The Good

Lots and Lots and Lots of and exciting things have been happening. I have twice been off hunting chickens (Grouse) and on both occasions I have been successful. At first you do or at least I did feel sad about killing a living creature, but if you eat meat then you have to accept where it comes from, and I can certainly say that these fellas had a much better life than any battery hen, or even farmed free range chicks out there. It would also seem that these chickens almost want to be shot, coming out on to the road and just sitting there if you miss, even if they do fly off into the bush, you only have to walk a few metres before you see them sitting there waiting on a branch. Once shot we usually thank the creator and clean them up in the trees discarding what we don’t eat for the scavengers. Last week we took a road trip with some friends to Fort St John some 600km away. It was a really good weekend, we shopped, went bowling (some crazy 5 pin bowling) and went out for Steak oh and Dairy Queen as well. We have also had Halloween which was pretty crazy I think we had nearly 50 kids come to our door, compared to England where nothing really happens anymore it was a lot of fun. Catherine has started knitting and beading and I have started to work 1 day a week at the Preschool. We have also rung the changes to the breakfast programme so that it actually happens before school rather than me having to interrupt the lessons to deliver muffins and oatmeal.

We have loads to look forward to in the coming weeks, especially our winter holiday where we are hoping to go to Edmonton for a few days before greyhounding it over to Langham for a family Christmas.

As for the weather we are yet to have a really big snowfall although the ground has been white since the end of October. The temperature is fluctuating wildly it is usually around -2 to -6 degrees C during the day but Thursday was -13 today (Saturday) was only -2 and by Wednesday it could be -25 or colder. One thing we did notice today was that the Liard river is now nearly completely iced over, on Thursday it was water and floating Ice but today there was barely any water to be seen and only the strange creaking sounds belied the moving water beneath.

Eveything else is going to plan, we have a busy week this week as it is national addictions week. We had a Sober walk yesterday and another today, and have activities on healthy eating and fitness. We still have no TV but have borrowed the Box set of Lost, HMMM Not convinced by it so far.

The Bad

Virtually all of our experiences here have been very positive and I will always think of these far more than any negatives that occur, but there are many difficulties in the area and mostly these are alcohol related. I have no intention of dwelling on these issues as this is a happy blog. Also despite the freezing temperatures there is no bloody snow accept the centimetre or so that has been on the ground since October.

and The Fort Liard

A little bit about the place, Fort Liard is positioned on the confluence of two rivers The Liard and the smaller Petiot River and has a population of just over 500. It was original settled as a trading post for fur traders. A small community grew up around the Catholic Church, but it has only been in the last 40 years that the Hamlet has taken its current form, as First nations began to settle more permanently into the hamlet. Most of the local people refer to Fort Liard as being in the tropical part of the Northwest Territories and generally receives warmer conditions than many other locations.  Still going to be -26 next week though!

Fort Laird is a mere 40km from the British Colombia boarder and the nearest large settlement Fort Nelson (pop5000ish) is 220km away and on the Alaskan Highway, this is where we do our food shopping when we get the chance of a lift. Going in the opposite direction is Fort Simpson (pop1000ish) which is around 31/2 hours away. Not sure that you can drive there at the moment as it requires crossing a river or maybe two and I think that the rivers are two icy for the boats but not icy enough to drive over.  The capital of the NT is Yellowknife which is around 8 hours away, and Edmonton I think is around 1500km.

In the Hamlet there are two shops (Northern and the general), a gas station, small motel, native craft shop and a takeaway burger Van. The Hamlet also has a recreational centre that has a large hall which is used for a youth centre most days and for most community events, it also has a swimming pool in the summer and a hockey rink in the winter. There is a school of around 100+ students and a pre-school, at the school there is also a large Gym where I run some of my evening activities such as Archery, Girls Soccer and Badminton. 

My First hunting trip