Happy 2014 !!!!!

The view driving back home along Hamilton Boulevard this afternoon.  It is beginning to cloud over again and more snow is predicted.  The east coast has its ice storms, the prairies have -40 to -50 degree temperatures (did Whitehorse make the news that year we had 3 weeks of -50 degrees???  I don't think so!) and we have snow, snow and more snow.  

This is what my street looks like - I'm on the left in case you wish to visit.  Below is my corner.  At least the temperature is not too bad.   Around -20 ... very bearable.

We start of the New Year with a New Moon and a SuperMoon.There will be 5 SuperMoons this year. This one and another on January 3oth,  both New Moons, and the other three will be Full Moons. Here is the scoop on SuperMoons:

The term supermoon didn’t come from astronomy. We used to call them perigee… ‘near Earth.’ An astrologer, Richard Nolle, is credited with coining the term supermoon. He defines them as a new or full moon which occurs with the moon at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth.

It is rare to start the year with a New Moon.  The last time this happened was 19 years ago.  A New Moon is all about new beginnings and fresh starts.  An excellent way to start the year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY FAMILY, FRIENDS AND READERS.  MAY YOUR YEAR BE FILLED WITH HEALTH AND HAPPINESS!

Boxing Day

Joan moved into her new Condo Apartment, hadn't quite settled and invited the "Girls" over for a Boxing Day turkey-and-all-the-fixin's meal.  And it was wonderful, both the meal and the company.  Thanks so much Joan.

A Christmas up-date.  What I left out of my previous posting.  After opening all the gifts, I went home to change and gather stuff, B stayed home to make the turkey and the rest went to play hockey. Unfortunately B's mom will have a Christmas to remember as she fell onto her wrist - and broke it.  A trip to the emergency ward, she returned in a cast and had to change her plans of staying an extra day, had to fly out the next morning to see if she required surgery to have a pin put in her wrist.   We all felt so sorry for her.

Christmas Morning 2013

Christmas at the Rudolph house.  As you can see, the stockings were laid on the floor with care, and it looks like St. Nicolas, in the night, did appear.  Even the animals had their stockings.  That took a while to open (while sipping mimosas).

We were fortunate to have B's parents and sister and their dog and cat join in on the festivities although the cat was quite the novelty for little Timber - the small dog who thinks he is big.

After stockings came breakfast then more gift unwrapping into the early afternoon.  Wow were there a lot of gifts.  

I then went back home to change and grab the cake, B stayed home to ready the turkey for the oven and the rest donned their winter coats and hit the rink.  More to come on that subject later!

December 22

Last night I had a dream that included SR's old soccer coaches - people I have not thought about for a few years now.  They coached him from about age 10 until he went away to university.  This morning, he phones me and asks me if I want to attend a soccer game he - that is SR - is coaching.  And it is taking place in a high school gym - JUST like the old days.  And, as if that is not coincidence enough, who comes into the game and sits beside me but one of his old coaches.  Very interesting.

Above is the coach (in white) rallying his team.  Below, the coach kicking the ball around.

                           

And below, the game is on.  These are mostly university kids that have come home for Xmas and formed teams.  The Red team was playing in the semi finals.  They win and they get into the finals.  The score was 2-2 at half time.  Unfortunately, although they played a hard game, they didn't win.
But I must say it was fun to watch an indoor soccer game once again.

Still Dec. 21st

Another shot of Main Street looking at the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway Station (my old workplace).  Don't know if I mentioned the tree, put there for Christmas, has one light bulb for each resident of Whitehorse.  Wonder which one is mine?

Driving home this afternoon, the sun was brilliant just below the clouds.  There were a few sun dogs but I was unable to photograph them (and drive at the same time).  For those who know, this is Hamilton Blvd heading home from the Canada Games Centre.

Dec 21st

Happy Winter Solstice everyone!!!  It is the shortest day of the year and tomorrow our days get longer - something we northerners look forward to.  I took this photo out my bedroom window at 10:00 AM.
It reminds me of the time I was working at Staff Development on the third floor of the Hougen Centre.  Our view from the south facing window we unimpeded by buildings and gave an expansive view of the sky.  From it we saw the most spectacular sunrises.  We would all gather (and I know you are saying you g*!  d%#* government workers, but it would have been a sin to let such beauty go unnoticed) and gaze in awe at the sunrise.   We see these daily spectacles mostly in December.

