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Elfstedentocht

mrfook
- 5405 posts
February 9, 2012 1:15:05 PM CET

Bit of a pity it is not going to happen.
rh_nl
- 11 posts
February 9, 2012 5:32:28 PM CET

will it ever happen?
pepec
- 2277 posts
February 9, 2012 6:21:04 PM CET

Elfstedentocht is very rare. I am 45 and during my lifetime it happened only three times.
qed
- 41 posts
February 10, 2012 11:34:04 AM CET

rh_nl said:
will it ever happen?

when Friesland really freeze over. :)
qed
- 41 posts
February 10, 2012 11:36:31 AM CET

At first it was quite exciting. After awhile, it got old and I got tired of watching the media froth at the mouth. Now, nice to know we got frozen for nothing.
mrfook
- 5405 posts
February 10, 2012 5:59:52 PM CET

I thought it was comical that people were creaming thier jeans about the thickness of the ice.
OOH ! Its fifteen centimetres! :)
You could really rain on the parade if you got a small sand salt and gritting machine and drove along on the ice in the middle of the night for the whole 220 km.
qed
- 41 posts
February 10, 2012 9:54:17 PM CET

Won't it be easier just to shovel the snow back onto the path they have cleared? I saw some guy using a go-kart to clear the snow. You could do the reverse. Better for the environment too, because I think it's fresh water under those ice, non?

This post was edited by qed at February 10, 2012 9:55:49 PM CET
rh_nl
- 11 posts
February 11, 2012 1:12:10 PM CET

are you suicidal?!? you wouldn't get home alive!! even in the middle of the night.
Really I would like to see one Elfstedentocht, maybe elfstedenkorts would slightly diminish for a couple of years, but that's probably a forlorn hope.
qed
- 41 posts
February 12, 2012 5:28:05 PM CET

salt could cause the ice to melt and mr fook might fall through the ice. this is a better idea:

This post was edited by qed at February 12, 2012 5:28:47 PM CET
pepec
- 2277 posts
February 13, 2012 12:30:25 AM CET

I am glad the freeze is over tomorrow. I am working as a volunteer at a bird and wildlife shelter. And I've seen too much misery these days. All those birds are desperate for food, and what we get is only the tip of the iceberg.
qed
- 41 posts
February 13, 2012 10:39:32 AM CET

Glad the thaw is setting in too. My neighbors put out birdseed balls for the birds, but the crows always get first pick. The bluetits came to eat my parsley, so I scatter bread crumbs in the scrubs for the smaller birds.

This post was edited by qed at February 13, 2012 10:40:32 AM CET
peony
- 780 posts
February 13, 2012 11:47:12 AM CET

Everything is melting today so birds should be happier now. I was putting out hot water for them over the past week, but it would freeze within 2 hours so I don't know did it help at all.
They ate bread I left very fast and seeds are almost gone too.
We went yesterday for walk in one of those "reclaimed nature places" - lots of marsh, water and forest and saw herd of wild(ish) cows (black and furry). The thing is that there were many calfs among them which surprised me since they are all year outside and I thought the calfs would come much later in the spring.
pepec
- 2277 posts
February 13, 2012 12:01:35 PM CET

Birds can eat snow.
And I made this video last week:
http://twitvid.com/9X7PL
Birds of prey have to eat also.
qed
- 41 posts
February 13, 2012 5:28:46 PM CET

if too many small song birds die off, there won't be many left for birds of prey to eat or for house cats to play with ... ;)