Blizzard = No Work

There has been a blizzard warning out since yesterday and it finally arrived this afternoon.  When the Hamlet Office shuts down so do we as we depend on sewer and water daily.  At 2:00pm our time there weren't too many businesses still operating.  This blizzard doesn't seem like a huge one as I can still see some of the houses down our street. 

Craig will be staying at the Site tonight so I will have to depend on the other man in my life to protect me....Blitz.  When Craig is not home he is always on high alert getting up, growling and barking at every little noise outside. When it first happened it kinda freaked me out but now I am used to him and his guard dog attitude.  Deep down he is a real momma's boy.

I will get my jammies on early, snuggle on the couch with the dogs & a blankie and watch some TV tonight.  Maybe even eat a bowl of popcorn all by myself....life it good!

Talk soon!

We can usually see the ocean from this view but not today.

Looking the other way

The snow is piling up in our backyard

Blitz looks like an old man with all of the snow on his face - he really loves the snow.

Things in Common

So what does the local Cubs, Premier of Nunavut, Ford trucks and muskox burgers all have in common?  ME!  Last week my week started off great as I was asked to help the local Cubs get their Pet Care Badge.  I was very honoured to have been asked to help out the kids and last Tuesday evening Hannah and I headed over to the elementary school.  Hannah is an old pro at doing educational tours as we used to do them when we lived in Manitoba.  She is so good at her 'job' and the kids loved her.  We talked about basic pet care and canine safety and the kids got a hands on lesson.  We were asked to return tomorrow to finish their lessons on cat care and to refresh their memory on canine safety.  I will be bringing Molly with me this time.

The following day I was pleased to have a visit from Nunavut's Premier, Eva Aariak at the plant.  She arrived with her entourage of 8 staff members.  She was very excited to be at the plant and to purchase muskox meat and Arctic char and every person left there with a bag full of goodies.  I hope I meet her again in the future.

We have been pondering the idea of purchasing another truck as the little Ranger is just too small for us, especially when we take out the three dogs.  Well we bit the bullet and purchased a 2008 F150 Ford XLT super cab.  We purchased it from the local Northern Store on Friday and had the registration and insurance done today.  Funny thing is we get it registered here in town but the insurance is done from Nunavut Insurance in...Winnipeg.

Saturday was the big Christmas Bazaar here in CamBay with a start time of 1pm.  I was a little bit frightened when Fred opened the doors as I think everyone from town rushed in.  I met some new people and talked to many friends that visited my tables.  I had a wonderful response from people that purchased my book and was quite embarrassed when I was asked to sign it.   It was a great afternoon and in the end I sold 72 pieces.   

Sunday was Grey Cup day and as most of you know my team did not win.  I knew it was gonna be tough for them to win against BC but my optimistic nature was trying to stay positive.  We had Stephane, Sheila and Jim over to watch the game (thanks for bringing the apple crisp).  This past weekend Stephane worked on a new recipe for our muskox burgers and we all got to taste them yesterday.  All I can say is OMG, they were amazing.  We decided to go all natural with the burgers as it didn't make sense to us to take this natural meat off the land and throw unnatural ingredients in it.  Now we can say our Muskox burgers are all natural with no preservatives. 

On November 30th the sun will set and rise again mid-January.  My plants are already suffering and I think I may have to buy a grow light so I don't loose them all.  In a week we will be heading south to visit family and friends and I can't believe it's been 6 months since the last time I was there, for Craig it will be 10 months.  We have a blizzard warning in effect tonight and tomorrow so we will see if we head to work, might have to be an early day for me and Craig just may have to stay at the Site tomorrow night.  I'm not scared of a little blizzard as I now have a 4 x 4 just like my friend Marg! haha

Talk soon!

 Family Portrait

The new truck

 Happy Camper!

The end of the day...

My table

Muskox burgers on homemade buns and homemade french fries.

Little Annie and the Gang

I thought that I would feature some of the gang that I work with starting with Little Annie.  Don't let her size fool you, Stephane calls her The Energizer Bunny as she keeps going and going.  Annie is usually the first staff member to arrive at work in the morning and the last to leave at the end of the day.  She has been very excited lately as she received a brand new snow machine, got it registered and insured and this past weekend she shot 4 caribou for her family.  Annie not only looks after her husband who is not well but also some of her grandchildren.  She is a fun-loving, always smiling lady and you can be guaranteed that she will always say good morning or good afternoon to you everyday.

