The Raven

Although we are told that there are a few birds that winter in Iqaluit, the only one we see is the Raven. They are everywhere! We were walking the dogs this morning, (Dec. 27th) and there was a flock of Ravens mowing down on something; they litterally eat almost anything. Anyway the dogs ran after them, as they usually do, and as usual they didn't catch them. It's fun to watch the interaction the dogs have with the Ravens. Ravens are touted to be very intelligent birds. I beleive it; after seeing how they seem to manipulate the dogs. Ocassionally they will hover over the dogs just out of reach and drive the poor puppies crazy. Quinn and Holly will jump for them, never quite reaching them.
A classic story, that I may have told in another blog, is where Quinn was trying to have a dump and a Raven was hovering over his head. He would just settle into a squat and the bird would almost touch the top of his head. Of course Quinn jumped up trying to catch the bird (the real joke is Jacquie and I have no idea what he would do if he ever caught it) Anyway, this happened 3 or 4 times. Poor Quinn never did finish his job, he had to seek out alternate, more protected surroundings for the "call of nature".

According to Wikipedia, the Common Raven, also known as the Northern Raven, is a large, all-black passerine bird. There are at least eight subspecies with little variation in appearance— although recent research has demonstrated significant genetic differences among populations from various regions. It is one of the two largest corvids, alongside the Thick-billed Raven, and is possibly the heaviest passerine bird; at maturity, the Common Raven averages 63 cm (25 inches) in length and 1.2 kg (2.6 pounds)(I have to say that some of the Ravens in Iqaluit even look bigger that that). Common Ravens typically live about 10 to 15 years in the wild, although lifespans of up to 40 years have been recorded. Young birds may travel in flocks, but later mate for life, with each mated pair defending a territory. (In town the territory must be small, since there are literally hundreds of Ravens in a relatively small geographical area).

The Common Raven has coexisted with humans for thousands of years and in some areas has been so numerous that it is considered a pest (like Iqaluit). Part of its success comes from its omnivorous diet; Common Ravens are extremely versatile and opportunistic in finding sources of nutrition, feeding on carrion, insects, cereal grains, berries, fruit, small animals, and food waste.

Just last week,there was a Raven perched on our front step. He had something in his mouth that he was chewing on. They are very bold birds and have no problem getting within a few feet of you. It's hard to determine whether it's because they have become quite tame being around us for so long, or they don't intimidate easily because of their size? They love the seal hunters and we are told that a flock will chew out a seal carcass in a matter of minutes.

The other interesting trait is that they can mimick sounds, much like a parrot. We have heard them sound like a bell, cawing like a crow, twittering and can squawk annoyingly loud when they want to.

One thing that Jacquie and I have wondered about is how they stay warm. For example it's -28C this morning without the wind chill and there are many Ravens out flying around. You would think that when it's so cold that flying would increase the wind chill and make it uncomfortable for them. It certainly doesn't seem to. There is no doubt they are very hardy birds.

I for one am happy that the Raven is native to Iqaluit. They are the only animal that is in abundance in town and it gives the place a less desolate feel. There is also no doubt that Iqaluit would be a much different place without the presence of the Raven.

Rotary Christmas Hampers

Jacquie and I had an awesome opportunity today to participate in the packing and distributing of 125-150 Rotary Christmas Hampers. As well, there were 35 turkeys distributed seperately as there were some late additions and the organizers wanted all families to receive something.

We all met at the Cadet Hall at 9:00 AM this morning (Saturday December 17th) and there were skids full or food. Each box received 14 items like peanut butter, flour, potatoes, coffee, carrots, baking powder, fruit cake and the like.
We were surprised at the number of people that showed up to help. There were probably 30-40 Rotarians and their family members there packing the boxes.
All the boxes were packed in 1 and 1/2 hours. One of the Rotary members had the distribution process down to a tee. He had a number of maps with 7 or 8 locations identifed on each map. Jacquie and I ended up with two maps and 16 hampers to distribute. Being newer to town, we had some difficulty finding all of the places, however after a little trial and error, we found all the residences.
The recipients were very appreciative with one older gentleman shaking hands with us and talking to us in one of the inuit languages for some length of time. Almost all of the famlies that we went to also had small children that were very exited to see us.
It really gives you a good feeling to be able to do something nice at Christmas time and Jacquie and I were so very happy to be able to help. Also, for me it reinforced my understanding of just how blessed Jacquie and I are. Merry Christmas to all!!

