December 20

It was a beautiful day on Haida Gwaii; just had to share.

Last week the Tahayghen Boys and Girls Volleyball team brought home the banner; or the 'chip, the cup, first place, a blue ribbon! Check out J's killer serves and digs.

And here are my weaving projects. I hope the little girls like their gifts :)

VOTE for MASSET on GAMESTOWN 2010

I thought I would post this in an attempt to get some more votes for Masset to get much needed $$$ to rebuild the recreation centre by winning www.gamestown21020.com. Polls close in 19 days!

This town is in dire need of funds to rebuild the recreation centre. There was one built by the CFS in the 70's and it closed the doors September 2009 because the fund to keep the lights on, pool heated, and make repairs had run dry.

I found some base history and the following description of the recreation centre at http://www.troywoodintarsia.com/cfsm/cfsm.htm

-a recreation building containing a swimming pool, theatre, snack bar, gymnasium, weight room, squash court, bowling alleys, beauty parlour and barber shop. In later years a 2 sheet curling rink was constructed-

Because there is no recreation centre, children can not learn to swim in a safe environment (maybe they are supposed to learn in ocean waves and currents and then be comfortable in the water when they are out on fishing boats?), teenagers now hang out on the steps at the corner store (apparently the old rec centre was popular with local youth) and programs are currently scheduled into already busy elementary and high school gym space.

We are a northern community and with December 21 coming up next week, I am very glad that the hours of darkness will soon start to get shorter. Today it was only getting light as the kids went to school about 8:45am and it is getting dark soon after 4pm. Now throw in some rain, fog or storm clouds and there is only dim light all day. For the sake of the dark winter months, we need a recreation centre!

So if you have a minute, check out www.gamestown2010.com and Vote for MASSET (and you can vote for Port Coquitlam too.)

Christmas countdown...

I feel like it is December 22 with only a few days left to get everything organized; reason being I am sending (via the Pacific Coastal flight) down a box-of-gifts-and-cards for my dad to pick up and play Santa on Thursday. I have almost everything ready; not done the cards which always take longer to do that anticipated, and I have one more weaving project to finish. The little Gitksan dancing girls are getting a very special gift this year from auntie. I work Monday, I have an errand to run in Charlotte on Tuesday, I work Wednesday... Get the picture of my time crunch? I will get a pic posted of my handiwork soon, but don't show the girls :)

After that, the next few weeks are looking good; the boys have their final volleyball game-day in Port on Friday, D's birthday is on Saturday, and the Christmas concert, school pancake breakfast, and my work party is the following week. Good times. B is just laughing with 17 days off over Christmas while I am working the whole time. My co-worker is going back east for the holidays so I am covering for her. She owes me some time off in the New Year for sure. We have an invite for Christmas Eve and Christmas day dinner so that is really great.

Back to my weaving.

Storm by Lifehouse

All that talk about rough seas... here's my favorite STORM lyrics :)

how long have I been in this storm so overwhelmed by the ocean's shapeless form water's getting harder to tread with these waves crashing over my head if I could just see you everything will be alright if I'd see you the storminess will turn to light and I will walk on water and you will catch me if I fall and I will get lost into your eyes and everything will be alright and everything will be alright I know you didn't bring me out here to drown so why am I 10 feet under and upside down barely surviving has become my purpose cause I'm so used to living underneath the surface if I could just see you everything will be alright if I see you the storminess will turn to light and I will walk on water and you will catch me if I fall and I will get lost into your eyes and everything will be alright and I will walk on water you will catch me if I fall and I will get lost into your eyes and everything will be alright I know everything is alright everything's alright

Crazy days...

With the shorter days, low sun in the sky and cooler temperatures, the road out of Masset is a skating rink; or maybe an ice roller coaster with the hills and curves on the way to Port. We had a cold spell a few weeks ago and this pic was the evidence of slick roads; a car with organic matter still stuck in the door from sliding off the road and down an embankment. There is no shoulder room on the roads here. Ice or not, if you leave the pavement you are quite likely to slip down into the water filled ditch, trench, pond...whatever you want to call it.

