From City to City to City

We started our whirlwind tour of March 2015 when we left CamBay last Friday to spend the weekend in Edmonton.  It was touch and go with the weather and we weren't sure if we could make it out but the skies opened and gave us blue skies for safe travels.  Lucky for us as the next couple of days in Cambridge Bay were nasty.  I had two things on my list for Edmonton, one a haircut at a salon and the other was to get a new camera, the Panasonic LX100.  I haven't used it much yet as we have been on the go since we left but what I have seen I like.  Of course my first picture with the new camera was of Miss Molly.  Here's a couple of examples from Edmonton.

 

Molly and Craig having a nap in the sun

 

I'm going to back track a bit to the weekend before we left.  I finally hooked up with my friend Joan to take some 25th Birthday pics of her.  We were out for a good couple of hours and Joan was a trooper laying on the ice and snow all the while looking gorgeous.  Here's some of the fun we had.

 

Being silly and playfull

Joan yelled at me while I drove past this 25 - had to stop

You have to be inventive when shooting in the Arctic and

the sea containers give some colour

This sea container had some stars painted on it and a snow bank for Joan

So beautiful

Freezer her butt off laying on the blue ice

 

Now I'm going to jump back to Edmonton where after spending a weekend there we all jumped back on a plane for Manitoba.  Our friends Sandy and Keith are the best hostess and host and while Craig and I ran around Monday morning and early afternoon Uncle Keith looked after the dogs for us.  Haircut in Edmonton...check, eyes checked, new glasses ordered and teeth cleaned in Winnipeg for the both of us...check.  Next on the list was to take care of the dogs' vet appointments.  Miss Molly has been on/off for the past while so she had the full workup done and Blitz had his annual. Nothing out of the ordinary showed up on tests for Molly so not sure what's up with her...maybe age related as she will be 13 this summer.  We will keep an eye on her to see how she does and note any more changes in her.

 

After the dogs appointments we were off again, this time to Carman to surprise Granny.  You see everyone knew we were coming except her.  So after a round of  5 knocks on her door I finally had to call her to see what she was doing.  She was in the far bedroom and didn't hear the door, yes her hearing is not as good as it once was.  After a short conversation with her I told her to go and open the front door....SURPRISE!  You could say she was happy to see us and I think the dogs were just as happy to see their granny.  After an evening of catching up we all headed off to bed and the next day we met my long time friend of 35+ years Angie and her partner John and her daughter Brooke for lunch.  Slipping into a conversation with Angie is like putting on a old pair of your favourite jeans, just feels right. 

 

Myself, mom and Angie

 

By 3:00pm we were off again, this time back into Winnipeg where we dropped off the dogs at the kennel for a week and spent the night again with the Birleys.  Well not a full night, we were up at 3:00am as we needed to catch a plane to Arizona.  Why Arizona you ask?  Well after spending time in Yuma last October we fell in love with the area and we purchased a condo.  This trip was supposed to be just a Manitoba trip but things changed in a hurry and the trip to AZ was booked.  We arrived in Phoenix a half hour ahead of schedule and landed at 1:00pm, picked up our luggage, hopped on the shuttle for the rental and off we drove into the sunset, well maybe not the sunset but to Yuma.  The flight down here was a fantastic one with West Jet as we flew over the Rockies and the Grand Canyon, here's a couple of pics from the IPhone.

 

Canadian Rockies

The Colorado River running through the Grand Canyon 

 

Since we didn't make it into Yuma on time for signing, our fabulous and generous realtor reserved a hotel room for us for night.  Kimberly has gone above and beyond of what a realtor should do and helped us so much along the way.  It's difficult buying from afar and she made it so much easier for us, not sure what we would of done without her.  We dropped off our luggage at the Howard Johnson and 'accidentally' turned the wrong way and somehow ended up at the condo complex.  We stopped in front of the condo, took a couple of pics and walked around the place and met a neighbour.  From there we grabbed a bite to eat and then headed to Sears to check out some appliances for the new place.  We will return to Sears in the afternoon after we take measurements of the openings for the appliances.  Tomorrow after we get the keys we will head there and take some inside pictures and take measurements.  We have some honey bees activity that we will have to take care of ASAP and other than that clean the place, do some maintenance, get some furniture and plan on what colours and decorating we (I) want to do. 

 

The front entrance of the condo

Our home in the Southwest

 

We have limited internet access so not sure when the next posting will be but I will try to get one in again this weekend.  Hopefully time will allow us to visit the Proving Grounds, the markets and of course hit the Peanut Patch to get our fill of fresh peanut butter. We are exhausted from all of the traveling and I don't see us getting much rest until the weekend.  

 

Talk soon!

