White

To you it might just be a colour.   It might bring images of fresh sheets blowing in the wind hanging on the line.  Big fluffy clouds floating in the sky.  I brand new piece of paper, just waiting for something to be written on it.

To me, and I'm sure the rest of town, it is the colour of everyday.  I suppose it could be worse.  White after all is a neutral colour, a blank slate.  It's not like I'm saying I see cotton candy pink ALL THE TIME.  Although......at this point  I'd rather see aqua blue water...beige sand......orange towels.....and maybe even a yellow beverage.

See what I mean:

That's a whole lot of WHITE.

Over the past 3 weeks (sorry everybody, it's been far too long) we have had three blizzards, one lasting for 3 days.  School has been cancelled at least one day every week, planes have been cancelled, mail disrupted, and people house bound. 

I am from the east coast.  I know a good storm when I see one.  I was in NS during White Juan.  We lost power for days and shovelled out for just as long.   The difference between a good NS storm and a Paulatuk blizzard is.....the blizzard.  It is just insane.  I'll try to explain it but unless you are here it just won't be the same.  The wind is insane, it just doesn't give up. I'm not entirely convinced it actually snows alot, I think it just blows around.  Like a snow tornado. 

During the three day blizzard the town shut down.  The store (yes the only one) closed down, school closed, the town building was closed, the post office closed, NOTHING in town was moving, not even the snow machines.  The reason - you could not see a single thing.  Nothing, I could not see my neighbours house, I couldn't see the lights up the road let alone across the bay, heck I couldn't even see out my living room window. 

Once it stopped this was the neighbours house:

and we shovelled off the window, yes, shovelled.

We had to take extra precautions because we didn't know how long we'd be living in white out conditions.  So when heard a blizzard was coming we filled up on water, made sure our flashlights were working and were where they were suppose to be.  N has added flashlight adventures to his daily activities so sometimes their location is questionable.

Initially I was concerned about power.  If we lost it how long would we be with out?  That would suck.  Then I thought about water.....no roads = no water truck and ummmmm if the water truck wasn't coming that also meant the sewer truck wouldn't be making the rounds either.  I crossed my fingers, hoped for the best and figured what would be, would be. 

In the end it was fine.  No we didn't get water for 4 days, we did the ol' if it's yellow let it mellow thing, and our power stayed on the entire time.  The satellite was sketchy for awhile, but I thought that would be the first thing to go.  Overall we came out unscathed.

Once the storm was over the grader and loader hit the roads to make them passable.  I walked up to play school and chuckled a few times at the "roads".  I felt like I was walking in a tunnel at a few places.  The drifts were over my head. 

We were the only ones at play school.  A 5 to 1 teacher student ratio isn't so bad.  They were just as happy to be out of the house as I was.  One of the teachers was telling me about a big storm (this one was just considered normal) that blew the steps right off her house.  We were all talking about loading up on water to get ready and the teachers told me about how they also keep their parkas, boots, mitts etc close by.  No kidding.  In case the roof blows off or the house blows away.  It kind of sounds like the big bad wolf story but I guess their is a legitimate concern.  All of our house are built on stilts because of the permafrost.  There is not a single basement in town.  So we are up on stilt, some are open to the elements and some people have enclosed the area to create a storage area.  I suppose if it's on stilts.....there is a chance it could blow off the stilts. 

R came home from work telling me that he was talking to a man who had suggested keeping our outdoor gear close by.  So I chuckled and we exchanged stories.  Turns out the storm that the stairs blew away is the same storm that had people in town dressed IN their outdoor gear because they really thought they might end up outside.  Lets just say I'm glad I wasn't here for that storm!

We also had our first day of -50.  There is no way to explain it other to say -50 is really cold. 

I was heading over to the school one afternoon and figured I'd skip my snow pants because it's just extra hassle and I wasn't really going very far...just to the school.  I started out walking.  Progressed to a jog and ended up running and cursing that if I got to the school and it was locked I was going to each persons house that was suppose to be there and cursing them out.

I was relieved to get to the door and it was open.  I was greeted by a friend saying "it's cold out there".  Yup, I'd agree with that.  She went on to tell me it was -48.  No freaking wonder I was freezing.  We were at the school to do a little circuit training in the gym.  Only problem was the gym door had blown open over night and it was freezing in the gym.  Have you ever seen people doing circuit training in parkas, fur hats and seal skin mitts?  I'm sure it would have been a funny sight, but even all geared up and working out, we all still had red noses.  Not so enjoyable, but a good chuckle.

-52 is great for a good old science experiment.  Some of you might have seen the video on Utube that went viral last year.  A lady in YK dumped boiling water outside in -30 and it turns to snow.  Neat.  So we decided we should do it too.  Just because we could.  Some of the teachers decided to advance the study and add food colouring to the water and see if they'd get coloured snow.

