Coast to North

Winter

2012-02-01T11:52:00.000-08:00

There was a fall here - actually a beautiful one - but life went by so fast that I completely missed writing during it. So now we are in the middle of what is turning out to be a very strange winter. Shh, don't say it too loud... but we have not been the cold and frozen North this year! It has actually been unseasonably warm, we had one really cold stretch for about 4 days and other than that it has been between +5 and -9 it seems. It has also been a lot cloudier and we have received very little snow, compared to normal. I am not certain what this will mean for the long term, but for the short term everyone up here is enjoying the warmer temperatures. Well, everyone except for Hubby. He was really missing the snow... we didn't have enough to go snowmobiling until recently.

Allan snowmobiling... the only time so far this winter!

Apparently though, one of the ski hills that is nearest us (up here something that is near is within a days drive, this particular hill is about 2.5 - 3 hours away) has the most snow of any ski hill in North America (as of the other day anyway). So we are planning to head up there soon and try out snowboarding. The kids are very excited to try snowboarding - I am a little uncertain! I was never a very good skier, I don't see that I will be any good at snowboarding - but I will give it a shot!

My 10 year old!

Other than that, winter has been a flurry of activities with the kids sports (basketball and speed-skating, currently), school, birthdays (Maria is TEN!!), the High on Ice Festival (was fabulous but the sculptures are all melted already!), and life in general. Life is good.

Summer Fun!

2011-08-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

Summer arrived late this year and apparently we may have frost tonight - so summer is leaving early, but we sure enjoyed it while it was here!

This year, more than any other so far, we have really enjoyed Charlie Lake. We have been kayaking a few more times (still with just the kids boats) - Maria and I really enjoyed it the other evening as a storm was approaching - we got to ride the waves!

We have also been fishing... a lot!! Michael has finally figured out the secrets of fishing at Charlie Lake and has had quite a bit of success this year - enough that he catches something almost every trip. So far there have been numerous walleyes and quite a few pike... so far no sign of the fish that is supposed to look like an eel (thank goodness!).

The kids have each had a turn bringing in a fish as well, which was a lot of fun for them, especially Allan. He is hooked now (no pun intended!) and often requests to go fishing.

kids are calling so this is it for now... more to come!!

Kayaks!!

2011-08-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

Before heading off to the houseboat this summer, we purchased some inexpensive Pelican Solo Kayaks from Canadian Tire. These have been awesome. The kids have played on these so much already... at the houseboat they paddled them around for hours. We also pulled one, with a kid on it, behind the zodiac! These little kayaks are so strong and sturdy and they are so stable that the only time the kids have fallen off was when they tried to fall off... and it was no problem at all to get back on. I even went out and paddled a few times and it was great fun.

Since coming home from the houseboat, we have taken the kids to Charlie Lake and they paddled around and explored and are still really enjoying them... They have also figured out that the boats are so stable that they can stand in them and use them like paddle boards, which is particularly fun when other boats go by and they can ride the waves that come in.

So the outcome of these inexpensive toys... is that they are not going to be inexpensive for long. Hubby and I have watched the kids go out and have so much fun that we have decided WE would like kayaks too... and of course the adult version of kayaks are a fair bit more money! However, it looks like something we can do as a family and spend a day out on the lake (and maybe the river if we practice a lot more!) and use for years and years... I want to play too!

Mid-July

2011-07-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

Well, we are now in the middle of July and the common question around town is... are we ever going to get summer?!?! Up here that is pretty much the truth as we only have about a month left for a potential summer, before the colder weather starts in! We have had three weeks of rain - although there have been the odd nice day thrown in to tease us! There have been three different weeks of flooding - I feel bad for the people who have been in the low areas - I can not imagine cleaning up after a flood only to have it flood again less than a week later! We have major roads that have been washed out and worse than that we have BUGS!!

I can't even describe how bad the bugs are this year... they have had so much standing water to multiply in it is ridiculous. A brief foray out to the garden to see how my stunted, water-logged veggies are doing results in a mad-dash back into the house sporting a number of new bites. A few weeks ago it was (I was told) gnats - my daughter had bites all over the back of her neck, behind her ears and on her forehead. These little bugs would leave a trickle of blood behind as they took a chunk out of her, leaving her a complete mess. Now we are inundated with mosquitoes...

We had some visitors last week and we were very limited with the activities we could take them to do, as a result of the rain, high rivers, mud and bugs... however we dragged them around as best we could! When they left here they were certainly looking a little worse for wear and covered with bug bites! It was a lot of fun and we are so glad they made the trek up - although I don't know if they will ever want to come back!!

Another thing we have been having to deal with this summer is vehicles. Hubby's truck self-destructed a few weeks ago, while he was working a 3-4 weeks of straight night-shifts at work. As such we never really had to worry about it because he was working nights, so he used the van when we didn't need it and we used it when he didn't need it. Now that he is back to his normal schedule at work, we are starting to notice the lack of a vehicle. For instance yesterday and today he is at work, with the van, and we are at home without any transportation. We took it as an opportunity to try out the local transit system yesterday.

We have a bus stop three houses down (and around the corner), so we caught a bus there and headed down-town. We wound up at the mall, bought some shoes for the kids and some groceries that we needed, had lunch and then hopped on a bus at the mall back home. We had to get a transfer to get home, but that was easy enough, and all in all - I was impressed! I have always been intimidated by public transit and transfers and what bus goes where... but it was easy and if I didn't know which of the three buses to get on, the drivers were all friendly and helpful. It was clean and bright and not at all yucky - and we got a little giggle at the lady who waited ten minutes for the bus at the mall and got off the bus at Walmart across the street... I don't think I am prepared to give up my vehicle entirely and replace it with buses but it is good to know that in a pinch, or if desired - that option is there.

Well, I have just looked outside and I see the rain has started again... my daughters summer camp starts tomorrow, I think we can forget the sunscreen, maybe a snorkle instead!

Pouting...

2011-06-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

When will this rain END?!!? It has been raining off and on for about a week or two but today it has rained ALL day - not even a peek at the sun today... I don't like it.

Tomorrow is the kids soccer tournament - it had better be better weather, we are going to be out there from 8:30 until after 6!!

I will stop pouting soon, but not yet.

This spring...

2011-06-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

We had the most amazing May... it was hot and dry and beautiful and green! I have never noticed this much green up here... and flowers and trees galore! At the kids school I walked by a tree, which I have walked by almost every single day for the past three years without noticing it, and this year the tree was spectacular. I am fairly certain it is a variety of crab apple but its flowers were red and almost resembled an azalea - and the smell!! It was really amazing.

I think that there have been more varieties of trees and flowers blooming and green showing than in the past years due to our earlier than usual thaw. I don't know when our last frost was - but I think it was near the end of April. I kept expecting one in May - every other year I have planted my garden too soon and then had snow and or frost come along and spoil my plans. This year I kept waiting and it never did frost or snow through May. So I finally planted veggies and a few flowers near the end of May... which is of course, why we got snow last week. Although thank goodness it didn't seem to frost at all and the snow was gone quickly - we are back to normal weather, although a bit rainy!

Another result of our lack of a late frost (at least I think so) are mosquitoes. Before we moved up here everyone kept talking about the bugs up here and how bad they are. I have not been bothered by bugs at all since we moved up. There are certain areas - at marshy lakes and in the woods, where there will be more mosquitoes, but not in my yard. It was no different than anywhere else I have been - until this year. I think that normally the late frost must kill off a bunch, because this year without a late frost - holy crap!! It doesn't matter what time of day or how hot it is - they were out there biting! I am hoping that the snow killed the little buggers because that was most unpleasant.

June has just begun and we have already exceeded the total precipitation that we had for all of May - and it looks like we will be having more... but May was nice while it lasted.

Switch!

2011-06-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday before the storm it was about 25 degrees... hubby received a very nasty sunburn while fishing. Today we woke up to snow!! Tomorrow is supposed to get back up to 17 degrees... I think the weather has a mood swing disorder!

Storming...

2011-06-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

The summer storms started early this year... we started the thunder storm season last month and today had (are still having!) a good one!

As I was driving the kids home from school I noticed the wind sock on the hospital sticking straight out and blowing Northward, about 3 blocks later at an elementary school the flag there was blowing completely Southward... needless to say, the storm broke pretty much straight on top of us! With pounding rain, hail, huge gusts of rain and plenty of thunder and lightning (and apparently a few power outages!) it has been entertaining... and typical. We have been having beautiful weather in the mid-twenties and this weekend the fair is in town - so of course the weather is going to turn!

Anyway, I am enjoying the storm - although I bet my baby plants aren't!

Today...

2011-05-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

Washed the cars in the front yard...
did gardening...
played in the hose with the kids...
played bocce ball...
inspected flying ants and carpenter ants...
had freezies outside...
got a sunburn...

... I guess spring is over and now we have summer!

Quiet Rain

2011-04-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

It is raining today. I don't know when it last rained here, probably October. This spring we have had slush and rain mixed with snow, but this is the first time we are having rain all by itself. It is a very gentle rain, one that you don't even realize is falling until you look into a puddle or go outside. When I dropped the kids off at school Allan was asking why he had to wear his raincoat since it isn't raining, only to step out of the van and realize that it was. He thought this was fascinating and when I left I could hear him trying to explain to his friends that where we lived before "you always KNEW when it was raining before you got out of the car". Obviously he has forgotten the torrential downpours we had last summer which led to the flash flood!

I don't think this rain will last, I can already see the clouds have lifted on the horizon (it is handy living where it is flat, sometimes). It has been a nice rain though, hopefully it will wash some of the dust/dirt away that was left when the snow melted, freshen everything up a bit. Although I have been thoroughly enjoying the beautiful sunny weather we have been having, sometimes a rainy day isn't so bad.

The Meltdown

2011-04-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

This year, spring was a little later in arriving. In each of the past years that we have lived here, we have missed the "big melt" while we have been away for spring break... this year, we got to witness it. It was actually kind of fascinating, watching the piles and mountains of snow disappear - and they weren't slow about it! These huge piles of snow have basically created a huge layer of water over almost the entire town - there have been rather large rivers running down the sides of the roads and the kids have thoroughly enjoyed the mud that is everywhere.

Every year, the Kinsmen's Club hosts an Easter egg hunt at the park beside our house. This is the first year we have been in town for it, so we were happy to join in and we met up with quite a few of the kids friends too. It was great fun; they had the kids in different age groups and all of them had to find two hard-boiled eggs with numbers on them. Kids ages 6 and under had to find pink eggs in the playground, ages 7-9 had to find blue eggs a little bit into the forest and the 10 -12 year olds had to find white eggs, deeper into the forest... all in the snow. They gave the kids about 15 minutes to find their eggs then they called them all back and they drew a grand prize winning number for three of the eggs and all the kids got a chocolate bunny. It really was well done, and fun!

Anyway, a day or two later we went back to the park to look through the forest to play and find eggs that weren't found during the easter egg hunt (we found about 10!). It was astonishing to see how much snow had disappeared in those two days and to see the creeks that had cropped up... we also found something else in the forest, she had left a lot of "chocolate eggs" in the spirit of the easter egg hunt!

We didn't notice her until we heard her "huff"... we were pretty darn close at the time!!
You can see the moose behind us, an also how much the snow melted just two days after the easter egg hunt!

