2008 is almost over

Back on-island after spending Christmas with B's aunt/uncle/cousin/grandparents in Prince Rupert. We had the ferry all to ourselves on the trip over (maybe 8 other cars onboard) and it was the smoothest crossing yet. It was an afternoon voyage which was new for us: usually we spend the 7 hr ride sleeping overnight. We arrived to snowy Prince Rupert! yeah! On Christmas Eve there was a party mid afternoon at uncle B's store (at Harris&Wick Jewelry, we ate sushi!), I went to Evening Mass with auntie M and grandma, back to the house, ate some more and watched movies. On Christmas morning we slept in till 9am (cousin T was sleeping on the futon in the living room so we did not want to wake her too early. Our boys are such great sleeper-iners it was never a problem) had then we had the traditional Christmas W family breakfast of eggs benny; it was fantastic! We had a lovely Christmas dinner with about 15 of us of the H or W relation. After, we went over to another W family house to eat dessert and play shuffleboard. We had a mini tourney: our boys were really good at it. On boxing day there was more hanging out, reading books, playing games... us girls went to see Benjamin Button. It was ok, reminded me of watching Forrest Gump. While in Rupert I made several trips to the grocery store to get pantry/freezer food, we stocked up on dog food, and finished getting the last of the gear needed for fishing. The boys went sledding on the golf course one afternoon with their dad and auntie M. She had to make some calls around town to collect snow gear and sleds but it all worked out OK and they had some fun in the snow! Over the trip I had lots of down time to read my PoCo book club read 'The Time Travellers Wife'; I'm about 3/4 of the way through. We took the Sunday midnight ferry back to the island (B and I were fully dosed on gravol. It was a rocky night sleeping on the airmatress with D. J got the bench) and we arrived in snowy Skidegate. The roads were compact snow but it was really dry and not too slick so we made decent time up-island, picked up the dogs and got home about 9am. Needless to say we had a lazy day yesterday unpacking, doing laundry and napping :) B has another week off work. He does not go back till the kids go to school. We have about 6in of snow here and more is on the way. It is so flat there is no problem getting around and with no traffic or rush hour, the weather never causes any problems. It was particularly quiet around town this week because there was a big Basketball tourney 'The 36th annual Christmas Classic' in the Village. D and I went to watch the final this evening. Masset vs Skidegate. We lost :(

Not sure what our plans are for New Years tomorrow night... we got some dry ribs, pot stickers and Strongbow ready to go. I think we will rent a movie, play some cards and pretend we are in the cabin in Princeton :) Maybe we do some skype-ing too!

That's all for now. Our lights have been flickering, I will download some pics tomorrow.
XO n

last week of school in 2008

I thought I should get another post up before next week when the festivities start!

My parents left Monday to snowy Vancouver and we have had cold, breezy weather here all week. No rain and no snow. The air is really dry, which I think is quite unusual for this time of year.

Thanks for all the Christmas cards sent our way... the fridge is covered with cards and photos. Nice to know you are thinking of us :)

Last night we had the boys Winter Concert at school complete with some songs and poems about baby Jesus. It was quite refreshing to hear about the gift of Jesus to the world at a school Christmas concert.

D's class sang 'What a Wonderful World'. So it goes 'I see trees of green, red roses too... ' (can you hear me singing?) and a few kids hold up their green trees and red roses made of big cut-out cardboard... 'skies of blue, clouds of white...' And D and a few others standing in the back hold up these big puffy white cotton-ball clouds on long rulers. The whole stage was filled with visual props by the end of the song. I was pretty cool.

J's class sang John Lennon's 'Happy Christmas' song along with the CD. I think we hear this song at a school concert every year... on wikipedia is says this song was recorded in 1971 and it is a protest song about the Vietnam war. I do not think elementary kids are taught about the Vietnam war or about Lennon. I find it a bit political to be a kids Christmas concert song. I dunno, just my 2 bits!

This morning I went to school early to help with the Pancake Breakfast at 9am. I was the egg cracker and scrambler. During the food serving, I was the syrup dispenser so that there was less syrup over-use/mess/stickiness everywhere! I have not helped with a pancake breakfast at school before but I was quite impressed to see fabric table clothes (the school has a washer/dryer) and we used real plates (the staff room has 2 dishwashers). Saving funds and keeping garbage out of the landfill on the island. great!