It was fun.  More white!  The food colouring didn't work.  It did show up on the snow after it landed, but white, more white.

The days have been getting noticeably lighter.  I would say it is light during the day.  Maybe I've kind of lost my base line as to what "light" is because I'm sure without the sun it can't be just as light as your light is.  It does seem light though.  From about 10 ish it starts getting "light" and then around 4 ish it starts getting darker.  Right now it is almost 5pm and is dusk out.  About as light as daytime was a month ago.  Definite progress.

January 26 was the BIG day.  The day the sun came back.  I had been eagerly anticipating it's arrival and for the previous three days N and I had been reading his Northern books that tell stories of the sun coming back.  They are nice stories.  One tells the story of how a raven stole the sun and the new sun would come back bigger than the last one so the raven couldn't steal the new one.  The other is about a little Inuit boy who goes with his parents for a walk to the ocean.  Along the way they meet a polar bear, a walrus and a fox all going to the ocean.  Once they get there the sun comes up. 

We'd read these stories before nap time then come to the living room to look out the window, because surely the sun would be there then.  Nope.  Then on the 26th I noticed what I thought might be the tip of the sun:

Then about a half hour later I saw someone in front of the house taking pictures:

THIS HAD TO BE IT!!!!

Sure enough

THE SUN

Happy day in our little community.  This sun is big - I'm pretty sure the raven won't be able to steal this one ; )

I took this one today - it was only up for about 20 minutes

With every sunrise there must be a sunset.  The sunset on January 26th at 3:00 in the afternoon was awesome!  Cotton candy pink!

By total fluke I made red velvet cake yesterday for a pot luck.  I didn't have any red food dye, but I had pink.  Close enough.

Sure looks like cotton candy to me.

That's playdough by the mixer, not

food colouring......

And there we have it.  The past three weeks updated. 

Onto tomorrow, a blank slate.

A white blank slate.....

Here's a few of N - too cute not to share.

This is the North

This past week I've really felt like I'm embracing the North.  There have been a few community events held that we have taken part in (or at least tried), I've gone for another walk on the Arctic Ocean, we went snowmobiling, and I hung my sealskin on the wall to stretch it - after a bit of drama.

N wanted to use the seal as a cape....and the dogs

wanted to eat it.  

Thursday night sewing started up again.  I had thought it started next week, but turns out I  wasn't the only person itching to get out of the house.  It was fun and a bit comical.  I have had my sealskin since we came back from vacation and knew "all I had to do was stretch it".  Since I had never stretched a seal skin before I knew it was likely best if I just waited for some help.  Thursday night was perfect.  So over to the school I trotted, sealskin and beads in tow.  A teacher friend of mine and I asked one of the local ladies what we had to do to stretch it and she said " just get it wet it staple it to the wall".  Easy enough, and since another friend of ours had stretched theirs a few weeks ago and said he had used a bucket to get it wet, we figured we'd be smart and soak in the sink and staple it to the wall.  This didn't sound like it was going to be too bad after all.

We had the sink filled with warm water, place the skin in it, I made sure it was totally wet and I went to find somebody to make sure us "newbies" had this right. 

I found somebody and said "so it's soaking in the sink, all we have to do next is hang it on the wall, right?".

Before she even said a word, I knew by the look in her eye's that we had this ALL wrong.  She said something to the extent of "You did what, your soaking it?" and she started moving very quickly, as did the other woman in the room who had to come see what us new folk had got ourselves into.  It was just like the accident on the highway, you can't help but look.  Only this time I was in the accident.....did they all really have to look?  (insert blushing face here)

In case any of you find yourself in this situation in the future - please note, you DO NOT submerge the skin in the water.  You use a bucket (as our friend had used) or just running water and your hands to pat water onto the skin side, NOT FUR SIDE.  Just enough to dampen the skin, then stretch it onto the wall.

My friend and I patted the skin off, both sides, and placed layer upon layer of paper towel on top of the hide.  On top of that we put Grade 10 math textbooks (by far my favourite use of Math textbooks to date) to help soak up any extra water.  Then we went back into the other room to face the wrath of experience.

Stapling it to the wall

These ladies have much more class than  I have.  I don't think I'd be able to help myself but to say a few jokes at our expense.  They didn't.  They offered help.  Help that we certainly wouldn't have know otherwise.  So another tidbit for you - to soften the hide you can use flour, Palmolive dish soap and water or baking soda and cornmeal.  After about half an hour of so of discussing remedies for our faux pas, the lady who I had initially shocked said everything should be fine, I'll just have to work it a little more when I take it down.

