Lily has only been gone for a week and I do miss her. Above is her favourite toy with parts nibbled away.

It's getting cold again. Only about -15 but down to -33 with the windchill. Looking out the window, it is deceivingly inviting to play outside, with the blue blue skies and the sun shining on the snow.

Saw The King's Speech last night. That movie just proves you don't need sex or violence to make a great movie. Colin Firth deserves an Academy Award, as does Geoffrey Rush. At the end of the movie half the theatre clapped. I can't remember that happening in a movie theatre!

My Edmonton Realtor friend Lori shared this Youtube with me. It was so cool thought I'd share it with you.(Interested in buying a house in Edmonton? Here's her web site: www.therealtywiz.com) (sorry tried to link the site but had problems in html ... so just visit her site by cutting and pasting).

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We have just been going through a cold snap - again. Near -40 temperatures. However, yesterday they promised warmer weather to come our way, so last night the south wind began to blow and it looked like a blizzard with all that blowing snow. Today, still -25 with a wind chill lowering the temperature even further. Now they say by the weekend we should be at -5 degrees....we'll see!

Dined with Lily's parents tonight. SR is leaving tomorrow to Calgary, then Vancouver, then Argentina ... Brooke leaves on Saturday with Lily. Lily will stay in Vancouver while they travel throughout Argentina for 5 or so weeks for a wee holiday. Good time of year to depart. Even though they currently have house sitters, I will still be the official plant waterer and mail picker upper. I'm sure they will have a wonderful time exploring Argentina.

I will miss the kids, and also little Lily - whom I dog sit on occasion.

Meet Fritz

Fritz arrived in Whitehorse two days ago all the way from Edmonton. He is about 8 weeks old and is Helen's Christmas present. He is a miniature dachshund so we are not certain how large he will grow, but according to his feet, not very large.

For such a wee dog, he is full of vim and vigour and for such short legs he is as fast as a bullet!

Sunday Morning

It was a beautiful crisp winter morning so I walked along the banks of the Yukon River. This is what I saw.

The river is not completely frozen over (hasn't been since they built the dam) so in cold weather the cold air hitting the "warm" water (it's all relative, isn't it?) causes this mystic scenery.


Went to see TRUE GRIT last night. I smell an Oscar for Jeff Bridges! If you get a chance, watch it, even if you are not too keen on westerns.

Happy New Year!!

Watching the cities of Sydney, Moscow, and numerous other cities that display their sky-full of wonderous explosions of colour to mark the beginning of a New Year, I pondered my city and how the New Year is brought in...very quietly. You would think that as we cannot have fireworks in the summer -- the sky does not get dark enough -- that the winter would be the perfect time to set off the fireworks. But for some reason, Whitehorse is reluctant to do that. THEN, for the first time that I can remember, the sky exploded with colour as the clock ticked midnight! What a pleasure it was to step outside and watch the celebration in the night sky.

To all my readers -- HAPPY NEW YEAR -- and may the coming year bring health and happiness to you all.

December 23rd

Lily is flying to Vancouver today for Christmas. Above is her Travel Papers (passport), which will be attached to her kennel while in-flight.
Merry 1st Christmas Lily!

It's Still Not Christmas

In case you missed it (I did - the only night it was cloudy!!!) here is what everyone was talking about - the lunar eclipse, as seen from Toronto. Thanks Jenn for passing this along to me.

My friend passed this clip along to me. It was produced by her friend Dan Sokolowski and I thought I would share it with you. 'Tis the season of the Winter Solstice. Here is how much sun you would see if you lived in Dawson City. http://sokcinema.ca/solstice08a.mov
Thanks for the Iris!

The Nativity

For all you techies out there and people under 30: (sorry but you'll have to remove the Google ad -- "x" on top right hand corner of ad -- when it pops up, as I cannot figure out how to remove it)

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas ... dinner tonight with Cousin Frank, opened early gifts from Brooke (loved your gifts B!!) who will spend Christmas down south. Everything I do these days relates to Christmas. Good thing I stayed in town this year.
Haven't seen Frank and Anne for about a year. He did advise me that a Hungarian friend of his will soon be bringing back Hoorka so will let me know when he cooks it up. Still has the kennel and tourism is booming. All in all, he is the same as I saw him a year ago.

SR & Brooke brought Lily who behaved exemplary as usual. I will miss that little one when she goes south with Brooke.
More visiting this week and before you know it the weekend will be upon us and you know what that means ... so I better be good till them!
Oh, and that lunar eclipse that is so special I won't be able to see again in something like 300 years, I cannot see tonight unless the clouds quickly scoot away. Hope the skies are clear wherever you are.

Happy Christmas

Christmas is fast approaching. Already had my Book Club Christmas and my Golfing Foursome Christmas. The cookies are baked and being gifted to the neighbours tomorrow. The pics are for my bud and one day I hope she can share the cookies with me here in the Yukon! Now that would be a picture worth taking!


