Temp: -23
Windchill: -38
Well, it's Friday night and in 8 days I fly down south, and in 13 days I get a haircut!! Holy cow, I am so looking forward to it. Baker Lake has no hairdresser so literally you don't get a haircut until you fly down south.
Anyway, the Christmas concert at school is coming up and we've been busy getting ready for that. The teacher I work with has been out on medical with her Granny in Winnipeg since Nov 25th and so I've had to take on getting the kids ready by myself for the concert (we have a wonderful sub in for Bertha but she's a mom of a student so we want to keep it a surprise from her). We're doing 'Joy to the World' with hand bells and signing 'Little Toy Train' in ASL. Seven year-old kids with bells and absolutely zilch for self-restraint. Sigh... I should have clued in when Bertha looked at me like I was crazy back when I suggested it. 'How hard can it be?' I said. Now I know. Oh, it's hard all right. I've always thought I had patience but let me tell ya, I'm exhausted after our practises. And, I have a much stronger appreciation for teachers than I ever had before. You all just don't get paid enough.
This weekend, I'm volunteering to take pictures for 'Hockey Night in Baker Lake'. Actually, I kind of was volunteered to do it but it should be fun. Although, four hours at a hockey rink on a Sat night wouldn't likely be my first choice of things to do, I think it'll be hilarious to see all the little ones looking like Bambi on ice as they struggle to remain upright while trying to maneuver a puck around. Too funny.
As for the weather, it's been chilly here and the weather office has teased us a couple times predicting blizzards but they didn't pan out. But, being that it's calling for temperatures of -3 and the like for Mon - Wed, I'm feeling nervous that we are going to have a whopper of a storm just when everyone is trying to get out next weekend. Fingers crossed that I'm wrong.
Oh, something that's new to me and to Baker Lake is Food Mail. It's a program set up in conjunction with Canada Post and the Sobey's in Thompson. They supply groceries to remote communities through priority mail at really reduced rates on both food and freight charges. A 4 L of milk costs only $4.27 vs $14.99 here at the local stores. Even though you pay freight on it, it's still way cheaper than shopping locally. You submit your order by Fri morning and it gets shipped out of Thompson on Monday, with arrival by Wednesday in Baker Lake. Supposedly. My order arrived two days late via Calm Air on a freighter that showed up at 12:30 in the morning. Unfortunately I wasn't able to pick it up that night so had to wait until the next morning (after Calm Air had conveniently stored it outside in a pickup truck in -40 weather) and all of my groceries were frozen. Eggs, milk, lettuce, lemons, etc... Anyway, after some confusion it seems to have been sorted out and with any luck in Jan I'll try it again and it will go off without a hitch. Again, fingers crossed.
Here are just a few pictures.
Me at the craft sale.
An albino Muskox that was sighted a few years ago.
(B.Mainse)
Pretty amazing Sundog although the picture doesn't do it justice.
A picture from this summer that I love and helps me get through until I get home (and until the summer when I see green grass again).
Windchill: -38
Well, it's Friday night and in 8 days I fly down south, and in 13 days I get a haircut!! Holy cow, I am so looking forward to it. Baker Lake has no hairdresser so literally you don't get a haircut until you fly down south.
Anyway, the Christmas concert at school is coming up and we've been busy getting ready for that. The teacher I work with has been out on medical with her Granny in Winnipeg since Nov 25th and so I've had to take on getting the kids ready by myself for the concert (we have a wonderful sub in for Bertha but she's a mom of a student so we want to keep it a surprise from her). We're doing 'Joy to the World' with hand bells and signing 'Little Toy Train' in ASL. Seven year-old kids with bells and absolutely zilch for self-restraint. Sigh... I should have clued in when Bertha looked at me like I was crazy back when I suggested it. 'How hard can it be?' I said. Now I know. Oh, it's hard all right. I've always thought I had patience but let me tell ya, I'm exhausted after our practises. And, I have a much stronger appreciation for teachers than I ever had before. You all just don't get paid enough.
This weekend, I'm volunteering to take pictures for 'Hockey Night in Baker Lake'. Actually, I kind of was volunteered to do it but it should be fun. Although, four hours at a hockey rink on a Sat night wouldn't likely be my first choice of things to do, I think it'll be hilarious to see all the little ones looking like Bambi on ice as they struggle to remain upright while trying to maneuver a puck around. Too funny.
As for the weather, it's been chilly here and the weather office has teased us a couple times predicting blizzards but they didn't pan out. But, being that it's calling for temperatures of -3 and the like for Mon - Wed, I'm feeling nervous that we are going to have a whopper of a storm just when everyone is trying to get out next weekend. Fingers crossed that I'm wrong.
Oh, something that's new to me and to Baker Lake is Food Mail. It's a program set up in conjunction with Canada Post and the Sobey's in Thompson. They supply groceries to remote communities through priority mail at really reduced rates on both food and freight charges. A 4 L of milk costs only $4.27 vs $14.99 here at the local stores. Even though you pay freight on it, it's still way cheaper than shopping locally. You submit your order by Fri morning and it gets shipped out of Thompson on Monday, with arrival by Wednesday in Baker Lake. Supposedly. My order arrived two days late via Calm Air on a freighter that showed up at 12:30 in the morning. Unfortunately I wasn't able to pick it up that night so had to wait until the next morning (after Calm Air had conveniently stored it outside in a pickup truck in -40 weather) and all of my groceries were frozen. Eggs, milk, lettuce, lemons, etc... Anyway, after some confusion it seems to have been sorted out and with any luck in Jan I'll try it again and it will go off without a hitch. Again, fingers crossed.
Here are just a few pictures.
Me at the craft sale.
An albino Muskox that was sighted a few years ago.
(B.Mainse)
Pretty amazing Sundog although the picture doesn't do it justice.
A picture from this summer that I love and helps me get through until I get home (and until the summer when I see green grass again).
posted by Treena | 8:21 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Treena,
I got your Christmas card with your web adress on it, so I thought I would check it out. Great site, now I see what's been keeping you so busy that you haven't kept in touch for, like, 5 years! Sounds like you are doing great and enjoying the North, you amazing, adventurous girl! I hope we see each other sometime when you come home (to Peace River). I will keep checking your site for updates and I will also write you a really long letter sometime soon.
Take care,
Natalie
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