They're Home!

The family returned from holidays this weekend.  First, a couple of weeks in Mexico, then a week in Vancouver.  It was a big trip for the little ones and they fared well.  They saw a tiger named Duke(at their hotel in Puerto Vallarta), held a parrot and stroked a crocodile.  What an experience.

Once home, they got into "cooking" once again.  They made me a very hot pot of something that I had to blow and blow to cool off before I could eat it.

Emerson is an expert cooker, using the oven like a pro.

Soon it was bath time.  I put this photo in as I believe I had one of SR in his bath when he was little and I am sure it looked just like Emerson, even with an orange container in his hands.  I will look for it and post if I do find the photo.

New Walk - Hospital (Long Lake) Ridge

Our walk today took us up on the ridge that runs parallel to the Hospital Road.  Above you see the start of the trail (after we ascend from street level) by the old Yukon College (then you look towards downtown).  Not having a trail leader and not having a trail map, we walked along and guessed which trails we should be taking.  I must admit, we did pretty good and made it back along the Broken Truck Trail to our place of descent.

Looking south we see the new FH Collins High School.

Lion

Saw this movie a week ago.  It was featured at the Available Light Film Festival and was shown at the Arts Centre on the biggest screen in the Yukon.  Not only that but the festival purchased a digital projector (instead of spending $7,000/year to rent one) and this was its inaugural night.  A tiny glitch was the projector's sound stopped half way through the film and they had to reboot the projector, therefore we had about a half hour break but so be it.

The movie takes you into the depth of India and follows a five year old boy (who was so cute)  through his life on two continents, into adulthood and his desire to connect with his roots.  The life in India is eye opening.  Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, The Man Who Knew Infinity) plays the adult Saroo or as you discover at the end Saru, and is excellent in his role (although I wished when he was becoming obsessed that he washed his hair a bit more), as was Nicole Kidman.  Although there are some parts that will make you laugh, don't forget to take a kleenex with you for the odd tear you will shed.  This movie was nominated for Best Picture at the Golden Globe Awards, as well as Best Original Score and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Dev Patel) and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Nicole Kidman).  See it if you can.

I give it 5 Stars + one Kleenex

The President

As this blog is kind of my diary and as I am printing this blog in books for generations to come to read, I want to make it clear that I am NOT the type of person who supports a man like the 45th President of the United States, and I cannot understand the minds of the millions of people who did support him to the extent that he rose through the ranks and became the top person in the 2016 elections.  

He is rude, crass, a racist, a liar, a narcissist, an egomaniac, a pompous billionaire who has never participated in politics in his life and now has the ability to push that atomic button should someone make him mad.  And if you do not agree with him he calls you down and calls you names as he has done to the Press, Saturday Night Live (oh yeah, did I mention no sense of humour?), and even his wife Melania's dress designers who refused to design for her.   Someone who puts down Mexicans, Blacks, Latinos, and Muslims to name a few, not counting the press, freedom of speech,  the disabled and smeared a dead soldier's parents and I could go on.  In his inaugural speech he put down all the work of the presidents before him while promising to END welfare and END Isis.  He won the election but lost the popular vote.  

There are a lot of demonstrations taking place this weekend against his presidency and if I was an American, I would be joining them.

Addition to the above - and this is all I am going to say on the subject:

January 21st one day after Trump's Inauguration

:  

"Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Washington on Saturday and at coordinated protests against Trump’s presidency in New York, Chicago, Boston and other U.S. cities and towns, as well as in Paris, Berlin, Ottawa and other international locations. The crowds choked subway trains in Washington, where the transit authority reported more than 1 million riders, eclipsing that of the inauguration."  

This is unprecedented.  And this is how the President responded (via Tweet):

“Watched protests yesterday but was under impression that we just had an election! Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly,”

And his main concern on Saturday was that the press "lied" about the number of people that attended his inauguration.  He even had his press secretary read from a script which mentioned a number of blatant lies regarding attendance at his inauguration, a subject that no one really cared about until he brought it to our attention.  

And so it begins.

Yukon News

Gotta love living here.  Picked up the paper yesterday and the headline story of the day in the whole of the Territory was that a cat was rescued from a tree.  Who said Good News doesn't sell?  

If you're interested, the whole story of this rescue is below.