I am going to B's work lunch today in the village, should be fun! Maybe I should put on my tacky Christmas sweater, flashing earrings and Santa hat?? oh, I forgot to bring that box up here, too bad :)

If I do not get another blog up before Christmas... have a relaxing holiday with family and friends and enjoy your time together. XO n

'For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace'
Isaiah 9:6

December update

It has been over a week since the last post... I guess I have not been at the computer much lately :) Should I dare say I've been 'busy'? The evenings of the first week of December I had volleyball, basketball, a PAC meeting and a family Wii nite. I also had to finish weaving a basket, figure out my Christmas card picture, and get ready for my parents visit! Last weekend we drove out to North Beach with a few other beach rigs to have a hot dog roast and do some agate picking. It was a non-windy day, overcast clouds, about 7C; hard to believe it was December.

My parents arrived on Wednesday and we are having a good time. We've baked pies, (Wrestler got 90% of the cherry pie one afternoon when we were out), played cards, went for a walk in the rain, had lunch at Seabreeze... seen all my daily stops around town. Yesterday we had D's b-day party and it was quite the housefull! He had 3 of his buddies over for burgers/hot dogs/chocolate mousse cake (that my mom brought from PoMo) and we watched the new Narnia movie.

This morning it was crisp and clear and we had lots to do since today was Christmas at our house! B made a big breakfast then we (everyone but J and B) checked out the craft sale in the village and the one in town, back home for lunch, put the turkey in the oven, and then we went out to Tow Hill to see the blow hole at high tide and drive North Beach for a bit. High tide was a couple hours ago so it should be ok....sure it was windy and cold but the sky was blue. A great outside day! At the trailhead to get on the beach the water was still high. The wind was howling the waves were crashing in, there was no beach to drive on and the high water had totally eroded the trailhead onto the beach; it was barricaded with logs and stumps... no driving today.



So off to the hiking trail and the blow hole we went. The trees were swaying, branches were flying, Wrestler jumped into the river and 2 mins after had ice forming on his fur... no hiking either. We stopped at Agate beach and found a wind protected place to check out the wave/wind action. B made us a fire but we could hardly feel it. The boys found a few agates and razor clam shells. Did I say it was really cold and windy??

Back home for our turkey feast. Nana was surprised at how much J ate. He is as tall as her now so he must be growing! We gave/opened gifts (the boys were excited to give theirs, they worked hard on them :) finished the apple pie and b-day cake, played some more cards and now the guys are racing in some Xbox game, nana is reading and I get to send a blog.

So that is the last 12 days around here.

This December I have missed my baking days, wreath making, cookie exchange, 'moms and kids' party with my friends....miss you girls.

But we've got a few cards in the mail this week and I put some decorations up around the house so it is starting to feel like Christmas around here. It is has been cold and icy; it definitely feels like winter. There is one more week of school and the boys have a Christmas concert on Thursday evening and a big breakfast at school on Friday. B has almost 2 weeks off over Christmas/New Years and we will be heading to Rupert to visit the family there.

that's all for now,

XO n

weather forecast, tow hill, puddle

Clear blue skys this am, a bit chilly but no frost on the truck. Looks like Mon to Wed will be outside running days... see forecast below. Yeah!

Forecast for Monday Queen Charlotte, Canada
Link
There is a 0% chance of precipitation. Partly cloudy. Cold. Temperature of 3°C. Winds N 25km. Humidity will be 73% with a dewpoint of -1° and feels-like temperature of -1°C. High: 3°C Low: 2°C
Forecast for Tuesday Queen Charlotte, Canada
Link
There is a 0% chance of precipitation. Partly cloudy. Cool. Temperature of 3°C. Winds N 16km. Humidity will be 76% with a dewpoint of -1° and feels-like temperature of 0°C. High: 3°C Low: 2°C
Forecast for Wednesday Queen Charlotte, Canada
Link
There is a 0% chance of precipitation. Partly cloudy. Cool. Temperature of 6°C. Winds E 15km. Humidity will be 75% with a dewpoint of 2° and feels-like temperature of 3°C. High: 6°C Low: 3°C

We went to Tow Hill yesterday afternoon and showed B the campsite at Agate Beach that the boys and I and cousin Mel stayed at 2 summers ago. But it is tough to find Agates there, all picked over by the tourists! We hiked in to the blow hole at high tide, just a the right time to see the spray then stopped for brunch at the Trout House. We had heard about the great burgers there but since it was Sunday, they were serving an all day brunch. Maybe next Saturday we will go for burgers.

