Been Snowing lots the last couple of days and must be still around -30 today as i think i froze my nose whilst on my bike.
Still having lots of fun, Cath has been out on a skidoo and has even started snowboarding we are also off to PowderKing on Wednesday taking some students off for some wintersports. I had a great time in Yellowknife ice fishing on the great Slave lake was a big highlight plus I got to meet some students from really far off places in the Yukon and Nunavat there was one student who lives on an island in the Hudson Bay and had never left it before, watching her walk around a WalMart was pretty interesting. Another student gave me a Bear Claw necklace that a family friend had killed long ago something I will treasure for a long time. Strange to think that in only 3 months we will be heading back to the UK. We have had a great time here and made loads of good friends (poker tonight) but we are starting to make plans for our return, still feels a little while away but with have lots on and I think when the snow finally goes (April time) we will know that we don't have long left.
Saturday 12 March 2011
Saturday 19 February 2011
Winter Sports
The winter has opened up some great opportunities for Jamie and I to try out some winter sports. I hve been helping out with the snowshoe biathlon club and the xcountry skiing club. Today I had a great time skiing out to the cabin pictured above with a group of 10 kids and a number of adults, quite a few dogs came too. we all had a wonderful time and enjoyed some lovely home baked snacks and hot drinks when we arrived at the cabin. Today I even managed to ski down all the hills on the way to and from the cabin without falling and actually felt in control. Am starting to wonder how I can continue to do this sport when I return to the UK, maybe the GB xcountry ski team is calling!
Winter Projects
My job has been very varied over the last couple of months, I have been working on some science projects with the grade 8 class where we have done all sorts like baking bread, chromatography, microscope work. I have also taken on a new chemistry 11 class which has been good for keeping me up to speed in chemistry calculations, I have also learnt a lot from the different approaches used in the Canadian textbooks.
Monday 7 February 2011
Survivng the Winter
Well it has been a very long time since we have updated this blog and for those who care I do apologise for that.
So where to begin, well first up Cath and I had a great time over Christmas and really enjoyed spending some quality time with my Cousin and her family, since we have got back there has been so much that we have been getting up to.
Catherine has been busy making a pair of Moosehide Mocasians with Beaver fur trim, I think she has really enjoyed making them and has been working with one of the Elders who has been helping her with the more difficuly parts (probably most of it). Catherine has been off to Fort Simpson for a fiddling camp (that's the musical instrument obviously) and has relly got into Cross country skiing nd bit of Biathlon as well. As for me I have been keeping as busy as I can with a dodgy back, that's right all the problems with ny groin and it turns out I had never pulled or torn it, in fact I have a slipped disc in my back which is a bit of a bitch really, but now I know I can look after it a lot better, and hipefully get a scan and get it sorted when I get home. I have also been out Ice fishing, it was awesome took the Skidoo out to a lake around 20km away and then sat there looking at a hole for 4 hours in the freezing cold, no fish surprisingly; still the view was amazing, and ripping a snow mobile over a frozen lake at near 100kph was pretty exciting. Getting there was no issue, although on the way back I did have a slight altercation with a tree who in my view swirved dangerous before I hit him.
I have kind of left the kitchen behind and am now mostly working in the new community library, it's going to be great once we have updated it a little (getting rid of the Hanson Biographies and atlas that still have west and east German), I am really enjoying helping sort it out, buying new books, laptops and magazine suncriptions, also electronacally filing all the books and recatagorising the shelfs. It seems like a lot of hard work, but hopefully it will be something that has a lasting impact in the community.
I also have lots of travelling in the coming months off to Yellowknife for a week on Tuesday to take a couple of students to a heritage fare they are taking part in, then we are off Snowboarding at Powderking (near Fort st John) during spring break. Then we might be off to Hay River, Fort Simpson and Grand Praire for some up coming Soccer compitions (not sure how the girls team I am coaching will do but you never know).
As for the winter, well I think we have lots of snow, but everyone is gutted that we have had so little, we have also got through the worst of the weather we have had a few days when the temperature has been below -45 (more like -55 with windchill). The temperature is kind of crazy it was +5 one day and a couple of days later we are back to the -20's.
OK so quite a long update, but now we are house sitting and hve loads of internet time we will try to keep it more updated and put on ll our pictures we have saved up.
Hoping that Dave has not messed up Britain too much for when we get back
So where to begin, well first up Cath and I had a great time over Christmas and really enjoyed spending some quality time with my Cousin and her family, since we have got back there has been so much that we have been getting up to.
Catherine has been busy making a pair of Moosehide Mocasians with Beaver fur trim, I think she has really enjoyed making them and has been working with one of the Elders who has been helping her with the more difficuly parts (probably most of it). Catherine has been off to Fort Simpson for a fiddling camp (that's the musical instrument obviously) and has relly got into Cross country skiing nd bit of Biathlon as well. As for me I have been keeping as busy as I can with a dodgy back, that's right all the problems with ny groin and it turns out I had never pulled or torn it, in fact I have a slipped disc in my back which is a bit of a bitch really, but now I know I can look after it a lot better, and hipefully get a scan and get it sorted when I get home. I have also been out Ice fishing, it was awesome took the Skidoo out to a lake around 20km away and then sat there looking at a hole for 4 hours in the freezing cold, no fish surprisingly; still the view was amazing, and ripping a snow mobile over a frozen lake at near 100kph was pretty exciting. Getting there was no issue, although on the way back I did have a slight altercation with a tree who in my view swirved dangerous before I hit him.
