Blustery day

Squire and I decided to ignore the temperature (-22, feeling like -37 with the windchill) and head out for a romp in the snow. For a puppy that sat on our feet and shivered when we took her outside after we first brought her home, she takes to winter in the north like she's purebred husky.

We set out to climb the 'mountain' and take some pictures of the gorgeous sun. After chasing a bunny across the tundra, a raven decided to return the favour, and hovered above Squire on the entire walk up the hill.

When we got to the top of the hill, Squire bounded around the rocks like a kid in a jumpy castle, and I settled in to wait for the sun to start setting, so I could take some good sunset shots across the lake.

That plan didn't quite work out - the cold weather ate the batteries in my camera. In fact, when we got home, the entire camera was coated in a layer of frost. I did get one last good shot before the camera died though.

Now Squire and I are cuddled up under blankets and drinking a cup of tea (well, she's not, but I sure am). It was good to get out though, to wander about and get some fun pictures.

'Tis the season for...

Purple butterfly cookies?

Ok, admittedly, not really a seasonal cookie. Nor was it meant to be.

One of my good friends from work is expecting a baby - she's due on December 12th. When you are pregnant in the north, about a month prior to your due date, you are sent south (generally to Winnipeg) to await the birth of your newborn, and then you fly back home shortly after giving birth. I think it must be hard on the entire family to have the mommy gone for a month. During the time my friend is awaiting the birth of her little one, her older daughter is having her seventh birthday.

When I was asked to make her cake, I was pretty excited. Then a little worried when I found out she wanted a 'Hannah Montana' cake. (I *think* Hannah Montana is a TV show.....)

All in all, I think it turned out pretty good. And I had a good time doing it.

Happy Birthday to the soon-to-be big sister! And we wish only the best for the safe delivery of the new baby!

silly puppy

We've been working diligently with Squire, trying to teach her not to run up to people. Instead, we want her to sit and wait for them to come to her to say 'hi'.

It's starting to pay off.

Last night while walking, we came within 25 feet of a white arctic hare. Instead of barking and lunging after the bunny, Squire promptly sat right beside me, hoping and waiting for the bunny to come be friends.

The bunny, of course, declined.

Time isn't the only thing that's flying

We had a heads up looking at the weather forecast yesterday.

And we knew with all the soft pretty snow falling last night that we might be in trouble....

It's officially a blizzard afternoon. Visibility is down to barely across the street, and the wind is roaring away. Right now the wind is gusting to 40 km/h, but tonight we're going to get gusts at 120 km/h.

'He' is already curled up on the couch with a book. And the Squire dog is snuggled up next to me while I type this.

We'll see how long this lasts - we could be cooped up in the house tomorrow too.

Quick Update

Time is flying by again. It's hard to believe that in almost exactly a month, we'll be heading south to visit with friends and family for Christmas again.

Heading home at Christmas is always a bit bittersweet; because Air Canada and West Jet won't fly dogs Squire's size over Christmas, she always gets left behind. She's always spoiled rotten when we return home, but it's difficult to leave her here.

We're starting to make our own lists and checking them twice. There's always so much we want to accomplish while we are in 'civilization'. We already have dentist appointments booked, and are planning this week to book eye doctor and hair cut appointments. We're also busily making a list of things we can't get up here and definitely want to bring back with us in our luggage.

The rumours that our current place might actually be 'SOLD' are getting stronger. We aren't exactly looking forward to moving in the dead of winter, but at least we're assured we won't be homeless - not really the time of year for that!

Our busy social life is part of the reason we're wondering where the time has gone. We had a great Euchre night with a couple of friends tonight, and enjoyed watching a movie with a couple of friends on Saturday night. 'He' won the last poker night (I came in numero two) and is anxious to prove that it wasn't a fluke.

We've been keeping busy at work too. 'He' had a big project to get done under a tight deadline, and did a great job pulling everything together. It seems like anytime I get to the finish line of one project, it becomes just the starting line of another. I'm definitely not complaining! I'm enjoying being busy and getting my hands dirty in the financial world. In fact, I'm enjoying it so much I signed up for a distance ed course through Ryerson. It should be an interesting way to pass the dark hours this winter.

Speaking of dark... we got an email about a week ago from a colleague at our plant in Grise Fiord. He told us that the sun had set that day, and wouldn't rise again til February.... Yikes! Even here, I'm staring to notice that the sun is just beginning to set after coffee break, and we're generally walking home from work in the dark. Shortly, it'll be sunshine from am coffee break to pm coffee break. By the time we return from our Christmas trip, our days will already be getting longer.

This year, I decided not decorating for Christmas was sacrilegious, so we invested in several ornaments and brought them back with us last Christmas (our original collection being safely stored away in storage somewhere). I'll post some pictures when I get everything done.

We are looking forward to spending time catching up with everyone while we're home. Please let us know if you want to meet up for a chat or a coffee or whatever. Give us a heads up, so we can make sure we don't just pass each other by with only a wave!

First Blizzard of the Season

We're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be able to spend Wednesday at home in our jammies!

Right now it might be the calm before the storm; it got really mild this afternoon and calm - almost no wind whatsoever. Apparently the wind is going to kick up overnight and reduce visibility to nada.

Click here for the Weather Network's warning.