5'4" Club

Everyone in this picture except for Dave at the back and Kayla on the left say they are 5'4" tall. They were all so adamant, that we even brought out the tape measure!
Still warm in Ancaster. Rain, rain, and today some snow sprinkles, but none that stayed on the ground. Will go this week to see a play in Toronto, help Lisa baby-proof her house before she travels to China to pick up little Kate, and view The Big White, so Teri et al can see what the Yukon looks like. I'll try to take some scenery pictures if it stops raining.

Ho Ho Ho Merry Merry

The first pic is wee Will pointing to Mr. Fish the Second, that Santa brought to him. It is a Beta fish, a fish that eats all others so has to be kept in a bowl by itself! Will was so happy.

Next little pic is of part of the Xmas dinner crowd. This one is for SR so he can see what he missed. He phoned tonight from Australia. It was so good to hear from him. As soon as Aunt Teri can find the right cord, another pic will be on this site esp for him.

What's Christmas in Hamilton without a Bulldog's game. Here are some of the people I attended the game with, the Schepens' family and Kristin (who came with a slew of her friends). Everyone was shouting GO BULLDOGS GO, except for wee Will who was shouting GO RIVER RATS GO (the Albany River Rats ---what a name!!! --- were dressed in Red and since Red is his favourite colour...) So the Bulldogs won 2-1. Good game.
Tonight is Christmas eve, and apparently Santa is in Paris at this moment. I did see a report that he ate spaghetti while in Italy, so he should be fuelled up and should make it to Ancaster. According to the same report he has already passed through Australia, so SR should have his stocking full as I write.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

It doesn't matter how many years you live in the north, the Northern Lights are always a thing of wonder. They were brilliant last night dancing through the sky - drifting, fading, floating - in colours of green, pink, purple. They make -15 degrees worth it.

The craft fairs keep coming. As we have had so many to-date, lots of items were "on sale". Unfortunately, I already have all my gifts, but fortunately, being the professional shopper that I am, I still purchased too much. This sale was held at SR's old school, Porter Creek Secondary School. It felt good visiting (I almost lived there for the four years he attended, littled jock that he was). We saw Cody and Peter selling their goods there. Cody sold hand-made purses and Peter his artwork & t-shirts. The sweatshirt he is wearing says "the little injun that could". I thought that was so cute.
The weather has been mild - just below 0. A very nice change of pace. Saw the new (old??) James Bond flic last week "Casino Royale". Didn't quite know what to expect and came away thinking it was the best one I've seen. Everyone who was leaving the theatre was commenting on how much they enjoyed it.
With Xmas approaching, I have a very busy week next week, with dinners, gift exchanges etc. Already opened one gift - from Debbie. It was still in the process of production, so am looking forward to the finished work. Received Mr. Milne's 20 questions last week, so if anyone knows of a famous European building that stored gunpowder during WW2 and could let me know, that would be very helpful.
Watched Manchester United win over Manchester City today 3-1 (word of the day...Darby...two teams from the same city playing against one another). It was an excellent game. Man U now sits on the top with a 9 point lead over Chelsea (who, by the way play tomorrow against Arsenal)...that little bit is for all you soccer fans.
That's about it for now.

Finally it's warming up

Our cold snap is breaking. It is a balmy -21 today and SNOWING! I believe the weather is attempting to cooperate with the 2007 Canada Winter Games being held here in February/March. Spent an hour outside this morning shovelling and it's still coming down. MJT requested a picture of snow (I guess they have forgotten what snow looks like in Ontario where they are still golfing!), so here it is. As you can see if you make a request in the comments section, I try to accommodate.

Monday, November 27th

Sorry MJT, no snow pics. I am going outside as little as possible these days as #1 IT'S COLD OUT THERE!!, yesterday we were the coldest spot on the PLANET apparently. Although it has been colder than it now is (-35C)...when I was young, it was -55C for three weeks! (true)..., I still don't want to romp around outside in this weather. The good news is, it is suppose to warm up to -26 in a day or two, so things are looking up, and #2 I have had the worst cold (and I'm not talking weather now - but cannot get away from that word). I have been flat on my back for 2 days and barely moving since. It keeps hanging on and I feel like a semi ran me over. Luckily there were good soccer games on tv this weekend, so lying on the couch was almost a pleasure. I do have a bit of energy today tho, so hopefully the worst is over and I'll get back to blogging soon..

