Temp: +11
Sunrise: 6:04 a.m.
Sunset: 8:45 p.m.
Sunny and beautiful

Well, today was a wonderful day I have to say. Actually, it's been a great long weekend so far. It started out with a pretty relaxing day on Friday at school as we had Olympics day in the morning and all of the students took part in games. It was so much fun! Then there were no kids in the afternoon so it was a pretty laid back day. Then Tania and I went down to the all to partake in festivities to honor an RCMP member and his wife who are transferring to the Whitehorse area. It was great and I have to say I haven't laughed that hard in a long time; I love joining in for the games and hanging out with the kids outside of school hours.

Yesterday I worked on a scrapbook all day and was absolutely lazy... It was fantastic! Then last night Todd and Jenesta had a gathering at their place which was really nice. Lots of people and lots of good food. Todd has the most amazing recipe for KFC style wings and drums. Oh man, they sure do put on a good spread. And it was fun to play pool and darts again. We are all so fortunate up here to have the close-knit social network we do. Very good times!

And today the gang went out to the point and we took the dogs which was perfect. I've been feeling badly as I haven't had Oliver out much because it's been raining so much lately. The poor lad was so excited to be out and in the water that I couldn't get him to come out of the lake even though he was half frozen and shivering uncontrollably. Too funny...

Anyway, I'm still having problems loading pictures on the ole blog but here are several from a couple weeks ago when we were out at the Prince River. I looked a bit like a marshmallow with a big noggin because I had on a sweater, two jackets plus a bug jacket, a cap, helmet and hood up over everything. Very pretty. :-)



Here's one of Tania flying their kite. This turned out to be a pretty cool shot.



And this one is of Christopher gassing up his honda (obviously!) at the Baker gas station. And we were off and running!



And this last one is of Todd, Jenesta, and Chris trying their hands at fishing from the boat. Unfortunately the only things biting were the black flies!

Temp: +6
Sunrise: 5:30 a.m.
Sunset: 9:24 p.m.

Well, I am back in Baker after a wonderful summer down south and it's good to be back. The summer was pretty busy as I try to get in a year of visiting in, in just two months with friends and family. It means a lot of miles on the odometer in a car that thankfully is pretty good on gas, and a lot of miles on airplanes, which are not so good on gas. :-)

I was pretty lucky in that I got to travel to Newfoundland for my friends Todd and Jenesta's wedding in July; the whole gang from Baker was there and we had a great time. Newfoundland is a pretty beautiful place and everything you hear about friendly people from 'the rock' is quite true. So many things to see and such a short time but we really packed it in spending a lot of time traveling along the west coast.



I tried NL lobster and learned that the trick to cooking it is boil it in salt water. And it put into perspective for me 'fresh lobster' in AB vs fresh from NL. Hands down NL wins that one.



We went to the Tablelands which was pretty cool. Bare rock all along the one side of the valley and right across the road on the other side it was lush and green. Such a beautiful contrast.

And of course we saw lighthouses. All different sizes and full of character. The principal at our school took us to the one that was manned by his grandfather way back when. I was surprised by how tiny it was actually. I've tried loading a picture of it but have been having problems loading photos on the ole blog so will when I can.

After Newfoundland I flew to Ontario for my other friend's wedding, Tania and Chad. We did more touring around and a lot of visiting. I saw the statue of Ian Miller and Big Ben in Perth (woohoo for him by the way on that Silver medal - Go Ian!!), enjoyed the character of the tiny towns and communities in the area, took my second ever boat ride and had a dip in the lake. I learned that nearly stepping on a two foot long green and yellow snake does not mean I've come within an inch of my life but just that a garter snake is more afraid of me than I am of him! I went for a ride on Chad's Triumph motorbike and, in a non-related topic, I learned the ins and outs of using a composting toilet. Excellent! :-) And, of course, I attended another beautiful wedding in a breathtaking setting. If anyone is around the Perth area in the summer I highly recommend staying at the Clyde Hall Bed and Breakfast. It's like staying in a palace. And the evening of the wedding there was a full moon, stars above and we all hung out in the outdoor pool and hot tub. The day couldn't have been more perfect!

So, after all the gallivanting around the country I ended up back in Edmonton visiting friends and family and then off to Peace River for the final leg of my trip to spend time at the farm. I have to say I loved my summer and it couldn't have gone better. I even tried tubing behind a boat for the first time in my life and I don't know if the sore gut muscles were from hanging on for dear life or from laughter until I was exhausted but it was worth it! Very good times....

And since getting back home to Baker I've spent my time just hanging out with the gang. We went for a ride out the Prince River this past weekend, and it was some beautiful. When you get there it's hard to imagine you're in Nunavut and not on some beach down south. It's so beautiful out there. And other than that, I've spent time just getting geared up again for school. We've been back in class for a few days now and it's been really good. The kids have all grown so much over the summer and I missed them so much. It's great to be back!