Later on, during that long weekend, we decided to take the new (to us) little quad out for a test ride and we had a lot of fun there too. We were up on a flat on top of a hill, that eventually goes down to the Beaton River. I rode the quad for a bit and let each of the kids have a turn riding it (with me on the back)... Maria did great, she rode a few laps very carefully and slowly. Then Allan hopped on and pegged the gas full tilt! He was good once things were explained a bit more, but boy oh boy, the kid likes speed!

Just before I let the "speed-demon" have a turn driving!

Meanwhile, just over a little hill from where we were riding, the kids found a stream that had formed from the snow run-off. It was a pretty fast moving stream and the kids (and us too!) had great fun floating things down the creek and watching it go over the waterfall at the edge of the field.

Maria and Allan found a bunch of bones from some large animal, I am thinking it was a moose, but there wasn't a head so I can't be certain. They had been there for a while but were still fascinating! We also found some animal tracks which I am thinking were probably lynx?

I have since been told that the bones were from more than one animal... the spine you see here hubby thinks it is a deer, whereas the leg and hip bones were BIG and likely from a moose.

Now, my front yard is completely free of snow, my backyard is almost free of snow (the places where it had been piled and where the sun doesn't shine yet are still snowy), I have raked the snow-mould off my lawn and I have my first flowers blooming. I love this time of year!

I am pretty sure this is a hyacinth, but it is tiny... only about 2 or 3 inches tall

Fingers crossed...

2011-04-13T11:59:00.001-07:00

We are supposed to be getting a fair chunk of snow over the next two days... after the beautiful weather that we have been having, that would truly SUCK. I am hoping the weatherman was wrong and meant to say rain...

Spring Break!!

2011-04-05T10:24:00.001-07:00

We were away for spring break. We left winter behind and went down to the Island for Allan's cardiologist check-up and for some long overdue visiting. We were short on time, as seems to be the case each year, but we crammed in visits and got to have some wonderful time catching up with almost everyone! The check-up went really well and we got to have a quick snoop around Victoria that afternoon for our annual "Breakwater walk", which has showed us something interesting each year. This year the point of interest was the otters... well, I don't know if it was interesting or disturbing (both) but apparently it is mating season and it was not nice - so we got all kinds of questions...

Then off to Squamish for a visit to our old hometown... where we got to have more great visits and see so many of "our" people in such a short amount of time. Hubby and I even got to go out for an anniversary dinner - just the two of us!! The grandparents took the kids to the fair that evening and they had a great time too.

The entire time we were down on the Coast and the Island the weather was typical for this time of year... soggy, gray, little bits of sun but then more gray and soggy. I was surprised this year, by the moisture on the Island in particular. Everything was soggy and rot was prevalent - it seems I have been living in a dry climate for long enough to notice it much more acutely than before. Squamish wasn't quite as rotten and wet, but it wasn't far behind... perhaps because it hasn't completely thawed from winter yet? As soon as we left Squamish and were heading up the highway towards Whistler, there were snowbank still along the edges of the road.

Our drive home was fabulous. Driving over the Duffy Lake Road has, in the past few years, been an adventure in brake repairs... this year we managed to (narrowly) avoid any brake issues. The roads were mostly bare and clear the entire drive up - with only little bits of snow falling through the 100 Mile to Prince George areas, but nothing sticking to the ground. Once we passed Prince George, it was beautiful, sunny, warm and great driving. Which is good because that tends to be the boring part of the drive, so it is good to be able to drive at a decent speed! After we passed Chetwynd we noticed Northern Lights in the sky as well as a beautiful night sky, full of stars. We followed the Northern Lights all the way home, watching them change shape, stretch and fold... we arrived back home just before 11pm absolutely exhausted.

The next morning we awoke to a beautiful blue sky and temperatures up to about +8 degrees, the snow banks are still there but they are melting quickly (causing small streams to run down most roads - and therefore requiring us to buy the kids new rubber boots!) The kids started back to school wearing lighter jackets, no more snow-pants or winter boots (the rubber ones from now on!). It is surprising how warm it is - the kids both complained last night of being WAY too hot at bedtime; even though our heater didn't turn on yesterday. It feels much warmer here, than it did on the Island/Coast, even though the temperatures are about the same... it is also surprising how long the days are already. We left here just after the equinox, but already the days are considerably longer than the nights, and it is still bright out at the kids bedtime.

Spring is here.

Just like that...

2011-03-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

...although spring up here is different from spring on the coast, all of a sudden I can feel that spring has begun. It is still white, everywhere you look, and we had snow last weekend; but it has warmed up and as soon as it hit -8, the roads turned slushy and you could start to see pavement. By the time it reached -2 the roads were all either slushy or just wet, depending on how much traffic drives on them. By +4 there were some dry, bare roads; some that were under a lot of water and my road, which hasn't seen a plow for quite some time, which is just messy.

So apparently spring up here is a matter of road conditions instead of garden growth - but I'll take it! It was warm! Warm enough to be outside in my shoes and sweater instead of boots and a parka! Warm enough to go outside and feel the sunshine; instead of having to feel the sun through the window. I am certain we will have some winter-like weather still; but spring has started, now it is a matter of weeks instead of months

Anytime now...

2011-03-12T07:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, enough already. It is time for spring to be a visible thing on the horizon at least... but there isn't a sign of her. March has been the worst part of the winter; colder, snowier... and we are only a little way into it! February gave us melting snow and little peeps of the spring to come, but March has stomped all over that spring and buried it in my yard... under the snow. I never thought I would look forward to having the mud that is everywhere during spring, but I REALLY miss that mud. Sigh... enough of my pity party. Even I am sick of hearing me complain about the cold and snow.

Hubby is thrilled with our extended winter. He took up snowmobiling this year - and after deciding the snowmobile that he chose the first time was wrong for him, he is now on machine number 2 and is eager to take it out and use it as much as he can before spring... Judging by my yard, I think he will have plenty of time to use it.

Maria is very excited to have more snow, that kid LOVES snow. She often says she feels sorry for the kids on the Coast who don't get much snow. Allan just goes along with whatever Maria says, but his patience with the snow is waning too.

Ah well, this coming up week our temperature is supposed to get warmer... at least warm enough to be outside comfortably, even if more snow is going to fall... let's hope they are right this time!

Ice crystals...

2011-02-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

Today is a beautiful day full of blue skies and bright sunshine... and ice crystals. The forecast today calls for ice crystals... also -28. Apparently what this means is amazingly cool, straight up and down, rainbows. My camera doesn't work when it is this cold, so you will just have to take my word on it... it was beautiful.

A Hurdle

2011-02-17T13:24:00.000-08:00

Some people that we know up here (two separate families) are in the process of moving to Victoria. Neither of these families really expected to be going, nor are they from there... I have to say that I experienced a large surge of jealousy about this, which is strange because recently hubby was offered a job down on the Sunshine Coast which we both decided against because we don't want to move... but still... it would be nice.

Talking to my sister the other night, she gave me some perspective. Fort St John is the right place for us to be... it has a good work situation, it is a great place for our kids and our family. We get a lot of sunshine and blue sky... the only thing Fort St John is lacking or is not ideal, is geographically. Geographically this town is too far away from our family and friends. Geographically this town is lacking mountains and forests and oceans. However the positive things about this town enable us to overcome the shortcomings and go to the places where we like the geography.

Perhaps this only made sense in the strange conversation my sister and I were having... but to me it did make sense. I will miss our friends that are moving down to Victoria... but we will be able to visit!

Snow Day!!!

2011-01-17T10:14:00.000-08:00

We are having the first snow day since we moved up here. That is... WE are having a snow day, although the school is still open! We had record snow falls over the weekend, I think about 20cm since Friday - which is really a lot for up here. I think Dawson Creek got even more. The buses aren't running today, the mail delivery is cancelled for today but the schools are still open. Apparently they have a clause that states the schools will never close down due to weather because years ago some parent dropped their kid off at school and went to work... not realizing the school was closed. Everything turned out ok with that kid, but the result was that the school's will always be open on school days... but I think that some days, you just have to call a snow day anyway... besides, this way they can help me shovel!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T16:25:00.000-08:00

I hope this year is as good as last... I will get back to posting as soon as the kids go back to school!

Quintessential...

2010-12-11T15:19:00.000-08:00

My little guys went to a birthday party today and the invitation said to dress him warm, and bring skating gear. I wasn't quite sure about this plan since it has been pretty cold the last while; around -20. Today though, it warmed up a bit (to -18) and the wind died down, so we bundled him up and headed out. It turns out that these people live a bit out of town and have a pond in their backyard which is frozen all the way through. So I took Allan off to the backyard where they have a large tent set up with plywood on the ground and a woodstove inside to keep it nice and warm; there I put on his skates and helmet. He and the other boys were skating around on the pond, passing pucks, and losing them in the bullrushes; the dogs were running around, onto the ice; the chimney from the tent was sending up smoke... it was such a Norman Rockwell image of winter... it was really awesome.

Research Paper - by S. Keeler

2010-12-09T12:18:00.000-08:00

I have finally finished my research paper on the environmental impact of multiple dams on a river; in particular the reasons why the Site C dam should not be built. I have had a few mentions that people would like to read it... if you want to - here it is!

Susie

Abstract

This article examines the environmental impact that dams have upon a river and its surrounding areas. In 2006, B.C. Hydro resurrected their plans to add another large dam, the Site C Dam, to the Peace River in Northeastern B.C. The plans have been met with much controversy both for and against the project. One of the many arguments for the construction of another dam on this particular river is that this river has already been compromised. The Peace River has two more large dams: the W.A.C. Bennet Dam, and the Peace Canyon Dam, just upstream from where the Site C Dam is proposed to go. According to these proponents for a new dam, the damage has already been done to this river; therefore, how would adding another dam be harmful?

Many studies and much research have been done on the environmental damage caused by large dams in terms of the negative impact on fish, water quality, habitat loss, recruitment of tree species, sediment flow to the deltas, loss of nutrient delivery to the oceans, as well as many more varieties of problems. The World Commission on Dams conducted a thorough study on dams around the world and found the environmental impact of large dams to be more negative than positive, and that they have lead to irreversible loss of species and ecosystems.
This paper examines how the environmental impacts on a river are compounded when there are multiple dams on a river. In this paper, I first explain the widespread environmental damage caused by adding a single dam. Next, I cover the problems that arise when more than one dam is placed on a river. Finally, I explain what the environmental outcome will likely be for the Peace River, when the Site C Dam is built. Thus, the research presented in this paper demonstrates that multiple dams on a river can be devastating to the environment and destroy the overall ecosystem of the river and because of these reasons, the Site C Dam should not be built.

“The 'Dammed' Site C”:
The Environmental Impact of Multiple Dams on a Single River

In 2006, B.C. Hydro resurrected their plans to add another large dam, the Site C Dam, to the Peace River in Northeastern B.C. The plans have been met with much controversy both for and against the project. One of the many arguments for the construction of another dam on this particular river is that this river has already been compromised. The Peace River has two more large dams: the W.A.C. Bennet Dam, and the Peace Canyon Dam, just upstream from where the Site C Dam is proposed to go. According to these proponents for a new dam, the damage has already been done to this river; therefore, how would adding another dam be harmful?

