Book Club, Saturday February 26, 2005. We can hold a meeting AND babysit our grandkids at the same time. Perhaps they will be future members. 

Sunday, February 27, 2005

I'll start with the Yukon Quest. The race is over! It started Sunday, February 13th and the first musher to cross the line was Lance Mackey of Fairbanks Alaska at 1:12 PM on February 24th. Cousin Frank came in in 7th position (out of the 12 that were left) at 7:00 AM on February 25th. This is the 22nd time he has run the 1000 mile international sled dog race.

The weather is a-warming. Pleasant, just below zero temperatures and should go up to 5 celcius on the PLUS side this week. Yeah. You can feel the sun's warmth now when it appears bringing hope that winter will not last all year.

The post office is charging more and more and offering less and less. Just received a letter in the mail telling me I now have to pick up my parcels at the main postal station between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. I phoned them and told them I could not do that as I worked from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. She took down my concern (including my home phone number) and said someone will call me back. Of course, they will call my home during their working hours, which I already told them are MY working hours and guess what -- no one will be home to take the call! The capital city of the Yukon now has 2 locations to send letters and parcels. Two! Only Two! And have you tried mailing anything bigger than a letter lately? $9.00 minimum. Boy, they burn me. So, that's my gripe for this week.

Went to Book Club on Saturday. Have got a couple books that look interesting to read, Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes (which may make me want to return to Tuscany) and A blade of Grass by Lewis DeSoto.

Am working on a holiday to Greece, but right now Aeroplan has no seats available in September across the ocean, so it looks like I have my work set out, browsing the Aeroplan website constantly to see if anything opens up.

Other than that, just working on income tax.

News from Shaun: Nadda

Soccer news: ManU is now 6 points from Chelsea for first position in the Premiership beating Portsmouth 2-1 on Saturday (2 fabulous goals by Rooney). Arsenal tied Southhampton 1-1 dropping them 4 points behind ManU.
UEFA - Into the final phase. First knockout round, first leg, Milan won over ManU 1-0 on Feb 23rd. Second leg, March 8, 9 & 15th.

And that's about it from the north.

Start of the snow sculptures. This was taken Friday. They are busy building blocks of snow and already the sculptors are at work (in the background). I will take a couple of pics on Monday to show you the results. They are usually spectacular. 

Monday, February 21, 2005

Not much is new. It is still winter. Gas is 94.9 cents a litre in case you were wondering. Sun rise is 8:22 AM, sun set is 6:06 PM. The temperature has been warm, considering the latitude - high -8 celcius, low -15ish celcius. This is Rendezvous week, time to go out and whoop it up. Friday is our territorial holiday (Heritage Day) which I don't mind at all.

SR Update: Received a phone call from him on Saturday. He was at the airport, awaiting Tara's arrival. Then they will be flying down to Panama, meeting up with his dad to hang there a bit, then back to Costa Rica. He will depart from the ship and stay with his friends who are renting a small house there. More friends will come and they will be hiking and swimming under waterfalls. If I missed sending you his picture address on the internet, email me and I will pass it on.

Soccer updates: FA Cup: ManU won over Everton, Arsenal tied with Sheffield United. Saturday will bring us back to the Premiership - ManU plays Portsmouth, Arsenal plays Southampton and Chelsea plays Liverpool on Sunday. Bolton is currently sitting in 7th position.

And that's about it for now folks. See you in a week.

Here a bit bigger pic of the sign. That hasn't changed in 28 years. 

To keep true to my "Commenters" here is the best I could do of the KK considering I'm taking it from the parking lot. The snow banks are too large to pull off the road right now so hope this brings back some fond memories. It is Shaun's hang-out now - like mother, like son. 

Getting ready for Rendezvous. As you can see from this picture, they left the BIG Christmas tree up in front of the old train station and have put the snow sculpture on the road! It apparently won some award - in case you can't tell, it is a mountie holding back a grizzly bear. 

