracula and making podcasts about them), media art club, swim team 1-2 times a week including some competing (they've had 3 mini meets now with Zones next week-if she does well at Zones she will go to a competition in Toronto in early 2025). She's been working hard and cutting down times. It's been amazing to see her as a small swimmer way in the back of the pack to keeping up with everyone.  We are going to try to get her some extra swim time as for the two lifeguard classes she needs to be able to swim 400m in 10-11 minutes to pass the classes.

H turned 16!  He's finding his way at school.  Here in Canada they don't look at all your grades, just certain ones in Grades 11 and 12 so he's decided he'd rather take less classes and have time to do homework at school and take a little longer to graduate and do WELL in those classes than get overwhelmed.  He started the semester with 3 classes and one was dropped due to not being a good fit, so he'll try it next semester with a different teacher and teaching style and do 3 classes next semester.  He's doing really really well in his computer class and coming along in his English. This is the first year that Ontario (or just our district? Not sure) is requiring English for Gr 11 be indigenous based so he's reading lots of indigenous authors and stories.  He's currently reading The Firekeeper's Daughter (I also read it to keep up on what's going on in class-it's good).

C is in college and I think enjoying it. He likes that only one day a week does he have to get up for a 9:30am class.  He was riding his bike to class every day  but with the colder temps we have been trying to move around schedules we can help with rides as the school is between our house and the curling club.  He's happy to work at school on projects as well so that gives a little more flexibility in timing.

The Bad thing Race

 At the end of October, I went to Goderich, ON for The Bad Thing Trail Race . It's a point to point meaning, they take you in a bus from the finish line to the start line and let you out to run back.  The Bad Thing is a 50k race that takes place on the Maitland Trail along the Maitland River.  The beginning of the race wasn't marked well enough or we missed a turn or something, but 90% of us ended up crossing a river first thing in the race (thankfully I'd brought dry socks to change into at the first aid station) and then bushwacking our way uphill through the woods to the trail. The rest of the race was well marked and we all got lost together, so I chalked it up to a regular trail race.

The trail was lovely, though I was glad I'd brought poles as it was very narrow on a hill at times and most of the trail was covered in lots of fallen leaves, so there were plenty of roots, etc. hiding.

I was very pleased with my outcome. There were 1200 meters of elevation, a lot of up and down hills.  I'd originally thought it would take me 8 hours or so but I finished in 7 hours and 19 minutes.

Yay! We found the trail!

The start is a secret location every year. This year we started in the Historic Gaol.  The rock walls did little to protect us from the winds coming off Lake Huron. There was a little rain and hail during the race and tons of wind.

Leaves everywhere, but it gave us a good view of the river.

Those of us who went to the race from our local run club.

More views of the river.

The best aid station was the 4th.  It advertised itself as a Troll Bridge. It was under a highway bridge, but the volunteers were dressed as Troll Dolls.

This was the second river crossing.  The first time I've ever said the last km of an ultra marathon was the easiest-my feet were frozen from crossing a river in October!

The finish line!

When it wasn't raining, the sun was lovely.

We had the river to our right the entire way.

I did enjoy the race, lots to see, varied landscape.  The afterparty was great, food, a great cover band, etc. However. There was more road than I'd wanted (gravel at least, a little easier on the body) and when it was road it was super windy.  The leaves over the roots was a little scary, though we got lucky on the weather with little mud. On a rainier year it would have been a mud fest.  So while I liked the race, I don't know that I'd do it again. Keep in mind I'm generally a 1 and done type runner anyway (once I run a race, I'm not keen to do it again, there's just too many races out there).

That's the end of the season for me.  I'm looking forward to curling season and planning next year.  I just signed up for a race yesterday though-72km a little further up the Bruce Trail that's the Caledon section which I haven't done.  Maybe I'll train in one of the other sections and get closer to my goal of seeing the entire Bruce Trail?  Stay tuned!

