LeBleu Pack: October 2011

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Endangered Cocktails

Last night I was invited to the 'CamBay Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails.' My friend Marg was hosting the party and the endangered cocktail for the evening was the Singapore Sling. The theme for the evening was all things tropical and a couple ladies, not mentioning any names as you know who you are, dressed for the evening. About a dozen ladies attended the party, some I knew and some I became more acquainted with. Every month these ladies take turns hosting a party where she decides what the featured drink and theme will be. It was a great evening of laughter, eating and of course drinking the Singapore Sling.

Today the weather was nice and not much wind so we decided to take the dogs out for a run. It had been a while since we took them out so after lunch off we went. We spent a couple of hours out on the land and the dogs really enjoyed themselves. We seen a herd of muskox in the distance and a couple of snowy owls. Unfortunately I did not have my big lens with me so I didn't get any pictures of either. I should know better and I should always bring my monster lens with me every time I go out.

It has been about two weeks since I wore the boot and the ankle is doing alright. There was a physiotherapist in from Yellowknife this past week and I had an appointment with her on Tuesday. She is happy with my progress and has given me some strengthening exercises to do along with the flexibility exercises. I am still waiting to hear from Yellowknife to see if I need to head down for one more visit.

Talk soon!

Hannah Banana, 10 years old

Miss Molly, 9 years old

Blitz, 2 years old

Our host for the evening, Marg (in wine coloured shirt) with Jane

Some of the ladies 'dressed' for the evening

Vicki, voted best dressed

The ladies enjoying themselves

Friday, October 21, 2011

Re-visited

Some of you have been asking if I have a website, my God I can hardly keep up with my blog never mind a website! haha The pictures tonight are some of my favorite pictures from this past year. I know it's been about 3 weeks since my last blog entry and I really have no excuse why I didn't do it sooner. I will just say time sure flies when you are having fun.

Work has been busy with lessons on proposals and where to get project funding from. My eyes were opened this week when Stephane and I had a meeting and was told what can be funded. We are excited about the opportunities and we are getting our 'shopping list' ready. We submitted a proposal for The International Seafood Show in Boston this March and it looks promising for Stephane and me. I am hoping that Craig can get the time off and join us. Crystal, our HACCP coordinator is in from Alberta to sort out our food safety program. She is here for a total of three weeks and she is a blast to have around. We will miss her when she goes home.

We are planning a trip to head back to Manitoba in early December to see family and friends and to celebrate Christmas early. We were hoping to keep on heading south to Florida to see Ken, Andrea and Jade but noticed that our passports are due. We would hate to book a trip and then be refused if we don't get our passports in time. I thought they were due in late December not early December...

The weather has been hitting the double digits, minus that is. With the windchill it has been hitting the -20'c mark. The sun has been rising about 8:30am and setting about 5:00pm and soon we will say good-bye to the sun for a couple of months. The bay finally has some ice on it and soon we will hear the roar of snow machines. They are still using their quads as there isn't that much snow around.

The caribou or tuktu are coming closer, they are about 5 miles from Mt. Pelly and the local hunters are heading out on their quads to get meat for their families. I am hoping that we do not get much snow so that we can drive out to see the herd heading to the mainland for the winter.

Talk soon!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

FUN-raiser

Saturday was a blast at the fundraiser event. Angela organized another great evening in the community to raise funds for our local food bank. Five dollars would get you a beverage of either coffee, tea or hot chocolate, a home baked goodies and an evening of fine music by Latitude 69 and Muskox Radio. The canteen was also selling donated items of sub sandwiches and many home made treats. It was such a packed house that we needed to add three more tables and chairs so that everyone had a seat. Raffle tickets were sold for a toonie each and there were many tables of prizes to choose from. For the brave ones there was a live auction of a beautiful woman's winter coat, a Nunavut hockey jersey and a framed print from me. Keith Peterson, the MLA for Cambridge Bay ended up getting my print. In the end the community raised about $4500.00 for the local food bank.

The afternoon prior to the fundraiser I showed my pictures in the Saturday Market. I was very surprised in the end as I sold 13 prints and have an order for about a dozen more pictures. I am booked for the Christmas Bizarre next month and I get excited every time I think about it. I had great feedback from everyone that came by my booth. I have a couple more surprises up my sleeve for November and December.

Brian, our business advisor from Rankin Inlet, left today after spending about 4 days with me in the office. He taught me many aspects of Kitikmeot Foods, I just hope I remember everything he showed me. If not I know he is only a phone call or email away. Next visitor to the plant will be Crystal from Calgary, she is our HACPP coordinator and will be helping us out for about 3 weeks to revise our food safety protocol. We are finished processing the Arctic char and we are now onto muskox.

Last week I had a video conference with my physiotherapist from Yellowknife. It lasted about an hour and she will be calling me again next week and I may have to head to YK one more time. I am hardly wearing my boot now a days and I am looking forward when I can finally hang the boot up for good. I was concerned as I had some numbing and a different kind of pain but Erica (physiotherapist) assured me that this is all part of the healing and is normal.

The weather here has been nice these past couple of days and the little bit of snow we had last week has been melting. Days are getting shorter by the day, rising about 7:30am and setting about 6pm. It will be less than two months when the sun will set and not rise again until mid January.

Talk soon!