Said I would keep you abreast of the Yukon Quest. I'm not doing a very good job of it. A bunch of teams scratched. There are now 14 in the running. Cousin Frank is in 11th position. This race started on Feb 13th - it is now Feb 21. Frank has left Eagle and is heading toward Circle. Here is a link (or a copy and paste) if you wanted to follow the race a bit closer than the updates I give. 
http://yukonquest.com/servlet/raceresult

As you can see from this picture, I DO take requests. Just "comment" a request - and I'll do my best. MJT wanted to see 407 Alexander Street, where we both lived in 1978. Since we moved out, the place went to the dogs. 

Had my camera with me today, so sat it on my steering wheel and took this picture driving through Porter Creek on the Alaska Highway on the way home. It was around 5:30 PM. Still light!! The days ARE getting longer. 

Who said I don't support local teams??? Go Bulldogs Go. This was at the Hamilton v Edmonton hockey game we went to during Christmas. Hamilton won - yeah!!! Although I kinda wanted Edmonton to win too. That's Kristin smiling beside me. 
Photo courtesy of sister Teri.

February 13, 2005

Just realized tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Happy early Valentine's Day to all of you!
This past week went by quickly. Worked hard, caught a bit of a flu (which made work harder) and now feel fine. Emptied the rec room last night (that pull-out couch was a bugger to move to the garage by myself!)and today will pull base boards and tear up the carpet to get ready for new carpeting downstairs. I've only wanted to replace that for 15 years, so it's about time I moved on it. Then I have to rent a "samari" machine to pull up the rubber backing that's stuck to the floor. Hmmmmmm. And have picked out the upholstery for my recliner. Will order that tomorrow - it takes 2 months to make and deliver. Then I've run out of money so that's it for new household items. Any of you are welcome to come north and see these things first hand!
The Yukon Quest started today - 1,000 miles from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, Alaska. Will keep you all up-to-date on cousin Frank, who is once again running the race.

A Shaun Update: He phoned yesterday. Still doesn't have his website up and running. I am anxiously waiting to see his pictures. The ship is now anchored off of Manuel Antonio National Park. He had just swam from the ship to shore - about 100 yards and he said if it was any farther, he wouldn't have made it! Hope he knows there are sharks and jellyfish around too. Here is a link to a website of the area if you are interested: http://www.manuelantoniopark.com/mapk/english/park.html
Sorry, but I've tried pasting a picture in and it doesn't work, but it looks lovely on the website. Said they will anchor at Quepos, and again, for those interested, a website: http://www.costaricabureau.com/quepos.htm
The ship will be going south to Panama on the 16th and Tara arrives in Costa Rica on the 19th, so SR will stay to wait for Tara, then they will fly down to Panama, around the Panama Canal, stay there for a while then head back north to Costa Rica. She is staying for 10 days, so he is looking forward to that. He didn't make it to the kiteboarding school. The only registered kiteboarding school in Costa Rica never answered his emails, so he doesn't know if they are still in existance or not. He is still looking into that. He sounded healthy (although he did say his stomach was a bit queasy on Saturday) and happy and the temperature is around 30 degrees celcuis ABOVE ZERO, so that sounds way better than minus 30 degrees celcius to me.

Soccer News: Manchester United beat Manchester City today 2-0!!! David James did a super job in goal, as I knew he would, even if he did let in 2 goals - one was an own goal - I felt bad for him about that. Chelsea won their game as well and Arsenal doesn't play until Monday. ManU is now sitting 9 points from Chelsea. Apparently with luck on their part and not so much luck on Chelsea's part, they still have time to climb to top spot.
You were asking about the UEFA Cup, Shaun. Although I'm not really following it as yet, they are playing a round of 32 on Feb 16/17 and 24th, round of 16 on March 10& 17, Quarter finals April 7 & 14, semi finals Apr 28 and May 5 and finally the final May 18.
The FA cup resumes on Feb 19th, (ManU plays Everton).

P.S. Jennifer, you will have a gift in the mail soon.

So, that's my update for this week. Happy trails until I write again.

Another beautiful day. Sun is shining, temperature is about minus 15 celcius. All is peaceful. 