Groceries in Iqaluit

We've had quite a few people ask us about the cost of food. Well I thought I would give you a glimpse into our weekly groceries. There are three grocery stores that we visit. Our main store is Northmart. This is the main of main stores. Everyone at some point in time visits Northmart. We often call it Walmart, although it is nothing like Walmart.

Another store we frequent is called Arctic Ventures. It's a smaller grocery store and has some good deals. Arctic Ventures has three parts to its store: groceries (no fresh meats or veggies), the Source is on the second floor to the right and to the left you can purchase clothing, souvenirs and a myriad of other items.

Our last grocery store is the Iqaluit Cannery, why it's called this we're not quite sure. If you think of a co-op you have this place. An out of the way, tucked backed into a corner, wouldn't know a grocery store even existed and has odd open and close times. This place offers some good deals and when we have time to price compare Larry and I will "shop around."

So, below is some typical pricing:

1 green pepper $ 1.72
1.5 L juice $ 8.99
8kg bag dog food $ 42.39
1 can dog food $ 3.49
12 can orange crush $ 13.99
1 pkg romaine lettuce hrt $ 6.25
1 tomato $ 2.16
1 lb butter $ 6.39
1 can mushroom soup (on sale) $ 1.45
1 bag chips (on sale) $ 7.39

Our Wednesday Eating Club

Our Wednesday evening dinners have developed into an eating club of sorts. It started out 3 or 4 weeks ago, with us inviting Natdin (SP ?) from work for dinner. He is an East Indian from Guelph that is the Finance Manager at work. His family is back in Guelph and we all decided that it was good for all of us to get together for an ocassional dinner. So 2 weeks ago, he came over and said that he would like to make us an Indian traditional dish. Last week, he and another friend from work, Curtice came over and Nadtin made us curried vegetables and rice. This week it has been decided that we will have a "crock pot" creation; a stew of sorts. And next week, Curtis has agreed to make us a meal using in part, as a tool, his super duper blender!!
The first week we had talapia, roasted potatoes and mixed vegetables, with a bottle of wine. The second week we had "Cloyne style chicken cacciatore" with a beer before dinner and wine with dinner. And last week we had the Curried Vegetables with a cocktail before dinner and some wine with dinner. The first couple of weeks we watched a movie after dinner. Nitdin likes action movie's (in fact the more violence the better); so the first week we watched "the Born Sepremacy" and the second week we watched "Casino Royale". Last Wednesday we played Trivial Pursuit. We didn't know that Curtis is a trivial pursuit champion and of course Jacquie's no slouch either!! Natdin and I got our perverbial asses whipped!! It was a lot of fun though.
We are all looking forward to this Wednesday to see what the crock pot produces. And then we are curious about what Curtis is going to concock from his super duper blender.
Our Wednesday night Eating Club has become something that Jacquie and I look forward to, for the fellowship, great food and a bit of a change in our regular daily routine!!

The Iqaluit Christmas Parade

Today, December 11 is the day that Santa Clause came to Iqaluit. Of course Santa didn't have that far to go. In fact we are so close to the North Pole that our Postal Code has a (HO) in it. (X0A 0H0)
At noon today the parade started from downtown. It went right by our house. We took the dogs out to watch, however they got cold so we had to bring them back in before the parade actually got here. We could hear it long before we could see it.
It was cool today with the temperature at -17C with the wind chill at -30C. And you could tell that the people on the floats were quite cool, however they all seemed very enthusiatic!!
The one thing that we missed in the parade was a band. There were a number of floats and many floats were throwing candy. In fact, when Jacquie and I came home, I had my fill and ended up with a belly ache!
There were very good crowds out to watch the parade. In our area of town, cars were backed in on the side of the street with people peering out through the windows. The hardy, or some might say fool-hardy (Jacquie and I fit into that catagory) were out in person along the parade route cheering on the participants with vigor!
It wasn't as long a parade as we are used to in Brockville, however it was well intended and well attended. And of course Santa was cheered and Ho Ho Ho 'ing all along the parade route. Jacquie and I had fun watching the children watch the parade (Ok I admit, I really enjoyed the parade itself!!) I love Santa!! :-)

Christmas Trees at the Legislature

I had the awesome opportunity to go to the legislature on Friday to pick up some boxes from our previous Minister's office, the Honorable Mr. Curley. There was just a big cabinet shuffle and we ended up with a new Minister for the Nunavut Housing Corporation. As a matter of interest, Jacquie's Ministry, the Environment received a new Minister out of the shuffle too the Honorable James Arreak.
Anyway, while I was at the legislature, I was intrigued with the very nicely decorated trees. There was a number of them in the foyer. In chatting with the security guard I found out that every year all of the Public Schools in Iqaluit and area have the opportunity to set up and decorate a tree in the foyer of the Legislature. The Premier and Speaker of the house, greet the children from the schools as they are decorating the trees. Apparently it is quite an event that the children in the area look forward to each year!

