Day 39--A Good Long Run

At Day 39 and counting from Day 1 on February 1, it's the longest living igloo ever. Also the most renowned, in Centre County anyway, with articles appearing in the Centre Daily Times, State College Magazine and on the Centre County Report. It's been a GREAT WINTER here in Central PA!!

Day 10--Igloo Completed by Stalwart Crew

View photos of Day 10 Chris Rosenblum came by for the scoop and even laid the first bricks of the ice bar while the crew worked feverishly to complete the task in the frigid night air. We did it! Bennett, Molly and Andrew dropped by just as the champagne was being popped as Bob Scott, "The Arm," closed in the roof.

Love at First Sight!

Mary came by midday to help put on the tarps and keep the sunshine off the bricks. Fair colleen Maureen was enamored of her first igloo. Many are called, but few are frozen!

Day 10--Bright Morning

Looking promising. Now we get to the gravity-defying good part! Work session planned today from 4 or 5 to 8.

Day 9--Back At It

We worked until 8:30--I mean we PLAYED! After a light dusting of snow fell in the night, we were able to send out an APB that work would resume in the afternoon. Temps in the mid 30's caused icicles to lengthen and drip, but the day got colder towards 4 when we resumed. Big crowd today! We all have too much time invested to let the project falter--onward! Check out the photos of our big push.

A Teensy Little Bit of Snow

What a difference a light dusting of snow makes! The weather bodes well to resume production so we will be in the yard from 4 pm until 7-7:30 tonight. Going down to 12 degrees tonight which will freeze it all solid. Come if you can!

Days 7 & 8--Sunday and Monday

We are waiting for the weather to improve, which is to say, get cold and snowy again. There's an ice fog hovering over the igloo still wrapped up tight, but sustained colder weather is necessary to resume production. Estimating that we can begin again tomorrow. Hang in there! The long range forecast for the weekend is very good. Tentative work party Tuesday, 2/10, 4 pm ish.

Day 6--Let's Save the Igloo!

What does it take? TEAMWORK! John sprayed down the shell every 10 minutes for an hour last night while it was still frigid, until the hose froze up. Then he was up and out before dawn for the funeral of his high school buddy, Jimmy Koller, in Lafayette Hill. Sam and Nina came to the rescue to help swaddle the frozen shell in tarps to wait out the sunshine and balmy temperatures. Everyone has the day off to attend to other matters. Surely Phil's forecast can't be wrong.

Day 5--Mother Nature Says Wait!

Too bad! Courtney Confer showed ready to work and Anne Williams brought in coffee and hot chocolate but all to no avail. John received an email message this afternoon from Steve Wistar who works at AccuWeather that this weekend is supposed to be unseasonably mild. The temperatures are expected to hover around 40--and bring rain. Our planned Friday night big push was quickly called off. We are closing in the top now and the bricks are leaning in at quite an extreme angle. The weather will have to be cold to set them properly and remain cold so that the they all freeze together. Sorry about the delay, but we learned in 2003 that this project can't be rushed. Time to do all those things that you haven't been getting to since the igloo launched and we will meet again on the other side of this warm spell. Pray for snow.

Day 4--Closing in!

Photos of our mini session of course #11 going up Sam, John and I worked for a couple of hours and punched out 27 bricks and completed the 11th course of igloo 2015. Working to a playlist of 18 igloo centric tunes, we worked for about two and a half hours on a bright sunny day that got increasingly colder. Neighbor Michele Ebaugh stopped by with Levi and Owen and Kathy Staab and April checked in but it got too cold to work. The hose froze. Quittin' time!

Shaping up

Bright and cold this morning. Hope to get the dome completed but not many able to come today. We'll see how it goes!

Day 3--Continuation

Photos of Day 3 construction right here. A late start but we still managed to put on another 3 courses, 2 courtesy of Jake's Superior Brick Co, and one course of Kate Delano's hand punched, artisan bricks (you go, girl!) that were great contenders. The warm weather made the snow perfect to work with and we didn't need to add any water. A good time was had by all, except maybe Reggie, who had to be tied up.

Delay Today!

Today, for the first time, we hate the February sun. Sam arrived early to rig up a sail for protection. Construction postponed to 4:30, closer to sundown. Sorry for any inconvenience!

Day 3--Seven Courses and Growing

HUGE PROGRESS! Put captions in all the photos so just check us out. Work time tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb 4, is scheduled from 2 to 7, in spite of the dread 37 degree forecast. Come if you can! This is moving along very quickly. (DANK-GA!) See all the Day 3 photos

Day 1--Snow Moon Rising

(Click on "Day 1" to go to a Picasa album link of photos) The word was out; the troops trickled in.  Geoffrey spent about 3 hours snowplowing the yard to create the quarry and at 4:00 Day 2 (photos here) commenced with Jake and Anne (strangers no more; now our best friends) pulled up outside ready to work. We worked until about 7:30, our numbers waxing--Jill, Amy and Mary Seaton, Sam and Nina, but mainly about 10 strong.  And strong we were! Especially once our fearless leader, John Corr, stepped in to show how how to best mix the mortar. Jake proved to be a very skilled brick maker and he punched those bad boys out one after another until we had 3 courses completed.  Good job!  Thanks to Mary for the beer and Amy for the warm clothes.  We are rolling....
                                      Next session is tomorrow, 2/3, from 3 until 7.     

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Six More Weeks! We hope so.

Did not travel in the storm to Punxsutawney this year but we did have a massive bonfire at Bob's Knob in Fillmore. And getting ready to proceed with the snowplowing.  Igloo construction is begun!  Seaton women arriving this evening and we are happy to take all comers.  This wet snow is PERFECT for building the blocks. Getting set up now.

Bonfire in Fillmore at the Dornich's on Super Sunday

On the Road?

Roadside sign.

Geoffrey is, but not to Punxsutawney.  He's on the road from Frederick to State College with the SNOW BLOWER. The snow is just starting to fall from a cloud ceiling just above the treetops. Stay tuned for updates as I'll be posting regularly.  Jump in when you can. 

Calling all the Big Guns

             Remember--the means will justify the end.
   
             Larry Hammer, where are you?

Interest Waxes, Like the Moon

There is interest.  It will build, like row after row of those frozen blocks.  Here's a visual....

Igloo Construction, 2004

Snow, snow, snow!

Our igloo of 2004 was a sight to behold.

Winter--the only way to beat it is to get down into it and enjoy it.  Given the forecast for cold temperatures for the next 10 days and snow predictions, It's time to send out the call--IGLOO!   Here's one for inspiration.  It takes about 30 hours of absolute slave labor hours, with a crew of about 6-8 working together. Clear your calendars after the SuperBowl.  It's only right to commence on Groundhog's Day, as we did with the original igloo in 2000. Begin!