Happy Solstice to all.

December 10

Drove downtown around 6PM tonight.  It was FOGGY.  Unless it is -40 with ice fog, we do not get fog in the north.  But apparently not true any more.  It was only about -10 outside and there definitely was a fog right from my house to Main Street.  (See the giant tree at the end of Main Street).

This is how many shoppers are crowding the sidewalk at 6PM.  The reason ?? - most of the shops are closed.

Ended the evening with a Merry glass of wine at  Deb's house.  Her house is looking all Christmassy too. 

Dogs at Christmas

Couldn't resist sharing a bit of Christmas dog humour.

Our Christmas Trees

Went to SR & Brooke's for supper tonight.  They had just cut down their tree yesterday and were busy beavers decorating it today.  I included this photo as I loved the tree topper.  Don't know if you can decipher it, but it is Rudolph and his Lady.  Perfect! And I think they found the perfect tree too.

Took a little doing but did get Lily and Timber in front of the tree.  They are very good at keeping their distance so as not to bother the tree or gifts.

Now in comparison, I have the Grinch Tree.  And after years of having the perfect tree too, I am now very very happy with my wee tree.

Book Club Christmas

Here is our "official" BookClub Christmas photo - beside the Grinch tree.  Too bad we are missing one member, but we were all thinking of her.  Can you find the lucky pickle in this photo?  

We had a shout-out Christmas Quiz, the winners receiving fridge magnets with photos of previous book club meetings.  Here we are looking at all the magnets.

Our gift exchange theme this year was a gift starting with the letter "S".  We had a great variety of S gifts including:  Saskatoon Berry Pie Filling (homemade of course), Soap with a Scarlet Scrungie (sorry Meghan I couldn't remember all the S words you so cleverly put together), a knit Star decoration,  a Salsa dish and Spoon, direct from Mexico and Sunglasses that assist in finding those darned lost golf balls.  Guess who got the sunglasses!  It was great fun.

Cookies

Christmas time again and that means Christmas cookies.  Made these for a BookClub Christmas which I was hosting this year.  I guess our Christmas gatherings are a little later as I didn't have too much time to put into baking, but here are the results so far (and we had a member on her yearly  Vancouver trip whom we missed).

Our Gift Exchange criteria was a gift starting with the letter "S" as in SANTA.  As you can guess, mine was Shortbread.

Holiday Dinner Party

My friend Bev sent this to me and it is so so so true:

Whitehorse Pop Choir

Went to the Whitehorse Pop Choir Rock n Roll Christmas Show and Sing Along tonight.  I knew Brooke and Emily in the Choir.  Although there were only one or two slightly Christmassy songs, they sang a variety of tunes, some I knew and some were new but all were thoroughly enjoyable.  This is a brand new choir assembled from a newbie from Vancouver.  They have only practiced 13 times in total.  You could tell that the performers were truly enjoying themselves and were thrilled to have an audience.  The venue was very small and I was happy that they plan a larger space come spring for their spring concert.

Dancing

During Rendezvous we will be performing prior to the introduction of the famous Gillian Campbell.  They want us to do a waltz to Hank Karr's Yukon Waltz so we are practicing two different waltzes.  The one above is called Husbands and Wives, a dance choreographed to the Brooks and Dunn song of the same name  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIrkJkhg18c .  (I would rather dance to that song to tell you the truth!)  The last dance will be Hello Dolly which will be lots of fun.  The two middle dances will be Country Rock - which I know and quite possible Line Dance - which I really have to practice. 

The Trailer below I made for our instructor Angie.  Hope you like it!

P.S.:  Having trouble with my videos.  If anyone knows why they show on my computer, but not on the iPad (blank space) or iPhone (frozen blurry picture) please let me know.   Thanks!

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Hospital

Just in case you ever come to visit and need the hospital, here is what it looks like.  Apparently we now have an MRI machine.  We fundraised and reached our goal a year ahead of the predicted time so now we have a machine but no room to put it so they now have to build an extension to house this machine.  Wonder when we will be able to use it here, rather than flying out the Vancouver for an MRI??