Typical Day

Now that Jacquie and I have been in Iqaluit for 7 weeks, we have settled into a routine. On a typical weekday, we would get up about 6:45. Jacquie sets her cell phone alarm. Sometimes she hits the snooze and I certainly don't complain!

We get dressed and take the dogs for a walk. If it's not too cold and the wind isn't blowing too hard, we go towards the local school. Behind and beside the school there is a wide open area that we let the dogs off lead and they go and do their business. The walk in total is usually 15 - 20 minutes. Jacquie always puts the coffee on auto the night before, so it is ready in the morning. So she pours the coffee and I feed the dogs. Next we have a shower. We have developed the habit of showering together (saves hot water and our backs get cleaned) Then dressed, breakfast and get ready for work. We usually take our squash stuff, since most days we go to the club after work. When we return from the walk in the morning we plug in the jeep. So before we leave for work the dogs are let out and the jeep is started to give it a chance to warm up. The dogs are out for 5 minutes or so and then they are hussled back into the house and off we go to work. Its about 7:50 or so and there isn't much traffic on the road. Jacquie gets dropped off first and then I pick up my boss (John Connor - he is acting CFO at present) John lives across the parking lot from where Jacquie works. Actually, I usually drop Jacquie off at the building where John lives, since there is a Tim Horton's on the main floor.
We both work for the morning (work will be the topic of another blog) and then it's lunch time - YEAH!! I usually leave for lunch around 11:40 to beat the traffic. Interestingly the worst time for traffic in Iqaluit is at noon and 5:00pm.

I pick Jacquie up and we head home to let out the dogs. I usually let the dogs out while Jacquie makes lunch. Quite often its soup and a sandwich. She is an excellent lunch maker and it always "hits the spot". Just before we leave to go back to work, we let the dogs out for a few minutes and then back to work. Usually by 12:35ish. Same routine as the morning. Jacquie gets dropped off first and then I go to work. Jacquie's work is down town, perhaps 3 or so KM from our house and my work is another 2 KM or so from where Jacquie works. My office is exactly kitty-corner from where we live. We live in the south east part of town and I work in the north west part of town.
Anyway, after work, I usually drop John off at his place and pick up Jacquie. Most days we go to the squash club, which is fairly close to where Jacquie works. We would normally play squash or work out for an hour or so!
Then, you know what they say "after action satisfaction" we would normally have a beer and head home.

As soon as we are home, we take the dogs for a walk. Normally a pretty good walk, weather permitting like a 1/2 or so.
We treat ourselves well from a food perspective. There was a meat man (that's what we call him) from Ottawa that was selling boxes of meat, so we purchased steaks (both rib eye and strip loin), chicken breasts, chicken strips, lamb chops, sole, talapia and pork tenderloins. So almost every night we eat meat, salad and vegetable and sometimes a potato or fries for supper.
After supper, a movie, TV, internet or a little guitar playing and then to bed we go. Usually in bed by 10:00PM - 10:30PM.
It probably sounds pretty boring, however we really have a pretty good time although admittedly both Jacquie and I look forward to the weekends!!

Nunavut Trivia

Here are a few pieces of trivia about Iqaluit and Nunavut:
Nunavut came to be as the largest Canadian Territory on April 1, 1997
Nunavut is the 5th largest country subdivision in the world
Current population of Nunavut is approx. 33,000
Nunavut has one of the lowest population densities in the world with, half that of Greenland.
Nunavut has the highest rock face in the world at Mount Thor, 4500ft high.
The Nunavut budget is approx. 700 million dollars per year.
Inuit children communicate all is okay or yes and no by raising or lowering their eyebrows.