The Little Hungarian cooks

My Hungarian dinner was eaten (enjoyed??) by all. Made cabbage rolls (comments upon serving were, "oooo are they ever big!") and gulyas in case someone hated cabbage. Needless to say, everyone ate both. Michele brought the dessert, freshly baked from the Christmas bake sale and very tastey. She also brought her pictures from their around-the-world vacation which I threw on my DVD player so we visited many many countries last night. Great spending the evening with them, something we should do more often.
Weather?? Cold, cold, cold, and snowing, snowing, snowing. My arms are getthing a work-out with all the shovelling. I'm staying in and cozy today and making Xmas presents (until the snow stops, then I go out to shovel) and this evening I am going to enjoy Birthday cake with a one-year-old ... (birthday cake is my favourite food).

Here's a couple of pictures of my hard work. This is for Jenn, as she was asking.

Edmonton

10th day in Edmonton, and we're all smiles now. Here is SR sitting at his computer in the newly painted dining room. It was a tough slug getting the painting done in 9 days, but I did almost all of it. Would have liked to stay about 5 more days to wash carpets and do a bit of decorating, but a son can only handle a mother for so long... I feel like I accomplished a lot and am satisfied. On my next visit I will be involved in upgrades only. Entered Edmonton October 27th in their first snow storm. Left Edmonton Nov 6 in their freezing rain storm. I have no luck weather-wise there. Sat on the plane for 1-1/2 hours while they de-iced the plane and de-iced one runway (the 2nd runway was way too icy to even attempt to de-ice) and had lots of turbulance when we finally did get up into the air. Many thanks to Sue who waited patiently at the airport to pick me up very very late on a work night. Arrived home to -23 degree temperatures, but alas my house is still standing and not frozen - and warming up nicely now.

For those of you who do not know James Blunt, there is a link to a song:
click here

James Blunt

Received my Xmas gift from SR tonight. Went to see James Blunt in Edmonton. What a concert he puts on! He did mention that we must all be pretty tired of his CD and are likely using it as a frisbee now. He played a lot of new music, so all you James Blunt fans, there is a new CD in the making. His energy was amazing. In one (new) song, he was playing the guitar so hard the strings were a poppin' off. He jumped off stage and hugged a bunch of people (not me tho - even tho our seats were 2nd row) and often he walked along the stage and made eye contact with individuals - this one did include me and I did get one of those cute smiles from him. As we have all played his album and know all the words to all the songs, he gets the audience singing along with him. And in his last song - You're Beautiful - he had the audience singing the words following, "she could see from my face that I was" and we sang ... "__ __" . Now in my days, when we went to concerts, we all held up lighters. Today (since so few people smoke) they all hold up cell phones! My next concert, I'll have to buy a cell phone I guess. These pictures are courtesy of SR. I asked him to take pictures and he did a great job throughout the concert while I clapped and sang and swayed beside him.. If you ever get to see James Blunt - GO ... you'll be happy you did!

Finally, made it to Edmonton. Arrived last night at 7:30 PM and already have one bathroom ready to put on the second coat tomorrow morning while SR gets our coffee and muffins. There is a lot more work than I expected - surprise, surprise, considering 2 university students living here. I'll be ready for a rest on my return home!
The picture is of SR's Hallowe'en costume. Yes, he's the chair. He went to a party last night of 3,000 people including the Trailer Park Boys. He was mad that he couldn't register his costume as he thought he DID have the best. He said people kept sitting on him and he couldn't move... the prize was $3,000.00 + a Harley Davidson. Oh, well...
And as usual, when I visit Edmonton in November - it SNOWS! Of course, I don't have winter clothes with me - I went south, I didn't expect to wear winter clothes! Well, I'd better get back to work, or I'll never finish.

No new pictures so I pulled up this one taken a few years ago at my old house. Gramma (next door neighbour) loves Ladies Slippers, so I took a bunch of pictures for her. The photo is just so you won't get bored while I talk....Well, I last reported that the snow was here to stay. WRONG!! A strong south wind blew all weekend and now there is no snow to be seen. A bit of frost this morning, but no snow. Spoke with my friend Debbie last night who told me that her sister browses my blog once in a while. That tidbit of information came after I said that I should stop my blog as I think my ramblings just go into cyberspace. Few people comment, except for MJT, and I could write her a letter just as easily. So, thanks to all of you that do read.
This weekend I organized my office closet and came across my old (and I mean old) personal box which I immediately opened and started picking through. I spent hours reading the old letters I had received and one person in particular caught me attention as I had been thinking of him within the last month, which is strange because I go for years without thinking of him. That person is Hans Wallner (Gigi) the artist I roomed with while I was working in London England back in the very early '70's. I tried googling his name and cannot find anything about him. He is a painter, photographer, gold and silver smith, and surely some of his work must be around somewhere as that is how he made his living. So, if Hans if reading this (very little hope of that!) or if anyone has come across any of his work please let me know. He must be 65 years old now, originally from Graz, Austria, lived in England for many many years and could be anywhere in the world (or god forbid - other world) by now.
My next blog will be from Edmonton. Yes, finally I am going! - I leave on Friday and will be there for about 10 days - working hard painting and repairing a condo - something I am actually looking forward to. AND seeing JAMES BLUNT, my Christmas present from my son who knows how to pick the perfect gift for me. So, I'll talk to you then....