I didn't get anything else done at sewing night.  That was enough.  But I do have a plan.  I'm going to make N some sealskin mitts (to match his mothers : )  ) and a matching pair of Mukluks.  It should be fun.

On our way from play school

Check out that moon

fyi - it's around 3 pm here

Friday was the start of playschool.  Off we trekked in really chilly weather.  On the way we came across Tucker.  Tucker is the only dog in town that I'm not a fan of.  He freaked me out at the swings this summer and some kids chased him off and Friday he must of remembered me because I saw him up ahead of me playing with another dog and then he headed over.  I told him to get going but he didn't.  He just kept following me with his hair standing up on his back.  I could see a person walking towards me so that made me feel a little better.  I also saw this person bend down to pick up a rock.  Tucker took off and once the lady and I met she said, "just watching out for you".  Thank You very nice lady. She didn't throw the rock by the way.

N was excited to see his friends.  It was fun but we did have to leave a bit early.   Circle time and a 2 yr old that missed nap time for the 1st time in few months, are not such a great match.  Regardless of how it ended, it was fun.  It was only fitting that the wheel fell of the stroller on the way home too.  It seems to be happening more these days, but at -30 whatever, I only get the sucker on as good as I can in 2.0 seconds and continue my march home.

The sunrise.....without the sun.

So beautiful.

fyi - this is around 11:00 (ish)

Saturday I went for an awesome walk.  We headed out towards the sandy shore (out by the dump, but sandy shore sounds much nicer).  It was chilly (-26 ish) but there wasn't any wind so it was lovely.  These pictures were all taken between 1:30 and 3:30.  It's getting lighter everyday - the streetlight don't even all come on anymore.  Oh yeah, the sewing ladies said the sun will be back around Jan. 21 or 22.  I'll keep you posted....

Sledding without a sled = going head over heels, but fun

On the Arctic Ocean

You love my hat don't you......I know you want one.

Don't laugh, it's warm!

Sunday was the King and Queen night at the school.  It was suppose to start at 6:30 but when we left at 8:30 it hadn't started yet.  I'm not exactly sure what happens for the King and Queen but I do know that the way they are chosen is quite unique.  Everyone eats a cupcake and 2 of the cupcakes have marbles in them.  Whoever gets the marble is King and Queen.  Somebody asked if there was going to be drum dancing and the response was "it depends if the King and Queen want drum dancing".  So I guess essentially they really are King and Queen for the night.  While we were waiting for the festivities to begin I was chatting with a lady who was telling me about her big trip next week.  She's heading out with a few other people on snowmobiles to go Polar Bear hunting.  She says it's prime season.  She said she's going 100 kms or so, out by Cape Parry and she expected it would take about 3 or 4 hours to get there.  I asked what she plans on doing with the bear.  She's keeping the hide and they bring the rest to town and give to the Elders.  I don't know what they do with it.  I know nobody in town (or very few) eats Grizzly so I'm not sure about Polar Bears.

And today we went snow mobiling.

There's the moon

I don't like snow mobiling.

-it was cold
-I smell like exhaust
-it was cold
-my feet froze
-it was cold

R & N having a heart to heart

You catch my drift.  I guess I enjoyed the first 15 minutes.  After that I would have been happy to be done.  We ended up staying out for about an hour.  There was pretty scenery.  It is after all a full moon and it looked neat being on the Ocean looking up to the hills that we normally quad on, but did I mention it was cold, really stinking cold.

All tucked in - check out those red cheeks

I hear ya N - stinking cold!

I enjoyed watching this person go by the house much more than I enjoyed our trip.

2012 - BRING IT

Happy New Year Everyone!

What a year 2011 was. 

A year goes by really quick....once it's over.

2011 for us was a year of transition.  Transition is the fancy word for change, and change and I are not best of friends.  I like order, I like consistency, I like routine.  I feel most content and at ease when I know exactly what is going, and what will be happening tomorrow.  I actually sleep best when I know that everything is in it's place and that we can start the day fresh in the morning.....just as I planned it.

I'm not saying I can't fly by the seat of pants.  That's not the case at all.  I actually get a kick out it.  I enjoy being busy.  I think I'm much more productive when I've got alot on my plate.  Don't misinterpret that as being unorganised.  No no no.  I think I have a pre "plan" for almost every situation.  I run situations in my head and figure what would be the best way to proceed before they ever occur.....just in case. 

This entry seemed a bit heavy, this should lighten

it up - N's favorite holiday hat = felt bag

2011 proved to be a challenge for my pre planning.  There were challenges but as life tends to do, it all worked out in the end.