There was also a lesson learned about puddles this week. 'you can not tell much about a puddle by just looking at it' as quoted by J. Never thought that the word 'puddle' could have a negative association with it. It is such a cheerful, cute word. Like 'cuddle'... Just glad I was not there and glad it did not happen to me! I have learned my lesson to be wary of puddles through their mishap. Thankfully it was not salt water and that the truck made it home in working condition.

we are out of dog food

Yesterday J had a volleyball tourney in Port so I decided to head south to go watch a game and pick up some dog food at the vet/ranch/pet food store in Tlell, about 60km away from Masset.

On my drive, the wind was howling, tree branches were flying across the road and I could see the waves crashing. It was hard to stay vertical while getting close to the bank to get some photos.

It was a wild and crazy day on the coast with gale force winds.

J had a good showing at the vball game. He was serving, setting and passing the ball with excellence (see pic below of J passing) must have got that talent from his mother or possibly uncle Bri.




Snow day on Nov 21.

My boys! It seems their 'bonding time' is when they are doing dishes. They are either fighting or goofing off. This was a goof day. Sometimes it gets quite rowdy in there, dad asks if they need to do dishes alone, but I say no! They are forced to work together and cooperate. Only one day they did not pass inspection. I tell them if there are dirty dishes in the dry rack then they both are to blame!

Olympic Torch Run is coming here!

On Nov 3 2009 the 2010 Olympic Torch relay is coming to Haida Gwaii! Maybe I should apply to be a runner...?


And on Feb 11 2010 the run will be in the Tri-cities... maybe we can see it again? Our dance group is performing in Vancouver the first week of Feb 2010 so we are south for that. See http://www.damelahamiddancers.org/ for more info. Our next big festival is March 9-15 2009 at UBC.

A deer in my kitchen!

DUE TO THE CARNIVOROUS NATURE OF THIS BLOG, VEGETARIANS PLEASE BE ADVISED

I know I have witnesses out there when I stated my involvement with the whole hunting deer, hanging, butchering, packaging would start when the meat was taken out of the freezer to make dinner... yup, should have got a butchering lesson from Opa before we came up here :)

B went hunting last weekend (with J) and the deer hung for the week and then we got the call to come get our meat. B thought he was going to leave the deer with his fellow hunter (our freezer was already at 80% capacity) but no, it was ours. With the first deer, B had help butchering with his hunter buddy's mom who has probably packed up 100's of deer. She chopped it up (B pretty much watched) in about an hour.

So last night, I helped B get the kitchen clean and set up, he started cracking bones and I went online to do some research and get some 'game cutting' tips, even found a You-tube video. There was a lot of carcass in the kitchen and the whole process was going kind of slow. Since I now had some on-line knowledge, I figured I could help a bit. B got all the meat off the bones and hacksawed the ribs and passed it to me then I trimmed down the gristly bits and packed up stew meat, a few roasts, some steaks. The freezer is now FULL.

The dogs were so good; they could smell there was something dog-heavenly happening in the kitchen but they sat at the kitchen entrance with perfect behavior in hopes that it would pay off with a treat. It did!

what they do at the beach...

I took the boys to the beach the other day.... we were going to go to check out some dunes (D brought the skim board to try surfing/sledding/sandboarding down the dunes) and look for rocks at Agate beach (J wanted to add to his rock collection). We left town with just under 1/4 tank of gas; I was too cold to get out of the truck to fill up, it had not warmed up yet. We drove a good 20+ minutes north; I am not sure how close we got to Agate beach but when the truck said 40km left in the tank, I figured we should turn around and head back.

So we drove back towards town to find a place where we could find dunes and rocks.

We headed down a side road towards the beach. They boys were getting nervous because now the gas gauge said 'fuel level very low' so we decided to park and walk the rest of the way. We put our rubber boots to good use as we trudged through the muck before we got to the sandy road and saw the water.

The boys made a B-line for the beach and I hung back to watch...

There are no steep dunes here so the skimboard is useless and D leaves it up on grass. He heads off to the waters edge and watches the waves. The tide is heading out (thankfully) and so he is not caught unexpectedly with a bootful of water. But with the strong wind, the waves are still giving a good crash about 10ft from the shore. D picks up rocks to try to hit the wave just as it breaks... I watch him throw it long or too short but when he makes 'a hit' he looks back and grins.