I have kind of left the kitchen behind and am now mostly working in the new community library, it's going to be great once we have updated it a little (getting rid of the Hanson Biographies and atlas that still have west and east German), I am really enjoying helping sort it out, buying new books, laptops and magazine suncriptions, also electronacally filing all the books and recatagorising the shelfs. It seems like a lot of hard work, but hopefully it will be something that has a lasting impact in the community.
I also have lots of travelling in the coming months off to Yellowknife for a week on Tuesday to take a couple of students to a heritage fare they are taking part in, then we are off Snowboarding at Powderking (near Fort st John) during spring break. Then we might be off to Hay River, Fort Simpson and Grand Praire for some up coming Soccer compitions (not sure how the girls team I am coaching will do but you never know).
As for the winter, well I think we have lots of snow, but everyone is gutted that we have had so little, we have also got through the worst of the weather we have had a few days when the temperature has been below -45 (more like -55 with windchill). The temperature is kind of crazy it was +5 one day and a couple of days later we are back to the -20's.
OK so quite a long update, but now we are house sitting and hve loads of internet time we will try to keep it more updated and put on ll our pictures we have saved up.
Hoping that Dave has not messed up Britain too much for when we get back
Friday 24 December 2010
It was ther Night before Christmas
Well just wanted to say Merry Christmas from Canada.
We hope everyone is full of festive cheer, for Cath and I it is awesome to be with family over the Christmas especially with so many little ones. I can't believe that it is christmas eve already and that we have been away for four months. I just hope that Santa finds us in Saskatoon (well Langham)
Anyway enjoy the mince pies and the over indulgence
We hope everyone is full of festive cheer, for Cath and I it is awesome to be with family over the Christmas especially with so many little ones. I can't believe that it is christmas eve already and that we have been away for four months. I just hope that Santa finds us in Saskatoon (well Langham)
Anyway enjoy the mince pies and the over indulgence
Tuesday 21 December 2010
Christmas vacation
Well we have now well and truely left the cosmopolitan hub of FortLiard and have spent the last few days down in Edmonton Via an overnight in Fort St John. Today we are leaving for Saskatoon and a family Christmas which is really exciting.
Edmonton is a really nice place, but we have spent most of our time eating and shopping. If you ever go to Edmonton you have to head for Whyte Ave as it is by far the best place to shop, eat and drink.
Would like to give a big thanks to Colin and Christine for driving us down, and for Tamsyn for having us couchsurf for our entire stay.
Edmonton is a really nice place, but we have spent most of our time eating and shopping. If you ever go to Edmonton you have to head for Whyte Ave as it is by far the best place to shop, eat and drink.
Would like to give a big thanks to Colin and Christine for driving us down, and for Tamsyn for having us couchsurf for our entire stay.
Monday 13 December 2010
A taste of Home
Well It's been a hectic couple of weeks leading up to Christmas but the hols are nearly upon us. We are getting into the Christmas sprite, Cath is playing the Piano for part of the schools Christmas concert, and I am going to be an elf and help Santa as he hands out the presents to the kids. OK so it means I have to wear a silly costume but on the plus side I do get to fly in a helicopter (another first off the list). In a few days time we are off to Saskatoon for a Christmas with my Cousin and her family which is really exciting, we are making a real journey of it with Overnight stays in Fort St John, Fort Nelson and some couch surfing in Edmonton.
Getting really cold now think it was like minus 32 today and is supposed to get a little colder for the weekend (not sure what the exact temperature was as I broke our thermometer last week), we have also had a pretty impressive amount of snow in the last few days, I will do my best to get some photos up in a couple of days or hopefully tomorrow. The really big news and the link to the title is that Cath and I have started our second job of House sitting, we are staying at my bosses house and looking after their 3 dogs for a couple of days, might seem like a bit of a chore but the dogs are awesome the house is amazing and I have just spent the evening watching Manchester United vs Arsenal, followed by Top Gear and the English Premier League review show whilst simultaneous drinking copious amounts of Earl Grey Tea Good old Blighty hey. I wonder if it is too much to hope that the sports channel that showed the above will also be showing the test match, now then I really would be in heaven.
Oh well hope everyone back home is having fun, apologies to my Mother, I will call soon promise!
Not a lot else to say really apart from everything here is really good, the place is awesome and the friends we have made are some of the most fantastic, helpful and generous people I/we have ever meet, so if any of them are reading this Thank you very much.
P.s Most of the people I know back home are pretty cool as well I guess
Keep on keeping on
Getting really cold now think it was like minus 32 today and is supposed to get a little colder for the weekend (not sure what the exact temperature was as I broke our thermometer last week), we have also had a pretty impressive amount of snow in the last few days, I will do my best to get some photos up in a couple of days or hopefully tomorrow. The really big news and the link to the title is that Cath and I have started our second job of House sitting, we are staying at my bosses house and looking after their 3 dogs for a couple of days, might seem like a bit of a chore but the dogs are awesome the house is amazing and I have just spent the evening watching Manchester United vs Arsenal, followed by Top Gear and the English Premier League review show whilst simultaneous drinking copious amounts of Earl Grey Tea Good old Blighty hey. I wonder if it is too much to hope that the sports channel that showed the above will also be showing the test match, now then I really would be in heaven.
Oh well hope everyone back home is having fun, apologies to my Mother, I will call soon promise!
Not a lot else to say really apart from everything here is really good, the place is awesome and the friends we have made are some of the most fantastic, helpful and generous people I/we have ever meet, so if any of them are reading this Thank you very much.
P.s Most of the people I know back home are pretty cool as well I guess
Keep on keeping on
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