Iqaluit (Frobisher Bay)was founded in 1942 as an American Airforce Base
Frobisher Bay grew significant in the mid 1950's as a main DEW (Distance Early Warning) line point
In 1959 the Canadian Government established services like doctors, schools, Post Office and the like in Frobisher Bay
Frobisher Bay's name was formally changed to Iqaluit in 1981
Iqaluit has the second highest tides in the world at around 30 feet, second only to the Bay of fundy
Iqaluit was the host of the G-7 economic summit in February of 2010
The Runway at the Iqaluit airport is long enough for the Space shuttle Challenger to land, it has one of the longest runways in Canada.
The Road to Nowhere was built prior to the Queen's visit to Iqaluit so she could get out on the arctic tundra. It goes 10 Km towards the middle of Baffin Island and stops; it literally goes nowhere!

We will add trivia to this posting as we hear about it!

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The Nunavut flag: The red represents Canada with the yellow vertical left half and a white vertical right half. The centre man made stone symbol is called an inukshuk and there is the blue 5 pointed star. The riches of the land and sky are the colors blue and gold, the inukshuk symbolizes the stone monuments which guide the people on the land and mark sacred and other special places. The north Star, nitirqsuituq, is the traditional guide for navigation, which we still use today.

The Cold Has Come (Nov. 21 - 25)

This has been a cold week. The temperature hovered around -25C to -28C and with the wind chill was consistently under -40C. One thing that's a little scary is that the locals are telling us that we haven't seen anything yet!
There were a few things that we noticed about the cold weather. Firstly, it's amazing how quickly the dogs can "do their business" when there's an incentive. Typically we take them for a 20 minute walk and half way through the walk we let them off their lead and give them some time to complete their natural calling. When it's really cold, Quinn especially wants no part of a walk. He goes outside walks to the closest snow bank, pees and takes 4 more steps to the ditch, has a dump and is back at the door before you can turn around.

The auto dynamics in the cold is interesting. We had a few people from work that came in late this week because they couldn't get their car started. Knock on wood, however our little 1990 Jeep Wrangler started every morning and every night after work.

When we let the dogs out in the morning about 6:45 am, we plug in the jeep and leave for work about 7:50, so it gets about an hour of "plug in" time. Along with a block heater it has a cab heater that activates automatically on plugging in the vehicle. Apparently a lot of vehicles up here come with that option. This heats up the cab, so when we get in to go to work, it's quite comfortable. Another interesting tidbit about cold weather driving is once you get out on the road, the exhaust kind of freezes in the air. This causes visability issues which is a lot like fog on the roads. This is particularly an issue at stop signs where vehicles are not moving. The exhaust literally freezes in the air when leaving the car in front of you. You need to be very careful not to drive into the car in front of you.
The other very interesting thing is getting ready to go outside!! Jacquie and I work at getting ready to go outside to stay warm in the elements. We have lined pants or long johns and put on snow pants over them. We normally have a tee shirt, over shirt and sweater on. Then there are the sorel's for the feet and the down-filled Canada Goose parka's. I wear a hat under the parka's hood and down-filled mitts or very well insulated gloves. Jacquie has a balaclava that makes her look a little like a gangster then a toque under her hood. What I'm getting at is that it takes 10 minutes to get ready to go outside. For anyone who knows me well and interestingly, Jacquie has the same trait, it means we can't be the last minute poeple that we usually are. It takes 10 to 15 extra minutes for each excursion outside. And believe me, you do want to take the time to get properly dressed. I have tried a couple of times to take short cuts and almost froze my perverbial balls off.

The cold is not all bad. We have a glimpse of Frobisher Bay from our front window and a beautiful view of the bay on our drive to and from work. The cold weather initiates a mist that rises from the bay. With the sun shining on it, it is one of the most beautiful views I have witnessed and there is no description that would do justice to just how beautiful it is.

Qikiqtani Gala - First Air Gala

We attended the inaugral Qikiqtani Gala, formerly known as the First Air Gala. It's the event of the year as it's an excuse for everyone to get dressed up. At the event we saw everything from ballroom gowns, simple black dresses and jeans (although not too many pairs of jeans). Qikiqtani is the name of the newest airline that will serve northern communities and is supported by First Air airlines.

The event was held at the Arctic winter games facility, which was handy as it was just a 10 minute walk from our home. The only problem was the fact it was -42 (with the windchill) so there was no walking and we did a little praying that the vehicle would start when it was time to go home. The Gala puts 100% of the monies made in ticket sales towards community projects. Quite impressive actually and the Frobisher Bay Hotel closed its restaurant for the evening so it could cater the event. If I were to guess I would estimate there were at least 500-600 people. I'm probably off in my guessing but suffice it to say the arena was full.

