Yukai Kanada Dei

Load of wash - Check
Vacuum Floors - Check
Let dogs out - Check
Got dressed - Check
....and all this before 9:30. I have way to much free time on my hands. I would prefer to be sleeping at this very moment but my puppy is a sadistic demon with cute fuzzy ears.

Today is Canada Day. I don't believe Kugaaruk is hosting fireworks that I've grown accustomed too over the last decade although if the talent is any good, I may tune in to the Canada Day festivities on television. At least then I get the fireworks without the bug bites. I wholeheartedly admit I'm not the most patriotic person in this great country of ours but I do know my Canadian History, the National Anthem and I never get the "Who is your Prime Minister" wrong and today I will dig through my clothes and attempt to wear something red even if it is my socks.

I'm very excited to note that my most favorite person in the whole world is back tomorrow (He went shopping for me at LUSH!!). To quote him, I felt like I was somewhere between "Liberation & Loneliness". I'm intrigued to see what our phone bill will be like considering all the collect calls that were made the last 4 days. However I will not complain - they were totally worth it! Even when I don't understand what he is jabbering about, or when he repeats himself a dozen times and therefore so do I...I love my husband.

We officially have our dog run up for our fur-kids and they have been enjoying it to the degree we were hoping they would be. They have their freedom and enough space to sit back and relax and watch the world go by. Chakotay is our nosy husky so he tends to perch high above on the deck to spy on all the dogs and birds he can see. Sekaya is very much happy just to chill out - dig small little holes and carries out all her toys one by one..which I can only assume is for her enjoyment and comfort.

June 22nd @ 12:42am

What the hell.......SNOW?

Spring Solstice ???

I wish I could say I was extremely busy and overwhelmed and that is why I haven't wrote in the past couple of days, but just the opposite there really hasn't been much to post about.

We are slowly preparing and finalizing our vacation plans. We are still holding out some hope in receiving a seat sale from Kugaaruk to Yellowknife. Did you know that I can book a round trip trip from Halifax, NS to Edinburgh, Scotland including a 4-Star Hotel for what it costs for two round trip tickets from here to Yellowknife. Does anyone find that just very very wrong? Something should be said and done. Now I understanding spending money for our flights in the winter when it is -50/60 and the planes need more fuel to maintain their systems and to keep passengers warm, but it is August.

I promise that I will never complain about airline prices again when I move back down south...

This weekend is Summer Solstice [I think it is my love of Celtic Lore that gives me goosebumps when this day approaches]. However, it is also Aboriginal & Fathers day. A triplex of celebrations. Looks like there is going to be a big roaring BBQ at the RCMP Detachment on Sunday where the feast will include Hot Dogs, Juice and Cookies...Yum..[Aboriginal Day Celebration]. Should be fun to see all the people out having a few dogs. Should also be amusing to see how much hand sanitizer I will go through before the end of the day.

The ice in the bay has finally started melting. It seems in the last week it has only begun. Hughie and I went out for a walk along the rocks on Wednesday evening, neither him or I had any energy to do our usual workout, however climbing in amongst the rocks, moss and slush was a workout enough. It was beautiful and peaceful watching the sun set slightly behind our rock face and the calming singing of our local birds [not to self: must find out the name of the song birds]

I'm not 100% sure how the ice is melting, we have had nothing but chilly weather over the past couple of days. I'm still wearing gloves, toques in the morning and just today I put on a thermal shirt to wear out for a walk... This time last year, while living in Manitoba, sure I was dodging thunderheads and tornadoes but I was still wearing shorts and shirts!

Washing away ...

"Rain Rain Go Away, Come Back Another Day"

Spring has officially taken over Kugaaruk. This last week we had snow, sleet, hail and now rain fall from our over full clouds that are lingering over the town. It is so hard to figure out what to wear when you go outside as you don't know what type of precipitation that is falling. I was looking forward to this weekend, weather pending, that Hughie and I were going to take off for an adventure to the dew line & the bridge to nowhere.
Oh well, we are now enjoying today by curling up under nice warm blankets to ward off the chill of the damp rain and watching Transformers G1 Marathon on Teletoon Retro.
I will get to posting some new spring photo's now that the snow is all but gone. The only place that seems not to be loosing any snow is the hills surrounding our community but hopefully with this rain that will soon be turning the hills from white to brown/black.