A large dam is defined by Thayer Scudder in The Future of Large Dams; Dealing with Social, Environmental, Institutional and Political Costs, as a dam that rises 15 metres or more from the foundation and has a reservoir capacity of over 3,000,000 cubic metres (2005). Many studies and much research have been done on the environmental damage caused by these dams in terms of the negative impact on fish, water quality, habitat loss, recruitment of tree species, sediment flow to the deltas, loss of nutrient delivery to the oceans, as well as many more varieties of problems. Jacques Leslie, the author of Deepwater; The Epic Struggle over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment (2005), tells us that the World Commission on Dams conducted a thorough study on dams around the world and found the environmental impact of large dams to be more negative than positive, and that they have lead to irreversible loss of species and ecosystems.

Knowing that a single dam on a river can wreak such havoc on the ecosystem and the environment, and by looking at evidence from a variety of other large rivers around the world that are already extensively dammed, this paper examines how the environmental impacts on a river are compounded when there are multiple dams on a river. In this paper, I will first explain the widespread environmental damage caused by adding a single dam. Next, I will cover the problems that arise when more than one dam is placed on a river. This will be shown using evidence from the Columbia, Colorado, and the Nile Rivers; as these are some of the most extensively dammed and studied rivers in the world. Finally, I will explain what the environmental outcome will likely be for the Peace River, when the Site C Dam is built. Thus, the research presented in this paper will demonstrate that multiple dams on a river can be devastating to the environment and destroy the overall ecosystem of the river and because of these reasons, the Site C Dam should not be built.

A river is an essential part of our world's ecosystem. Rivers serve many different functions and uses around the world, but their essential function is to flow fresh water from mountains, springs, and snow run-off to the oceans. Sandra Postel, author of Where Have all the Rivers Gone, explains that as the river flows, the fresh water picks up nutrients from various organic and sedimentary sources. This nutrient rich water feeds the land and eventually the sea with this complex food web. This water sustains economically and culturally important fisheries; protects and feeds wetlands with their ability to filter out pollutants; provides habitat for a rich diversity of aquatic life; maintains water quality, including salt and sediment balances and a myriad of other important factors in the ecosystem balance (1995). Malcolm Only and Terry Prowse explain in their paper Multiple-hydrological stressors of a northern delta ecosystem that the river also creates habitat for land dwelling creatures; many amphibians and mammals seek shelter and food in the fertile areas that border the rivers (2000). Another important part in the function of a river is the delivery of seeds from trees and other plants. Michael Burke, Klaus Jorde and John Buffington explain that the seasonal fluctuations in the river's flow is directly related to when trees drop their seeds, the river aids in the distribution of those seeds to areas downstream (2008). Fast flowing rivers are also the best source for fresh drinking water; the constant flushing of the water keeps minerals from depositing too much and keeps the sediments from building up, which helps to maintain healthy, disease-free water (Postel 1995).

As the population of earth has grown and spread out, people have devised ways of manipulating water to serve their changing needs; large scale dams were once considered to be the answer to many problems. The Egyptian's have practiced irrigation and have drawn water from the Nile River for at least 5,000 years. While this once served as a viable practice, Sandra Postel tells us in her article, Where Have All the Rivers Gone, that the population of Egypt grows by approximately 1 million more people every nine months and that demands on the river are extreme. Postel also reports that globally, water demand has more than tripled since the 1950's and the rising demand has been met by building ever more and substantially larger water supply projects (1995). Jacques Leslie, the author of Deepwater: The Epic Struggle over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment, writes that in 1950, there were 5,700 large dams worldwide; today there are more than 50,000. Leslie further states that large dams fragment 60% of the major river basins of the world and geophysicists believe that the dams have shifted so much weight that they have slightly altered the speed of the earth's rotation, the tilt of its axis, and the shape of its gravitational field (2005). This great diversion of water has served a very useful purpose; Leslie explains that hydro-electric turbines generate one-fifth of the world's electricity supply, and the water they store make possible as much as one-sixth of the earth's food production. People can now live in arid surroundings and not only have fresh water to drink, but also water for their crops and power for their homes and businesses (Leslie 2005).

Developed and developing nations have utilized dams to spur on economies and improve their citizen’s standard of living. Thayer Scudder explains in his book, The Future of Large Dams, that large dam projects were pushed forwards by powerful coalitions of politicians and civil servants on the basis of economic, social and political grounds. Following World War II large dams were seen as a boon to the economy in the creation of jobs during construction (2006). Scudder also adds that the dams then created hydro-power to use and sell, which was also a good for the economy. These dams diverted water to farmers fields and to areas that were normally arid, and they store water for use by urban populations (2006). Joel Osbourne Jr. talks about the many water projects in Southern California, that were designed to keep people coming to that area to keep the economy strong, in his article California's Pipe Dream (2010). Thayer Scudder asserts that developing nations often find that large dams remain a necessary option to deal with the needs of a human population that is expanding beyond the natural capacity of the area. Scudder goes on to explain that late-industrialized countries require these dams to address the poverty and rising expectations of large populations. The dams will be needed to store and transfer water to rapidly expanding urban areas and to provide electricity to those populations and the industries that must employ them if poverty is to be alleviated. Scudder claims that areas like India, where drought and flooding are the norm, need to control their water in order to become more economically viable (2006).

The environmental problems that have resulted from these large, singular dams have been numerous. Poor water quality is a serious result of these dams; when water stops flowing, as it does in the reservoirs behind the dams, the water temperature increases and there is an increased likeliness of disease and toxins (Harada & Yasuda 2004; Jud 2006; Scudder 2006). The nutrient rich silt that normally flows with the water in the river is also held back behind the dams. Since the nutrient rich flows aren't travelling down-stream, the wetlands and deltas are not receiving the nutrients to feed the aquatic and plant life which are, therefore, not thriving (Postel 1995). Joji Harada and Nario Yasuda advise in their article, Conservation and Improvement of the Environment in Dam Reservoirs, that the transformation of a river into a reservoir causes the habitat and breeding environment of plants and animals to shrink and disappear as the reservoir submerges rare plants and the nesting areas of birds and animals. There are many other environmental problems associated with large dams, but the main casualty of these dams have been the fresh-water fish.

Fresh-water fish have been the most obviously, adversely affected by these dams. Sandra Postel reports that aquatic organisms can not live long without water; large reductions in stream-flow, even for a short period of time, can be damaging or deadly to them. Postel states that the total diversity of animal life per unit area of a river is 65 times greater than that of oceans. Postel continues to say that the American Fisheries Society lists 364 species and sub-species of fish in North America as threatened, endangered or of concern and the vast majority of those are at risk due to habitat destruction (1995). Alexanra Ravinet expands on those numbers in her article Rivers Get Over the Dam, by saying that dams have contributed to the extinction of 106 native salmon and trout stock in four Western states, despite hatching programs and fish passages (1999). Charles Boggs et al, explain the obstacles that fish face in the article Iteoparity in Columbia River summer-run steelhead: implications for conservation. The physical aspect of the dam has direct mortality hazards in the form of the turbine blades, the rapid changes in pressure as well as trauma from passage over the spill-way; but then there are also the indirect effects including “energetically costly migration delays, accumulated physiological stress and possible adverse timing between migration and readiness for ocean entry” (2008). Then, as Shem Baker Jud illustrates in his paper Salmon as Lazarus in the Oregon Desert, there is also the issue of the non-migrating fish that are trapped behind the dam and the small genetic pool they remain in; or the other fish who attempt to migrate but get stuck in the disorienting currents of the reservoir which wind up trapping the fish deep in the lake. Jud advises that our reliance on fish-farms to re-stock fish is not enough because the fish-farms tend to breed fish with commercial viability; however, there are many other species of endangered fish, which have no commercial value, that are of vital importance to the bio-diversity of the river (2006).

With each additional dam that is added to a river, the environmental problems associated with the first dam re-occur, and are often compounded. In looking specifically at the Kootenai River in western North America; a study by Michael Burke, Klause Jorde and John Buffington was done to analyze the relative effects of multiple dams by studying the hydrology, channel hydraulics, bed flow mobility and the consequences for recruitment of riparian trees. On this particular stretch of river that they studied there were two dams; the Corra Linn Dam built in 1938, and further downstream was the Libby Dam built in 1974. Burke, Jorde and Buffington's study found that the Libby dam was responsible for the majority of the environmental impacts: namely broad changes in hydrology, water quality and sediment supply, changes in channel hydraulics and bed mobility. Whereas they found that the older dam, the Corra Linn, was more responsible for adversely affecting the recruitment of riparian trees, which rely on seasonal fluctuations in flow patterns for seedlings to establish themselves down-stream. Overall in their study, Burke, Jorde and Buffington found that the Corra Linn was responsible for some of the impact but that the impact from the Libby Dam dominates, accounting for 91% of the total changes, within their parameters (2008).

Additional environmental problems arise when even more dams are added to a river. It is the decline of the worlds largest rivers that most graphically convey the magnitude of the problem. Where Have all the Rivers Gone, by Sandra Postel, tells us that the Colorado River ranks among the most heavily plumbed water course in the world. Controlled by more than 20 dams it now irrigates approximately 800,000 hectares of farmland, serves the household needs of more that 21 million people and generates 12 billion kilowatt hours of energy annually. Postel goes on to explain that in 1922 seven U.S. States signed the Colorado River Compact which divided up the water between them. Unfortunately when doing so, they over-estimated the river's annual flow of water, they didn't include Mexico's portion of the water, nor did they designate any water for the river environment itself (1995). Now, except in years of unusually high floods, the entire flow of water is captured and used – and has been for some time. Postel points out that flow readings at El Meritimo, the southern-most measuring station on the Colorado, were discontinued in 1968 because there was nothing to measure. The Colorado used to carry tons of salt to the Gulf of California, now this salt is being spread across the irrigated landscape, poisoning the soil. The nutrient-full silt that normally flows down the river and feeds the wetlands, estuaries, deltas and eventually the sea; is all trapped behind the numerous dams (1995). Postel further reveals that the delta and upper Gulf of California comprise the largest and most critical desert wetland in the American Southwest, as well as one of the world's most diverse and productive sea ecosystems. Besides drying up wetlands and causing a severe deterioration in water quality, the reduction in freshwater flow has also cut the flow of nutrients to the sea and reduced critical habitat for the Gulf's nursery grounds. Postel reveals that the catches from the upper Gulf of California shrimp and other fisheries have dropped off steeply as the river lessened and more than one third of the species of fish that rely on this river are now extremely endangered (1995).

The historian Donald Worster was quoted as saying the Columbia River in Western North America, is “a river that died and was reborn as money”. According to Kai Lee's article The Columbia River Basin; Experimenting with Sustainability, the Columbia river basin's 19 major dams, together with more than five dozen smaller hydro projects, constitute the world's largest hydro-electric power system. Lee goes on to explain that the river basin has also become a plantation of more than 3 million acres watered by some of the world's largest irrigation works, including the Columbia Basin Project anchored at Grand Coulee, which is the largest dam in the United States (1989). Ellie Willinghoff reveals in her article Columbia River Power Play, that the Pacific Northwest salmon stocks were some of the world's richest, but after these dams were built the supply of Royal Chinooks and other native salmon on the Columbia river is down to about 1.5% of where it had been 100 years ago (1994).