We rang in 2011 in Yellowknife enjoying a lobster supper with great friends and out little 16 month old boy sound asleep.  We knew it was going to be a "big" year after all we knew we were moving somewhere North and that would involve selling the house that we had spent the last five years making into our home.  We had spent endless hours painting coats of color on the walls, building walls, tearing walls down, tearing out carpet, laying flooring, changing counter tops, installing new doors, building scaffolding, building decks, staining decks, putting up wainscoting and decorating a room for a little boy.  We loved our home and we weren't really looking forward to selling it. 

We made it through the winter growing together as a family.  It was my first winter as a stay at home Mom, my first winter in years that I was not crazy busy at work and I missed it.  I missed the action, but I missed the people most, my coworkers, many of whom had become close friends over the years.  I loved being home with N, but I felt guilty for missing work.  I've since learnt that's part of motherhood.  Guilt and the feeling that you should be doing more or better.  I read a quote the other day which I love - "we are Moms, not superhero's".

Winter also brought many new adventures, we travelled to NS to visit our families, many of whom where meeting N for the first time.  It was awesome to see how happy they all were for the three of us.  We went sledding and walking in -30 degree weather on a regular basis.  We visited the Snow King at his castle on Great Slave Lake, we drove the Ice Road to Dettah a few times, we watched Northern Lights, we went swimming every week, we made regular trips to the library and sometimes we just went to Walmart to get out of the house. 

Christmas Eve - I dug out his pj's from his

1st Christmas and he spotted this and HAD to

try it on.

He is getting so big!

Spring brought news of where we'd call home next.  With that it was time to sell the house.  What seemed like forever was actually 8 weeks of keeping the house spotless for viewings.  Not such an easy task with a toddler and 3 dogs in mud season.  We placed our barge order which was actually kind fun and daunting at the same time.  We ordered 70 bags of dog food for those crazy hounds.  There was fun in there too, after all there were puddles to jump in.

Summer was kind of a mixed bag of nuts.

We had to say "see you later" to friends we weren't ready to say that too - we sold the house we didn't really want to leave and saw all of our things being packed into boxes, some to come with us and others to go to storage for the next two years. Then we were ready for the next adventure to begin.  Although not before we hit the beach a few times, hiked a few trails, took part in a few bbq's, had a picnic and met Kate, The Duchess.  We made memories.


Then we were off !

Christmas 2011

Christmas with a two year old really puts the spirit back in Christmas.  The night before we walked around the house looking out all the windows to see if we could spot Santa making a pass by.  We left out cookies and muffins for Santa and apples and carrots for the reindeer.  N may only be 2 but Christmas morning he knew what was going on.  We woke up an hour earlier than normal to N screaming "Dada, Mama, Dada, Mama", "up".    He ran around the corner, saw the presents and said "ohhhhhh".  It was perfect.

His favorite gift from Santa

We spent the evening with friends and had a huge pot luck supper complete with turkey, stuffing, gravy and pumpkin pie. 

We hosted a brunch on Boxing day.  It was really nice to have a house full of people really enjoying each others company.  With quiche, pancakes, casserole, stuffed french toast and bread pudding, we all ate way more than we should have, watched the World Jr. hockey game and then played a round of Wizard.  Fun times had by all.

Normally R and I are are strick about bedtime.  It's between 7:30 and 8:00.  End of story.  I was torn one night because there was a community drum dance being held at the school....at 10:30pm.  After wish washing for awhile I decided to wake him up, bundle him up and trek over to the school.  He LOVED it.  All the kids in town were there and it was great. 

We stayed until 12:30 - I was too tired to stay any longer, came home and I tucked him back into bed and off to dreamland he went.

Drum Dancing at midnight = awesome

New Years was also another big get together.  We hosted another great pot luck, played a bunch of board games and then went out to watch the fireworks.  I woke N up again, bundled him up and off we went.  Seriously - with the exception of Disney World these were the best fireworks I have ever seen.  It was spectacular.  Initially I was a little apprehensive because we were literally under the show but after I relaxed and decided to just enjoy myself it was truly marvellous. 

Somewhere in there we had a UFC night and lots of munchies and great company.

So a busy holiday and great holiday week in Paulatuk. 


We are planning on going snowmobiling this weekend if it's not too cold so we'll see  how that goes.  My feet normally freeze in about 15 minutes so I don't imagine we'll get too far.  It seems to be getting a little lighter the past few days, still no sun but I think it'll be popping over the hills sometime soon......soonish.

Next week life gets back to normal. Playschool opens back up, the teachers that left town for Christmas are scheduled to fly back in today, sewing night starts back up and I have my seal skin, hide and beads all ready.

2012 - Bring it!

Look close - here is the frozen seal.  My camera isn't

such a fan of -30, freezes up pretty quick.