And the storm season is upon us evident from the empty grocery shelves, no mail for almost 2 weeks and the terrifying ferry crossing last week. Talking with some people that were on the boat, they thought they were going to flip right over and with 10 metre seas in the middle of the night, no one would have survived. People were in the main passenger area, lying on the floor, hanging into the chairs for dear life as the boat goes sideways almost to the point of no return. Several people were injured, some vehicles were damaged, the kitchen was a disaster, the gift shop was all over the floor... and this went on for hours! They were on the boat for 14 hours before it returned to Prince Rupert. The noise of plates breaking and tables, chairs, garbage cans rolling around, the boat crashing down on the waves, the wind howling, the vehicles on the car deck shifting and banging around, people crying... it is something right out of a movie. If this ferry crossing is news to you, it is probably because we are such a small population and so far away from the powers that be no one hears about it or cares for that matter. If this happened on a Tsawwassen to Victoria crossing it would be a different story. I just laugh when I hear the Vancouver traffic reports about a ferry being out of service, or delays at the terminal and the news crew is there interviewing people in their cars who have to wait in long lineups. And the reporter asks if they think another boat is needed for the Lower Mainland-Vancouver Island run on busy holiday weekends... Give me a break people!

The kicker is that our 'new' ferry, the Northern Adventure, was a used boat from the Mediterranean (with a flat hull, no good for rough waters) and a quick purchase by BCFerries after the Queen of the North went down and needed to be replaced. It is not meant for crossing the Hecate Strait where huge waves and big storms can come up suddenly. Sure it has lovely estate rooms and nice viewing decks but when the boat is rocking, who cares! BCFerries has since purchased a brand new boat, the Northern Expedition, but it does the Prince Rupert to Port Hardy run. Apparently this boat is far too big for service to the island... but at least we would get on and off this rock safely! I am getting far too political for this blog. I digress.

It is expected that rough weather will delay the delivery of food to the island. No point going out for milk when there is none to be found. And the craziest thing is that I don't mind it a bit! We have a freezer full of deer and fish, I have a huge bag of grain for making bread, lots of cans in the pantry... I only suffer from a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables; the boys could care less.

found it!

The garbage can was discovered in the neighbours yard behind a broken fence that also came down in the same wind. A secure lid and can are an essential household item when there are ravens around. I didn't price out a new one at the Co-op but it I would guess it would be a $50 investment, if they have it in stock :)

The cake flopped :(

I thought the Chocolate Orange Cake looked a bit off. I've made it a 100 times before. When I took it out of the oven it was not quite the right height and the colour was a bit lighter than usual, but the knife came out clean even after an hour in the oven so I thought it was good to go. I wanted to taste it but how can you sneak a piece from a bundt cake without birthday boy saying 'who ate my cake?' It could have been our shotty oven, the tin-y bundt pan I borrowed from the neighbours or maybe the Co-op sale eggs... I served the first piece to B and almost cried. I had invited some of our peeps over and they were all very gracious is saying the cake was 'kinda like fudge cake', 'it's not so bad', or 'it doesn't look raw'. I was so embarrassed. End of story.

The Olympic Torch made it to Haida Gwaii

The local newspaper wrote that between 7:45-8:00 the torch would arrive in Skidegate but even though this was a well orchestrated event, it was going to start on island time. We watched the sunrise while waiting for the canoe to appear.

About 8:45 we saw the canoe carrying the torch round the corner.

A few other pics and video to check out:

Video#1

Video#2

We parked just past the museum so we could get out ahead of the relay on the road to Queen Charlotte City. In Charlotte was hot chocolate, muffins and very cool bottles of Coke (according to the boys). It was a more structured event with speeches, Olympic 'soundtrack' music, and sponsor tents. Of course, the boys needed a feeding so we stopped at our favorite burger joint. A pic of the starving kids (I had a truckload of boys):

Then a photo op at Balance Rock. No doubt the coolest rock around. Just awesome that the storms can not get this rock rock to budge and roll over!