Another example of a river that is in serious trouble is the famous Nile. Like the Colorado, the Nile is a lifeline for a desert area that gets virtually no rain. According to Sandra Postel's Where Have All the River's Gone, it sustains 60 million people and irrigates 3 million hectares of cropland. Postel explains that Egypt has practice irrigation for at least 5,000 years using a basic pattern of water use called “basin irrigation” in which a series of canals formed large basins that stair-stepped downstream. Postel further illustrates that the Nile water was diverted into the higher basins, flooding them and depositing nutrient rich silt. The water then drained successively into each lower basin, until at the end of the sequence it re-entered the Nile to flow into the Mediterranean (1995). According to Postel, this was considered by experts to be an ecologically sustainable adaptation to the natural environment; however, this system also limited crop production to just a third of the year. During the 19th century, Postel notes, Egypt converted to perennial irrigation with an extensive system of small dams and canals. This persisted until the 1960's when the High Dam at Aswan was built and provided complete control over the Nile's water. Postel writes that before the Aswan dam was built, approximately 32 billion cubic meters of water flowed down the Nile to the sea each year. In 1995 the amount of freshwater reaching the Mediterranean was only 1.8 billion cubic meters; all of which was released during the winter, when crops need less irrigation (1995). Postel continues to explain that a substantial amount of the water that does reach the sea has first irrigated the delta's rice, cotton and other crops, so what reaches the Mediterranean is salty, polluted, farm drainage. Postel claims that of the 47 commercial fish species that were thriving in the Nile before the dams, only 17 were still being harvested a decade after the dams completion. However, Postel speculates that perhaps the most threatening long term consequence of the Nile's diminished flow is that of the delta: a vital part of the country's economy, which is slowly falling into the sea. Most river deltas naturally subside from the weight of their own sediment, but under natural conditions the deposits of silt from the river usually counter this subsidence. Postel points out that the Nile delta stopped growing 100 years ago when the first small dams were built, but since the completion of the High Dam, which traps virtually all of the silt in Lake Nassar, the delta has been in retreat. Borg-el-Borellos, a former delta village, is now two kilometers out to sea (1995).

The Peace river is an important natural ecosystem; it is part of the Peace-Athabasca delta which is one of the world's largest freshwater deltas. Terry Prowse and Malcolm Conly's study of Multiple-hydrologic stressors of a northern delta ecosystem, outlines the important factors of this river and its basin: this river has a large wetland habitat; the basin has one of the largest undisturbed grasslands in North America, with a large variety of animal life including bison; the river and its basin are of national and international significance for waterfowl and other migratory bird species; the river is a major spawning site for a variety of fish populations (2000). The Peace river has already been altered from it's natural state by the two large dams that are already upon it; the W.A.C. Bennet dam and the Peace Canyon dam. Prowse and Conly make note of the fact that during the time when the reservoir behind the W.A.C. Bennet dam was being filled (1968-1971), the water levels in the river were reduced by approximately 36%, exposing 500 square kilometres of mudflats, which had dramatic consequences including a serious reduction in the muskrat population (2000). Michael Church writes, in his paper titled Change and Adaptability, that another outcome has been a proliferation of beavers; due to the relative stabilization of water levels, which in turn is a result of a change in flow pattern from the dams. The seasonal flow pattern in the first 100 kilometres has been inverted from a traditional late spring freshet (high flow levels due to snow melt) and a low winter flow to a winter high and a summer low pattern (2009). Church declares that even below the first major tributary at the Pine River, the flow regime has been altered and that this effect is measurable all the way to the Peace-Athabasca delta, 1200 km downstream. Church also reports that the winter ice occurrence has been changed: in most years there is no ice at all in the first 100 km after the dam. He states that the former flood plain of the river is now a dry terrace, and that as far downstream as the town of Peace River, Alberta, the gravel bed is not moving as it formerly did (2009). This change in the flow of the river will have undoubtedly affected fish populations; and as we learned from Charles Boggs et al, in the article Iteoparity in Columbia River summer-run steelhead: implications for conservation, fish don't cope well with changes in the temperature of the water, nor with altered flow patterns, and that the changes in the gravel bed have a negative effect on spawning (2008). Michael Church carries on to say that the trees which grow along the river have been changing as well; with an influx of poplar, alder and willow as well as a reduction in spruce, jackpine, and white birch (2009).

B.C. Hydro's proposal for a third dam on the Peace River is for another large scale dam, the Site C dam. According to B.C. Hydro's website, the Site C dam is going to be approximately 1,100 meters in length and rise 60 meters above the river bed. The reservoir will be 83 km long and they estimate that when it is flooded, the river will be two to three times its current width and it will flood 5,340 hectares (2010). With this additional dam we can expect more environmental damage. Conly and Prowse suggest that as the reservoir is being filled, the flow of the river will decrease; to the detriment of plant and animal life bordering the river (2000). Church advises us that the gravel beds will be even further altered, affecting even more spawning grounds of fish and thereby declining their populations. Church also declares that the riparian forests will continue to change as the river is blocked and the lake behind the dam grows (2009). Postel's article Where Have all the Rivers Gone, warns us that the Peace-Athabasca delta and estuary may be in jeopardy as less sediment and silt will travel down the river to deliver nutrients (1995). There are likely to be a lot more environmental outcomes that we won't know about until after the dam is built.

Jacques Leslie explains, in his book Deepwater; The Epic Struggle over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment, that the World Bank; the world's largest dam financier, was under pressure from critics to establish policies to protect indigenous people and tighten regulations to limit environmental harm, in terms of the dams that they were funding. In the mid-1990's the World Bank agreed to create an independent commission that could arrive at an honest assessment of all large dams. Leslie tells us the result was the formation of the World Commission on Dams; an independent body of twelve commissioners, charged with assessing dams impacts, positive and negative, and providing guidelines for future construction (2005). Leslie informs us that in pursuit of fair representation, the commissioners were drawn equally from three categories; pro-dam, mixed, and anti-dam and two and a half years after its formation the commission revealed a final report. Leslie writes that the report titled Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making, was a huge report based on the findings from the most thorough study of dams impacts ever conducted; and it seems to confirm many dam opponents claims (2005). Leslie reveals that the report said that large dams construction typically ran behind schedule and over-ran budgets; that irrigation dams typically did not recover their costs, did not produce the volume of water expected and were less profitable than forecast; that the environmental impacts were more negative than positive and that they have led to irreversible loss of species and ecosystems. Leslie then continues to explain that the document went on to provide a framework for building dams in the future and most controversially it lists 26 guidelines meant to replace the existing arbitrary and politically weighted process of dam decision making. The World Bank, says Leslie, which was gambling on a more favourable report, rejected the Commission's report saying it was too cumbersome (2005).

It is not a question of whether or not large dams adversely affect the environment; it is a fact and all the people involved in the building and creation of large dams know this. At the very minimum the fish and water quality are affected: at the extreme, the entire river dries up and dies. This in turn creates a cascade of problems from the salt deposits left on the land, poisoning the soil; the drying up of the delta and estuaries leading to loss of habitat for aquatic and land based creatures; the loss of nutrients to the estuary to feed the sea life; the subsidence of the delta into the sea; overall a complete deterioration of an ecosystem. However, on the other hand, we need water to water our crops, to drink, and to wash. We need electricity and hydro-power does not release fossil fuel pollution into our environment; is there a solution to this problem? There isn't a solution as yet, but perhaps some steps in the right direction. The initial step forward involves better water management of the dams that are already in place: to recognize that there are limits to the amount of water that can be diverted from a river and also to release flows that mimic natural highs and lows. Both of these should be mandatory requirements that would immediately benefit the river environment. As for future dams, including the Site C Dam, they should have to meet all the criteria of the World Commission on Dams and if they do not, then the dam should not be built. In the process of trying to meet the criteria of the World Commission on Dams; all planning of should be flexible and transparent in order to minimize public conflict. Only if all parties involved are informed and in agreement, and all the criteria of the World Commission on Dams are met, should a large dam be built. Once that dam is built there should be a governing body that ensures that the operation of that dam stays within the boundaries of the river management protocols that the World Commission on Dams has devised. Knowing that the proposed Site C Dam has been rejected in the past as unfeasible, I do not believe that it will meet the criteria set out by the World Commission on Dams, and they certainly don't have agreement with all the parties involved; and thus for these reasons, the Site C Dam should not be built.

Cited References

B.C. Hydro. 2010 Jun. Fact sheets; Site C backgrounder. (Internet). B.C. Hydro Website. (cited 2010 Nov 12); Available from http://www.bchydro.com/planning_regulatory/site_c/Information_Centre/fact_sheets.html PDF file.

Bankes Nigel. 2004. Environment: Garrison Dam, Columbia River, the IJC, NGOS. Canada. US Law J. (Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 12); 30: 117-127. Academic Search Premier. http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=119&sid=0491701f-ca46-4e45-b5b8-4a594e084e4d%40sessionmgr114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=16118246. EBSCO registration required for access.

Boggs Charles T, Evans Allen F, Keefer Matthew L, Peery Christopher A, Wertheimer Robert H. 2008 Dec. Iteroparity in Columbia River summer-run steelhead (oncorhynchus mykiss): implications for conservation. Cdn J Fisheries & Aquatic Sc. (Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 7); 65(12): 2592-2605. Academic Search Premier. http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=119&sid=0491701f-ca46-4e45-b5b8-4a594e084e4d%40sessionmgr114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=35821649. EBSCO registration required for access.

Bourne Joel K Jr. 2010 Apr. California's pipe dream; a heroic system of dams, pumps, and canals can't stave off a water crisis. Ntnl Geographic. 217(4): 132-145.

Buffington John M,Burke Michael, Jorde Klaus. 2009 Jul. Application of a hierarchical framework for assessing environmental impacts of dam operation: Changes in streamflow, bed mobility and recruitment of riparian trees in a western North American river. J Env Mgmt. (Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 7); 90: S224-S236. Academic Search Premier. http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?vid=9&hid=119&sid=0491701f-ca46-4e45-b5b8-4a594e084e4d%40sessionmgr114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=43168295. EBSCO registration required for access.

Cash Kevin J, Culp Joseph M, Wrona Frederick J. 2000. Integrated assessment of ecosystem integrity of large Northern rivers: the Northern river basins study example. J Aquatic Ecosystem Stress & Recovery. (Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 12); 8(1): 1-5. Academic Search Premier. http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?vid=11&hid=119&sid=0491701f-ca46-4e45-b5b8-4a594e084e4d%40sessionmgr114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=16711470. EBSCO registration required for access.

Church Michael. 2009 Spr. Change and adaptability. BC Studies. (Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 7); 161: 96-97. Academic Search Premier. http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?vid=14&hid=119&sid=0491701f-ca46-4e45-b5b8-4a594e084e4d%40sessionmgr114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=41018688. EBSCO registration required for access.

Conly Malcolm F, Prowse Terry D. 2000. Multiple-hydrologic stressors of a Northern delta ecosystem. J Aquatic Ecosystem Stress & Recovery. (Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 12); 8(1): 17-26. Academic Search Premier. http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?hid=109&sid=1757727e-965a-4e29-a56a-c73456958302%40sessionmgr112&vid=5&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=16711468. EBSCO registration required for access.

Gummer William D, et al. 2000. The Northern river basins study: context and design. J Aquatic Ecosystem Stress & Recovery. (Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 12); 8(1): 7-16. Academic Search Premier. http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?hid=109&sid=1757727e-965a-4e29-a56a-c73456958302%40sessionmgr112&vid=15&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=16711469. EBSCO registration required for access.