Well, the Christmas season is once again here and last Friday was the Seniors' Soirée.  It was a lovely evening held in the convention centre, surrounded by the beautifully decorated trees which we could bid on, offered a delicious buffet dinner, had a silent auction and then dancing.  This is the first year I have attended this Soirée and I was amazed that I knew so many people there and they were all, all dressed up - something you don't see very often in Whitehorse.  We bought tickets through our line-dancing group and of course, we line danced the night away.

Music by Hank Karr and the Cannucks.  It was a hoot.  You know, I love those Cannucks.  They apparently started out here at the Whitehorse Inn.  Yes, remember that hotel you old folk???  Where the CIBC stands today and the neon sign now displayed at the McBride Museum.  I have to say we were a hit at dancing.  Even the dancers on the floor were turning their heads to watch us dance.  Soooo much fun, I think I'll do it again next year.  

RADON

A few weeks ago I received my utilities bill from the City.  Along with the bill comes an information sheet.  On this sheet it stated that Yukon Housing will provide free of charge radon testers for your house.  I thought, if it's free, why not.  So off I went to get my house tested for Radon.
Now, I didn't even know ANYTHING about radon - what it was, what its effects were, should there be a concern or not.  I knew nothing.  Thinking I would do this and everything would be fine I took the testers home, set them up, then 10 days later returned them to Yukon Housing.    One was placed in my crawl space, one in my bedroom, two floors up.  The crawlspace tested at 78.8 Bq/m3 and my bedroom was 220.9 Bq/m3.  Hmmmmm.  What does that mean.  Over 200 I was advised to talk to Yukon Housing.  So, before I phoned them I googled RADON.  I learned that exposure to Radon causes LUNG CANCER in 1 in 20 people and if you are a smoker it is 1 in 3 chances of lung cancer. Health Canada says a safe level is 200 Bq/m3.  I was over the limit.  The odd thing is that radon is radiated from the ground and my ground level was minimal while 2 floors up the level was over the limit.  Another concern was that although Health Canada gives safe readings, The World Health Organization and the USA Health Department give safe readings at 100 Bq/m3.  Another Hmmmm.  So now I am doing a 2nd reading on my house.   Above is a map of the Radon Testing results in Yukon - apparently the 2nd highest province/territory of radon.  According to this map, 1/2 of the houses in Whitehorse have radon levels above the safe level with 1/4 above the Unsafest level, i.e. the level that reads, do something or you will die.  While at Yukon Housing I looked at a map of Whitehorse only and saw that there are subdivisions in Whitehorse that are 100% above the 600 mark.  100%!!!  In fact, I was told that some of the readings were at the 3,000 Bq/m3 level-  WOW!!! I asked if realtors show that on housing ads!  Porter Creek, if you know Whitehorse, is 1/4 over the 600 Bq/m3 mark.  Wish I could show you a map of Whitehorse but cannot find one on the website.  So, what do you do?  According to Mike Holmes:

If you have a radon problem, it can cost $1,500 to $3,000 to fix it. You need to call in a contractor who has experience in dealing with radon mitigation. You need someone who is certified in radon mitigation by the National Radon Proficiency Program.

(from what I can gather "mitigation" is the steps you an take to seal you house from radon leaking in)

In Yukon we do not have ANYONE who is certified in random mitigation.  NO ONE.  So if you are above the safe level we are advised to do things that are listed in the CMHC/Health Canada guide but looking at all their arrows as to where this radon may be leaking into our house, if we do anything in any one spot it is all guess work.  We are not experts and mitigation is not only costly but necessary to ensure health (which is priceless).

So, in Yukon we have complimentary testing available, but after that, you are on your own.  Is that right?

I lost my camera.  I had lost it for a good week or so.  I looked upstairs in the office, I looked on the hot water heater, I looked in the woven bread basket that I sometimes put it, I looked on the side table in the living room, I looked ... Then I though, I'm sure it will turn up somewhere at some time.  Went to Earl's the other night and dug through my purse looking for my wallet and guess what I came up with.  So I took a photo of my 2 friends sitting on the other side of the table from me.  Luckily I have friends who don't mind having a camera pointed at them.  Thanks friends!

