Brrrr

So I'm thinking you haven't experienced cold until you have lived in Nunavut for a winter.  Being from Manitoba it can get pretty cold there with -40'c temperatures but here with the wind we seen temperatures -64'c this past week.  And this is normal for this time of year! The Hamlet actually shuts down with this cold, so no sewer or water that day.  I don't know how the ravens, hares, dogs etc survive these temperatures living outside.  The cold hits you like a ton of bricks when we go outside and do not touch anything, especially metal without a good pair of mitts on as you can have instant frost bite.  We have frost on the baseboards in the back entrance and also the chimney from our pellet stove.  It is very hard to explain how the cold feels, you just have to live through it.

The dogs are doing ok in this weather, they haven't really been out for any length of time.  A quick pee and poo and back in they come.  Many times we have to pick up one or both pointers and carry them back into the house...not great northern dogs.  They must think to themselves "why did you bring me here?"  

With the cold comes the sun and I think after a month and a half without seeing the sun I will take the cold.  This week Craig and I went out to shoot some pictures, well I took the pictures and Craig was my driver.  Craig spotted an Arctic hare coming back from West Arm so he pulled to the side of the road, turned off the truck and I took out my camera and got a couple of shots before the bunny disappeared somewhere under the truck.  He tried to start the truck again and it was dead.  It was only off for about 5 minutes!  A local Inuit man, David, stopped and gave us a ride to find Jim and Sheila for a boost.  I guess that is one way to meet people.  

It is very dry here so we are running a humidifier all of the time but it is a small one and doesn't do the full house so we also boil water.  This week both Craig and I were in the office with the door closed but not fully shut.  Blitz came into the room abruptly with this concerned look on his face and in seconds we smelt something burning.  Yikes!  The kettle was boiled dry and burning and if it wasn't for Blitz warning us who knows what could of happened.  What a good boy, needless to say he got lots of lovin' and treats that night.

We are heading to Edmonton on February 1st to visit with my brothers & family, then to Manitoba on the 6th.   We decided to keep on heading south so on February 9th we are on a plane again to Florida to visit with Craig's brother Ken, his wife Andrea and our niece Jade.  It will be a LeBleu family reunion in Florida as his Mom & Dad, sister Laura and her family will also be there.  Craig and I do not have anything major planned but sitting our butts on the beach and getting some sun.  We are only there for a week then back to Manitoba for a week to visit with my mom and friends before heading back home to Nunavut.

The sun in Cambridge Bay is here to stay!  Tomorrow it will rise at 10:13am and will set at 2:12pm with a altitude of 2° at noon.  When we return home at the end of February the sun will be up for over 9 hours.  I thought I would have more of a problem not seeing the sun during the winter but it wasn't that bad.  Don't get me wrong I love the sun and I am glad it is back.  Cambridge Bay has also seen some heavy ice fog this past week and it made for some nice pictures against the sun.

Today's pictures are a mash of the ice fog, animals and sun.

Talk soon!

Craig and Blitz reading a book - check out Craig's slippers!

This is what our chimney looked like this past week...frost inside the house.

Arctic fox curled up, protected from the wind. See the other "bed" beside him?

Arctic hare coming straight for me

Yum yum yum

Ravens

Ice fog makes for great colours

Hard to tell but I am standing on the ice at Fresh Water Creek

Heavy ice fog over Cambridge Bay this week

View of the sun on the bridge

Bridge over Fresh Water Creek going to Graveyard

Arctic Meringue

Sun & Surf?

I first would like to thank all of my blog followers for joining me on my adventures in the far north.  At the end of 2010 I had 14 followers and as I am writing this I now have 21!  It's great to see that people are interested in this life of mine in Cambridge Bay.  Even in the middle of winter there is always something to photograph and write about.

Last Sunday Craig and I went tooting around to see what I could take pictures of and to my surprise the wind surfers were out again.  I have seen them on the ice numerous times but by the time I got my gear together they were done when I got there.  I set up the ole Nikon with the 500mm lens and started shooting.  One of the surfers came over to the dock where I was and introduced himself and said that the wind wasn't quite right for him to perform some jumps.  It is amazing to me that they have so much control of these kites, they could go anywhere they wanted. There will be another time for more pictures, these guys are out on the ice just about every weekend. I wasn't out there for too long as the wind was bitter and my fingers were starting to hurt.  I think I will head over to Cabela's when we are in Manitoba next to see if I can pick up some good but thin mitts.  I have my big Arctic mitts but it's very hard to use a camera with them on.

On Tuesday we purchased our first ATV, aka Honda, from a local couple who are moving to the east coast.  It was well taken care of as the previous owner is a mechanic.  I can't wait until summer when we can head out on the tundra for the day on the Honda.  Craig thinks it is his but I already claimed it as mine.  haha

Wednesday was the first sunrise here since November 30/10 but due to the cloudy day we did not see the sun.  Yesterday was clear and we seen the sun rise and set all in about an hour and a half.  It is not coming fully over the horizon yet, about 1/2 way but as each day goes by it rises more and more.  There is another blizzard warning out for today so no sight of the sun again.  The wind chill is sitting at about -45'c today so ya need to bundle up when out and about.