Harada Joji, Yasuda Nario. 2004. Conservation and improvement of the environment in dam reservoirs. Int J Water Res Dvlp.(Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 12) 20.1: 77-96. Academic Search Premier. http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?hid=109&sid=1757727e-965a-4e29-a56a-c73456958302%40sessionmgr112&vid=17&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=12313500. EBSCO registration required for access.

Jud Shems Baker. 2006 Fal. Salmon as Lazarus in the Oregon desert: The historic settlement and relicensing of the Pelton-Round Butte project. Natu Res J. (Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 7); 46(4): 1043-1079. Academic Search Premier. http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?hid=109&sid=1757727e-965a-4e29-a56a-c73456958302%40sessionmgr112&vid=19&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=25792269. EBSCO registration required for access.

Lee Kai N. 1989. The Columbia River basin: experimenting with sustainability. Environ. (Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 12); 31(6): 1-10. Academic Search Premier. http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?hid=109&sid=1757727e-965a-4e29-a56a-c73456958302%40sessionmgr112&vid=21&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=8910091238. .EBSCO registration required for access.

Leslie Jacques. 2005. Deepwater; the epic struggle over dams, displaced people and the environment. New York: Picador. 347p.

Postel Sandra. 1995. Where have all the rivers gone? World Watch. (Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 13); 8(3): 9-19. Academic Search Premier. http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?hid=109&sid=1757727e-965a-4e29-a56a-c73456958302%40sessionmgr112&vid=23&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=9506110841. EBSCO registration required for access.

Ravinet Alexanra. 1999 Jul 8. Rivers get over the dam. Christian Sci Monitor. (Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 12); 91(155): 14p. Academic Search Premier.http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?vid=25&hid=107&sid=1757727e-965a-4e29-a56a-c73456958302%40sessionmgr112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=2005931. EBSCO registration required for access.

Scudder Thayer. 2006. The future of large dams; dealing with social, environmental, institutional and political costs. Sterling (VA): Earthscan. 338p.

Winninghoff Ellie. 1994 Nov 21. Where have all the salmon gone? Forbes. (Internet). (cited 2010 Oct 7); 154(12): 104-116. Academic Search Premier. http://nlc-reglib.nlc.bc.ca:2053/ehost/detail?vid=30&hid=107&sid=1757727e-965a-4e29-a56a-c73456958302%40sessionmgr112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=9411107637. EBSCO registration required for access.

Super Frost...

2010-11-29T08:48:00.001-08:00

I think it may actually be called Hoar Frost, but that might be something completely different. We had really thick fog last night and this morning we went outside to beautiful weather, cold (about -15 so not too cold) and clear and the antenna on my van was over an inch around with frost. The weeping birch trees around town look amazingly cool with this thick white coating all over them, but it is too chilly for my camera to go for a walk, so the pictures are just from my yard but even the chain link looks pretty...

A Pet Peeve...

2010-11-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

I despise pushing the shopping buggies through the parking lots in winter. Between the rocks that jam into the little tires and make them stop and the snow which make the wheels stick... I really, really don't like it. (grumble, grumble, grumble...)

That was my whine for the day, which is otherwise a good day. So pretty minor in the whole scheme of things! Except that someone should really come over and put away my groceries, as I seem to be playing on the computer instead.

Sugar Snow

2010-11-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

I was having a conversation with Hubby's Mom the other day and she asked if we had a lot of snow, since she had heard we had been having a fair bit recently. After telling her we only have an inch or two, I realized that is slightly misleading... Our snow is not like the snow on the Coast and Island. Our snow is so fine, it is a powder. It is easier to sweep it away, than to shovel it. You can blow on it, and you get a big cloud of it in the air. Each little snowflake is about the size of a sugar crystal, so when we have an inch or two - that is actually quite an accumulation. All those little crystals of snow have filled in every nook and cranny to build up those two inches.

This is in comparison to on the Coast where the snow is more like cornflakes (or bigger). Two inches of cornflakes build up much faster than two inches of sugar... and the Island now has about a foot of snow, (I heard). Where we have an inch or two... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Third Time's the Charm...

2010-11-18T09:10:00.000-08:00

Twice so far this year, we have had snow. And twice so far this year, I thought "that's it, winter is here." And twice so far, I have been wrong! As a result we have had a fabulously long fall, very mild temperatures and overall beautiful weather... until now. This week, it got cold! Minus 18 kind of cold, but with a windchill to make it much colder! Then yesterday it started to snow, the powder fine, sparkly snow that sounds like corn starch. This kind of snow doesn't build up very much because it is so fine; my grass is white, but I can still see bits of grass poking through. I had to shovel the driveway, but it wasn't hard to do. (Although my legs were stinging from the cold when I got in!) Today is another beautiful day, the sun is making the snow twinkle and shine... but it is cold. I think when I say that "winter is here to stay", I will be right this time. And considering that the Santa Claus Parade is tomorrow, winter was right on time!

Photo Shoot!

2010-11-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

So the family and I decided that it was time we had a family photo done, considering it has been a few years since we last did one. The problem is... I am kind of cheap and self-conscious so the idea of paying someone to come and take pictures of us, really weirds me out. I was planning to do it at home, we have a pretty good camera and a lovely house... what more do we need? Well, the thing is that we have been having the most amazing fall ever. We are now mid-November and I still have grass.
So hubby suggested that we take the photos outside somewhere, I assumed the park by our house but he had other ideas.

He had seen three moose, that morning, out at an area of town known as Frozen John and thought it would make a cool backdrop to have some moose behind us... I wasn't too sure about this idea after hearing how mean moose are, but why not! So we took our tired and cranky kids

(and selves) to Frozen John for a photo shoot. It was fun! The moose were still there, but they left when they realized we were coming to town

but a deer came boinging through the background as I was getting ready to take another shot.

I am now regretting that we didn't do this last month when the fall colours were out, but I still think that for our first official photo shoot, with a tri-pod even, turned out pretty good.

All Saints Day

2010-11-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure that All Saints Day is the day after Halloween? This was our third halloween up here; the first year we had rain, last year we had snow, and this year it was... DRY! No snow, no rain, not even very cold! Maria wore her little mime slippers and just a sweater, Allan only had on his turtleneck shirt and cape... not a parka in sight!

It goes to show you (me) that just as soon as you think you have figured out the weather, it will surprise you since this was how it looked last week! Hello Chinook, I think I love you!

Ob La Di...

2010-10-26T21:27:00.000-07:00

Life goes on and I don't post on here because I am busy... but I have had a nag, nagging at me to post on here so here I am!!

We have had a fabulous, beautiful fall... but now it is over and winter is here. Did you see that, I skipped right past fall, apparently it is easy to do up here because sometimes it goes straight from summer to winter, but this year we were lucky enough to have about 6 weeks of lovely fall. The weather was gorgeous, although cooler than on the coast. The trees were brilliantly yellow, and we had very little rain. On Friday, though, it started to snow... and it snowed a bit and then stopped and looked like it would melt, but no. Then Saturday and Sunday it snowed and we wound up with about 6 inches or more of heavy, wet snow... which has actually been a bit of a treat for the kids because we rarely get wet snow up here so they could actually build snowmen! Normally they can't because the snow is normally like flour up here, it is dry and light and fluffy and you can not make it stick together.

So the snow tires are now on and the yard has been cleared for winter... it is supposed to be a nasty one! They are calling it La Nina but I read an article saying that the North Atlantic Current (part of the Gulf Stream) dissolved following the oil spill this summer, which meant that we were going to have some extremely cold temperatures this year... either way, brr!

My school is going well, it has turned out to be a lot more work than I expected and not as easy as I was anticipating. Apparently I have an ego and it is fairly large. This course has knocked it down to size... a little bit. I am doing well, my small assignments have all received good marks so far (with one exception, I got one c+, which was my ego corrector). I have only had one of my larger assignments graded so far, I got an A- which I was happy with but Maria thought that was rather disappointing! The part I am really enjoying is the research. Our largest project which is due at the end of the term is a research essay and I am doing mine on the environmental impacts of dams... A topic I am very interested in as I have never been too happy with the idea of the Site C Dam that they are planning to build up here. My research has been fascinating and the library resources that the college has up here are awesome, but I am more opposed to the dam than I was before. I had no idea of the impact of the dams and the state of our fresh water systems worldwide... it is truly frightening.

Anyway, enough babbling from me. I am all over the place here, but as I said... someone was nagging me to write on here, now he can stop for a few days!

More From the Summer

2010-09-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

Our summer was so busy and full and there are so many things to share on here... but the one thing that happened this summer, that I have never experience before, was a flash flood.

Living in Squamish and on the Island, I have certainly experienced floods. In those places sometimes it rains and rains and rains. It rains so much for so long that eventually rivers/lakes/ditches just overflow. This usually takes a while of heavy steady rain though, days or maybe weeks.

The flood here in Fort St John happened after we had had about two months almost without any rain at all. The day of the flood was actually, quite a nice day! But in the afternoon, as is often the case up here, a wind started up. This wind was soon blowing like crazy and the kids came running in from outside (you know it is pretty good when the kids come in, they have been known to chase little mini-tornadoes down the street). Then around 5 o'clock it started to rain... by 5:30 it was raining so hard I took a video of it. (** This video didn't work on here... it is a sketchy, video of RAIN so it isn't very exciting, but it was REALLY heavy rain you could see in a video!)

The only time I had ever seen rain that heavy was when hubby and I were in Florida. We went out for a walk around the South Beach area before we were to catch a plane to the Bahamas (I just had to rub that in a bit). Anyway as we were out for this walk in Florida, it started to rain. We watched everyone run for cover as it started to rain, and we just laughed to ourselves thinking what wimps these people were... We came from the land of rain, here we were in a warm tropical place, a little rain was going to feel nice! Nothing to run from! Well, then it started to rain harder and harder, within a few moments we were practically alone on the streets (everyone else had run for cover!) and we were starting to try to find cover under a palm tree... that was no good so we went for a doorway. It was like someone had dumped buckets of water on us, and was still dumping them from the sky. The edges of the road were full to the sidewalks and little creeks were running down the sidewalks too. Anyway, we wound up having to walk in the rain anyway because we had to get back to the hotel to catch a taxi to get on an airplane, by the time we got to the hotel they just laughed at us and gave us towels to dry off with in the lobby.

Back to FSJ! It was raining so hard and still blowing like crazy and then the lightning and thunder started. We get some pretty awesome thunderstorms up here, some last for hours, some are so close they shake your whole house. This one did both! I quickly cooked up dinner before the power went out and stood at the window watching. The power flickered off and on a few times before it finally stayed off... and then that was it. By 6:45 the storm was over, the sun came out and it was beautiful outside. Hubby gets home from work around 7 o'clock and he barely saw any of the storm (he works about 20 minutes south-east from home). They didn't have any of it at his work.

So once the sun came out and hubby came home, we decided to go outside and see if there were any problems... mostly around our window-well that doesn't drain very well (at all!). So we went and bailed some water out of it (it wasn't too bad though) and picked up the things that had blown around/away. My daughter then noticed that the back alley was a lake... so while we were out there looking at that, we looked over at the park a few doors down from us and saw a real lake.

