The Arctic Post » Etienne http://www.thearcticpost.ca Life Adventures in the Canadian Arctic Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:39:34 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc http://www.thearcticpost.ca http://www.thearcticpost.ca/wp-includes/images/favicon.ico The Arctic Post My first iglu! http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2010/03/my-first-iglu/ http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2010/03/my-first-iglu/#comments Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:12:38 +0000 Etienne http://www.thearcticpost.ca/?p=1318 This weekend, I had my first visit of a real iglu.

Our neighbors had visitors over this last week and built an iglu just outside of town. They slept in it on Wednesday night. The weather didn’t cooperate too much during the building process but it turned out pretty good according to them. As I said, I went and visited it this weekend and what I ended up seeing was only half an iglu unfortunately. The weather has been so nice that it partially caved in because of the sun beating on one side and the temperature being so warm. It was above freezing for a few hours. The fact that the dog jumped on top of it might also have something to do with the cave in. I still got to see what it looks like and how the blocks are put together. I was still quite impressed that the still standing structure could be that sturdy even with half of it gone. Hopefully I’ll get to see the actual process of building one sometime!

The entrance to the iglu

The inside of the iglu viewed from the outside...if that makes any sense...

The ceiling.

Kayalaaq standing inside the iglu

Siku running next to the snowmobile on the way back

She was one tired puppy after that run!

]]> http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2010/03/my-first-iglu/feed/ 5 CIDC Cup http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2010/03/cidc-cup/ http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2010/03/cidc-cup/#comments Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:12:15 +0000 Etienne http://www.thearcticpost.ca/?p=1311 This weekend was the CIDC (Chesterfield Inlet Development Corp.) Cup, a hockey tournament just for fun.

Money was also raised to send kids to a hockey tournament in Rankin Inlet. Buy tickets and get chances to win prizes! The tournament was held over three days and there were 4 teams of mixed ages plus 2 teams of young kids (under 9 years old). Lots of people showed up. I have to say that it’s the first time that I’m in a non climate controlled arena. There were constantly chunks of ice falling from the ceiling onto the ice surface and where the spectators stood. It keeps you on your toes. I had a near hit once on Saturday afternoon. I should probably bring a helmet next time!

]]> http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2010/03/cidc-cup/feed/ 2 Valentine’s Day Breakfast http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2010/02/valentines-day-breakfast/ http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2010/02/valentines-day-breakfast/#comments Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:24:11 +0000 Etienne http://www.thearcticpost.ca/?p=1223 Before anyone says anything, I know I’m late in posting this. On the 12th of February, the school organized a Valentine’s Day breakfast for the whole hamlet. We were recruited by the school to help out. The cooking started at 7:00 AM. That meant that I had to get up at 6:00 AM. It was the earliest wake up in a long time! We showed up at the school and mixed pancake batter and cooked bacon until 9:30. It was lots of fun and it seemed to have been a success There were very little leftovers. 14 boxes of Aunt Jemima is a lot of pancakes…

My posts are shorter than Carly’s! LOL That’s it for now…

Heart shaped pancake

A lovely heart shaped pancake graciously prepared by Ana

Thanks Mike for the photo!

]]> http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2010/02/valentines-day-breakfast/feed/ 5 It’s been a long time coming! http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2010/02/its-been-a-long-time-coming/ http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2010/02/its-been-a-long-time-coming/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 08:01:34 +0000 Etienne http://www.thearcticpost.ca/?p=1183 Well, well, well… Look who decided to show itself properly: good old aurora borealis.

I finally got a chance to snap a few photos. They’re not the best but I’m sure I’ll have the opportunity to take some more while we’re up here. They were moving very quickly so they are somewhat blurry and not as defined as I wanted them to be. All in all, they did turn out OK. It’s too bad that Carly wasn’t here to see them. (Yes, I do know how to work a keyboard and type up a post when I have to ;-) )  Here’s my favorite.

Aurora Borealis

If any other northerners have tips on how to get the best photos, a comment is always appreciated!

]]> http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2010/02/its-been-a-long-time-coming/feed/ 10 So many comments! http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2009/10/so-many-comments/ http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2009/10/so-many-comments/#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:39:02 +0000 Etienne http://www.thearcticpost.ca/?p=710 So it was a secret but there was a contest for who would be the person to write the 200th comment on our blog. This milestone was reached this Halloween night by Darlie. Congratulations Darlie!! Your prize will go out in the mail as soon as you email us at contests(at)thearcticpost.ca with your mailing address.

For everyone else’s knowledge, there will be another prize for the 300th comment and maybe for other occasions too ;-)

]]> http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2009/10/so-many-comments/feed/ 2 99 bottles on the wall… (or something to the effect of) http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2009/08/99-bottles-on-the-wall-or-something-to-the-effect-of/ http://www.thearcticpost.ca/2009/08/99-bottles-on-the-wall-or-something-to-the-effect-of/#comments Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:55:09 +0000 Etienne http://www.thearcticpost.ca/?p=117 So the other day, while I was at work, Carly decided that it was time to do a bit of cleanup. Time for the bottles to meet their creator!!! (or end up at the bottle depot). By living in Alberta, I have learned that the process of getting your deposit money back for the bottles is not that easy. You have to sort them all and count them before you go to the bottle depot. It’s rarely open. Well, never opened when you want to go anyways. Here’s what the pile looked like. Carly must have thought it was photo worthy because she took a snap of it!

Bottles

I have to admit there were quite a few bottles/tetrapaks/milk cartons.

22 Milk cartons (there’s not too many because it just started to be returnable)
72 Tetrapaks
253 Cans
128 Beer cans (Most of them graciously offered by my ex-neighbor, he didn’t want to count them before moving in July)
47 plastic bottles
47 Glass bottles

The day before we wanted to bring the bottles, we were at the vet getting Cisco her vaccines and decided to go by the bottle depot to check the hours. It’s opened Wednesday to Saturday 10:00 to 15:00. Saturday comes, we load all the bottles in the truck, drive to the bottle depot just to stare at a big spray painted sign saying “Saturday: Bottle Depot Closed” Couldn’t they have the sign up at least a day in advance??? So we drove back home and unloaded the bottles just to start all over again later in the week…

The joys of moving…. I’m grateful that Carly did that while I was working ;-)

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