Fall

 Fall has been very busy.  Hubs and I started the ice install as soon as I got back from my class in Collingwood.  The good news is we have a new chiller and dehumidifiers which was very helpful and new LED lighting which makes everything on the ice just LOOK bright and amazing.  Also good news is Hubs knew mostly what he was doing and where the tools we needed were kept AND we had a great volunteer crew come out on white paint day.

So, the install didn't go perfectly. We learned many things. I kept lots of notes about what we did and what we'll do differently next year.  It took us about 4 weeks. Hubs lost 17 pounds between putting in the ice and playing Pokemon Go with C. We lost a lot of sleep from trying to put on more and more water and also from the stress of trying to make sure we were doing everything right, while they were still installing some things in the plant, I decluttered our main work areas (the last ice maker liked to keep everything "just in case") and learned way more than I did in the class. 

However, right before open house, Hubs threw the first rock of the season-on his first ice as head icemaker.

I'm very proud of him and all his work and proud of both of us for how well we worked together. 

This week was the open house and we fine tuned the ice and it's curling beautifully. I can't wait to play my first games on it this week.  Hubs is trying to get me up to speed on making the ice including using the scraper and pebbling ice.  This is because he's going on a friendship curling tour to the US in November.  We have another ice maker who will help me out but sometimes I'll be on my own.  I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure it will be fine.

Add to one adult/driver leaving and it's getting interesting juggling around here. C is in class and classes are different times every day. He's been riding his bike most days until we are headed to work around the same time as his school is about halfway between our house and the curling club.

V has thrown herself into HS.  She is in the school play, drama improv club, media club, film society and just got on the swim team which has no transportation in the opposite direction of work.  C can driver her sometimes as he's got class on those mornings and we'll have the car available but it's going to be interesting.  Oh, and that's just during the week, she's also been rowing and taking swim lessons on the weekends. Which we also often work.

I'm still trying to fit in training runs for Bad Thing which is almost here and I did take an evening to go to the local pumpkin patch/farm with a friend-you go at sunset to pick flowers and then get a little campfire under the stars.

And training runs are a great way to get outside, hang with friends. We're riding our bikes too and I'm finishing up the tennis season. I'll put my racket away at the end of October.

Had teacher conferences for H and V.  H is taking 3 classes and using his 4th period in the resource room do to homework so he doesn't have to do it at home. Any parents who doesn't have to have homework done at home knows what a relief this is!  Math's got some issues, but his Gr 12 computer science class is going really well and his teacher is impressed with his knowledge from the Gr 11 computer class he took last year as well as all his problem solving and great ideas.  His English teacher says they are really starting to get along and is happy with his progress.

V is getting high marks in all her classes.  Her struggles are that the classes are loud (she'll wear earplugs) and needing to move around during class (The hyperactive part of the ADHD). The teachers are wonderful about letting her run in the hall when she needs to for a few minutes so she can come back and concentrate.  The math teacher asked her if she was signed up for math competition (of course she is-she's signed up for everything I think).  Drama she's loving, English she's writing well and doing well on the reading tests. Tech class she's doing well in. Tomorrow she's setting off her rocket which is decorated like a dragon. The teacher is hoping it will not end up on the roof of the building and she'll get to bring it home to show it off to us.

Collingwood

 I went up to Collingwood in September to take my Level 2 ice making course.  The ice maker that was the head of our curling club last season retired, so Hubs is taking over as head ice maker.  When he investigated transitioning over to become the icemaker the thing that worried him was the installation of the ice. "It's such a big, manual job," he told me. I replied, "what if I worked with you?"  and that is how this happened.  I took Level 1 last year. Level 1 is maintenance and prepping for games.  I helped Hubs out once a week last year.  This Level 2 class is all about installation. The good thing is you can see from these posts last year: (Part 1  Part 2   Part 3) we did a lot of the install last year due to the other ice maker taking berevement leave for 10 days during the install.  I did miss the finishing touches due to my Grand Canyon trip, though.