Adjacent to Yukon College is the new Athlete's Village for the 2007 Canada Winter Games. This building will be used for college residents when the games are over and the basement will be used for Yukon College. The remainder of the village will be used for low-cost housing.

Met my friend Carmen today for lunch at Yukon College - my old haunt in the early '90's. I still marvel at the artwork displayed in the halls. Notice the snow stayed so winter is officially here. It was about 4 degrees today but felt much colder than that. And it is currently snowing, so I'll have more shovelling to do soon. In case you care, the Yukon Party (Conservatives) are still in power after the elections. And I just heard today that your Aeroplan point system is changing. If you do not use your points within a one year period, they will remove them and make you buy them back for $30 (???) plus a cent a point. And, if I heard correctly, it will be discontinued in 7 years. So, all you people that have points, now is a good time to come up for a visit!

October 13, 2006

Twice this week I said that the greenhouse effect has changed our climate here in the north. In the past, on SR's birthday (October 11) - which was a Wednesday this year - there has been a skiff of snow that has stayed. This year, Wednesday passed, Thursday passed, and on Friday, I was outside raking leaves and taking pictures of the wonderful fall colours. Yes, it was a bit nippy, just below zero, but that is expected at this time of year. Today is Saturday and guess what I am doing ??? Shovelling snow ! Just when I think I have that theory figured out ...

Rolling Stones

For all you old Stones fans, my niece stood outside the stadium in Regina while they were playing. As they have huge screens all around, she was able to see as well as hear. For an "I hate concerts" type of person, she was totally amazed at the show and all a-buzz the next day talking about it! SR will be flying to Vancouver to see their show Nov 3rd ... the day AFTER WE see James Blunt in Edmonton. Ahhh, the tough life of a university student.

Keeping on the theme of my Thanksgiving dinner, here is the front yard of Frank's house - and this is just a portion of the dogs he has. The kennel is his business and once again, next year he will run in the Yukon Quest. He was thinking of politics, but that has now been put on hold. And speaking of politics, the Yukon is having a Territorial Election tomorrow - the day after Thanksgiving. Not such great timing as a good portion of the population is in the wilderness hunting, there are city elections going on, school board elections just happened and the leader of the NDP party was in Vancouver being treated for leukemia when our premier called the election. Need I say more?

Been a while since I've blogged, but...I've been WORKING!!!! Yes, a two week stint in the Department of Justice. It actually was interesting. I worked along side the coroner and the assistant deputy minister. Good to learn a bit and make money doing it. In a little over two weeks I'll be going down to Edmonton to paint the condo, and there is much to do here before then. Purchased a new DVD recorder, so am learning how to put all those VHS home movies onto DVD. And of course it is autumn and the leaves are falling and need to be raked up. The weather has been great - lots of bright sunny (but cool) days and the colours and smells are wonderful. Was invited to Thanksgiving Dinner at cousin Frank's house. His mum (Aunt Peggy) was there as well so had a very good visit. This is a picture of Frank & Anne's house, located along side the Takhini River, about 5 kms north of the Mayo Road off the Alaska Highway (for those of you who can picture those directions). As Thanksgiving came to me as a surprise, I was delighted to sit down to a full turkey dinner and delighted to bring home some turkey for those great day-after sandwiches.

This blog is for my good bud. I have been promising to send these pictures (and more) for a long time. Well, this is a start. From the good 'ol days, friends to remember, good times to relive. Enjoy!

Just had dinner tonight with a friend who does contract work in the north. She lives in Ontario. Everytime she's in the north, she takes a trip. This year, she and her husband drove the Dempster Highway to Inuvik. This is a picture Peter snapped along the way. They said the grizzly was calmly feeding and would occasionaly look up then resume feeding. This was one of the many bears they saw on their trip. Thought the picture was spectacular and Lynn was kind enough to allow me to share it with you.