Here is to hoping that tomorrow the rain will stop..

The Walk

The warm sun has edged itself into the littlest cracks of Kugaaruk forcing the heat to evaporate all the water, snow and ice. We are starting to see roads, rocks and the odd bit of moss or bunches of grass? or what looks like bushes of hair..

Yesterday, Hughie and I along with our pups of course decided to take a walk to the Bowhead Whale Bone [Jaw] down by the bay. It was a beautiful sunny day and I so enjoy going for walks with just my hoodie. I am looking forward to the day when I don't have to wear my sorels...not so much for the warmth factor anymore but because of sink holes. I hit one last week while walking Chakotay ...not fun and rather a tad bit chilly.

The jaw bone looks huge up close, and I couldn't imagine hunting down that beast and dragging him to shore. Just thinking about him swimming through the ocean with his size astonishes me.



I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I have two pieces of the Bowhead Whale in my house. I still have to take a minute and shake my head from time to time, if you would have told me 5 years ago that I would be living in the Arctic Circle I would have denied it to the core. Now, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

We did see some [alive] local animal life, an Arctic Squirrel [sicsic] ran across our path nearly taking me along for a joy ride when Chakotay saw him scurry up the bank of snow to perch on what we could only imagine was his home. The way he placed himself at the opening of his den I could only wonder maybe he was a she protecting her young. A beautiful creature, however I think the only thing that Chakotay was wondering about was more along the lines of "lunch".





We took our time just walking around with the dogs enjoying what I like to call "family time". Of course, Hughie and I see a lot of each other but even when we are sitting in the same room we are usually doing two different things. We only walked 5/10 minutes from town but you just feel this absolute peace and freedom being away from everything but each other

Spring has Sprung

I think it is pretty safe to say that Spring has sprung a leak here in Kugaaruk. June 1st must be the official spring date in the north. It seems the second the clocked ticked midnight on May 31st the wind and air warmed up considerably. I can just look at my dogs and realize the warmer weather is coming. When I start vacuuming twice a day and finding dog hair where no dog hair should be found...I know spring is coming. I could also just watch the characteristics of my huskies. They become more hyper and crazy just wanting to roll around in the snow and not worry about cold toes and feet.

Here are a few spring-like photo's to help those who keep telling me about flowers, cutting grass and BBQs back home, that while we are not quite at that stage yet we are well on our way.

Vacation rituals

Living in the North, you try to hold on to your Southern roots. You try to do things that you would normally do in the South. Like perk a pot of Caribou and/or Tim Horton's coffee or watch a movie with popcorn and jelly beans. Although, when the night is over you flick on your lights and you are still in the North.
You start counting down the days until your next IPA [vacation] almost immediately after arriving back in the North from your last one. All you speak about in the months ahead are vacation plans, purchases and getting approved. The week before you get less and less sleep and you start finalizing your list of items you are bringing down south with you, and if you forget anything, well you just purchase it when you get to where you are going.

We have had only one vacation since moving North, with our next one in August but I have already developed my top 10 vacation necessities.

My top ten vacation rituals or necessities:
[No particular order]

10. Starbucks - Grande Non-fat Latte or a Hot fresh brewed coffee of any kind.
09. Hair - Foils & Cut
08. Waxing - Eyebrows, Chin & Lip - and legs.
07. Pedicure and/or Manicure
06. Drinking my first "girly" drink and/or bottle of beer - and I'm not fussy.
05. Driving - doesn't matter how fast or to where....just driving
04. Shopping at my favorite stores, without worrying about shipping costs or fees.
03. Darkness - Watching and viewing the Moon & Stars [or in the Fall/Winter: Sun]
02. The unknown avenue - visiting locations that are not familiar to you, and having an adventure within the adventure.
01. Visual - This will not be a repeating ritual however, on this vacation I have made an appointment to get contacts and an updated vision test [It has been 4 years].