And a Halloween pic for good measure. J did not dress up this year, but D was right into it with his crew.

6:30am

We are out the door early tomorrow morning to drive to QC to see the torch relay; gone at 6:30am sharp. It arrives in Skidegate at 8am then to QC for a 9am ceremony. I will post pics when we get back!

Willing to trade cookies for...

Fish, Scallops, or Deer. This morning I made a sweet trade for Halibut. fish for dinner :)

Where is the garbage can?

Either it blew away in the wind, washed away in the rain or flew away with the ravens. Regardless of how it went, it's gone.

One Year Anniversary

Our road trip to Oregon for my brothers wedding finished with a ferry ride back to the island on Oct 4. It's the same Sunday night ferry that we took over here with the U-haul exactly one year ago.

We left the island Sept 17 and drove to Princeton to meet our Swiss cabin dwellers and Lucy, D&C's new puppy.

The boys tried really hard to convince me we should get one of Lucy's litter-mates. no such luck.

A total of 48 hrs was spent in PoCoMoVan. Super busy driving all over to get stuff done and see family and friends :)

Then off to Newport Oregon for the wedding! We had great weather; lots of sun, very little fog, super windy and the waves were huge. There was sandrail cruising, a round of golf, noisy sealions, a fire on the beach and of course a beautiful wedding.

CONGRATS B&J :)

One the drive home D had a good observation. He says 'all my uncles are you and dads brothers. Good thing they get married so we can have some aunts'

Missing from the family shot are my brother M's wife and 21 month old lil'J because #2 child was coming... and here she is:

Here's lil'J shooting some hoops

Now we are back into the groove at home. The boys are playing indoor soccer at school and doing lots of Math homework. B's wrestling and kickboxing classes are getting pretty full. We need to start fundraising and applying for grant$ to get some more mats and equipment. I am trying to cut back my dr. clinic work hours to free up some time to do my postpartum doula stuff and I am helping with a jr girls bball team. Somehow I got roped into more PAC involvement at school just to top it all off.

But the highlight of the week is that today is the 12th and final day of the boys (just the kids, not B, he eats well already) and my cleanse! With the boys we were finding that a treat was no longer a treat if it was a regular occurrence. Time to take hard action and B decided to include a $ incentive; for every day the boys followed the food plan, they would get $2. I was feeling a bit blah about squeezing into my jeans so I had good motivation as well. The cleanse was no dairy, no flour, no pasta, no sugar, and no quick pre-packed snacks in the pantry! The boys had a few cheats along the way because they could not handle the salad and meat meal plan every night. I am hoping that the box of granola bars, fruit cups, and crackers we have in stock will last a LONG time.

I have so many people I want to email tonight... better get to it!

wild wind and the first week of school

When is wind too windy? right about now! My walk with the dogs this morning was challenging at best. It was difficult walking south into the south easterly but I had a speedy pace coming back. Even the dogs had to brace themselves a few times. I'm thankful our house is in line with the wind, just a howling when the wind hits the front door roof line jutting out. The houses that get the wind straight on must shake, rattle and roll in all the force.

And I am so glad to report that school has got off to a great start and the boys are happy in their classes. D came home for lunch today and did not stop chatting about the new math game he learned. He told us all the rules; I just can't follow. Usually it is J we have the conversation that goes 'yup.. un-hu... sounds cool... ok...yeah...' J's update is that the grade 7's get PE everyday. He said it was a grade 7 privilege. Little does he know that kids can focus a whole lot better after they have let off some energy :)

I am off with my new friend R and baby A to go visit T&S and baby F. I finally have some moms of mat-leave to go for walks with on my days off. Your turn on mat-leave will come soon enough Mrs. F and I will come hang with you too :)

A Historical Event

The last weekend my parents were here, Aug 22/23, there was an amazing event in the village. 40 years ago, a pole was carved by a 22 year old Haida man and it was raised infront of the Anglican church in Old Masset. The carvers name is Robert Davidson. The Davidson family celebrated this anniversary with a feast complete with singing, dancing, and inspiring words at the Hall. I don't know the numbers in attendance but it was a packed house, maybe 700 people witnessed the event.