J heads off away from us with his eyes glued to the ground. He picks up handfulls of sand, washes the fine grains away and collects all these small crystal-like rocks. He finds a tri-coloured rock and calls me over to check it out. I hold it for him (it is a really nice one!) and he keeps on his agate search. He finds a crescent moon shaped perfectly white sugar agate and tosses it towards me to see. He now knows the difference between a real agate and a sugar agate so the sugar ones are no longer as exciting. After about 15 mins, he finds a good size agate even though he was sure he wouldn't.

D comes over to see what J has found. D bends down and picks up a white rock close to me "look what I found J. A half moon sugar agate". J yells back, "I found that one already" I had a little giggle.

We drove back to town to get gas and head home to make soup for lunch.

After lunch J, and I went to the library with a mission to find a book about rocks. He found a reference book and read that diamonds can be found at the waters edge. He believes the crystal-like rocks he found could be diamonds!

I found a book I had almost bought at the gallery a few weeks ago "The Golden Spruce" by John Vaillant. I will give my book report when I am done. So far, it is bang on with everything I have seen, heard, smelt, felt in this temperate rainforest. Right down to the line "You have the feeling that if you stop for too long, you will simply be grown over and absorbed by the slow and ancient riot of growth going on all around you." I have tried on several occasions to get a good pic of this description but I have been unable to capture it. I will keep trying!

First snowfall of the year

This morning I looked out the window and saw white stuff... not sure if this is a strange happening this time of year or not?? Snow covered the truck, grass, road, rooftops.... I was impressed with the 'stickability'. The boys went downstairs to get their snow boots to find they were too small (why I thought last years would fit I'm not sure) so they wore their new 'quading, hunting, hiking,' boots and it seemed to do the job. I took the dogs out about 10am and it was now raining, much harder than it looked, and my pants were soaked in minutes. My rain jacket got 2 thumbs up and my new rubber boots with a drawstring at the top and thick felt liners also got 2 thumbs up. We had a good walk. Sofie went crazy running in the snow but I had to keep Wrestler on leash, he is still hobbling on 3 legs. The meds are in the mail from our vet (Wrestler says thanks nana and papa beard) so he will be feeling better soon.

With wet pants in hand I went downstairs to do a load of laundry to find water on the floor close to the washer/dryer. I put on my plumber hat and found no leak at the laundry tub, no leak on the washer, no leak in the roof... I pulled the dryer away from the wall and the vent hose looked a bit weighted. It was full of water! The dryer vent is literally at ground level outside so the melting snow and rain water was flowing into the basement. It didn't help that the roof gutter was overflowing directly above the dryer vent too.

Then I put on my landscaper hat and dug a trench in the sloppy backyard to try and get the water flowing away from the house. Hopefully that helps.

I have been doing well at staying with my exercise routine (now that the dogs can not run with me, I am not running in rough weather anymore) so I headed to the treadmill at the gym. However, on the way there I put on my ambulance driver hat and gave a ride to a teenage girl who got hit by a van in town. I didn't see it happen but her boyfriend(?) was with her and the driver of the van. She did something to her foot, maybe broken, not sure.

I made it to the gym and did my run and came home for lunch. J was supposed to have a volleyball game in Port this afternoon but it got called off this am, something about buses in the snow in Port had problems.

By 3pm the snow was %90 gone... I wonder if it will snow again tonight?

a busy weekend

J went on his first hunting trip last weekend. They packed up Saturday morning with the quad, sleeping gear, a tent, a cooler with food and under sunny skies they headed out. They drove 3 hrs to 'some great hunting place out there' and unloaded at a hunting cabin equipped with bunks, a wood stove, plates/cutlery, spices... it sounded like luxury 'camping' to me. Ben said he did not know what time they packed it in on Saturday but they were out on the quads late into the night and up early again Sunday morning. They were home Sunday evening with muddy quads and 4 deer strapped down on the trailer. It was a successful outing.

D and I had a quiet weekend: did some bikeriding, crafting, movie watching... on Sunday I played in a basketball game with the village womens team against a jr boys team. It was good to get out there for a run and my foot 'issue' didn't cause too much trouble. And since I played bball (I had not done that in over a year) I figured I should give volleyball a try too. Last night was drop in at the high school so I went to check that out... I have not played in over 10 years. I think I did ok; but by the end of the night I came to the conclusion that to go for a ball which requires a knee to hit the ground , it is a painful move to get back up. I may have stated in the past that knee pads are 'whimpy' so I guess I will be sporting purple knees if I keep playing. If my feet moved a bit faster, I could get to the ball and not have to put a knee down... not going to happen!