These foxes became so friendly, that one could feed them by hand. Here is SR feeding Foxie a carrot, which she took, then spit out. Guess she's not a vegetarian.  

SR is now home from the mining camp. He told the story of two foxes, Laddie & Foxie, that were frequent visitors to the camp. 

Who let THIS dog out? Who?Who?Who?Who? Here is the culprit. I now have to find out where he lives - unforturnately, he looks like every other dog in the north. 

Who let the dog out??? who-who-who-who???It all started at 12:24 AM. I heard noises coming from the garden below my bedroom. I knew who it would be. This skittish husky has been visiting the hole he dug to get under my deck since my arrival a year ago. I thought I'd be smart this time and put the hose trolley over the hole - I ran downstairs with the camera and flashed some pictures of him trying to enlarge the hole under the trolley. I scared him away. 1:30 AM, the noise starts up again and again I run downstairs and again he is scared away. 2:30 AM, 3:30 AM the same thing. 4:30 AM I am finally asleep and he comes again. This time, I don't get up, but listen - he barks in frustration. I let him bark. 8:30 AM he barks and wakes me. I grab the camera, go downstairs (finally I can take a picture of him in the light) and find NO DOG, but a NEW hole dug beside the hose trolley! Why is it so important that he must get under my deck?? What is under there?? I may never know. 

Here they are together at the worksite. Last time they saw each other, SR was 7 years old. 

SR is working at a gold mine just south of Dawson City this summer. Bill & Janet dropped by for a visit and tour of the mine. Here is a picture of Bill & SR in front of a piece of equipment. Note the beautiful sky. The weather is always good in Dawson in the summer. 

Just in case you were wondering what the weather was like, here is a picture of Harpers entourage arriving at the centre. Our skies have looked like that FOR A MONTH now!

Another visitor from the south. Today Harper is in town. Here he is pictured with our Premier (Fentie). He just met with First Nations people and is now touring the new Canada Games Centre (remember??, the Canada Winter Games are in Whitehorse in '07). I heard he was going to be there, so grabbed my coat (yes coat - in August) and camera and waited to click some pics. There were a handful of people milling around the door, a handful of media waiting and two RCMP cruisers. He didn't drop by my house for tea though.

In case you're driving through Terrace, here is the Penner's bed & breakfast. By the way, the largest recorded salmon was caught in the river behind their house (for all you fisher-persons). 

I've been on summer holidays, or should I say autumn holidays. The weather here has been cold (a high of 9 degrees C at mid-day) and overcast and often rainy. Good curl-up-with-a-book-in-front-of-the-fireplace weather. This morning I received a phone call from Bill Penner. Bill stayed at our house in the late -80's, early '90's. He was a welder and we had many a good chat over dinner and/or a beer. He was SR's good buddy (SR never did notice any age difference). Well, I haven't seen or heard from Bill for almost 15 years and here he is this morning. Bill & his wife Janet are taking one last tour of the Yukon, so we met and caught up on all of the news. They still live in Terrace and now have a bed & breakfast (house built by their son Andrew). They are heading up Dawson City way and hopefully will connect with SR at the mine. What a perfect way to start a day! 

When there was still snow on the ground, I went to a party for Asian exchange students - one being Ikuyo. I have just received a Thank You card from Ikuyo as well as this photo to remind me of the fun we had that night. 

My next door neighbour is an ornitholigist and bands birds in his backyard. I went out the other day and with all of his feeders full, it was like the movie The Birds, only these were small brown birds, not big black ones (and they didn't attack me or pluck out my eyes or kill me). It's quite entertaining living next door to him. The only downfall is that the feeders attract squirrels and I won't tell you what I used to do to squirrels. Anyway, summer continues. We have had thunder this week and apparently quite a few lightning strikes setting off a multitude of forest fires, luckily none too close to home. The fireweed is now beginning to bloom. It flourishes in my rock garden. My hand is healing. I did stop into the sugeon's office to have them check a small white bump in the middle of my incision. The dissolving stitch he put inside my hand didn't dissolve, so I had to have my hand frozen again and he slit my nicely healing hand to pluck out the stitch. That hurt more than the entire operation. So once again, I am bandaged, but on the mend. I am hoping I can at least get one game of golf in before the season ends! My niece had her birthday on the 13th...Happy Birthday Jennifer! And I received my birthday gifts from my sisters (my birthday is in April)...two wonderful books, Bella Tuscany and The Greek for Love. Reading them takes me back to my last trip...ahh, Greece and Italy. That's about it for now. Ciao!