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!