The mountains seen from the 9th hole are majestic.
And the crocus never fails to warm a Yukoner's heart.
The 19th Hole is always welcome. New caterers this year look very promising. They are not only friendly and have a good menu, but are snazzing up the place with table cloths and flowers. A very pleasant ending to a good round of golf.
May begins golf season. The greens are still temporary, and the grass is just beginning to grow, but it is fun to be knocking the ball around in any case. Tuesday night is the start of Ladies League - come rain or shine.
The sun was shining today - but still had to wear a sweater and a coat. The north wind carries no warmth. But, on the positive side, it was a heck of a lot warmer than yesterday.
Much to my surprise, my little boy was home on Mother's Day - something I didn't expect. He took me over to his newly rented house and after a tour we sat, drank beer and told stories of when he was a wee one. 
His friend Brooke was there too. The house is in the newest area of the Vinyl Village (Copper Ridge) and will suit them just fine.
Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers out there!
There's a new art gallery in town - Copper Moon Gallery - well, not actually in town, but in McCrae, close enough. It's attached onto Artists At Work. We went tonight to a competition they were holding of art of any kind that uses or shows copper. It was fabulous. Whenever you come to town, I will take you there.
My backyard, April 30, 2009
Quite weekend. Of course, I caught a cold (I'm sure from work - working in an office is like working in daycare - someone is always ill and spreading germs around) so recuperated on the weekend. Was good by Sunday, so went out for tea with my friend. Sipping tea and looking out the window made us think we should be sipping outside in that beautiful sunshine, but it looks warmer than it actually is. Haven't seen Brenda since Christmas - no, I did have lunch once with her since - but did have Christmas dinner at her house and left my gifts there, so collected the loot. It was like Christmas all over again! Learned about her touch screen ipod (or was it called something else). Very interesting and perhaps good for travel. Got me thinking about one. Had my summer tires put on on Thursday, just in time for our blizzard on Friday. The snow is still mid-thigh level in the yard and about six feet high where I have shovelled it, so it will be a while before we see lawn. I'm hoping for some extremely hot weather so all of it will melt. I have to plant a garden on May 20th, or there about - Victoria Day. At this point I have my doubts though.
The Easter Bunny visited my neighbour's house, as you can see from the faces of Brenna and Cora. They were full of vim and vigour during my visit (possibly a result of all the chocolate the bunny brought). They also rescued a spider, kindly bringing it into the house from the snow outside. 
Yes, spring is here, as you can tell by the melting snow in the above photo. My friend is tall, but the snow is taller! I think the Copper Ridge and Granger area of Whitehorse has it's own micro- climate as it gets more snow that any other part of the city...but it is melting, if only slowly. By the way, Happy Birthday Debbie!
My deck is now visible. It will be a while though before I can plant flowers in my planter! I'm hoping the snow melts by August for cousin Joe's visit.
Spring is in the air when Spring Spruce Bog comes along. And it certainly is spring today. The water is running in rivers down the roads, cars are a muddy shade of grey with a windshield wiper wide view of the world, and the pristine snow roadside is an attractive black brown. Ah spring. I was happy to see Phyl is once again doing her pottery. A while back she had sold her kilns but now she is back at it. We went mid afternoon, a perfect time as the crowds had dissipated and we had plenty of room to look and chat. Even little Ella joined the craft fair shoppers although in her dreams I'm sure she was somewhere else.
I said in an earlier blog that the temperature in Dawson City was -41 degrees Celcius on March 15th. I was just corrected with a picture to prove my bad!
Dropped into Natasha's new house this afternoon. She has just moved in and is thrilled with it. It is very nice and built by one of the best house builders in town - Horizon Construction. Of course, her husband Derick, who is in university in Edmonton, has yet to see it.
Driving into town today I looked around and thought what a vast country we live in. The east is being plummeted with snow storms as is Washington state, temperatures are well below normal in other areas and here we are in the far north and the temperature is -1 degree celcius and calm - something that lifted my spirits as I am well through with winter. Oh for the warmer temperatures to descend upon us and the vast amounts of snow we have had can start melting away. I washed my car yesterday (I do that when I can no longer see out my windows) and unfortunately, with this warmer weather, the road snow has melted and mixed with the sand that had been dropped all winter to prevent sliding and the mud was being sprayed onto my clean car. But, even that I could handle. IT WAS WARM. 