The evening started with speeches and opening "grace." The meal was excellent!! The caterers did an excellent job. In fact, I haven't seen as many choices as we saw on a buffet in a long time. Following the meal we were entertained by the band Atomic out of Montreal. They played a good mix of songs and everyone was up and dancing. We danced up a storm!

After the bands first set the door prizes were drawn which consisted of 5 or 6 round trips for two anywhere First Air flies which we had our fingers crossed for, but others were the lucky winners. They also had a couple of draws for 300kg (I think that was the weight) of free freight which would have been a very sweet deal for the winner. Again, we felt very happy for those that did win.

Overall a successful and very enjoyable evening.

We will remember....

Rememberance Day ceremonies have special meaning for many different reasons; not the least of which is remembering those that have gone before us to provide us what we have today. On November 11th Larry and I attended the ceremony held at the cadet hall here in Iqaluit. I'll discuss the cadet hall in a bit.

The ceremony was inside and I must say there was standing room only. The hall, which is a fair size, was packed. Larry and I arrived early which was a good thing as there wasn't an empty seat to be found. The Air cadet squadron provided the "sentry," the legion provided the colour party and the RCMP were a strong presence. What was missing, other than one or two officers and a Warrant Officer was a military presence. Something I hadn't really seen before. Everywhere you go, that I remember, down south there is a good military presence. At this ceremony there was only the officer escorting the commissioner and the Detachment Commander for the Northern Detachment. The largest contingent was the RCMP officers who were employed with the Iqaluit detachment.

The ceremony overall was very well done. The legion conducted the ceremony, one of the cadets provided the bugle (trumpet) and a local choir also performed at the ceremony. The choir was amazing.

In this picture is the Commissioner of Nunavut and the legions parade commander.

This picture shows the "makeshift" cenotaph. Many families and organizations laid wreaths. Overall a very good ceremony. Everyone attending the ceremony was in their "sunday best" and very open to engaging in conversation. Actually the commissioner made a point of talking to many people in attendance and was a welcomed presence to the ceremony. Even Larry and I had our little minute of introduction. I think that is one contrast from down south; our dignitaries tend to be inaccessible.

So, I mentioned that the parade was conducted in the cadet hall. There are many units down south that would be jealous of the facilities that the cadets have here in Iqaluit. For those that have seen Trenton Air Cadet Summer Training Centre's cadet canteen, I would say the cadet hall is probably at least 3x the size. It's an impressive facility with lots of possibility. The senior cadets were very well turned out and did their unit proud. Unlike down south, I could ask almost anyone in Iqaluit and they could tell you about the cadet program. Everyone is well versed on the cadets and the opportunities. The legion is the sponsor of the cadet unit. Of course, there was also ranger representation at the ceremony. Although I only recall seeing one or two.

More about the cadet unit in a later blog.

Our First Run In With the RCMP

And we hope our last!!!! Last Thursday night (November 10) we were heading home from the squash club in our 1990 Jeep Wrangler. To back up a little bit, we took the Wrangler (affectionately called hem or roid, depending on the day) into the garage to have it looked at because it was stalling when we slowed down or stopped at stop signs. The way the mechanic fixed the problem was to turn up the idle, so it was idling at 2000 - 2500 RPM's, especially when the jeep was first started. So, last Thursday night we had just started the jeep after a great squash game and workout and we were heading home. Then all of a sudden, there were the red spinning lights in our rearview mirror and low and behold, we were being pulled over! So, the very first thing the Police Officer asked was, do you know why I pulled you over?? And in all honestly I told him that I had no idea (I know, sometimes that is a ploy to divert one's own guilt, however in this case I really had no idea why I was being pulled over.) He told me that I was going 52 KM per hour in a 30 KM per hour zone. The funny thing was that the jeep was in third gear, and I didn't even have my foot on the gas. In fact, I think what happened was it sped up when I my foot accidently slipped off the break. There was one other factor involed, which was a 70km tail wind. As a side note on Friday night winds hit 100 Km per hour. Our whole house shook, like one of those beds in a cheap hotel room after a quarter is inserted. Anyway, the officer, who turned out to be a fine young man (mainly because he didn't give me a ticket) asked for my drivers license and our insurance and ownership. My drivers license hasn't been switched yet from an Ontario to a Nunavut license.
Now that's a whole story in itself. The readers digest version is that to get a Nunavut drivers license, I need a medical because I have a D/M license instead of just a G license. Anyway, I have been calling and trying to get an appointment to get the medical. Aparently there is currently a shortage of doctors in Iqaluit, so non emergency appointments have been put on hold.
In this case, I think it worked in our favour. When the officer noted that I had an Ontario drivers license and the ownership had been switched within the last 2 weeks, he just politely said that the speed limit in this area of town is 30 KM per hour. I assured him that I appreciated the information and would do my very best to keep the speed of the vehicle in line.