Last night we headed over to the rink to watch some of our friends curl, I think it was everyone's first time curling on the 'Twelve Noon' team.  All of them are from the east coast, no flatlanders on this team.  Looks like they all have a blast but some may suffer from sore muscles today.  We are not on a team but Craig may step up to the rock when needed. 

Our trip to Manitoba is booked for February 1st to the 24th, all we need to do is confirm the dogs flights.  Jim and Sheila are looking after Mocha and the house again.  This will be our last trip for a while since Craig is changing jobs he will not be getting those 5 trips out every year.  We will fly to Edmonton to pick up the Edge, probably stay a few days there to visit with my brothers and then drive to Manitoba on the Sunday.  On the way back we will be flying out of Winnipeg, kinda nervous for the dogs as they will be changing planes twice.  

Pictures today are of the wind surfers, sun rise, our new wheels and of the Twelve Noon team curling.

Talk soon!

Wind surfers

Catchin' some good wind

Wind surfing

The first sunrise since November 30/10

Our (mine) new Honda

Craig on the new ATV

SWEEP...HURRRREEEE!!!

Ryan and Darryl keeping an eye on the rock

Gary throwing the rock

This Week in Review

On New Years Day evening after Craig was finished work we headed over to Sheila & Jim's home for a round of snackies (no supper that night) & games.  After we were stuffed we headed out the door, picked up our mutual friend Marg and proceeded to drive to  Freshwater Creek to shoot off some of their fireworks.  It was a fine display of lights from the fireworks and the Northern Lights.  Unfortunately, I did not bring my tripod with me plus I was still reading how to photograph these wonders of the world.  After the light show we all headed back to the house to play some games and around 1am Craig was ready to pack it in.  This was a total reverse as it is usually me saying it's time to go home.

The following day was Sunday and we were invited over to Marg's home for brunch.  And what a brunch it was!  Her and her daughter Cat made eggs, bacon, pancakes, hash browns, warm fruit and real whipping cream for our pancakes, toast, etc etc.  Afterwards Marg played us some songs on her piano before we headed home.  It was a perfect way to end a perfect brunch.

All of our Christmas decorations came down on that Sunday and the place looked bare at first.  Hannah was very happy to see Blitz's kennel back in the living room.  If you can not find her in the house she will be laying in the kennel.  She just loves the kennel, I rescued her when she was about 8 months old and the only time she was ever kenneled was when she went through her two spine surgeries.  NOT fun, how do you tell a very active yellow lab that she has to be kenneled for 4 months for each surgery, you think she would just hate a kennel.

I think I am a magnet for other people running a stop sign and hitting me.  I was taking Craig back to work when a local woman went through the stop sign and hit the side of our truck.  It was one of those where you seen it coming, tried to slam on your brakes but due to the slippery streets here you can't, so I decided to step on the gas.  Thank God I did as she ended up hitting the plastic that surrounds the tire at the back of the truck, only a small piece of plastic came off.  She had more damage to her truck, a Chevy mind you. haha  If I slowed down she would of hit the driver side door and would of done more damage to the truck and/or me.  It has been just about a year since my last accident so I was due for another.  I must remind my friend Randy, that even though I have been in a few accidents NONE have been my fault, not even 50%.  We are all ok, my shoulders are a bit sore today but don't know if it is because of the accident or the Argo ride last night or a combination of both.

Last night we were invited by our friend Marg and her friend Chris to head out on the land at 10:30pm to see if we can capture the Northern Lights on our cameras.  Chris has an Argo so the 4 of us headed south, I think, about 2 kms, I think.  I know we crossed the bay, from there who knows, I was along for the ride and the show.  Chris is a great photographer and a good teacher and he taught me a few things about low light photography.  The fog rolled in and we lost sight of Cambridge Bay, I did manage to get a couple of shots of the Northern Lights through the fog.  I wasn't worried about us getting back to town as Chris brought along his GPS (not our GSP, sorry had to).  So after about an hour we all climbed back into the Argo, but due to the cold weather the GPS was not working, no fear as Chris just followed his tracks back home, smart man.  It was a bit eerie out on the land in total darkness and the fog but very cool all at the same time.  I had a blast and I felt like a two year old all bundled up in my ski pants, parka, big mitts, scarf, and hat. It was a wee bit difficult to move but I didn't care, I was out on the land, in the dark, shooting the Northern Lights for the first time.  I hope the fog/clouds clear so I can go out again and get some better pictures.

I am looking forward to this coming Wednesday when the sun will rise for the first time since November 30th.  I hope that it is not cloudy that day.  The days are getting longer and the temperatures this week have not been that bad, even with the wind.

That's my week in review and the pictures below will reflect the fun we all had.

Talk soon!

Boo, Sheila & Jim's other little dog.

At Sheila & Jim's home on New Years Day evening - look at all those munchies just for the 4 of us.

Marg & Sheila - love this picture of you two

Jim all decked out for some tundra fun with fireworks