First Walk of the New Year

I was looking forward to this walk.  It was around the airport - the total walk was just over 8 Kilometres.  It was the views I was interested in.  The fence on the left is barbed as it divides the runways from the public area.  The path was very sketchy.  It wasn't well packed and if you went off of it, the snow was midway to my knees.  Nancy brought her Cairn Terrier, Ginny, who had trouble walking ...  the uneven trail and the deep snow were not conducive for her little legs.

But the views were fabulous!  Above is the wonderful view of the South Access Road and views beyond.  Just a little to the right would be the eagle's new nest.  Next time I walk it I will try to find the access to the view of the nest.

Above is the south end of the the downtown area.  You can see the hospital directly above the road (in green).  As you can see the day was glorious - sunny and quite warm, only about -5 degrees C.

Was a great viewpoint to see the boat.  I think when the snow is gone I will redo this trail and stop at more of the viewpoints.  

Up to 2 degrees C this afternoon. What a difference a few days make.

                                       

View from balcony at 10:27 this morning. 

                                       

Although this thermometer says it is evening, it's really morning. And yes, it is above 0 degrees C!  Yikes. 

First Walk of the New Year

My first walk of the New Year was on the trails in Copper Ridge... finally, walking in my own area.  We walked close to 5 Km.  The sun was shining bright when we began at 2 PM but quickly began to set behind the mountains and our sunglasses were more of a detriment than a help.

Although the trails were extremely wide, most of the walk was well treed.  There was a portion in which we could look about 180 degrees to view the vast scenery ... mountains, valleys and lakes.  And there were others using the trail - ski-doers, kick sleds, fat tire biker and a walker with a dog.

I asked Debbie to get into the photo which I would send to her Mom, but when home found I didn't have Mom's address, so I hope you are keeping up with my blog Mrs. M.  Although difficult to see details, above is your daughter!!  Maybe next time we will walk while the sun is still fully up and you will be able to see who is in the photograph.

New Year's Eve

This is who I spent New Year's Eve with this year.  This was their FIRST sleep-over in a bed that is NOT a crib.  First, we had dinner in the living room, and second, they had dinner watching TV.  That is something they NEVER do at home.  

And not only watch TV, but watch their favourite TV program, Paw Patrol.  That was pretty neat for them.  Even though I had a barricade in front of the TV, when I wasn't looking, Emerson did get the small glass birds I had sitting on the TV table (that I got in Venice, and did I say they were glass ... ??) and he was playing with them in the Fisher Price Farm Barn.  So I pulled them out of the barn and put them safely in a higher spot and reminded them they were not to go closer to the TV than the boxes.  That done, it was bath and bed time.  I had wings for one of the twin beds and I pushed the other against the wall and pillowed the edge.  It took about 20 minutes, but they settled and slept till 8 in the morning. And I was able to sip my Champagne to quietly bring in the New Year.

Happy New Year to all my readers.  May 2017 be all that you can wish it to be.

Just before Xmas

OK, this is the best I can do with a selfie.  I need another six inches at least on the end of my arm (or perhaps a stick, but I don't often take selfies, so guess I don't need one of those).  This was just before Christmas, me and the kids having fun.

December 28

Ahhh, finally had time to enjoy the great outdoors.  Took our poles and hiking boots to the Gunnar Nilsson Research Forest.  It was about -15, partially overcast, but all in all, was a nice, much needed walk outside.  

CHRISTMAS DAY, HOHOHO

First the stockings were opened.  Alanna was wowed by her sparkling pink shoes and Emerson loved the giant teddy bear, as well as all the other great things Santa stuffed in their stocking.  Lily (the dog) was pooped after that and had to rest with SR on the couch.

But Santa didn't forget Lily and Radar who both had stocking too.

Brooke started the stuffing and SR got busy preparing the turkey.  

Love this photo.  The kids had apples at lunch and this is how they eat them.  I had forgotten, so it warmed my heart to see their tiny bites.

I had forgotten to take a photo of our Christmas table.  The kids had eaten and left by the time I remembered we needed a dinner picture and Brooke kindly offered to take the photo.  Was great to have the company of Jean and Marie for our Christmas dinner.  And the dinner was spectacular ... great turkey/stuffing and great variety of tasty vegetables.