This weekend will see a Hungarian meal (Chicken Paprikas) being served to family ... haven't seen cousin Frank for ages so will be fun sitting down and breaking bread with him. Brooke leaves soon for her Xmas with her family, so the gift exchange will take place before she leaves. SR is spending Xmas with me this year - I will look forward to that. And, is my luck changing ???, I won my Christmas turkey -- so so lucky!!

If you've been reading my blog, you would have seen the dump of snow we have already had. Now the thermometer is dipping with a high pressure system descending upon us this week. Temperatures between 20 and 30 below zero. We are so lucky here escaping the snow, snow, snow of parts of Canada and the States, escaping the floods of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Yes, it may get cold, but living in the Yukon, we are not only prepared for that but expect it.
I do wish well to all those experiencing the harsh conditions Mother Nature is throwing their way.

And, just heard this on the radio recently, so here's a heads up for all of you. There will be a lunar eclipse December 21st beginning about 1:30 AM Eastern Time (so I believe that makes it 10:30 PM on December 20th Pacific Time). It is also called the Christmas lunar eclipse. It will be the first total lunar eclipse to occur on the day of the Winter Solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere) since 1638. Worth a look.

And a Happy note to us northerners, December 21st is almost here ... !yeah! ... after the shortest day, longest night (on December 21st, sunrise in Whitehorse is 10:10 AM, sunset is 3:48pm, a total of 5 hours and 38 minutes of daylight), the tides turn and every day will bring more daylight - can't wait.

In case Christmas sneaks up before my next blog, The Best of the Season to all my readers!

The Cone of Shame

Brooke sent me these photos taken last night of poor little Lily. Continue down and watch the movie exerpt which will explain just how she felt.




This excerpt from that fabulous movie UP explains Lily's first experience last night:

Hungarian Dogs

Always said those Hungarians are a talented lot!

Winter

Winter is finally here. In the "olden days" our first skiff of snow appeared around October 11th and by Hallowe'en we were in full blizzard mode and -30 temperatures. Not this year. Last weekend saw our first real bout of snow - it seemed not to stop snowing for days and our snow banks were building higher and higher and higher. Today it stopped and the temperatures dropped. We are lucky in the south of the territory - our "cold" snap stopped at around -20. Not two hours north of us, the temperatures are at the -40 mark. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is that when it is bitterly cold the skies are the most clear shades of blue and the little sun we do receive cloaks the trees in a golden glow. It is beautiful. And we are lucky as well in the fact that we have the clothes to dress warmly. Cold weather comes as no surprise when you live north of 60.


My friend just sent me an article on the weather in England. "Up to 20cm (8in) of fresh snowfall is expected to fall on the east of England on Thursday, with London and the South East also being hit by more blizzards. " Winter won't stop there causing airport closures and chaos on the roads. Ahhh winter!

A New Addition to the Family

SR & Brooke adopted Lily from the Mae Bacher Animal Shelter. She is a lovely 4 month old who was actually born in the shelter.


She won't be a very big dog (look at her paws) but she is a happy addition to the family!

Christmas shopping

My bud sent me this - two different varieties in fact. As Christmas is coming, and shopping is on everyone's mind, wouldn't it be nice to experience an event such as this!

Seems the birds came late this year. On their way south they stop in to my yard to eat the berries of my mountain ash. I had to look up their arrival on a blog from a previous year and they are a bit late, but not by much - about a week and a half.
It never ceases to amaze me when they come. The huge flock blackens the sky as they swoop down on the trees, eat in a frenzy, then all swoop up and away in unison. A few minutes later, back they come...again and again and again. It's fascinating and I do enjoy watching them every year.

I Know Hallowe'en's Over, But ...

Was just on my cousin's blog and saw this photo ... it made me laugh so thought I'd share it with y'all. Here's the caption that went with the photo:
The pumpkins are out ready for Halloween. In the concourse where I work there was a pumpkin carving contest the one pictured here is the one I thought was the best. Boo!!!
Thanks for that one Joe!

Housing

Just in case you were wondering:

The world’s most expensive home is complete. The $1 billion (£630 million), 27 storey tower block in Mumbai is the home of Mukesh Ambani — the richest man in India, fourth richest man in the world –, his wife and their 3 children.

As well as having a health club with a gym and dance studio, at least one swimming pool, a ballroom, guestrooms, 9 elevators, a variety of lounges and a 50-seat cinema, the tower also has 3 helipads on the roof, and a parking garage with capacity for 160 cars in the lower floors.

The family quarters are understandably on the top floors, where they enjoy an incredible view across Mumbai and the Arabian Sea. Experts say there is no other private property of comparable size and prominence in the world.

A taste of the Jersey Boys

Forgot to add this. Enjoy!