Then we have Jeannie and her family.  Her only son Jonathan and her 4 daughters, Donna, Shelly, Michelle and Cassandra all work at the plant.  Jeannie loves to talk, you could say she is an open book and will tell you anything about her life.  Her son Jonathan and her daughter Michelle are both quiet.  Michelle has two young boys and one on the way.  Donna is the oldest sibling and is the mother of one and usually is the one to share her bannock with you.  Shelly is not afraid to say anything to you or tell you anything, the party animal you could say.  Then there is Cassandra the youngest of them and is cute and innocent looking.

Now we have Jordan who is always smiling and willing to learn more and more each day.  Jordan is the clown of the group you could say,  you will find him hiding around the corner trying to scare someone walking by...which is usually me.

Alice and Stephen are reliable employees and are willing to help you out whenever asked.  Missing from the pictures are Juna, Susan and Steven.  Steven is one of the great carvers in town and yes we purchased a carving from him.

I am still getting ready for the upcoming show on the 26th.  I will have many prints, greeting cards and a small coffee table book for sale.  Yes after many requests I have done a coffee table book.  I wasn't impressed with the company that I selected as some of the prints have a magenta line going through it but it will have to do for my first book.  I did get them to re-do 28 books as the coloured line was very noticable.  I am really excited and looking forward to this show as everyone has been telling me how big of a show it is for CamBay.  I had Beth, one of the teachers, come over last week to look at some of my pictures, she was looking for a gift for her husband Aaron's birthday.  Much to my surprise she purchased two and I heard from her today stating that he loved them.

Speaking of pictures I asked our friend Sheila to take our annual family Christmas picture this year.  We headed out this past Sunday, found a good spot, I set my camera for her and away we went.  The winds were blowing and it was a bit cold, ok really cold as we were only wearing fleece jackets.  In the end she did a great job and I have ordered our cards, now let's hope they are delivered before we head south.  Thank you again Sheila!

The sun has been shining brightly which means the temperatures drop to an average of -42'c with the wind this week.  I am not complaining about the cold too much as the sun will set on November 30th and will be gone until January 12th.

Most of the pictures today feature some of our staff at Kitikmeot Foods Ltd. with one picture of some ptarmigans that I seen today.

Talk soon!

Michelle & Jeannie (daughter & mother)

Jeannie the little devil that she is

Cassandra and Jordan

From left to right: Cassandra, Jordan, Annie and Jeannie

The ladies, Annie, Jeannie and Alice

Some of the gang: Jeannie, Jordan, Donna, Shelly, Michelle, Stephen and Little Annie laying on the wood chips

Little Annie with her new snow machine

 Look out Cambridge Bay Annie is loose

Ptarmigans

Novembrrrr

With a windchill of -35'c it is definitely Novembrrr.  It has been snowing for a few days now so we had plenty of snow that needed to be removed.  Craig started up the new snow thrower today and did the decks and driveway, I helped out by doing what he couldn't do.  Hannah and Blitz 'helped' by digging the snow and throwing it where we just cleared.  Molly as per usual hung out by the porch wanting to go in...princess.  Hannah was really sore tonight after the snow digging so I had to give her some pain meds tonight and she seems more comfortable.  I think she forgets that she is going on 11 years old.

I have been busy printing pictures as I have another show, The Christmas Bizarre, on November 26th.  It is a big show here in Cambridge Bay and I am very excited about it.  I will have a couple of surprises up my sleeve for this show so I am hoping that I get a good response from people.

We finally booked our trip for December to Manitoba but after booking from Edmonton to Winnipeg we found out that there is an embargo on pets from December 14th to January 4th.  We will be driving to Winnipeg from Edmonton because of this embargo so we are hoping for good weather so that we can do the trip in one day.  It will be good to see everyone again.

There isn't much to report since my last blog entry so for now I will say...

Talk soon!

This year's pumpkin

Craig and the new snow thrower

Blitz loves the snow

Blitz and Hannah digging in the snow...where's Molly?  In the porch.

Mocha found a new bed

It was -30'c with the windchill this day