While I was up there I figured I'd use my evenings to complete the Blue Mountain section of the Bruce Trail in our area.  This section is 53km long. I needed a long run, so I went up Monday and did a 27k section before my class started Tuesday. I also picked up our own paint order that day saving about $200 in shipping charges.  In order to only have to run in one direction, I used a program offered by many of the sections called Trail Angel. This is where volunteers offer to pick you up at your car and drive you to your start point and you finish at your vehicle. No payment is required but a small donation is requested to the trail section for maintenance.  I ended up using an Angel from the Dufferin Hi-Lands section south of the Blue Mountains as that area's less populated so it was a little hard finding someone.  

Day 1 I have to say was rough.  2.5 km in I fell badly on my pole which broke it and left a huge 6-8inch bruise on my thigh.  The grass was very tall, very wet and I got my pole stuck in it and tripped. Rookie mistake that will be expensive to fix.  Because I still have the Bad Thing race coming up I'll need to replace the pole.  Also, a lot of the trail was not only untrimmed but wet.  It rained for a lot of the day and my feet were prunes at the end.  It took me the rest of the week to air out my stinking shoes.

Lots of pine forests that were super dark and creepy.

                                    Lots of rocks.

The conservation areas were better maintained.

Lots of unmown fields.

Lots of crevices

more unmown fields

Devil's Glen-looks.... promising?

lots of pretty rivers

I did take a bit of the Keyhole side trail. The blue markers mark the trail.

In the crevice it was amazing. There was no sound and it was so peaceful-the moss just absorbed every sound. Also dark, wet and terrifying...

I saw a skink!

Some wood paths.  Very slippery in the wet.

The roads in this section weren't paved.  I had originally thought about biking up here, but between the rolling hills and realizing the roads weren't paved, but were gravel I'm glad I got drivers to help me.

Finished up at the Southern terminus-Lavendar Cemetary. Not pictured were the ski hills I had to climb.

Tuesday I went for my ice tech install class-some class is upstairs in the lounge with powerpoint, some was on ice instruction.  We started by painting the ice.  The club that the class was at was a cement floor and we have a sand floor.  Concrete is way easier as you don't need to build up as much of an ice base but if you have a pipe leak it's easier to deal with in a sand floor.  They'd already flooded, so we all took turns how to paint. There were 19 of us.  Only myself and one other person were coming from clubs with sand floors and mine is the biggest at 8 sheets of ice.  We then sealed the paint so it wouldn't go anywhere when we did the final floods of water to build up the surface.  All 19 of us got a go, so it was well sealed (same procedure as painting only water instead of paint goes through the boom.)

That evening I got a ride to do a smaller section and ended up at some old limestone kilns:

I checked into my hotel, showered and grabbed some dinner nearby.

Wednesday morning I walked into class-all the floor was wet. Someone from the town had come into the compressor room and turned off the compressors overnight.  All our work from Tuesday was potentially ruined.  So instead of installing houses, lines and advertising, we took a class day and the ice tech showed us how to save a paint job.  He SLOWLY brought the temperature back down (too fast and your ice will crack) and that night I went for my run and the first shift of us added more paint. Then I went back to the club and did sealing.  My ride got caught up in a meeting and didn't show up so I ended up using some side trails to make shortcuts back to my car. This area is conservation areas near Pretty River Valley and included more dark and spooky forest.

I went to the grocery store and grabbed microwave meals, showered and microwaved something and passed out in bed.

Thursday morning I got up early and made up some of the mileage missing from the day before in the dark.  I passed the highest point on the trail.

I then showered and got into class-we laid lines, added houses and put in advertising.  Unfortunately they didn't teach scribing or painting houses which we do at our far end.  Oh, well. Luckily Hubs showed me how to do it the following week when we put in our own ice.

Night 3 was pretty much the same as night 2 except I forgot my phone.  The day ended at the top of the escarpment with a lovely view of the Georgian Bay.

I drove home Friday, happy to have completed the trail.  Monday morning we started putting in our own ice.