Just before dinner, I decided that although it was still snowing I should shovel what has fallen to this point or I may have a very hard time shovelling when the snow stops - not a pleasant job. The chaotic wind had caused three foot drifts in the driveway. The snow banks are more than six feet high so when I toss the shovelful of snow over that bank, half gets blown back onto the driveway and if the other half doesn't reach the topof the snowbank it rolls back down into the same spot I have already shovelled. Whew! What usually takes 10 minutes took 1-1/2 hours.
Once again, another Yukon Rendezvous has come and gone. My favourite part lately is the snow sculptures. At this point, I don't know which one won 1st place, but here are my favourites.
Above is the entry from Finland.
And this is my absolute fave, The Snow Queen, an entry from the B.C. team. She has an icicle crown and earrings.
This is why we Yukoners are tough. Even the wee ones have to brave the cold to celebrate Rendezvous.
Today, the final day, was beautiful as you can see from the blue sky in the above photo.
They've rounded Cape Horn and are in the final stages of the cruise. If you're interested in such a cruise, or in the area visit his blog by clicking here. He has outlined his trip complete with photos.
We do get visitors here in the winter (other than my mother and Jennifer!). Sues left the blustery snowy New Brunswick winter to visit the snowy and extremely cold Yukon winter. And she's still smiling!
Deb had some "book-clubbers" as well as former Hawaiian ship cruisers over to her house for a lovely luncheon including champagne and orange juice. (now you know why we laugh so much!)
My cousin Joe and his wife are on a cruise aboard the Star Princess sailing aside Patagonia and through the Straight of Magellan. He is keeping me up to date on his travels and I thought I would share some of the photos with you. Above: He says, "We are on our way to Ushuaia, Argentina via the Beagle Channel named after the ship sailed on by Darwin. At 8:00 am this morning we entered a section of the channel that has glaciers and hanging valleys."
Above and below photos: "The highlight of the day for me was seeing the Osorno Volcano and some of the rapids and waterfalls in the area. For most of the day, the volcano was shrouded in clouds and it was only late in the day that we finally saw the peak. The volcano is a classic example of a cinder cone just like the famous Mount Fuji in Japan. Of course when you think of Chile llamas come to mind and you see a few on the country. We also came across a Monkey Puzzle tree which I have to admit is one of the strangest plants I have ever seen. " (as you can see I didn't include the Monkey Puzzle tree - if you want to see it let me know)
I don't know how many cm's of snow fell yesterday but it was definitely whiteout conditions driving to attend the shower. Between my neighbour and I, we shovelled the driveway four times and it was still snowing. Being in a semi-arid climate, we shouldn't be getting that much snow. As you can see from the photo above, I have to heave each shovelful of snow high into the air to get it to stay on the huge snow bank, which I have already pushed back many many times.
There was a snowfall advisory issued yesterday and they weren't kidding. Only two more months of snow, then it can start to melt. On a brighter note, our daylight hours are increasing (sunrise now about 9 AM, sunset about 5 PM). That is something everyone notices. AND you can now feel some warmth when the sun shines. Spring is coming!!!
Cody-Anne had her baby shower yesterday - correction, she had her Meet 'n Greet yesterday. Showers involve making silly paper plate hats with all the bows and ribbons and playing silly games. A Meet 'n Greet involved coming to meet the new baby and bringing a gift or not, just enjoy. There was a full age range in attendance, from one month (Ella) to 62 years (or there about). Also in attendance was Cody's step daughter Sam and step son David (who stayed hidden during the affair).
Little Ella slept through the whole affair even though she was passed around to everyone. She awoke at the end, only interested in food, to which Cody obliged, and fell asleep once again.
The proud Grandmother hosted the party and did get to hold her new grandchild, at least for a bit.
Paulette is having her hip replaced in YVR, Nuge is having his fused spine checked out at the same time, so Sue & Iris came north to look after the house, kids, and invalids (when they return). I was lucky to catch a bit of their time and we had a lovely luncheon today at my house. I've known Sue & Iris for over 40 years (!!!) so it was fun to get together and "chew the fat".
