We met at the bar in the lobby of The Sheraton and ordered up some champagne. A welcome to Marielle and congrats to Jaz for a fine piece of work completed.



The artbooks had arrived at the dock at City of Toronto, and Mike Brisbin grabbed one for me before the joint closed up. Gord's artwork, Jaz's design, and even I had contributed some writing.



Then Jaz chose his words for his short toast: "From A Wonderful Life. No man is a failure who has friends."



As for the work today, a few pictures.

Winter, over in a day. This morning, bright blue skies and a balmy 2 degrees. That's Andrea, surveying a day's work.



Yesterday, it was arctic. There's nothing like that cold. Inside the tent, a day to get it done.



No doubt about it, winter had arrived. On the way to dinner, we walked the streets of Toronto, dwarfed by its massiveness, beaten back by the cold.



Here we are caught taking refuge in the warmer route . . . via the underground! Not a concept we grasped, really, until out in the wind chill for one day.



After our welcome Tim! and Andrea! toast over dinner, Gord decreed: if the pours are frozen, there will be 2 more hours of work. Then, the bets: will the ice we poured before dinner be . . . frozen? The crew was buoyant; the artwork created in that biting temperature flowed easily, and they were proud of it.



Erik won the bet, predicting that the new pours would be frozen, but still wet on the top. So we took the night off.



Then today, 2 degrees and, shall we say, concern. Tent overflowing, yesterday's work lounging in the balm. Somehow, the predicted cold snap had been cut very short. Our auxiliary ice warehouse space became unexpectedly unavailable, but we had a back-up plan for a refrigeration truck to store the work we'd done up until now. Key people at The City fell sick to the cold/flu going around, no news since yesterday afternoon. This morning, Gord pacing. JC heard good news: the city had a history with Ryder, and their account was retrieved. I set out on site; Mike Brisbin met us outside the tent, ready to get the truck.



As we speak, Winter with a capital W continues to pummel Vancouver, and in Toronto, a full crew -- including Marielle -- are working like bees carrying all that new art to the refrigeration truck. Gord's here to thaw. Maybe tonight we'll actually get to play hockey -- last night we showed up with sticks -- sans hockey pucks -- and were the only ones there to play!

It's not that we were there to play. But gol darn it, it was finally winter! Minus 2 celsius on the corner of Bay and Queen. Double scarves, double tights under jeans and the wind chill found its way to bare skin anyway.



We passed the hockey players late, after supper together. Tim had arrived, we took a moment over dinner. Then, back at it.



What a day. The compressor had gone out at five am on two consecutive days, for no apparent reason. With the weather still warm, we couldn't afford to have the refrigeration system on the blink. The water wasn't coming through the hose???. Here Eric and Jaz are down the square, back to bringing it in with buckets, just like the Fenestrelle make-do.



But in the tent, art was being made. Tim fit right in. Here's Eric mixing green.



It's still quite a cramped workspace, and the ice warehouse skedded for us is somehow unavailable now. Esp with the weather an uncertain ride (it goes above zero on Friday) we've got to get more space -- maybe a refrigeration truck.



Today, cheeks are red again; production is at a faster clip -- the white on the skating rink seems denser, and everyone out the window has gloves on. I just saw that BC has another snow storm! Marielle arrives tomorrow. Jaz and I visited Eric today in his gold tower, saw close up his Van Gough, his ARTists artwork. Laughed.

Toronto the Good, at last. We looked up on the QEW and it felt like Chicago, or New York. Jaz was born here, but young when we left. Unpacked our month's worth of Stuff and went to the window at The Sheraton. Nathan Phillips Square.



The only thing 'winter' about the city is the white ice on the rink, and the skaters going round and round. Closer up, mud and scruffy grass. We saw the white wedding tent across the square -- someone inside! When we arrived, the first ice had begun to form.



JC had to deal with the delay of the second compressor and every other detail getting the tent & plates ready. Scheduled help Andrea and even Erik were nowhere to be seen - there was nothing to work on. JC's been working non stop for weeks now. Bosco was here, fidgeting with the controls. We went to dinner. Lisa Kurtz became our newest Principessa, charming us all.



We had put the paintings to bed in Niagara,



chose the prints for exhibit at Inniskillin, had a picnic lunch with the Diva Duo of Debi Pratt and Stacey Mulholland . . .



played some squash and packed up for the Big Adventure in the Big City. Today, meetings: Cat PR, Grant Ramsay, Monika Matel Souza. The artbooks delayed at the printer in Manitoba, won't arrive til Thursday. Ordered business cards. Skated half hour on the square, where a few flakes were seen swirling around, promising winter at last. Tomorrow, Tim arrives from the West Coast, the crew is up early to get a good day of making paintings in - and we play hockey after the rink closes down! Now to bed!