Family photo

All the cousins are related in some way or another:) They were waiting patiently for dessert!

Weekend pics

This is the along the Skeena in Kitselas Canyon. We are standing in the dry river bed that would be a raging river in spring.
Climbing on the canyon rocks. We were careful...

This is Grandpa's pole; it is very old... Sorry, I had to cut the pic out. It has a copyright. Here is a sketch:

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Grandpa's fishing hole.



Skeena means 'River of Mist'

back on island...

We finally got home after our first trip 'off island': We hit the road Thursday evening to catch the 11 pm ferry. Even the drive to the ferry had a typical island feel to it... we rescued the same guy twice in his rental truck. The first time he flagged us down on the side of the road b/c he was stuck just off the road in a turn-around area with a tire fully submerged in the mud. Ben got the towrope out and we gave him a pull. So then we are following him down the highway, he was driving cautiously and staying below the speed limit, but he thought we were flashing him (which we were not) so he slows down and pulls off the side just to slip off the soft shoulder into the ditch. We pull over in front of him, get the rope out again, pull him out and he leave him to drive behind us. No more chances! We had to drop off the dogs at the kennel at the vet and get to the ferry. It was the usual sail and the rockiest (sp?) thus far but we got some sleep and arrived in Rupert for breakfast at the W house (B's relatives). We picked up grandpa and grandma H and headed to Terrace to meet the G (B's relatives) family who came up from Vancouver. We spent Friday and Saturday doing all the city things we needed to do: got groceries, ate in non-Chinese food restaurants, saw a movie, did some Christmas shopping. The guys also shopped at CDN Tire for a good hour checking out cammo gear; they wanted to be prepared for their hunting trip on Monday. We also went to Kitselas Canyon where the Skeena River narrows and carves through the rock. Very cool. Sunday was B's birthday (he got lots of special attention) and we drove to Hazelton to visit the J family (more of B's relatives). Lots of second cousins there so the boys had fun hanging out with them. Monday morning bright and early (a clear cold day) the big guys (not J and D) went hunting moose. They had lots of time to practice walking quietly and slowly but no moose were found. We were on the road by mid afternoon with a truck FULL of groceries to get back to Rupert for the ferry. We boarded on time at 8pm to leave at 10pm but with and extreme marine warning we were not going anywhere. The ferry sat at the terminal till 7am when we finally headed out. I am still rocking now as I type this at 9pm. It was wild out there and by far the rockiest ride! Thankfully the boys were good to watch movies the whole time and didn't feel sick but B and I will definitely Gravol up next time they are forecasting rough water. The boys told me that up in the cafeteria at the front of the boat they rode the waves down and up and the waves crashed up over the windows. B and I were one deck below and the water would open up into this huge swell and the boat seemed to fall into it and then pop back out on the next wave. Still makes me feel whoozy! I will get to my email inbox tomorrow. I also have to make B his chocolate orange cake tomorrow :)

FYI: the Terrace Canadian Tire is the best CDN Tire store I have ever been in! Very helpful and knowledgeable staff, tonnes of good stuff to buy. Too bad they do not sell groceres or it would be our one stop shop!

I will try to get some pics posted tomorrow...

night now

hunting update

In case you are itching to know how B finished up his first hunting adventure... he got home after a long day in the bush at 9:15pm with news of a buck for the freezer. The deer was left to 'hang' overnight (at someone's house) and B was going to go with his hunting partner tomorrow to do the next step of meat preparation (whatever that may be??) however, a call came in this afternoon that a bear was very interested in the free deer dinner so the guys went out just now to take care of deer business. I told B that everything up until the deer meat coming out of the freezer to make dinner was his thing and he is doing a great job! If there are any deer recipes out there (I know the Schmidt house has some), please send them my way!

surfin and huntin

I am having a blog catchup day today... so here is another post for today's event:

B left at 5:30 this morning to go hunting with a local guy out in the bush past Port Clements. He took along enough food to last the whole day but he should be home sometime soon.

