COOKIE CLUB DAY THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN

Good morning dancers, unfortunately Mother Nature doesn't seem to care too much for me and my efforts to provide Square Dancing to those who want to dance. I think this has been one of the worst winters for freezing rain and very poor road conditions ever. We have decided to CANCEL The Cookie Club for this afternoon.
Hopefully tomorrow evening will be better weather and we don't have to cancel Adams Aces as well.

COOKIE CLUB SUNDAY

Yes, today is Cookie Club Sunday and it looks like it's going to be a nice day, but, maybe a little cool. Right now it is - 20 C with a NW breeze of 4km/h and it will warm up to about -6 or -7 C by this afternoon with sunshine most of the day.

I was thinking you might want to know what is on the program for the Cookie Club today, well, of course all or as many Calls off the Advanced List as I can cover, also putting emphasis on "Chain Reaction"- from a Left Hand Quarter Tag and "Reverse Recycle", "Transfer and Anything" with the Anything being Peel The Top", "Fractionals" "Split Circulate 1 & 1/2", "1/2 Partner Trade","Partner Trade 1 & 1/2", "All 8 Circulate 1 & 1/2" "All 8 Circulate and Split Circulate from an 8 Chain, Line, and Trade By Formations", "1/2 Out Roll Circulate", and "Wheel & Deal from a Tidal Line". If we get all that covered we will be doing very well.

Tomorrow is Family Day in Ontario so NO ADAMS' ACES TOMORROW NIGHT.

That's about all I have for today, remember to take care of yourself and each other, be kind to someone and I'll see you on the Dance Floor.                                                     

FRIDAY AT THE FORGE

Well now, let me tell you, this was quite a day to be at the forge, as we had another friend, Tony, come along for a day at the forge with the Brothers 3. So of course we put him to work drawing out a piece of square bar from 1 1/8 inches to 7/8 of an inch, allowing it to fit into the hardy hole on the anvil. There were a few times I noticed that his forehead was pretty wet with beads of sweat from working between the forge and the power hammer, as well as swinging the hand held hammer. His best comment at the end of the day was "Forging and swinging a hammer, looks like a lot of fun, but the novelty wears off rather quickly". He did say he had a good time hanging out with us, and he did mistakenly pick up a piece of hot steel, but not for long.

I had seen a blacksmith using a Guillotine tool, which is very useful, and can be used for many applications from cutting off a hunk of hot steel or making a groove around the end of a bar before you "upset it" make it fatter by hitting on the end you want to increase the diameter of, or making a groove in a blade, etc. I got the steel yesterday and we made it first thing this morning. We only made one set of dies today, but we will make more as we need them and we will need them. Then I made 2 more coat hook like I did last week, after lunch. Looking back a couple of week when I spent 2 hours on a 20 minute job, today I turned out 2 in about 35 minutes. So speed-wise I think I'm improving. Here are a couple of pictures of my Guillotine Tool.

Guillotine Closed no steel

Open Steel round bar inserted

Side view steel round bar inserted

 All in all, just a great day, and lots of fun. I must say a huge "Thank You" to My Brother Dave, for letting me have more fun than than the law should allow.

COOKIE CLUB SUNDAY

Good -17C Cookie Club Sunday Morning to you, the wind has died off to about 9 km/h out of the West, which is a good thing and better still is that it will be sunny most of the day and the temperature might get to -8 or -9 C by mid-afternoon. The weather man has finally given the Cookie Club Dancers a travel break.

The Program for the Cookie Club is as many Advanced Calls we can get covered, plus work on "Split Circulates & All 8 Circulate a little", "Chain Reaction from a Left Hand Quarter Tag", "Reverse Recycle", "Waves of Three", and "Wheel & Deal". This should fill the afternoon with some interesting dancing, I hope!

Tomorrow evening is Adams Aces, and again it looks like the weatherman is going to give us a break with some good driving weather for a change. Remember we start at 8:00 PM. Also remember Circulate means to take the position of the dancer in front of you, along the Circulating Path.

That is all I have for today folks, I think I'll go make me-self a batch of Tea Biscuits, run my half-brain over the A2 Call List, whilst you are getting up having breakfast and getting ready for church. Take care of yourself and each other and I'll see you on the Dance Floor.

FRIDAY AT THE FORGE

Good morning to you on this -12 C with 35/45 km/h wind out of the West. I know I'm late getting this posted but I slept in. 

This was another great day at the forge, things went better this week and not too many errors, although, I didn't get forge-welding anything. We did manage to turn out 2 coat hooks, one out of flat-stock and one out of round stock. We forged a ball on each end and a couple of bends and a couple of holes punched, which only took a couple of hours when we subtract the talk time or listening to Willie time which is also very important. Now you might think there's not much skill in making these, and you are correct, so my advice is, go get yourself a Forge, an Anvil, and a couple of Hammers, and get to it. You will find "it's drop dead easy" (a PAism).

 For us it's a great day to be at the Forge and having fun, like 3 young Brothers hanging out together, and doing whatever we want, whenever we want, which I think is an invaluable slice of life we are so lucky to have, and knowing that very few people ever get the opportunity to enjoy.

Cookie Club tomorrow. Take care of yourself and each other and I'll see you either on the Dance Floor or at the Forge.

FRIDAY AT THE FORGE

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY TO YOU! 

If I were a Groundhog I would not be coming out of my hole today, because it is -20 C outside. 

I can now say the power hammer that my brother Dave has built completely, starting with an idea and turning that idea into what is now a fully functional working piece of machinery that will transform a piece of hot steel into any shape you desire, and sure saves the arm. Thank you Dave! If you need one for your shop just give me a shout and we'll see what we can do for you.

I'm still working on my forge welding, but so far we only have had minimal to no success, however, we will keep trying and we will definitely get success eventually.

Square Dancers this afternoon Frosty Fling 2:00 - 4:30 PM at St. Pats High School, on Alta Vista, Geoff Clarke and Bob Summers, Calling and Gerry Sawtell cueing Rounds. Tomorrow is our Callers Meeting, and Monday is Adams Aces, so lots going on. Winterlude started yesterday in the City with lot of things to do there as well.

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