It had been almost 100 years since the last pole went up before this pole in 1969. The potlatch ban of 1884 tried to end all things culturally important to the First Nations people. In B's family, songs were recorded in his great grandma's kitchen back in the 50's in an attempt to keep the songs and language from being lost and forgotten. There was a special mask that was hidden in the walls of the house so that it would not be confiscated. There were no more potlatches, feasts, ceremonies, poles, masks, singing, dancing, longhouses... I think Robert Davidson said they had just a couple songs and dances to celebrate the raising of his pole in '69. They had no masks and so a dancer that needed a mask used a paper bag over their head. When the potlatch ban was omitted from the Indian Act in 1951, the First Nations cultural activities were almost lost.


On the Friday night Grand Entrance, there were over a hundred of dancers; beautiful blankets (several raven's tail style woven), lots of cedar hats, 14 (?) huge box drums all painted inside, masks of all shapes and sizes: lots of eagle and raven with the clapping beak, a few killer whale, one mask had huge eyes that blinked, and there were several transformation masks. It was beautiful visual art. The sound of the drums and the power of so many voices singing was very cool. (I had lots of shiver down the spine moments over the weekend). The Haida culture is alive and well!


The drum beat was led by 'Gogeet' (?). The wild man or bigfoot of the forest. He was the first to come out, that is why there are no dancers yet :)

There was a feast both Friday night and Saturday night (fantastic soup!) and dance performances from groups all over the island and from Alaska. Throughout the weekend, Robert and Reg shared some wonderful inspiring words with all in attendance.

Here is the pole today infront of the church. We met there on Saturday afternoon. In the weeks before this event there were a few local guys who worked on restoring it; cleaned it up a bit and added some fresh paint.

Below are ladies dancing with Robert and Reg Davidson leading the singers.

At the Saturday night feast, a gift was presented; I will have to research the details to be sure who it was from and who it was to before posting. It was a painting of a photograph taken the day the pole was raised in 1969. The young men raising the pole are recognizable and so are many of the elders in the background. It gives a glimpse into the past of that historic day. On Monday morning, while I was at work, the painting went up at the Hospital lobby. It was decided this was an appropriate place to display for all the community to see.

My parents left on Monday with a full blown BC Ferry 'get off the rock' experience. The ferry was broken in Prince Rupert for a few days; three sailings were missed with one of them being their reserved spot on Saturday. Once the ferry made it to the island, they had to get in the stand-by lineup. But over night the winds picked up. They got into the lineup about 7am, spent the day waiting on the ferry and it did not leave Skidegate till 8pm due to a 'weather delay'.

Just a few more days of summer vacation... I'm looking forward to getting back into the school routine.

More Family Time

And then some aunts and uncles came up for a visit. What a crazy bunch of relatives. There was lots of eating, laughing, playing voilent games of 'spoons'... I learned that my stellar card playing techniques must have come from my dad's side of the family. Sorry uncle L, but your sister A had interesting card-playing strategies:)

The guys all went fishing one day, we did some beachcombing, had smokies over a fire on the beach even though I am pretty sure the fire ban was not lifted yet (oops), visited the museum in Skidegate, and hiked Tow Hill.

Here are almost all of us (we left D back on the trail. He had sore feet) out on the rocks at the Blow Hole. Lots of interesting tide pools.

Here is the platform trail through the trees. We spied out mushrooms along the way.

and D is getting pretty strong. I think I saw the balancing rock sway just a little.

Family Time

Well the family arrived in full force last weekend. My parents drove up, (they are here for 3 weeks and are renting their own PMQ) and my brother with preggo sis-in-law and little J flew up along with Opa (the GREAT grandpa) for a 4 day visit.