I took this photo after our first small snowfall.  I was hoping to get there prior to snow cover but oh well, you'll just have to believe me.  For 4, 5, 6, 7 ??? years, there were road markings at this corner.  They were yellow diagonal lines inside a sort of large yellow semi circle directing you to the right hand side of the road.  There was also a sign that said "keep right".  If you obeyed the road lines and the sign, you would land on a sensor that would quite quickly turn the red light to green.  It worked just dandy.  A couple of weeks ago I drove up to the stop lights at I have done for years and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited ....  There was a truck behind me.  Finally the truck appeared on my driver's side (on those yellow warning lines), the driver got out and began to explain how the City had moved the sensors.  He bent down and pointed to the pavement where one could see sections newly paved so I figured something he said was correct.  I think he was going to tell me to drive through the red light but before he could say anymore, a cyclist rode up, pushed the pedestrian button, the light changed to green and I said to the man, thanks for the info but I must go now and away I drove.
A few days later I was driving by this intersection, but on the main road and I watched a car slowly driving a bit forward, a bit backward, then a bit forward then a bit backward, apparently trying to find that da*# sensor.  So, I wasn't the only one having trouble there.  I phoned the City.  My query was passed on and a few days later someone did phone me back.
YES, they did change the position of the sensor in the road.  Did I not notice that the "sign" was gone?  I said I couldn't remember if I did notice the absence of the sign or not, but still I followed the yellow lines on the road.  "Oh", he said, "we hoped that those line would have faded by now".
So, instead of covering over those lines, the city is just HOPING that they will FADE enough so no one will follow them.   The snow if now covering those lines, but regular/occasional users of this road KNOW the lines are there under the snow.  I expect there will continue to be long waits at that intersection.  Whatever happened to "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".  It's not like the City has nothing else to do.

November

The kids are back and I missed them and missed Lily and Timber as well.  Timber, the pup, has grown since I last saw him.  Here he is pictures above with his new hat on.  And like that monkey on that TV commercial, he didn't like the hat, took it off and chewed it.

And this is what I always look like when having to put together an Ikea product.  I try to buy assembled things now as I HATE assembling.  But when you have Ikea pieces spread out on the floor in your living room, you have no choice but to soldier on.  Oh well SR, looks like your half way there.  Just need some shelves and a back now.

Christmas is Coming

November 2nd, Hallowe'en has JUST passed and we are already attending Christmas Bazaars.  Went to two today and although we were not too too impressed, I did end up purchasing an Xmas gift.
Ended our shopping experience with a coffee at Midnight Sun Coffee Roasters for a delicious cup (I had Guatemalan) of Java.

Last Wednesday, as I was getting my coat on and then looking for my keys, I came across my camera,  so I pulled it out and took a quick pic of the Golden Age Society, the place in which we do our Line Dancing every Wednesday afternoon.  In this photo I noticed I caught Freda in the frame - she is on the left hand side walking towards the camera and she is one of our fellow dancers.   Before our dancing had started, we had chatted and I discovered  that she is 90 years old!  Way To Go, Freda!!!!

Happy Hallowe'en Everyone

Luckily we received a Thank You gift in the mail from Little Jenny.  It included a baseball helmet (is that what you call them in baseball??) which is just what Caleb was looking for.  He wanted to dress up as a pitcher for Hallowe'en.  After a quick serving from Second Cup coffee (he chews the coffee  beans) he will be energized for hitting the streets tonight.  Notice the CR on the helmet - it stands for Colorado Rockies .... or does it???

October 23rd First Snow

Snowfall Warning for Yukon and Northern British Columbia

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Active for next 15 hoursLocations: Whitehorse; Teslin; Pelly - ... Show more

Posted 1 hour, 5 minutes ago – Environment Canada

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The seasons first significant snowfall - 5 to 10 cm expected.

This is a warning that significant snowfall is expected or occurring in these regions.

A moist Pacific front will bring the seasons first significant snowfall to Southern and Central Yukon today.
 Snowfall accumulations of 5 to 10 cm is expected from Whitehorse eastwards to Watson Lake.
 Snow is forecast to spread further north later in the day with Pelly - Carmacks and Mayo
receiving 10 cm tonight.

This is what we have received as of 10 AM today.  It is still steadily coming down.  Well, it was expected.  Usually we have had our first skiff (yes Ontarians, skiff) of snow on October 11, so we are well overdue.  Have to have snow for Hallowe'en!  Need to put those costumes over snowsuits!

Hard to see how deep it is unless someone walks in the snow, so I did.

Snow:  means Winter is coming (or is here) with all the connotations that involves.  