This morning, I took the dogs for a good walk around town (Wrestler's knee is bothering him again, the dog will not take is easy). I am starting to think my new running routine has catch up with him. When I am running, I take both dogs out for a warm up around town, then I bring Sofie home and run out to the village with Wrestler. Am I out-running both the dogs? It can't be possible :)

This afternoon I finally had my surf lesson out towards Tow Hill; it is just like surfing in Hawaii but also very different. I had never worn a wet suit before and it was crazy to get it on. Took me a good 15 mins to get it on and even longer to get it off! There were 9 of us dressed up like seals out there along with 3 instructors. Our lesson dues were going towards buying kid size boards and wet suits to start a kids surfing program. Cool stuff. They said that surfing on Haida Gwaii is a really new thing and it is starting to gain interest. While I was out surfing, the boys were hanging on the beach and playing in the river... last time I looked over, their pants were soaked up to mid thigh, their sweatshirts were equally wet and it was starting to rain. There was a fire going up on the beach so I hoped they were hanging there. When the rain really started coming down and I was exhausted (and had very cold toes, must have had a hole somewhere) I went back in and there was no sign of the boys. So I hike out to the truck and they are sitting in there, stripped down to their ginch and freezing cold. DID YOU BRING US SOME DRY CLOTHES? they ask.... I hope next time they come surfing too and show papa Jeep their rad skills in Hawaii :) All you need to surf is a good wet suit and a board... no lift ticket, membership fees, admission... hmmm. Maybe a new family activity??

SORRY no surf pics for me. The instructor did take one but it is really fuzzy... there was a guy out there doing promo photos for the kids surf program, maybe he got a good one!

Baskets are done!

The boys and I had our weaving lesson with M last weekend. She had the red and yellow cedar bark already prepared into strips and we had to bring along a square form to weave the basket around. It was tough work on the hands; lots of pulling and holding. The boys were dedicate weavers.

And when we were finished, it was quite the accomplishment!

quadin and bikin on the dunes

D is ready!
J would make the sand fly behind the bike!

Last weekend we took the toys out to the dunes just outside of town. My surfing day was cancelled (due to high winds) but the boys figured the weather would not stop them from going out! They rode for a couple hours while I went for a walk, with heavy wind resistance, and then I sat in the truck and read my book.

sounds

I just asked D what he thought of that sound: the sound of the float plane as it banks over our house and gains elevation after takeoff. He smiles and nods as me. I agree. It is very cool. (we must get that from Papa Beard) It is the only man-made noise around here and the link to the bigger happenings of the world out there, if I choose to go for a ride. I had no idea 'the economy is in crisis' or there was a 'bomb threat on the Pitt River Bridge' unless I decide to watch the news... I think I'll just listen to the sound of the plane.

Weather warning?

B and I are not really '6 o'clock news' watchers or overly interested in the weather forecast. However I wonder if we should be or need to be... apparently there was/is an extreme weather warning and I had no idea about it.

For my local weather forecast; if I see blue sky then it is time to walk the dogs because now is my chance, if there are clouds then rain could come soon so walk the dogs sooner rather than later, if I see the trees swaying I know it is windy and if I hear the wind howling and Wrestler is sitting on my feet then it is really windy and going outside could be challenging, if there is strong wind and rain then do not go outside at all.

Yesterday afterschool it was just 'really windy' so D and I walked to the library. It is close by but much harder to get there then get back home. I told the librarian we were new around here and asked on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the strongest, what kind of wind was this? She said it was pretty close to 10. Not much you can do outside when you can hardly stand up straight without falling over!

n

Drive on the beach

We had a chance to go for a drive on North Beach to Rose Spit and so of course we went! It is an outing where 2 vehicles (hopefully 2 4x4 trucks but we did see a Subaru out there) are needed, there should be several hours of daylight, and the tide needs to be going out

The waves were pretty good, even saw some surfers out there. Below is a photo by J on a bumpy beach drive. The truck lurches forward on the hard sand and drags in the loose/rocky sand.

Can't seem to get these pics in order, so here is our view heading back south to Tow Hill.

This is a pic looking northeast to the end of the island. This really is the end of the road. Out at the end of the land there is a long break of rocks where the waves crash. To drive around the point is sketchy and the trip back around the other side of the spit requires a longer day with more supplies in case of getting stuck for an extended period of time. We were not going that far.


Again, this is out of order. This is the landscape the last few kms before the 'end of the road'. Wide, flat area with thick blades of long 'grass'. This is the Rose Spit Ecological Reserve.