I'm happy to say that the end result was no ticket, although I'm sure Jacquie is convinced that it won't be too long before my foot will slip off the break again and I'll be caught! :-)

The Squash Club

Jacquie and I have joined the local squash club called the Frobisher Bay Racket Club. For me it was a god send. I really enjoy playing squash and the thought of not being able to play it in Iqaluit was a bit of a downer. When we realized there was a squash club up here we were very pleased. Now, I must say that I had a huge amount of fun at the Royal Brock and all of my squash playing pals are second to none. You guys are wonderful and will never be able to be replaced.
Jacquie and I have been pleasently surprised with the squash club in Iqaluit. It was a bit expensive to join, however has 3 squash courts, a work out room with free weights and multiple strength building equipment as well as a small room with arobic machines. In the change room there is a hot tub and a steam room. Upstairs there is a games room with a shuffle board, pinpong table, pool table, darts and a few TV's throughout the club.
Being a private club they are allowed to have a liquor license and there is a very well stocked bar. The prices are about the cheapest we have seen in Iqaluit with a beer being $5.00. In the few ordinary bars there are in Iqualuit a beer is typically about $9.00. Also, the food is very good, and again very reasonable priced for the north.
Jacquie and I are sub's for the leaque and we have played a few matches. We reserve the weekends to play together and try to find matches within the club thoughout the week. They seem to be very big on doing drills at the club and Jacquie has joined a number of lady's that get out regularly and do drills for what seems like hours at a time. My first match was with a lady named Jesica who is ranked nationally and goes all over for tournaments. Not surprisingly she won the match. Last Thursday I played the guy who is first or second ranked in the club and faired quite well getting a game from him in a best of 5 match. He only started playing squash 2 years ago, however was a national badminton champion and is young and very very fit. After the 4 games he was barely breaking a sweat and I needed a cot and a defibrillator. Tonight I played the 5th or 6th ranked guy and we are at about the same level. Again though a young player and in excellent shape!
One of the real encouraging signs about the club is that I'm told there are over 100 squash players many of whom are beginners or at the novice level. Squash is certainly alive and well in Iqaluit!!
All in all, Jacquie and I are very much enjoying our membership at the frobisher Bay Racquet club and we both think we have lost a couple of pounds from our activity at the club .........bonus!!!

The Promise of Pictures (Part 2)

One big park up here is Sylvia Grinnell National Park, we actually found it by accident one day. There are some really great paths and I'm looking forward to seeing the spring and summer colours.

Of course we had to add the dogs.`Someone asked me if it's flat in Iqaluit. The answer is a simple no, there is no such thing as flat.

Holly loves it up here as you can see with her big "dog" smile. We'll see if she still has that smile come January..:0)

The boaters will stay on the water right until the bitter end.

The bright yellow building in the forefront is the airport. No missing that building....

Although some pictures may look bleak to you; in person they're quite beautiful. It's getting dark now before 1530 hrs(3:30 pm) and that is taking a little getting use to........

The promise of some pictures

We've had a few requests for pictures and we've promised that we would post some pictures. If you've been on our facebook site you would have seen some of these but now you will have the benefit of some description.

The first picture is a shot of the town. Although it is a bit of a bleak day one can almost see that many of the pictures are different colours. In fact, down in the "core" of where I work we have the blue bldg, salmon bldg and the yellow bird build......can you guess the bldg colours...:0)

As stated in an earlier blog we live in lego land. We have a modest two bedroom, one floor home that is perfect for us and the dogs.

On a good day we would spend at leat $24 on cab fare. So, we bought wheels. A 1990 Jeep Wrangler that was like gold to us. Down south none of us would even give it a second glance.....we were in 7th heaven. We won't tell you what we paid cuz you would all just shake your heads, but it's the reality of being in the great white north.

WE love our jeep!!!!