Meanwhile, around the corner, the kids open their Bandaids that Santa had given them and were sticking them all over their body (including hair) and floor, but they were HAPPY!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT (AND YEAR TO COME)!

Christmas Eve

Ahh Christmas Eve.  Went to Emerson and  Alanna's house and spent the night there.  They were both pretty pumped about Christmas.  They are now 2-1/2 years old.

That evening saw time spent making gingerbread houses.  I have never made them so was fun to see  and a fun experience for the young-uns.  They have never really eaten candy before other than a few Smarties.

Emerson especially had trouble putting the candies on the house rather than his mouth.  Even in the photo above he is trying to sneak one of Alanna's candies when he thinks no one is watching.

The evening comes and it is time to put out treats for Santa.  Alanna made a blue plate for Santa and a pink plate for Mrs. Clause too.  She then takes it in the living room and sets it on a small table.  Emerson adds two beer (their choice) for Santa to drink, as well as Reindeer food, thanks to Lara.  

They then write their last letter to Santa, put it on the table and go to bed and await Santa's arrival ... "while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads".  

It's that time of year

The Christmas parties have begun and SR and Brooke have decked themselves out in the Christmas spirit.  Above, SR sports his new Xmas suit complete with red pants and a coat of Trees and Reindeer as Lily looks on in wonder.  Brooke's dress, which unfortunately I didn't take a picture of, matches SR's coat.  But there is still time.  I am hoping she wears it for Christmas dinner.  The kids are getting excited too of course.  It IS beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Friday

See, all that complaining paid off.  It is a balmy -23°C right now, so we ARE on this predicted warming trend, although originally that -8 was suppose to be on Saturday.  It keeps being pushed farther and farther away.

There was a time when we would see -42°C for two weeks at a time and I will never forget the two weeks of -50°C we once had.  Global warming has made us all a little less strong and a lot more wimpy.

Still Cold

Yesterday, when the cold was suppose to break, it was -32°C.  I had very little food in the house.  Was waiting for it to warm up before I went to the grocery store, but that apparently was not going to happen, so I donned my warmest coat and boots and went downtown.  

It must be Christmas.  The grocery store ran out of two of the ingredients on my list.  So I had to go to another store.  When in the other store, there was a sign on a few of their shelves and on the fridge door that read "due to conditions beyond our control, we apologize for not having all of our usual products"; i.e. no butter, no cream cheese.  I was chatting to the young girl at the check out counter about the high price of food.  She said she was from Iqaluit where a bag of grapes cost $18 and a cucumber costs $8.  I stopped complaining.

 I went back to my car with only one more stop to make and ALL of my doors were frozen shut.  I couldn't get into my car.  I looked in the window at all the food I purchased at the first grocery store and wondered how long it would last before it was all frozen.   I tried and tried my locks and finally was able to unlock the passenger door.  I climbed over to the drivers side and just drove home.

When it is below -31°C my car gives up on registering the temperature.  It just says "---C" which means "you really should be home in front of the fireplace with a hot chocolate and a good book instead of trying to read the outside temperature from inside this truck".

I did brave one more trip out in the late afternoon (but I didn't lock my car) and whom should I see but Garbage Truck Santa.  I guess as he is from the North Pole, -30+ weather will not keep him inside and it doesn't.  He was HO HO HO'ing at the foot of Main Street.

Enough Already

We are now getting into week 2 of cold cold weather.  It is dropping to the -40s with the wind chill so outdoor activity is on a must do basis.   This weekend is suppose to warm up ad I do hope it will.  Oh and by the way, they are now calling ice fog, ice crystals.

Went out yesterday and took this snap of my street with a raven sitting on the lamp post.

Santa's in Town!!!!!!!

And Christmas creeps ever closer.  Santa Clause came to town today.  He arrived in the Santa Clause parade down Main Street.  

And guess who I met there??  Pink Ning; aka Alanna, all dressed in pink with her favourite:  Dadda.

We moved across the street to get a better view.

We saw a Fire Engine with lights flashing and siren screaming preceded by the Fire Dog who Alanna thought was Paw Patrol's Marshall.  

Santa came at the end of the parade. He climbed off his float and mingled in the crowd.   The kids were so excited.

Alanna got close enough to see him, but not close enough to talk to him.  She may still have an opportunity yet before Christmas and even if she doesn't talk to him, he is magic and knows what she wants for Christmas.