At a few points we stopped along the way and did some beachcombing. Haida Gwaii is the place to find agates and so we had to collect a few. The rocks we thought were agates were actually the more common 'sugar agate' and not to be called 'agates'. I will do an agate blog sometime and maybe I can show the difference.

Ben's co-worker, M, is quite the rock collector. We went to her house today and got a lesson on all her finds. She has agates, argilite, and a sphere shape ball of lava. All treasures she has found on the island. J had quite the chat with her. She has an agate slice with rings of different colours and crystals in the centre. very cool. Maybe J will be a geologist someday??

Bike ride

This is my bike ride route with the dogs in the am. We head away from town to the Delkakla Bird Sactuary. This 'road' is the emergency land bridge to get out of town if the main road bridge is not drivable. Along this trail are raised lookout platforms to do bird watching. I did more bird listening. Lots of sounds I haven't heard before and I can not find the birds making the noise!

Above is my bike ride route to see Ben at the office in Old Masset, shown in the distance. Old Masset aka: the village, is about 2 km out of New Masset aka: town. Below is the office. Casual work environment only!

SKYPE is very cool!

FYI: SKYPE is a free download to talk computer to computer over the www and you can use your webcam to see the other person while chatting.

Yesterday, SKYPE and I had lunch with my sis-in-law E and nephew J, the boys were online with their buddy McW and my guys even started wrestling around in the living room while talking (the same activity they often do when they are chillin out together). Then we visited uncle B and we almost had a 'brotherly fight' break out on our side of the computer screen; like the boys needed uncle B to break it up! It was like we were really hanging out with you guys.

These video calls are pretty neat in that you almost feel like you are talking to someone in the same room with you. It is just missing the 'gimme-5' or a really big hug.

thinking of you all,
XO nicole

Field Trip #2: Dunes

This weekend we went driving on a secondary road; I will call it Beach Ave.

The road took us past the back side of the Masset Canadian Forces Base. It is a very secure facility with 'no trespassing' signs along the main highway and along the beach there are barbwire fences partially intact to keep us out. The base was built to contain a listening antenna; to keep an ear on international communications.

The boys had fun running down the dunes and wondered why I would not let them roll down them too. (I am patiently waiting for my washer/dryer and I am not doing more laundry than necessary. We already had the chat about wearing the same outside pants several times before they go into the wash. We have also chatted about boots in that they must be worn at all times when not in city limits of Masset).

Below is a panorama video: trying out a new feature on my camera!

I will call it Haida Gwaii

I just found this article in the QCI Observer Oct 13 (the Islands local paper):

Old Massett sign project encourages Haida speaking

submitted by Jusquan Amanda Bedard--Residents and visitors to Old Massett or New Town will notice a great addition to the community - Haida street and office signs, shaped like a traditional Haida canoe. This project, spearheaded by the Xaad Kihlgaa Hl Suu.u Language office and funded by Gwaii Trust, encourages everybody to learn and speak the Haida names for streets and offices, after all, we are on Haida Gwaii (rarely referred to as the 'Queen Charlotte Islands' anymore), so let's speak Haida as much as possible!

I wondered about the Queen Charlotte Island name vs Haida Gwaii. B tells me it depends on who you talk to as to what name you call the islands. I have decided to use Haida Gwaii: to show the Haida people respect for living on their land.

My first Haida word is 'Haaw7aa'. The 7 shows a emphasis on the w sound. It means 'thank-you'.

The boys are also learning Haida at school so they will teach me new words too.

n

Field Trip #1

This is a Haida Canoe which is not on the tourist guide map. The tree was falled (?) and the canoe shape was carved. Work would have stopped on this because of the split down the middle. It was no longer suitable to be made into a canoe.
This tree was a few metres away from the canoe and the large test hole (this is a CMT, culturally modified tree) must have determined it was not a good canoe tree.
HHFG believe this stump was where the canoe tree was cut from, see the canoe shape in the background.



We drove about 15 mins out of Port Clements to see this Haida Canoe.

Maybe tomorrow we will do a drive to the north coast area...

n

the scary vacuum

That Wrestler is a piece of work. So we got this brand new space age looking vacuum (we have a house full of carpet now) and he is terrified of it. We got it going to do a test run and it was really loud and 'scary'. Wrestler disappears upstairs while we are vacuuming and then will not come down when we are done. We call him and he comes down the stairs only to turn and go back up. Then he starts whining and comes downstairs and then goes up again. Then I see the vacuum is sitting (turned off) at the bottom of the stairs and he will not walk past it. So I move it to the living room entrance and he comes down and very cautiously goes way around it to get to the kitchen. silly dog.

almost unpacked

our 1/2 duplex
the boys school
our street. we are the last house on the straight stretch on the left

Our place is to the left of the blue house. We walk down this path to get to school; the boys think it is less than 100m from door to door.

