A visit to the land

Hello Everyone,
After all the sickness of late we finally got to head out on the land to practice a little shooting. It was windy and cold ut we made due. Melissa did Ok with one little problem but such will happen when your unfamiliar with what your doing. My skills came back pretty quick and I think Melissa was a little surprised, We did use up all the ammo we had left which meant I had to go to the Co-op to get more as our store is out until Sealift. Fun was had by all, as Christopher seemed to have another great day at daycare, he really seems to enjoy socializing with the other children. While there they only communicate in innuktituk so I'm sure he's picking up more than we are. Not much moving on the land or water today that we could find, but its the first time Melissa had a chance to get out for a walk on the land as I usually am only comfortable with her walking alone in town. Soon I guess I'll be coming home finding her, the GPS and the rifle gone as she wanders the tundra in search of food. OK maybe not that far but she admitted today that after the last year she'd be alot more comfortable taking her own fish off the hook now, Its only been 15 years but she's coming along nicely.
Take Care
CG

Sunday Musings

Hello Everyone,
Well another week has come and gone. Other than the wildlife we have already discussed not alot else has happened. Hopefully soon we'll see the Beluga's arrive next week in a seriuos way, hopefully they'll be a little less elusive and camera shy than our current participants. A ship did arrive around midnight on Thursday evening, unfortunately its not our ship but for the local diamond mine, but I did get some interesting shots of it through the fog.

Next week the General Manager for the Arctic is returning from vacation so maybe we'll have news of one type or another... Hopefully but not likely.
Take Care
CG

Week of wildlife

Hello Everyone,
Well we've had some interesting widlife roaming the neighorhood the last couple of days. Yesterday an mother and cub Polar Bear swam out to the island in the bay (about 200 yards from our house) and spent the day wandering the island. Unfortunately they remained on the far side of the island every time I was able to get out so I was unable to get a photo. However this led to some concern as they didn't swin off the island during the day. There was also the corpse of a seal rotting in front of the store on the beach for the last week, and the island is down wind from the island. This lead to the realization that when the bears left the island they might head straight towards the store and come ashore there for a snack. Unfortunately this occured to me as I walked to the store in the middle of the night in the dark to recieve frieght, It would have been a more useful realization while I was still at home so I could have got my gun to take with me to the store. Luckily there was nothing there when I went to the store but in the morning the bears and seal were gone.
Then this morning there were Bow whales in the bay about 500 yards in front of the house. they just circled for hours feeding on plankton in the bay, once again my efforts to photograph these creatures lead to one photo, that resembles waves breaking over a rock in the bay. Oh, well eventually I'll get a photo of a breach if I'm here long enough.
You know its alot easier to photograph wildlife at the zoo.
Take Care
CG

One Year, 1800 miles

Hello Everyone,
Well today marks one year north of 60. We've missed our friends and family, fast food, shopping, medical services, visiting, grass, trees, heat, thunder and lightning, humidity, farmers markets, NTN, liquor stores, camping, daytime, nighttime, milk under $14.00 a gallon and winter under 8 months long.
That being said I think we can also say this is one of the best things we have ever done. We have grown as people, have grown as a family and learned how to live with each other 24/7in close quarters without ever being able to leave (at times). We have learned whats really important and that there is almost nothing you can't survive without, You just have to challenge yourself to make do. We have learned to appreciate small things, to watch the tide come in, to watch the ice roll out, to listen to birds, and to watch and learn from those around us.
We couldn't have done this without the love and support of those down south who keep us upto date and feeling part of the "real world".
Thank you everyone for your suport during the past year,
and for God sake someone send me some liquor!!!!!
Take care of each other and be good.
Cg

Sunday Musings

Hello Everyone,
Well, Things are progressing along here. we are preparing for sealift, so lots of re-aranging of the warehouses. We expect sealift on or around Sept 15. Its a beautiful sunny day with a high of 10 C however with the wind it won't feel like that. Christopher has started to come down with our cold, Around 4 this morning he woke us us because his eye had sealed shut with eye goo and this had caused him great distress, But mommy made it all ok.
Hopefully if we're all feeling well this week, I'll take Melissa out on the land and teach her how to shoot safely, while christopher is in Daycare. Since some have expressed concern over the keeping of a gun in a house with a child, I thought I'd describe some of the measure's we've taken to ensure Christophers safety. First the rifle is kept in a gun cases with 2 combination locks on the outside, If he gets past these he will find the bolt of the gun removed and a lock laced through the chamber stopping the bolt from being reinserted. The gun also has a key controlled trigger lock preventing all access to the trigger. The ammunition for the rifle is kept in another locked box hidden in the laundry room closet, on the top shelf. If some one broke in the house it would take us about 15 minutes to get everything together and unlocked in order to use the rifle. However the rifle is not to protect us from intruders it is to protect us from wildlife concerns.
We can still see snow from our front porch, this is a intentional rub at those of you suffering through unbearable heat down south. It has actually been a very cool summer, on the days when the sun is out , it has been too wind y to really enjoy the sunshine.
Things have been undergoing changes at the store and I'll inform you all of them when I'm able, however I expect our next step in the journey to come in early October
Take Care,
CG
P.S. I'm running out of topics, so feel free to fire some questions at us.
P.P.S. The photo with ice in the bay was taken on July 1st.

Belated Posting

Hello Everyone,
Well its that time of year when sitting at the computer to do this blog is taking a little extra willpower and as of yet I've been losing. The Bay is a hive of activity lately, yesterday the first Beluga whales were spotted in the Bay and later that day there was a Orca hunting in the Bay. I really wish I could post pictures of these events however since you never know where the whale's will surface and they only surface for a instant to take a breath, it's becoming apparent that wildlife photography of underwater animals really sucks. My camera can't focus fast enough before the shot is gone.
Work is progressing along, but we're still uncertain about what the future will hold or when that future will be thrust into the present. Sickness is still wandering around town and has left its effect on our household, we just got over the flu and now we all have colds. I guess we were all a little weak after the relief and more suseptable to what was going around. There was a funeral today for a infant that died yesterday, sad. SID's is susupected but the body is being shipped out to Edmonton today.
The teachers are all back and school started on august 4, Which affected our lives as that was also when Daycare opened and Melissa got to take a well desearved break.
The other day I did a delivery to one of my associates houses and it was quite a experience, The North sufferers from a terrible shortage of public housing. Repulse Bay is one of the worst communities in Nunavut with 5.1 people per single bedroom. This Cabin where my associate and his 6 sisters and mother and father live, is approx 14X12, is located about 3 miles of rocky tundra from town. the "Cabin" plywood building biult ontop of 8 skids has no plumbing, heating, water, electricity or anything else that would make life liveble. His sister have to walk about a hour through difficult terrian to get to school, and to top it off they are in a area frequented by Polar bears.

Anyways I'll see if I can find a couple of photo's to include of the area in which my associate lives,
Take Care,
CG

Christopher's Birthday Cake

Hello Everyone,
As of ten minutes ago...

One Exhausting Month

Hello Everyone,
Sorry for the long delay between Posts however it has been a very long month. Replacing both the local managers has truely wiped me out. I fell to the flu on Friday and only put in a half day at work and Saturday was worse, I only went in to open and close the store. Sunday Dave and Dianne returned and I haven't really been out of bed since, but I'm finaaly starting to feel human again. And as usual I infected my family with the flu but they seem to have recovered alot faster than I was capable of. Here are some photo's Melissa took of the random daly moments in Repulse Bay, Nunavut.