My grouse is hanging around once more. I think his girlfriend left him - once again. The snow is so deep he is flying high up into trees now. I've never seen him do this before. I'm certain he is looking for his drumming log which is currently deeply covered in snow. Once he finds it, the drumming will begin. It sounds like a chain saw starting up and usually goes on all night long. He drums by puffing up his chest and beating his wings against it - kind of like Tarzan. That is his call to attract a girlfriend. He has been around my yard for a couple of years now. Had 2 mates in that time, but alas he is alone again. You can draw your own conclusion as to why. 
I'm sure you know, but if you click on the picture, it will get bigger.

February 7, 2005

The weekend is over and am back at it at work now. Had a surprise call from Cousin Joe at work this morning. He "googled" me and found where I hide out during the day. Good to hear from you Joe!
Also had a call from Kristi, Andrea's daughter. She is living on the sunshine coast in B.C. now (Roberts Creek just north of Gibson's Landing). And she is getting married July 1st. Looks like I'll be making a trip there come summer. Kara is living in Keswick and now has 3 children and looking for a 4th.

Soccer News: Great weekend for soccer. The Red Devils beat Birmingham City 2-0. Roy Keane scored his 50th goal - and a nice one at that. Next match a derby on Sunday - Man U v Man City (although I really like Man City's keeper - David James). The Gunners beat Aston Villa 3-1. Position standings: Chelsea sitting at 65 (tied their last game with Manchester City), then Man U with 56, then Arsenal with 54 points.

What do Canadian's talk about but the weather. It has finally warmed up here. -5 Celcius the last I looked. Helen (Gramma) and I measured the snow on Sunday. Two feet deep. She laughed as I fought my way to the centre of the lawn with the yard stick. I think that's enough, thank you.

Update from Shaun: Nada. No news is good news. Perhaps he's at kiteboarding school. Will post news whenever I hear.

And that's the news from the north for Monday, February 7th.

Here is where I spend 9 hours a day, 9 days every 2 weeks. I think I'd rather be in Costa Rica! 

Enough pictures at home. Here is Main Street taken from my office on the 3rd Floor of the Hougen Building. The web cam is just one floor up if you ever wanted to see how this street is doing minute by minute. Here is the web site: 
http://www.whtvcable.com/webcam/streetcam.htm

And this is the temperature at 3:00 PM....was -35 Celcius this morning! At least the sun is starting to warm up the days, if only a little bit. 

And one more 

More pictures of today 

It may be cold but it sure is beautiful 

February 4, 2005

Finally made it through January - what a long month! The last week at work was the week from h_ _ _ . Exhausting. Temperature has been on the cool side (-20's) with a cold north wind and yes, still more snow. Sunrise at 9:10 AM, sunset at 5:18 PM. Just over 8 hours of daylight now and getting longer every day!

The Yukon Quest (longest international sled dog race in the world)starts from Whitehorse on Sunday, February 13th - and yes, cousin Frank is running once again. Here's a link to the Quest website if you are interested:
http://www.yukonquest.org/servlet/viewnewslist. I'll try to keep you informed on how they are doing. As well (esp for family) here is Frank's kennel's website: http://www.muktuk.com/Home/overview_e.php (looks like you will have to copy and past these addresses as they don't look like links to me).

News from Central America (or should I say the Pacific Ocean, as Shaun was on the ship when I last spoke to him on Thursday night). His 2 friends have now left, but apparently, there are always people on that ship. Currently his Uncle Paul and his wife, along with a handful of other people, are travelling with him north up the coast of Costa Rica. He spent a couple of days on Tortuga Island playing, is golfing, snorkelling, jet skiing and travelling, sometimes on water, sometimes on land. He (& his father) drove across to the Caribbean side visiting a monkey sanctuary and volcano along the way. He is hoping to attend a 3-day kitesurfing school soon. And is hoping to have his website running soon - when he does, I will pass that on to you.

Soccer News: Manchester United BEAT Arsenal 4-2 on Tuesday. Yeah!!! That put them in 2nd place in the standings, Chelsea still in #1 spot with 64 points, #2 ManU with 53 points, #3 Arsenal with 51 points, #4 Everton with 47 points & #5 Liverpool with 40 points. ManU plays Birmingham on Saturday and Arsenal plays Aston Villa. Chelsea plays Manchester City on Sunday. You know who I'm rooting for!
FA Cup 5th Round will be played on Saturday, Febrary 19th.

Bird houses in January