Baby, it's almost over

Ah, so sad...
I pulled up to the Medicine Lake parking lot today, this balmy day, and our little shanty town is no more. It looked bleak, despite the sun, despite the chick-a-dees and their pleniful mating calls. There were only 8 shanty's left standing, one was being dismantled as I walked across the slushy ice. Three are in David's charge, and his back is out, so, he's waiting to find people to help him.

It was nice being on the ice alone. It was so quiet, peaceful. I listened to Pam Kay's show "Stone Soup". I ripped open walls and freed the animals, only to stuff them into large garbage bags for their trip to their new homes. It was cathartic. It felt good to clean it all up. I felt like I was cleaning up 6 weeks of a wonderful experience to make room for something new.

Marlaine came later, and we packed it all up in under 3 hours. Then we had lunch at a Thai restaurant in Plymouth. My food was pretty blah, but with three different condiments, I was able to enjoy it. We made a trip to Sharing and Caring Hands, and delivered 11 huge bags of brand new stuffed toys for the kids. The woman who accepted them said the kids will really love them. I'm so glad these animals will be loved. I'm so glad that this little thing will make some kids who may not have much to look forward to happy. I'm SO GLAD to have lightened our load!

Then we went out for coffee, and Mar sent the rest of the animals off packing. Some to her sister Char, and she'll take those to Siberia this spring, giving them to an orphanage. The others went to foreign-adoption agencies in the states, one in Maryland and one in Atlanta, I think.

Any way, it's almost over.

I have some vintage hand made stuffed toys I"m going to try and sell on craigslist. I have two huge bags of animals that we deemed not good enough for donating. These will go to ARC. And I have a stack of mail that we received while residing on the ice. I want to scan all these and post them here, on our virtual "scrapbook".

On Saturday the big-burley men, our husbands, will take it all down, flat pack it on a snowmobile trailer and take it to Marlaine's backyard, which will be it's new home. It will become a greenhouse. Not a bad life for an Art Shanty.

Last weekend on the ice

It's a bitter sweet ending to our time on the ice.
It's been an amazing, cold, exhausting, fun, expanding experience.

This is what's happening in our little shack, on Saturday February 17.

Join us for the Unstuff and Pack Party.
"Unstuff" the animals from the shanty walls and pack them for
their trip to a Siberian orphanage, and to other kids in need. Or, stop by to pick up a bag or box of animals to deliver to local shelters.

Sale of unique vintage stuffed animals, going on all day. Proceeds go to support the Art Shanty Projects.

Also, bring $20 to buy a great winter hat! We're selling them for an artist California. Apparently there's a better market for winter hats in Minnesota......

1:30 Chicken-wild-rice soup on ice. Bring your own spoon and cup.

It was gnarly cold on the ice...

...this past weekend but we had a great time, once again. On Saturday, Karen and I had a guest artist named Lindsey building mobiles for our shanty. They're beautiful and quirky and more tricky to build than we thought. The art supplies were spartan, making the task even more challenging: we had some string, a few chopsticks, a pair of wire cutters and a whole lot of oddly weighted plastic and plushy toys. Lindsey rocked the shack with her ingenuity and perseverance.
No one showed up for the first hour or so on Sunday so I kicked out the jam with some MC5. My taller half Kurt threw some cassettes into my bag before I hit the ice and I was pleasantly surprised to find my favorite boys from Detroit tucked in there ready to rock.
Knot-tying with Peter was a smashing success! What more could you ask for than a bunch of people jammed into a shanty learning how to tie the 'king' of knots, the bowline.
At about 3p Kurt showed up woefully underdressed with his guitar. After his fingers regained some feeling he played all my favorite country songs. A few visitors trickled in and out for the rest of the day and David came over to record some guitar songs and watch the darkness filter in through the Misfit Toys. Another fabulously cold day ends on Medicine Lake.

February 3 and 4

So, it's going to be COLD, but we'll be at the shanty, giving our Big Buddy heater a run for its money.

Saturday Feb 3
11-4- Activities happening all day
Animal Hunt. Search the other art shanties for our hidden
stuffed animals.

Mobile Building Workshop, using leftover stuffed animals

Paint the ice rink and lake.

Pick up an animal in need, give it to someone who really needs it.

Anyone who stops by our shanty can join us for a hot card game of
"Go Fish", or be invited to read a story or two.

Free sled rental.

Sunday Feb 4
Same as Saturday
Guest musician, Kurt Allis will be stopping by to rock our shanty. We don't know what time, but if our shack is rocking, come in!
1:00 Peter Haakon Thompson will stop by to show us how to tie knots. He is a master knot-maker
1:30 Gumbo on ice. Bring a bowl and spoon, we'll dish you up some yummy, hot soup