Today we woke to see the snow falling and the trees bending in the wind that was coming from over the lake. Wind in -degree conditions is never a good thing as it means that whatever temperature it is, is going to feel a lot worse on the skin; wind chill factor.
We got outside. “I don’t know what temperature it is” rants Jukka, “perhaps -14, -25 with the wind chill.” It was cold, my face felt like it was going to fall of my bones. I take a bottle of water down, and by the time I went to get a sip the spout had frozen and the water was half ice anyway, rather like my boots.
We carved away through the day. Simmo and I swiftly cut through our blocks of snow with a simple chain from Natasha; from Russia with love. Natasha joked earlier in the day that my block of snow was so full of earth and moss that I may as well just make a nest. Well that’s exactly what I was going to make, a simple nest. We’ll have to see what it turns out like, as with many sculptures it looks a right mess on the first day, and I didn’t disappoint today! For dinner we made sausages over a BBQ, I cannot believe we had a BBQ in -14, but there you go, four guys stood around a fire like we had no other place to go. Some tourists came by looking like they wanted to buy our sausages. I think after a few moments they understood that they were not welcome and that out precious sausages were not for sale.
One good thing that rolled in today, and I hate to say this, was the arrival of my good friend Timo. He’ll be carving next to me and bought me a balaclava as a late Christmas present to help preserve my precious Yorkshire skin from the Finnish winter.
Tomorrow is New Years Eve, we will see in 2010, or twenty ten as so many people are now calling it. What will it bring? The snow and cold if I am not mistaken. And perhaps a ride on a husky sled.
Cheerio for now
Jamie
