COOKIE CLUB SUNDAY

Good morning to you and to what looks like kind of nasty weather again. The temperature is - 12 C with a 18 km/h wind from the East making it feel like -18 C. The only good thing is that the snow  and blowing snow is going to stop around 11:00 AM and it will mild up to about -5 C or so and based on that the Cookie Club will dance this afternoon, which is a good thing because, if I have to cancel again I'll likely forget how to Call.

A couple of things I have on the Program besides all the Calls on the A2 List  are  "All 8 Circulates & Split Circulates", "Scoot Chain Thru from Quarter Tag", "1/2 Out Roll Circulate" & "Wheel & Deal". This should pretty well round out the Program.

That's all I have for now, take care of yourself and each other and hopefully the roads will be okay for driving, and we will see you on the Dance Floor this afternoon.  

FRIDAY AT THE FORGE

Learning is fun, learning can be frustrating, learning takes time, all in all, if we can learn something in a short period of time and remember that which we have learned things will get easier. 

      So I watched video on how to forge a coat hook or coat hanger, made out of a 12 inch by 1 inch by 1/4 inch chunk of mild steel, which could be done in about 20 minutes. 

    However, that is not the case when you are learning, first we did the layout, then get the steel red hot and start beating on it trying to form a rounded ball on each end, then bend this steel to make a hook to hang your coat on. So, trying to form a ball on each end and keep everything in line and true as you go, after a while the hammer arm starts to tire and the grip on the hammer gets weaker, and the sweat on your forehead is running into your eyes, what do you do? 

   Give it all over to your brother, who gets right at it ,heat & hammer, heat & hammer, very soon the sweat beads are forming on his forehead, but looking on the bright side we are almost to the shape we want.    

 Guess what happens next, our mentor Steve walks in and asks what we are doing? So I told him we were 2 hours into a 20 minute job, which we were and he laughed, at what I didn't think was all that funny. Then he says" Why didn't you make it out of a round bar, make the ball in the vise, flatten out the middle section make the bends and your done. "DUH"! Gee sometimes I can be pretty dumb, like why would a person in their right mind try to flog a chunk of flat bar into a round ball, when the round bar is right there in the steel rack.

  You may laugh if you like, but some day, I will learn how to do this stuff (I hope). 

Take care of yourself and each other and I'll see you on the Dance Floor.

COOKIE CLUB SUNDAY

Good morning, this is terrible weather, cold, snowing, and windy therefore we will CANCEL the Cookie Club for this afternoon.
Take care if you are out in this very bad weather and I'll see you on the Dance Floor another day.

FRIDAY AT THE FORGE

Wow! Another chilly morning in our town, -24C and a NW wind at 9km/h gives us a -31C wind chill. today should be sunny with cloudy periods and the snow starting late this afternoon.

I had a great day at Forge with the Brothers and Steve Morris. Steve is a Farrier/Blacksmith who shoes the horses at Brother Dave's, he sure gave us some real good pointers on Forge Welding, Drawing out steel and Ideas on what we can make. So Thank you Steve this was our first sort of lesson from someone who really, really knows what he is doing. 

Dave has the Power Hammer almost finished and as you can see it is going to work like a charm. 

 Yesterday I was able to use it for the first time, sort of a trial run and it sure can pound out hot steel. We will get lots of use out of this machine.

I didn't start any new projects yesterday, but will pick up more steel this week and get something underway next Friday, may some coat hooks for the shop.

I hope we don't get too much snow tonight and tomorrow because tomorrow is Cookie Club Sunday for our A2 Dancers. Also I want to say a Huge Thank You to Mel and Barry for using one of my articles on Square Dance Calling in the latest edition of "Behind The Mic" which is an International Magazine For Callers from Australia.

That's all I have for today on Blacksmithing and Square Dance Calling. Take care of your self and each other and I'll see you on the Dance Floor.

FRIDAY AT THE FORGE

Good Saturday morning to you and it is very cold here in our town, with a temperature of - 24 C, which is 11 F degrees below Zero the other way.

Yesterday was another very quick day at the forge, we started about 9:00 am and what seemed to be  an hour later, it was 2:00pm and time to clean up and head for home. Brother #1 was working on the power hammer which is a remarkable piece of equipment, Brother #2 was working on the lathe making parts for the power hammer and the gyroscope, whilst I was making a braided twist for a poker handle at the forge and anvil. I don't know time can zip by so fast.

Tonight is Mississippi Squares Halfway Dance and I hope to see you all there. 

Tomorrow Sunday is The Cookie Club, and Monday is Adams Aces, so there is lot,s of Dancing coming up.

I have to run now because I slept in and have to make up some time. 

Take care of yourself and each other and I'll see you on the Dance floor.

LAST DAY OF CHRISTMAS VACATION

Good Sunday morning to you, it is a little cooler this morning than yesterday morning with a temperature of -1 C and falling during the day with some light flurries off and on.

Tomorrow evening Monday January 7th 2019, is the start up of Adams Aces, and we hope to see you all again on the dance floor. We start at 8:00 finish at 10:00 PM, at Queen Elizabeth Public School on St. Laurent Blvd. The program will be A1, with some Plus calls to refresh the mind for Saturday evening's Halfway Dance in Carleton Place.

Wednesday evening is the Village Squares start up and will be a Basic & Mainstream review. The next Wednesday January 16th The Village Squares will host an Open House for New Dancers, we do have some prospects this year, which is a welcome change from the past few years.

Saturday night January is The Mississippi Squares Annual Halfway Dance in Carleton Place this is a must attend Dance if not for the dancing then for the food and the prizes. Callers are Brian & Amy Crawford, Geoff & Teena Clarke and Paul & Judy Adams, Cueing Rounds, Jean & Don Clingin. If you are a Caller and want to participate in the Callers Showcase then please Contact Brian Crawford.

Sunday January 8th. 2:00 - 4:00 PM is The Cookie Club, two hours of action packed A2 at the R.G.Hobbs Centre at the corner of Champlain and Larch Cres. in Orleans.

Then Monday back to Adams Aces, as you can see there is lot of Dancing to be had, and this is only our clubs, don't forget all the other clubs are starting back as well.

That's about all I have for today, take care of yourself and each other and I'll see you on the dance floor.

FRIDAY AT THE FORGE

Friday Jan. 4,19 found the three brothers back in the shop, admiring Dave's and George's fine craftsmanship on the power hammer, which by the way is looking amazing.

My day at the forge was definitely not as productive as I had anticipated, for one, I couldn't get my forge welds to stick properly, followed by too much material loss during the heating process. So now it's back to the books, the online videos, and try to figure out through a better understand why things went wrong, besides lack of knowledge and lack experience. Then go get more steel, and hope for some good luck and more productivity next Friday. All under the heading of "learning".

That's all I have for today, so try get time to get out to your shop, your studio, your music room, practice room or your ski hill & trail, or skating rink and work on whatever is "YOUR PASSION".