A mountain of snow is the last thing many of us want to see as dark days of winter drag on.
But for a Preston man with a bit of a creative streak, those mountains of snow we've been getting in record amounts have become the building blocks for something that's attracted interest from across the region.
“The snow this year has been the best I’ve ever had,” says Cecil Devine, whose front-yard snow castle at his Concession Road home has been getting honks from passing vehicles and the admiration of dozens of neighbourhood children since he began building it on Jan. 17.
That was the day, as many remember, when about 30 centimetres of snow fell in Cambridge in less than 24 hours.
Devine started his work the day before, shovelling up his and his neighbours' sidewalks to get as much snow as possible before work could begin on building the castle.
The spry 62-year-old is walking with a bit of a limp these days but it hasn’t slowed him down.
He says he needs a new hip, and playing hockey has left him with a pair of bad knees that ache with the cold.
But all that doesn't seem to matter when he's talking about his castle.
“I’m so warmed by all these people giving me support,” he says, after a couple in a car stop to tell him the castle is amazing.
Devine, who grew up in west Galt, on Aberdeen Street near Victoria Park, credits his high school art teacher at Southwood Secondary School, with inspiring his interest in architecture.
Gerry Weber’s class on art history opened Devine’s eyes to places like Florence, Italy, where he marvelled at the ancient castles and monasteries.
Devine says the only reason he became a draftsman later in life was because he knew he couldn’t make any money with art.
Crafting snow into castles to the delight of the neighbourhood kids is just as rewarding, and he’s been thrilled by the reaction every year he does it.
This year, Devine says a kindergarten teacher at a nearby school came by to tell him she’s using his castle to teach her students about building.
To do it, he packs the snow into an empty car battery box to create each block, assembling the walls, stairs and the base of the turrets as he goes.
He completes the turrets using a garbage can, filling it to the brim, packing it down and letting it harden before turning it upside down in place.
To ensure the snow slides out smoothly, he’ll pour hot water over the plastic before lifting the can off the top.
Then he grabs a hand saw to carve the turret into a funnel shape.
He uses an old cabinet corner to run over the blocks and smooth out the angles.
Over the next week, he plans to add to the castle and is watching the forecast eagerly for the next snow storm.
Once it arrives, he has to work fast with his shovel, getting out ahead of his neighbours with snow blowers to scoop up as much of the white stuff as he can.
Blowers tend to muddy up the pristine snow and hard nuggets of ice spoil the effect.
On days when the temperature rises, Devine says he’ll take advantage of the melting snow by carving into the hardened snow in places where he thinks it needs some work.
“It’ll take on a rustic look," he says, and then it will be gone.