Inside Pics coming soon...

Just a few more boxes to unpack and we are officially moved in and organized. I have enjoyed some peace and quiet this week with the lazy dogs around to keep me company. Wrestler is still getting into trouble: eating food off the counter getting 2 breakfasts out of B and D. B says he is looking like a sausage again :)

J and D are getting settled into school and I went to a PAC meeting our first day, just to get a feel for what goes on there. There are some similar and some different issues than I experienced with the 'big city' school. Lots to figure out and learn.

B is at work usual hours. I brought him hot leftovers one day and I have stopped by to say hi every day on my dog walk around town. Never been able to do that before.

Masset has all the usual necessities available within a 5 min walk from the house. Main street has a bank, post office, 2 grocery stores, a few restaurants, a cute cafe (I got a tea 'to-go' the other day), the volunteer fire stn, RCMP building with 4 vehicles, the cable shop, a home hardware store where I believe you can order from 'the Source' flyer to get electronics, a library, an Autoplan agent, recycle depot.... any thing else you need?

The dr/hospital/pharmacy is in an old CDN military building and is quite dated and looks kind of like a M*A*S*H clinic. Masset is getting a new health centre about 2 mins out of town towards Old Masset. It is supposed to open the end of the month.

Next week one day I plan to take a drive south to Port Clements to see what is around there. I heard there was a good local produce store and I want to look for this Cedarview Community Church address. See what I can find! There is also a book club that meets next week at a cafe in old Masset, got to check that out.

Since the rec centre closed the end of Sept, QCI recreation programs are all over the place at different sites. Tues/Thurs pm is aerobics at the boys school and there is 4hr surfing clinic one weekend at north beach I want to check out!

We are adjusting well to the slow paced lifestyle around here. Everyone we have interacted with is friendly and helpful. Drivers give the 2 finger off the steering wheel wave and walkers say 'hello'. Still not sure if totally gives us away that we are newbees when we walk around with dog-poop bags :) I don't see anyone else with bags?

my observation of the week:

There are grassy rolling hills around the base houses, the old barracks, high school field and they look great: freshly cut, no ruts, can even see the lines of the mowers. So we decide to take a short cut across some grass and quickly find out why no one else walks on there... the ground is totally saturated and every step you sink into the mossy 'grass' and even when you walk up to the top of a hill to stay day, it is still WET. The lesson is "always walk on sidewalks"

I have also done a duck and cover maneuver at least 3 times. The ravens sometimes fly really close and their wings are VERY LOUD: it actually scared me the first time. Maybe because there are no other background noises or because they are so much bigger than birds in the south? idunno.

There are always puddles even if you did not see it rain. The rain may have dumped when you were inside for a few hours and with the storm windows you can not hear any rain through them. Then when you look outside the sun is shining again! We have had fantastic weather this week, just a bit colder than we are used to.

till later,
nicole

testing 123...

We just got the internet hooked up yesterday and are now online in Masset, QCI. We are again connected to the world at large!



The boys started school today and they are coming home for lunch so this is a short and sweet first entry. To summarize our adventure so far:

• my u-haul packing crew was awsome and THANKS SO MUCH for your help


• the drive up was slow and steady. the boys were split up the whole way, one with me in the truck and one in the u-haul with nana/papa Harris so there were no 'issues'. the dogs also travelled really well. The only trouble I had in Rupert was a flat on the trailer which Ben was there to fix for me


• the midnight ferry was smooth sailing. I stocked up on gravol and didn't need to open the box


• the deep freeze full of food was still frozen when I got here


• the rental house is nicer than I was expecting it to be. 3 levels with steep stairs, new paint, newish carpets, decent appliances.


• the school is also closer than I thought it would be. we can see it down the trail from the front door.


• the weather has been a mixed bag of rain, sun, rain, sun, rain, sun... there are always puddles on the ground


• we took a drive 2 mins out of town to the dunes on the beach. So peaceful and beauiful I can not describe (pics will some soon).

signing off for now... more interesting observations and family experiences coming soon.

nicole