There is not supposed to be a lake over at this park, although that would be excellent, so my hubby being male, instantly thought about toys and wheeled his inflatable boat over and took the kids for a boat ride at their park. They rowed around for about an hour, there is a large drainage ditch that is supposed to contain the water, but there was just so much it overflowed the banks... by a lot. Overall only a large field and the ditches overflowed, so it was great and they had a ball.

No damage to property, at least at our end of town. The other end of town didn't fair so well, some basements filled up and the movie theatre was filled up the the third row of seats. Also, one house was struck by lightning, although apparently they only had a small fire at their fuse box.

The city requested everyone get an assessment of the damages to make a claim for disaster relief and last I heard they didn't have enough damages to qualify. So overall it was more exciting than damaging. The truly strange part to me was the fact that the next morning, when I got up and looked over at the park, the lake was GONE. Our lake was only there for the one evening and then gone... Another strange thing that came out after the fact was that we got so much rain in those two hours (I forget how much now, but a lot) and yet to the east and west of us by ten minutes, they barely got any rain at all, only a light shower of rain. This included our airport which is where our official weather is documented. This means that according to the records, we had almost no rain for the month of July, well below normal levels...

It was awesome to see and witness such a powerful storm, it makes me realize that I can't even imagine what it might be like in a real hurricane. But there you go, we had a tropical storm... in the prairies!

Another sketchy video, this one showing the lightning flashes, hearing the thunder and watching the lights go out, come on and go out... as well as the kids and the dog!

Fossils!!

2010-09-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

In my past life (i.e. before I finished high school!) I wanted to be an archaeologist. I had visions of myself going all over the world on fabulously boring, meticulous digs... I had no disillusion about the excitement level, I wasn't expecting Indiana Jones. I think I was pretty rational in my thought process. When I mentioned my plans to others, however, they brought up a few fairly valid points, one of which was particularly valid; my dislike (some would say phobia) of bugs, of which there are a lot of when digging. So I went in an entirely different direction after high school, but have always kept an interest in all things ancient.

Before we moved up north here we visited some friends who live in this area and he showed us the stone slabs he has at the base of his porch steps... full of fossils. I was captivated, where, when, how did he get these?! He said these particular ones came from a mountain nearby, but there were fossils all over the place up here.
Then we moved up here and I learned more and more about the fossils and finds that have been preserved in the clay that is everywhere up here. So many First Nations artifacts found that there is, in fact, a lot of work for archaeologists in this area. The oil companies (and developments of any kind) must first have the area sampled by archaeologists before they can dig and often items are found.

I have been on the hunt for a fossil of my own since arriving, we have scoured the riverbanks and found many 'possible' fossils, but nothing definite. Auntie Carol came and found a well deserved fossil at the slippery Beatton River, but I never did... until my sister was here recently.
We were again at the Beatton River and on our way down to the beach Allan came across a small pile of rocks with fossils in them, obviously gathered by someone and left behind. That was exciting enough on its own! After a while of swimming in the river though, and looking at the rocks along the banks, my sister, or one of her kids went into the grassy area up the bank a ways, and there were hundreds of rocks absolutely full of fossils. The grass was also absolutely full of ants (biting ones!) so we grabbed a couple of quick bucketfuls and left... perhaps next time we go the ants won't be out and we can look a bit more carefully! So we divided up the rocks between us and now... we have some fossils!!

How Did My Garden Grow...

2010-09-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

It has been a challenge, to garden up here. I thought I was a pretty good gardener on the Island... not so good at weeding, but very good at growing things. It turns out that may have had more to do with the climate on the Island, than my abilities as a gardener!Slowly my garden is taking shape, slowly the trees and shrubs are growing. Apparently "slow" is the key word for anything perennial up here. My backyard garden which I was bemoaning the state of earlier this summer, looks quite good now. The trees recovered, somewhat, and the shrubs are looking great and my Mom and I added a bunch of new things (lillies, hostas, astilbe, and other plants) which have done really well over the summer. Still it seems slow, and we will have to wait to see the state of it next year.Annuals, on the other hand, grow like crazy! I have never been particularly fond of annuals, except for a little bit here or there... I still am of much the same mind, but they do have there places, and up North is one of them! I have a very plain, rectangular front garden which I planted with veggies and annuals this year.

Early in the summer

Mid-summer

Yesterday!

This front garden has grown amazingly well! I planted quite a lot in it, considering its size, but I figured I might as well fill it up. I was slightly concerned that it would look sparse, being a veggie garden... boy was I wrong! I planted tomatoes, carrots, radishes, kale, lettuce, spinach, peas, zucchini, beans, marigolds that Papa MacLeod started from seed before he passed away this year and sunflowers. The snapdragons came back, all by themselves!
Everything grew and grew and grew! We ate all the carrots and radishes, peas and beans. We are almost finished the lettuce (miniature Iceberg lettuce, it was fantastic!).
I am working us through the zucchini, we ate some spinach (I planted way too much).

The tomato plant is absolutely loaded with tomatoes, however they are mostly green still (they better hurry, we had frost already!). The kale, however, was supposed to be purple and pretty, but it isn't either. It also isn't very tasty. So we left the kale for the caterpillars, who LOVE it! The kids love the caterpillars and the little white butterflies which come before/after the caterpillars! There seems to be another advantage of leaving the kale for the bugs in that the bugs have left everything else alone... including my lettuce which was right beside the kale! Fair trade I think! It has been fun having a veggie garden and the kids love picking and eating everything, which is great. It has also been nice just planting and seeing what happens, knowing it will only be for the year anyway... a bit more "c'est la vie" than I normally am when it comes to my garden!

The Next Step...

2010-08-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

I love being a mom. I never particularly wanted to be a mom, before I became a mom. I never ogled over babies, or even wanted to hold them. In fact, babies terrified me... but biological clocks, being what they are - I changed my mind and we had kids. To my surprise, I found my calling - so to speak. I felt very at ease and comfortable with my role as Mom and my kids have responded beautifully to the point where I happen to think that I am a pretty good Mom... my kids think so anyway (but ask them again when they are in their 20's!). I haven't felt any desire to go back to work or do something outside the home, and I am fortunate to be in a position where I don't have to work.

However, this year my baby starts grade one. Grade one is big. Grade one means that they will both be gone, all day. My life is about to shift into the next chapter and I have been very uncertain where this chapter should go. On the one hand, I am pretty confident that I could go out and get a good paying job... a job that I would possibly enjoy doing. But doing that job means that now my kids would possibly need after school care and what about during Christmas, Easter and Summer breaks from school. Where do they go then. I also am very guilty of wanting to be included in many things... hubby does get a lot of time off, (but his schedule is all over the place) and if he and the kids are going to do something fun, I would much rather join them and make it a family affair, than be stuck at work. Hence my dilemma... what to do...

I am pretty certain that the first month of the kids being at school all day and me having time to myself, would be pretty much heavenly. I love them, but a break is always good! After the first month of school though, I think it would be very easy to get in a bad place, personally. To not have some"thing" to describe yourself doing. I could fill my time with this and that but when someone was to ask me what I do... how would I answer.

So after much soul searching about what I thought I should do, it occurred to me that I would love to go back to college. I thoroughly enjoyed college, the open-mindedness, the discussions, the learning, the discovery and the writing. It was a much more enjoyable thing than BCIT. BCIT was a means to an end, but it wasn't enjoyable. College was. I never got a degree from college, a thing which I would love to have, but not necessarily my goal at this point in time... at this point in time I need something to engage me, give me a purpose and a schedule, and something to keep me moving forward, so I do not stagnate. I will start slow and see where it goes from there... until my time is a bit more free for myself. So I started with an online English course which will give me the freedom to still be there if the kids are sick or have a pro-d day... maybe next semester I will take more but for now, this is all I can envision.

So it is back to school for the kids and me!

Home Again... and summer is nearly done.

2010-08-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy, busy summer. We were blessed with having several rounds of visitors in the beginning of summer; Hubby's parents came up here at the end of May, my parents came up at the end of June and my sister and her kids came up at the end of July. I have had more friends up here make comment on how much company we get, and we are thankful for it. It is a LONG way to travel, and not a destination people would otherwise choose, but we have a wonderful family and friends who make the drive anyway... we are lucky!

Aside from company, the beginning of summer was also busy with outings. We went to the rivers, the Peace River was really low this year due to very little rain so the kids got to slide down the mudbanks again, and again I didn't have the camera! We found fossils at Beaton River, we explored Dawson Creek (which we hadn't done previously as we normally beeline to
the cousins house!) visited their museums and Rotary Lake. Rotary Lake was good enough that we went back again another time, it is a man made lake that isn't very deep, but it is perfect for the kids to swim in. We visited our museum and Charlie Lake for swimming (amid a fish fly hatch I think!), and another time to Charlie Lake for boating and fishing (still no fish for us!). We went to the fair, to the circus, to the movies and we had a flash flood!

Then in the beginning of August, we went on vacation. We decided this year to just go to Squamish, not include the Island as well. This was for several reasons, to be able to have a good visit with our parents, not rushed. For us to feel like we actually have a vacation, not rushing around. Also, to really explore Squamish, the town Hubby and I grew up in, with our kids and also do some of the neat things there are to do so close to Squamish.

The Chief...

Although it did feel a bit wrong being so close to the Island and not going over, but both of my sisters came to Squamish to see us, and it was lovely.

While in Squamish we went to Alice Lake, twice! We explored Nexxen Beach, which I had never been to before, as it was an industrial site when I grew up... I like it better as a beach!

View from Nexxen Beach, it was very windy this day and there was a sail boat race as well as kite-boarders out on the Sound.

We had a great time visiting with all of our family and letting the kids play, but we also headed into the city and took the kids to Maplewoods Farm, which was lovely and the kids really enjoyed. They particularly liked riding the toy tractors and feeding the ducks.

After going to the farm, we headed over to Stanley Park and explored all over the park, but the kids had the biggest memorable moment with the raccoons at Lookout Point. The raccoons there have learned that if they run at people, the people will drop their food and run away... So the whole time we were there the kids were slightly freaked out,as we saw this happen just as we arrived, but also intrigued. There were more incidents while we were looking around so it was quite exciting!

On another day, we took the kids to Science World, which was pretty awesome.

It was expensive to get in, but once you are in, all the exhibits are open for you to explore.There was a Pirate Treasure exhibit at Science World while we were there...

We spent hours inside there and we all had fun, there are so many things to see and do, I am sure we missed a lot, but we ran out of time before we ran out of interest.

On another trip into Vancouver (and past way out to Langley) we went to the Greater Vancouver Zoo. The zoo was also a lot of fun and we spent the whole day there as well...
One of our day trip we went the other way. We went to Whistler instead of Vancouver, with Hubby's Mom and rode the gondola's and chairlifts exploring the mountains. It was a wonderful day, we enjoyed it so much as something completely different. It made us realize how fortunate we were growing up to have been able to explore so much of the awesome mountains and glaciers of that area, and much of it was through the school... Hubby and I really need to stay in shape to give our kids the same experience.

On top of the Creekside Gondola, Whistler

Up on the very top of Whistler Mountain... see Black Tusk Mountain in the background (the pointy one), we climbed up to that in Grade 9. Hubby climbed all the way to the top!

The Peak to Peak Gondola took us from Whistler Mtn to Blackcomb Mtn... the little red things in the distance of that picture... are other gondolas, it gives you an idea of how huge this was!