Sadness in the Bay

Since my last posting Cambridge Bay has lost two of their finest.  First was Doug Crossley, a great guy who was a member of the board of directors of Kitikmeot Foods Ltd.  Doug was great to work with and always had a listening ear, knowledgeable of the business and of the land and solutions to many problems. He will be greatly missed by everyone.  Gwen Tikhak was a wonderful and talented crafter/sewer who lost her life earlier this week.  Her attention to detail was amazing and I fell in love with her tiny dolls.

 

These are the dolls that Gwen made me less than a week ago

 

For the past 5 winters I have been wanting a pair of kamiks (boots) and I could never find a pair that fit me...except this past week.  I received an early Valentine's present from my sweetie.  I love them so much and they are so comfortable, they are like wearing slippers.

 

My new kamiks

Here's this year's Valentine's picture of the dogs

 

Last week was the Kitikmeot Trade Show and it was a week of busy and meeting new and old friends. Our head office Nunavut Development Corporation was there with a table full of arts and crafts. Donna (one of our employees) and I had a blast at our table giving out samples of our Arctic char candy and jerky.  Leona Aglukkaq was in CamBay for the trade show and as always visited us at the plant.  This time was more than just a plant visit but it was also a meeting discussing food security in Nunavut.  All in all a great meeting with her and another successful trade show.

 

Kitikmeot Foods staff & employees from NDC with Leona Aklukkaq

Mona from Talaq Designs with some amazing arts and crafts

My friends Kim & Marg from KCFI

 

David Amegainek, an elder and friend enjoying some entertainment

 Amy visiting our table

Elders Mary Kaniak and Annie Anavilok share a laugh during the trade show

 

Eva with her grandson Eric

 

Elisapie Isaac performed

 

One of our lead fishers, Jack makes traditional ulu and here is my collection from him.  I just purchased the two tiny ones recently the ulu is a ladies knife and used for cleaning an animal to cutting thread while sewing.

 

 

In my photography world I have been busy doing more freelancing for Nunatsiaq News and also worked on the new airport sign for Kitikmeot Foods Ltd.  So if you ever visit me, look for this sign at the airport.  

Cambridge Bay has a new restaurant in town, called Saxifrage Restro.  Saxifrage is one of the first flowers that bloom up here in the summer.  Here's one of the pics I did for the newspaper article for them.

 

We have been trying to get out for walks but some days it takes us longer to get ourselves and the dogs ready then the time spent outside.  Blitz can handle the cold much better than the Princess but with wind chills hitting over -50'c we all have to be careful.  Craig actually got some frostbite this past week, I guess he had his neck exposed at one point while he was out on the land.  He will be fine it just takes some time to heal.

 

Ouch!

 

Here's Craig carrying Molly back to the truck as she literally froze in place

I felt bad for her so on the way home I had to buy her a new baby

Some days are nice and we get to spend more time outside

I call this one "Happy Trails to You"

Again this year there are some places where you can see the blue ice

 

Found this perfectly green piece of moss frozen in time

We celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Canadian Flag this past week

He pounced on his ball and got a face full of snow

Catching some Arctic rays

 

Talk soon!

 

 

Hello Sun!

The best thing about January in the Arctic is that the sun rises after being below the horizon for 6 weeks.  The first day it was cloudy and we didn't see the sun but the next day sure made up for it with the sun shining brightly in the sky.  Along with the sun comes cold temperatures and wind chills with the lowest being -57'c.  Here's my picture of the first day of sun.

 

With these sunny skies I have been getting out as much as possible on the weekends to take some pictures of the sun and anything else that 'tickles my fancy'.  Our sun is out for about 6 hours, rising about 9:20am and setting at 3:15pm.

 

There was a lot of ice fog this day - The Martin Bergmann is the subject

Sunrise

High Noon

Some days the skies are so vibrant

Love this sail & tub boat that are docked for the winter

I had the opportunity to speak with a couple of members of the Canadian Rangers a couple weeks ago before they headed out on the land for exercise/training.  They were on their way to Ellis River where they were going to spent about 5 days.

Large ice crack

 

Last weekend I borrowed a friends kamiks (boots) to photograph.  Here is one pic of them hanging on a traditional sled

The only bird that winters up here are ravens.  I find them fascinating as they mimic our dogs, especially Blitz and they have over 30 calls.  I have no idea how they survive these winters but they do, here's one that let me take his picture while he rested on metal framework.

 

Finally getting the dogs out for some runs.  Some days it's only for a few minutes and other days an hour - it has been great for everyone's well being to get out again.

 

Miss Molly's ears are so thin that some days we need to cover them

Blitz at sunset

My girl is getting older - just about every day when we come home she doesn't hear us. I used to wake her but lately I decided to let her sleep and wake on her own. 

 

And then there is my Blitzy Boy... I was editing pictures one day and I looked over to see this.

 

Talk soon!