Brrr... cold, and a party

It is getting quite cold outside. The outside thermometer is showing about 16 degrees.

Tonight we hosted a retirement party for one of the nurses. We managed to fit a total of 25 people (including a baby) in our house. It was quite packed with people setting up chairs and sitting in the kitchen. It was a potluck dinner. There was so much food that the dining table was full, the buffet/sideboard (which is actually a couch table) was also full, three TV trays had to be set up, and there was still more food that some of it spilled over onto the kitchen counters.

We learned that the city's skating rink (portable rink on the ballfield) was up and running today. Since the forecast is still cold for a few more days, as long as the girls are able to get their schoolwork done and have some time left, they should be able to do some skating. This being outdoors, skating has to be done during daylight hours, which for us now (including twilight) is from about 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

I've discovered that our backyard has quite a bit of a slope. So my attempts at creating a small rink is not going so well. I'm going to have to rethink tactics to try to see if I can manage something out there this winter. If not, I'll have to try something else next year. I wonder how much it would cost to get a contractor to come out and level out the yard... Probably way too much. Though at the same time that would take care of some of the skunk cabbage growing in the lawn...