So apart from all those things, we also met up with Hubby's family at Porteau Cove twice, for dinner. One of those times was with cousins, so the kids had a lot of fun swimming and floating on logs. The other time was after Hubby went with his Dad and the kids out boating on Howe Sound, all around Anvil Island and they saw lots of seals with pups and had a great time. I had been in West Vancouver that day visiting with one of my best friends and having a great time catching up.

I am sure that I am forgetting stuff on here, but it really has been a wonderfully busy summer. So full that it has flown by and it is nearly over!

Another Summer Solstice...

2010-06-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

Today marks the longest day of the year, our third summer solstice up north. It has been feeling like summer already for the past few weeks and the kids and I are already brown (Hubby is pink)! We have been having weather in the mid twenties, which feels much warmer up here, again probably because of the dry... it is very dry. The little bits of rain that we have had haven't added up to anything, they haven't even wet the pavement, just made speckles. But I am not complaining!! It has felt heavenly, we are thoroughly enjoying this summer weather and are ready for a few summer storms that are likely to come our way over the next few weeks.

We are very excited to have the kids home for the summer, we can have them to ourselves again for a while. They have already finished their music recitals, their soccer tournaments (in which Maria received a special medal for being always eager, smiling and fun), and all that is left to finish up is school... I can't wait!

But today is the solstice and it is celebrated around the world by so many different cultures and religions, it feels as though there should be a bit more "celebration" here... but there isn't so we can just quietly say... Happy Summer!

I Don't Feel Tired...

2010-06-14T11:08:00.001-07:00

Yet I am not going to bed lately... well not until it is quite late! The days are so very long right now, and we have been having such beautiful weather... it feels wrong to go to bed when the sun is still shining! Last night it was still bright out when I made myself go to bed at 11:30... Next week is the solstice... I think my body is gearing up to watch it!

Gardening in the North.

2010-06-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

Gardening up here is a MUCH different thing than gardening on the south coast. When we moved from Squamish to the Island, gardening changed a little bit. In that there were MORE things I could grow. The weather and climate on the Island are extremely temperate and mild and there are very few things you can't grow. In fact the main problem I had on the Island was over-growth... whether it was in the form of invasive weeds (blackberries, horse-tail and morning glory were the worst) or in the form of the plants over growing their areas.

The rock-wall garden hubby made and I planted in Squamish, with a cute baby Maria and some container gardens too!

When we bought our house in Saltair there was an absolutely fabulous garden. The plants around the deck were all colourful and scented so that when you sat out in the evenings it was heavenly. There were beautiful, lush, varied species throughout the whole yard.

The beautiful garden in Saltair... just after we moved in. Notice the size of the pine tree on the left hand side of the picture.

We bought the house from a couple who had no children and one of their main hobbies was gardening. Then we moved in... Hubby was working Monday - Friday and I had a two year old and a baby. Let's just say the garden wasn't quite what it was when we left! I tried to keep up with it, but the weeds and the plants themselves were vigorous!

This picture was at Allan's 3rd birthday... so two years from the previous picture... look at the pine tree on the left. You don't have to be good at growing things on the Island, you have to be good at weeding and pruning!

Up here, I am having the opposite problem. We are now beginning our THIRD year (holy cow, how did that happen!) up here. The first year I let the garden just happen so I would know what was in it when it grew... turns out there was nothing in it so I threw in some annuals and had containers plants! Last year out front I planted annuals again, but planned this time so they looked good and lush. Well they eventually did after they recovered from the May long weekend snow and frost we had that nearly killed them! We also dug up a portion of the back yard to plant trees and shrubs to try and make it less sterile back there.

The sticks and dirt are the garden we built... this picture was taken last year, just after we planted it. It looks pretty much the same this year, except now the two trees on the back fence don't have any leaves on the top branches!

We planted six trees, one of them didn't make it at all. It was dead before we started as it had been in a bucket and moved with us from the Island. The other five were healthy, we had a weeping crab-apple, a hawthorn, a cherry, a pear and a Pea Shrub. So far this year the Pea Shrub and the Cherry look good, the Crab-apple has leaves and flowers but it looks sickly (except it seems fine where it is growing out of the shoots on the bottom of the tree). The Hawthorn and the Pear both look dead, except the shoots at the bottom are healthy looking... I don't know what happened to those poor trees... the winter was a fairly mild winter, but we did have people moving dirt a lot behind us, which created a bit of a swamp behind our back fence. We also have horrible clay soil, but I worked a lot of peat-moss and coconut husks into the soil, as well as adding a bunch of soil, around the trees.

In the front yard this year, the little lilac bushes are also failing. One is dead and two have only a few branches with leaves... and this year I decided instead of annuals in the front garden bed, I would grow veggies. Why not?! They are pretty, annual and tasty! So we have carrots, radishes, lettuce, spinach, kale peas, beans and zucchini! We also have a few marigolds that hubby's grandfather planted before he passed away...

So I think each year will be a challenge and things will have to be really planned out. I think I am going to stick with native trees from now on and beautify with shrubs... they aren't as heart-breaking when they die!

So...

2010-06-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

You dress for what looks to be a rainy day and wind up sweating in the beautiful, cloudless sky that emerges 10 minutes after you leave the house...

This is while you are walking with the kindergarten class from the school to the gymnastics club for a field-trip...

This is after the teacher, the other parents and you have made sure all the kindergarten kids have on their jackets and sweaters so they are all sweating too...

I could not be a kindergarten teacher, I was far to tempted to tell them to suck it up. If I am going to sweat, so can they!

Six.

2010-05-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

Today I am not going to post about living up north... Today is my baby boy's 6th birthday. I am in awe that six years have past since he was born.

Each time either of my kids have a birthday, I find myself thinking back to where I was on the day they were born, at certain times during the day... Maria was born at night after 4 hours of labour and I can still remember the day leading up to her birth (going to the Dr. in the morning, having lunch with my Mom and Irene, watching Tony Parsons on the news, falling asleep on the couch and waking up to my water breaking!).
Allan was born at 8am after less than two hours of labour. So for him I recall lifting up Maria at 6am and feeling my water break, the contractions started about 15 minutes later.

I can remember being quite mad at Anne because she wanted to have a shower before we left for the hospital (I was in labour! There is no logic!) I also remember arriving at the hospital and only having about 1/2 hour until he was born.

So my day of recollection for Allan's birth is over by 8 am... from there my day of recollection gets difficult.
Most days, I forget that Allan ever had anything wrong with him. He is such a happy, healthy, active, smart and charming little boy. But on his birthday I re-live it a little bit and the re-run lasts for a little more than a month, until the day we got to go home from the hospital. That was a day of pure joy and excitement and sunshine and Maria's crazy curls and Allan's gaunt little shaved head and Suki being ecstatic and Michael and I finally able to relax and celebrate our new addition to our family.

That said, today IS Allan's birthday and we will be having fun and celebrating the big boy that he is turning into and trying to grant him a few wishes along the way.

Happy birthday my little man, I love you.

May Long Weekend!

2010-05-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

There is a strange tradition up here for the May long weekend, I had never really heard of it before. We missed out on it the first year we were here but we have totally been overwhelmed by it this and last year. I am not much of a fan of this tradition... in fact it is not very popular at all, but...

You can't stop the snow.

From my yard...

2010-05-15T14:10:00.001-07:00

Although it may be a "postage-stamp" sized yard within the city limits, we are surrounded by nature. In many ways more so than any other house we have lived in (except the one we rented for a year between Crofton and Duncan - but about equal to that!).

From my yard I have seen several moose, elk, deer (they were IN my yard), fox, Michael saw a wolf (eek!), squirrels, loads of birds... The only thing my tiny yard is lacking is the privacy and seclusion from neighbours... but I am working on that. I have trees and gardens growing to hopefully help bring some on my much loved privacy. And today is a beautiful day (around 23 degrees!) and a good day to be working outside... so that is where I will be!

Sandals and Snow

2010-04-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

Spring is definitely upon us here... about two months earlier than last year, although there is still a very good chance that we will see snow again before summer arrives, it isn't likely to last.

I have flowers blooming (and yet unidentified - I need to download the pics from my camera) and tulips, iris' and dahlias coming. My trees are budding and my grass is growing! Today we are expected to reach 24 degrees, and it is beautiful outside! While dropping the kids off at school the people are all in the mood for warm weather... shorts and t-shirts and sandals on almost everyone... including me. Yet, I still have snow in my back yard! Only a little bit, the remainder of the snow-slide Hubby built for the kids and it is in the shade... but it seems strange to be wearing sandals and to be able to kick snow!

Home...

2010-04-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

We are home after a rather long time away. It was spring break and therefore time for my son's annual check-up with his doctor in Victoria. We take advantage of the fact that we will be on the Island to visit with all the people that we love and miss during the rest of the year. This year we were there even longer than planned as hubbies grand-father passed away just before spring break so we went down early for the funeral as well.

It is almost shocking, going down to the Coast and the Island now. It is so moist and so very green... almost suffocatingly so at times. The damp is everywhere and I never noticed it at all for the first 34 years of my life! It is beautiful and stunning to look at, but also rotten and decaying at the same time... The rain that used to seem so normal is now overwhelming and seemingly, constant. It is not home, anymore. It makes me sad to admit that, and I do know that if we were to move back I would soon adjust, but it is true. I have grown out of the bonds that held me to the coast.

I still love the ocean and the gardens and the green... I love the clean. Everything is scrubbed clean down there by the frequent rain, unlike the dust and dirt that coat everything up here. More than anything though, I miss the people that I love, both family and friends. However, I am not yearning to move back, as I once was.

Now we are settled, happy where we are. My kids have so many friends and such a fabulous school. The town seems to be getting smaller to me, which I assume means that I am now part of it... I can barely go downtown these days without stopping and chatting with someone I know. Not to mention the wonderful job that hubby has, which allows him to be home enjoying his family more than any other job I have ever heard of. The big sky is fascinating and full of beauty, the rivers we still have to explore... The fossils that seem to be all over, if you have the patience to look for them and the wildlife that is everywhere.

Yet we are not certain that we will remain here forever either... I think the one thing we are certain of, is that we are uncertain what our future holds. There is something exciting about that... so many options and possibilities it is up to us to find the path which is right for us.

Bugs...

2010-02-20T10:51:00.000-08:00

I have never liked bugs. Everyone who knows me knows this and they also know that I have a particular loathing (some might say phobia) of spiders. So knowing these facts people also couldn't help but taunt me, when they learned that we were moving up North, about ALL the bugs they have up there! I heard plenty of...

"They have two seasons up there, winter and bug season!"

"Well you can't go outside in the summer, the mosquitoes are so big they will carry you away!"

... and many other pearls of wisdom like that.

So right now we are still in winter so it isn't bug season... but by that it means there are NO bugs... AT ALL! Every time I turn the light on in the basement bathroom, I cringe. Waiting to see the scurrying away of a spider or some other basement dwelling yuck but there aren't any and there haven't been for months. Even in the summer we only had small spiders in the basement and not that many. As for the mosquitoes and other flying bugs... yes they are around in the summer, especially if you are anywhere near a beaver pond. But all in all I have never experienced the quantity and size of the bug life that is on the Island... Holy crap!