Snow:  means the nights are brighter with the light (artificial - lamp posts or natural - full moon) reflecting off the snow, the ground is cleaner looking, garbage disappears, no one can sneak around as you always leave a distinct trail and on occasion up north, the snow is wet enough to create a snowman (see Caleb's Friend, February 15, 2013) and always good to create snow angels.  And my snow tires are already on my car, so I am ready to go!

Movie Week

The good movies seemed to have escaped our theatres for months, now all of a sudden, they come in droves.  

So, went to see Blue Jasmine, the movie Woody Allen wrote and directed which received excellent reviews.  Cate Blanchett was excellent, Alec Baldwin was typical Alec Baldwin which was perfect for his role in this movie.  The story of life with and without money and the effect it has on a person.  I thought it was an excellent slice of life movie.

Last night went to see Captain Phillips.  Taken from a real life incident, we all know how this movie turns out (I kind of wished I didn't already know).  Knowing there really are Somali pirates, it was interesting to see how a few poor skinny Somali's can overtake a cargo ship.  I wouldn't want to be a Somali immigrant as this movie does not show a good side of that country's people.  Although the beginning of the film tries to explain the reason they became pirates, it is still difficult to understand the callous mentality of the irrational machine gun toting pirates.  I enjoyed the film and Tom Hands played the part well, especially in the end when he was in shock.  One word for the movie - INTENSE.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Sunday dinner at Deb's house.  Rack of Lamb ... mmmmmmmm.  This Thanksgiving weekend it was a treat to have a lamb meal rather than the traditional turkey, especially good since the next evening I was invited out for a turkey dinner!  And good to celebrate with Joan too.  I haven't spent much time with her since her summer trip across Canada.  This evening she brought her brand new iPad Mini, so Deb and I were trying to help set it up as well as give a few instructions.  (Now we both want a Mini!!!!!!!)

And, as it is still nice weather, and I mean NICE weather (I don't ever remember it being this warm mid-October), Lily (whom I was dog-sitting) walked over for dinner and walked back.  A little exercise is always good.  

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

                           

October 8

Another grey day today sprinkled with drizzle.  We have had grey skies for a month now, but when I went outside, the autumn leaves that blew to the ground brightened my yard.  I know I still have to rake them up but for now they paint such a cheery picture, I think I will leave them there for a while.

Gravity

How could I NOT see the most talked about, highest grossing film of the century that took over 4 years in the making.  Alfonso Cuarón, the director invented a new way to light, shoot and direct this script co-written with his son.  The story is simple, the special effects are spectacular.  They apparently put all their money into the special effects, necessitating saving money on the actors, as there are only two (and a few dead ones that could be dummies for all I know) and of the 2, one was in it only half the time.  George Clooney is a very likeable character and Sandra Bullock (who was at least fifth in line to star in this role, behind Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson) slipped out of her comedic character to become a doctor struggling for survival.  It was pure entertainment.  I didn't walk out of the theatre mulling over any deep thoughts or philosophies (except to reiterate the fact that I do not want to go into space - sorry Richard Branson, you won't get my $200,000).  I was just entertained, especially visually.  What I liked most was the fact that she had trouble adjusting to gravity, just like Chris Hadfield was saying when he re-entered earth.  Apparently they did have astronauts advising on this film although from many many reports it is not totally accurate, but for me and you is it more than real.  One suggestion, see it on the biggest screen you can (Imax in your area??).  I could see myself enjoying it more if I didn't see it in our little theatre with the small screen, broken seats and my feet stuck to the sticky floor.
I give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Many Happy Returns

It's that time of year again.  The air is crisp, the leaves on the trees have turned gold and crimson, it is almost time to once again give thanks (believe that is next week) and SR is one year older.  Had his birthday dinner a week early as he may be out of town and Brooke definitely will be out of town.  And as I am wheat free and did want to eat some of his cake, it was Pavlova this year.
P.S.  He is older than 6 years old  (or like my family says,  5 years old + one for good luck)

October

Dog sitting again, this time overnight.  Didn't know what to expect with the little one, but for a baby he was as good as gold.  No accidents in the house, sleeps through the night and comes when called.  What more could I expect.  Of course, Lily was just perfect as usual.

Drove to the liquor warehouse to pick up my order and what do I see heading in my direction?  Look by the black car - a gorgeous looking fox.  I don't know how he has such a nice coat so early in the season ... perhaps it is a warning of a cold winter - but I hope not.