Papa and little J taking a walk.
Opa, my dad and I at the beach

At the same time, B's side of the family stayed at our place for their 5 day adventure. There was Grandma, auntie, uncle, 2 cousins and the dog. They never stopped. We barely got in the door from a morning out crabbing and Grandma says 'So what are we doing next? Are you ready to go yet? Where can I go shopping?' We sent her off to Fields and she came home with a bagfull of stuff.

We ate A LOT of crab.

The kids crabbed, quadded, snorkled and surfed like pros.

J and R had fun hanging out.

We also witnessed our first truck being lost to the ocean. We were out crabbing one foggy morning: I did not see the water line till I was about 20 ft away so I pulled a U-turn and headed back for a higher ground. We came upon this guy trying to shovel himself out of the wet sand just a few feet from the low tide line. Things went from bad to worse as the tide started to come in. We pushed, some guys from Smithers on quads pulled, then a truck with Alberta plates came along but by then the water was coming under the truck and he was sinking deeper. It was a case of a bunch of tourists trying to help this guy but they didn't have a local know-how to do it. I showed the video to our neighbour and he says 'what was the problem? I could have got him out'. I left my truck up on the sand bar. No way I was going out there to get stuck beside this guy too :)

A drive to the East Side

Last week, before all the family started arriving, the boys and I went out to Rose Spit and East Beach with some local friends for the day. This destination is probably the most 'out there' place I would ever go without B along and I would never go without another vehicle. We were going to pick wild strawberries but once the kids got into the water looking for crabs, there was no going pickin'. I did not know that the East side was closed to non-natives so my card carrying boys caught lunch for the gang.

There was good crab hunting in the tidal pools.

A feast on the beach!


And when the tide came in, the sand bar was a good runway from the warm tidal pool water to the cooler ocean water.


Unfortunately, J felt the wrath of a jelly fish and he was quite uncomfortable the ride back home.

July 09 Pictures

Maybe if I get a bunch of new pictures on here at one time it will make the posting easier: here it goes...

This is an action shot of the jello eating contest at cousin R's 9th birthday party in Vancouver. It was a lovely warm day (before the temperature kicked up a notch). We gave her a North Beach surf shirt, can't find that down in the city :)

We spent an evening at D&C's place. Here's another action shot of the sandal flinging contest... there is a little park behind their house and they were kicking off their shoes to go over the alley and up over the neighbours garage. No shoes were lost in the playing of this game. The boys also tried out the water balloon launcher and balloon rockets that D&C will take up to Princeton for the huge group camp out this summer.
Lounging on the new deck at D&C's place. AK came over for a visit too.

We spent a day at Kits watching the Beach Volleyball Tourney. Uncle B came out from Toronto to referee the event and soon-to-be Auntie J came from Cincinnati to hang with the family too.

J and grandpa had a front row seat at centre court.

We have had fantastic weather here the past week. Every morning starts of foggy but it clears up by mid day. Last weekend we went out at low tide behind the elephant cage. B made a fire, the boys rode the machines and we waited for the fog to lift. Then I got a sunburn :(

And there were super low tides last week; perfect for crabbing. The wind was very light so there were no crashing waves to make the crab catching difficult. It was the best day yet.

The crew of crab hunters.

And we have a freezer full of fish thanks to the two outings B has had. Here is B processing the fish in the backyard.

Here is the catch!

Now I will enjoy my last few lazy days until the waves of family start arriving in town all through August then it will be g0-go-go. From little cousin J at 1.5yrs old to Great Grandpa, we will have fun stuff to do with everyone!

I would rather be...

rolling pennies
peeling potatoes
pitting cherries
looking for the special lego piece in D's collection of 1000's.

the list could go on... but when there are 2 bags full of delicious cooked crab in the fridge, they must be shelled, packed, frozen and saved for another day. Apparently I should be canning it. no thanks. too much prep work for me. My back is killing me standing over the sink that long. B's pliers came in quite handy though.

I spent hours yesterday cleaning out the freshly caught and cooked batch; I made a hot crab dip and an orzo/veggi/crab salad to take to K's birthday party, where we ate even more crab... I got the leftovers to take home.

I have been using www.allrecipes.com for my crab and halibut recipes. Didn't even think to look on the oracle of all wonderful recipes www.mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot. Since when do us mennos cook seafood? My mom never did :) I just looked on there and there are a few. hmm. I guess we can.

How'aa

I just got home from a wild weekend in Vancouver picking up the boys. So much to do, so many people to see... and some of you were not even home when I stopped by unannounced :) We will be down again for a bit mid-September so maybe I'll catch you then!

So a big How'aa very very very much to everyone who spent time with our boys the past few weeks: thanks so much for your time, your caring, your spare room, your patience, your driving, your entertaining, your FOOD! They had a great visit with family and friends; reports back were that a good time was had by all, especially little cousin J.

The rest of July will be TBA around here. I am only working a few days a week to leave lots of room for FUN stuff like crabbing, fishing, beaching, camping, wave jumping... Then in August, we will be the official Masset Tour Guides (we should get T-shirts made) with all the family coming through town for a visit. More good times to come this summer :)

Looking forward to HAIDA GWAII MMA class happening tonight. Ben had a really good turn out last week and with the new equipment he just got, classes will be even tougher. I think we need MMA T-shirts too!

missing the boys

It has been really quiet here the last week. It's quite different without the boys around... there is little laundry to do and few dishes to wash. I quite enjoy the quiet lunch hour at home with B; maybe over summer, lunch would not have been so rushed anyways. I open the fridge and there is always food in there. We haven't even finished the jug of milk and the cheese has almost expired. So while they are in Van, we will enjoy the peace and quiet. My grubby, hungry, noisy, messy boys will be home soon :) but I do miss them.

Schools out for summer!

Here is a post I wrote last week but it takes more time to add the pics: so here it is, finally.

This is a very popular Guitar Hero song around here today! Yeah!

It has been a busy couple weeks, lots going on... no matter where you live, I think June is the craziest month of the year when you have kids in school. There is not a lot of schoolwork happening, just lots of fun stuff. We are not at the age yet where there is exam stress, but that will come soon enough.

It started off with a Track and Field meet in Sandspit. Only 4 lanes on the field, only 4 schools in the district. The boys won ribbons in a variety of colours. nice work.


Next was Sports Day and every class picked their own team colour. D's class was the pink team. There were a lot of girls in the class :)

We played baseball on nice evenings. Here is proof I was on the field and not sitting in the stands as a spectator huddled in a blanket. When the team was short on players the boys would be asked to play too. They were pretty pumped.

Last weekend we camped at the Hiellen River and caught a few crab. just delicious!

My mom flew in on Monday and has worked all week. She is a real trooper getting right back into the routine after being retired almost 5 years. I think she has met everyone on the hospital, has chatted up lots of patients, and is baking buns with the kitchen crew tomorrow morning. Have you met my mom yet?

Then we had Beach Day complete with a huge game of capture the flag, lots of tug-of-war challanges and hot dogs for lunch.

Yesterday was the awards assembly and both boys were on the stage for 'outstanding academic' awards and J got some math and athletic certificates too.

Today was the last day of class and with that comes report cards: they did great. And the grand finale of the day was a helicopter ride. My friend KM works at the airport and got us connected. It was a last minute arrangement so B was not able to make it but I took the boys and they each had a friend along for the ride. It was my first time in a chopper. J sat in the front and got to chat with the poilet.

There were 100's of sea loins along this sand bar.

I didn't know the end of Old Masset had this peninsula (I think that is what it is called?) We will hike out there and check it out sometime.

The boys had such a great year. School was fun, there was zero homework stress, J played every sport available (D will next year being in grade 6), D matured a lot this year (I think because I was working it forced him to 'stand on his own 2 feet' a bit more) and they made some good friends.