The spider in this picture is on the ledge of my bathtub in Duncan... it almost takes up the whole ledge!! I thought it was a toy spider when I first saw it, and this is just a house spider - those bloody jumping spiders that infested my house in Ladysmith where terrifyingly aggressive and fast and big... and then those ones that were really long but so thin you practically couldn't see them (they looked like balls of hair) and that isn't even touching on the wood bugs, centipedes, earwigs, and all the other nasty things.

So as far as bugs go, I prefer the ones up here!

We have been having an amazing winter this year. We had a couple weeks of the very cold weather and then a couple weeks of snow and for the last while we have been sitting between -10 and +2 and this week has had the sunshine as well... it is beautiful. I can hear birds singing, the icicles were huge from the melting during the day and freezing at night although ours are almost gone now. We still have a fair bit of snow but if this weather keeps up... who knows maybe by the time spring break is here, it will already be spring?!

Winter Wonderland

2010-01-23T09:56:00.001-08:00

We have been having a wonderful winter... this year has had its cold spells, for certain, but over-all has been much milder and therefore we have been getting out in it! We have been out pulling the kids in the tube behind the quad, in our alley behind the house and out on some trails. We have been out tobogganing of course, and some friends took us snowmobiling on Charlie Lake where we also got to go tubing behind those machines and go ice fishing, while having a campfire, hot chocolate and marshmallows! Michael went to Tumbler Ridge and went snowmobiling up the mountains there, and had a fabulous time and the kids and I went to the High on Ice Festival again this year which was awesome. (and will get it's own post when I get the pictures onto the computer!)

We have seen many, many deer. In fact they come to our yard every night and see what they might find to eat... we have also seen quite a few moose, including some just in the park next to our house! We have also manged to see the Northern Lights several times.

All in all we have been having a wonderful winter, and now we just have to live through about 4 more months of it!! We are planning our escape from winter during spring break though when we will head back down to the Island for Allan's annual cardio check-up... Hope to see everyone then!

Changes Are Coming...

2009-11-26T20:01:00.000-08:00

I have been at odds with myself lately and not able to figure out why. I am enjoying the town, I am enjoying the women that I am getting to know better. The kids are at such a fun age and they have so much joy in everything right now. Hubby and I are good and the job is still amazing... So eventually I figured it must be these things creeping around in the back of my brain telling me my time was coming...

I have had the good fortune and pleasure of staying home with my kids. My youngest is in kindergarten this year and to be honest I barely drop him off in the mornings and it is time to pick him up again... but next year, it will be 6 hours per day. It is time to do something with my time. Hubby and I have talked this subject to death and we haven't gotten very far with it. I will need to do SOMETHING or I will go crazy... I really don't think there is any way around that. Yet my pride won't let me take a "token" or "hobby" job, I have amazing qualification and if I should decide to work, it will be a good job. BUT that good job doesn't allow me the freedom to be there after school for my kids or there when they are sick or have Pro-D days... Not to mention the fact that Hubby's job is so very good that we would actually earn less money if he has to turn down an overtime shift because I am at work and he has to pick up the kids that day...

So, what I have decided (and putting it here cements it so there is no turning back) is that I am going to go back to college, part time for now, to work towards my Bachelors degree... I am kicking myself for not finishing it when I had the chance way too long ago now! However, hindsight... it is ok though because I don't think I could possibly do any more business or management classes... I think it is time for some deep thinking and liberal arts. I will continue to help out at the school whenever I can and I want to increase my volunteer work beyond the school... to other parts of the community, but some of the time will be strictly for me and my school. That is the plan anyways.

The Northern Lights

2009-11-14T05:52:00.000-08:00

My little guy was up in the middle of the night last night (again!) and since it was a clear night I thought it was worth a look... and there they were. This is the third time I have seen the northern lights since living up here... there were none last year, that I noticed. This fall has been trying to make up for it though. Still no colours other than the bluish green, but last night was a big, unmistakable swath of them up in the sky. The one thing I have noticed with them is that they don't sway, as I expected them to, they shift. One moment it will be shaped like 'this' and the next moment, it is shaped slightly different... but you don't see it changing. I showed Allan before putting him back to bed, but he had the same reaction as Maria had... "Oh... can I go back to bed?"

Otherwise known as... Finter?? Wall??

2009-10-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

It happened... we were snowed upon. On September 29th, it couldn't even wait for October! Well, it was only a little bit of snow and it all melted the next day in the SUNSHINE! Yay, sunshine! Since then I have heard more weather rumours... weather is a common topic up here but that is because it is interesting!! You never know what is coming your way (shh, don't say it too loud apparently even tornadoes happen up here... yeesh!). Anyway, back to the rumours... I have heard rumours that by the end of the week EITHER it could snow, again... or it could be 20 degrees and sunny! Hah, there you go, predictions! The actual funny thing is, they could both be right.

Fall

2009-09-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

We are having another beautiful fall, and although it has been "officially" fall for only about a week, it has felt like fall for nearly a month. Last year fall was wonderful. It was about two full months of beautiful cool, but not cold, weather and amazingly colourful trees. I don't think we are going to be so lucky this year.

We had our first frost last night (at least I think it was the first one!) and there have been rumours floating around that next week, the first week of October... next week we may get snow. SNOW!! I am not ready for winter yet, I am still processing that fall is here, for real! There are still tomatoes on the vine for goodness sake... well there were yesterday, maybe the frost did them in...

Anyway, we have a lot to do to get ready for winter and we haven't even started. Mostly we have to winterize our vehicles and get the snow-tires back on... it feels like we just took them off! We have to finish off the shed so we can clear out the garage so that we could actually park in there. We need to finish outfitting the kids in winter gear... we have gloves and boots for them but they will need new snow pants and possibly jackets.

So we have a lot to do and potentially, very little time to do it... lets just hope it isn't such a brutal winter as last year!

The Weather Tales...

2009-09-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

The weather up here is always interesting and it is often in the extreme category. Extremely cold mostly. But right now, as the seasons are beginning to change from summer to fall the weather seems confused. For the most part we have been having beautiful fall days, mid to high twenties during the day and cooling off at night, perfect for playing outside and enjoying the end of summer vacation.

But this morning we were socked in with fog and I thought it was going to be a cool day, a day for pants. Yet now in the afternoon it is lovely and warm, until a cloud goes in front of the sun and then the temperature drops 5 degrees! A few days ago we had a major thunder and lightning storm, it was absolutely awesome... not to mention right over top of us! The light show started in the early evening with constant lightning but completely without sound. By 11pm it was still constant but now it was HERE and loud and woke me up from a sound sleep... I swear it must have landed right beside us! The house literally shook.

Something tells me we are not in for the beautiful, prolonged fall that we had last year but whatever kind of fall it is going to be, it has started.

Next...

2009-08-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting on here at all for a while, I had come to a cross-road with this site. When I started this blog it was about moving. First the decision to move and then the preparation for the move, the move itself and then for our transition into our new home and town. But a year passed and I wasn't getting any "inspiration" to write... we had explored our area and come to accept it as home, and home wasn't what this blog was about.

However, lately I have been thinking "oh, that would be a good story" again, so perhaps this blog isn't quite done yet. I expect the posts will still be sporadic, but hopefully I will feel inspired to share them.

My push to write today is that last night, hubby was taking the dog out before we went to bed and he came in quite quickly and called for me to come out. We finally got to see the northern lights. They weren't really bright, they were quite dim actually, but we still got to see them and that was something we have been anticipating since we moved up here. So he went and woke up Maria, because I had promised her that if ever I see them I would get her up... apparently they weren't as exciting as she was expecting (they actually dimmed down even more while she was watching) because she soon asked to go back to sleep, but she saw them!

So, we have had another milestone for us up here and I expect there will be others for me to write about as well.

Where has the time gone??

2009-05-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is the end of May... I totally missed my "one year anniversary" of living up here (it was April 30th) and here we are exactly one month later! I think this is a sign of contentment... things aren't new and unusual up here anymore, urging me to write about it on my blog. Now, life just is.

We haven't been sitting around on our bums though, we have been busy, as per usual. We have had hubby's family come and stay with us, we have had a few birthday parties for Allan (my baby is FIVE!). We attended the trade fair here in FSJ, which was huge and very well put on... the kids had a lot of fun checking everything out, getting treats and seeing friends.

We have also had some friends move to town from Ladysmith. They have also been affected by the demise of the forest industry on Vancouver Island and have come up here to work, so I am looking forward to having a friend who is MY friend.

We also were shown how to find the Charlie Lake Caves by the daughter of a friend. These caves have no signage to speak of and are wide open for anyone to explore, which is pretty impressive considering the following statement taken from the Virtual Museum Canada:

Charlie Lake Cave

Charlie Lake Cave is located in the Peace River area in northeastern British Columbia. The site contains evidence of a series of temporary occupations, spanning the last 11,000 years.

The lowest (earliest) level of the site contained several stone artifacts, including a fluted point, six retouched flakes and a small stone bead. This level has been dated to 10,770±120 years BP. Associated animal remains included bison, snowshoe hare, large hare, ground squirrel and fish. The bison bones exhibited cut marks that researchers believe were created by humans using stone tools. Charlie Lake Cave is the only archaeological site in Canada in which fluted point tools and associated animal remains have been found in an undisturbed context.

So we have settled in to life up here and we have started some of the habits of those who live up here (i.e. we have bought a travel trailer and a quad!). We are still exploring new things up here and enjoying finding things to see. This summer we have plans to use our travel trailer and discover whatever we can within the nearby areas. Ao I hope to keep in touch on here, but it may be sporadic!

Spring

2009-04-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

Walking around Stump Lake in Squamish with Nana & Grandad

The last two weeks have been spring break for Maria so we took advantage of the time off to go back to Squamish and the Island to catch up on some overdue visits and for Allan's yearly check-up with the cardiologist. It turns out that two weeks is not long enough to see everyone, but we managed to see many of our much missed family and friends.

Getting in the good books with the Easter Bunny...

Having a lovely visit with Granny Green brought the unexpected surprise of more cousins!

Our trip to Squamish was wonderful, it is funny how we have come full-circle now that we have left the Island. For so long after leaving Squamish, we couldn't stand going back to town because of all of the changes and building that was never-ending. We loved seeing our families and friends, but it was hard to see the town itself, it was no longer our home-town. Now that we have left the Island and moved up North, we can see the beauty of Squamish again, it still isn't "home" but it isn't so disturbing to see the changes... maybe because it really isn't home anymore? (anyway, I side-track) We had a wonderful visit with everyone we managed to see while in Squamish and we enjoyed the lack of snow.

Maria stopped by at her old school during lunch hour to see some of her old friends, then we went to Transfer Beach after school to meet up with more friends... it is always fun to throw rocks

Our visit on Saltspring with my Sister and her family was great fun!

We left for the Island after a week and managed to see so many people and had such wonderful visits, it really was awesome on the Island too. We managed to get to Salt Spring to see my sister and her family, visit my other sister and family in Ladysmith as well as most of our friends, we visited much of our family in Duncan and managed to join in on the annual easter egg hunt which was great fun. We also spent one day in Victoria after Allan's Dr. appointment (which was excellent) and we went to the Royal BC Museum and watched an Imax movie... so it was VERY busy, but so wonderful.

We had a great time at the museum

We saw an otter on our walk out on the breakwater

The easter egg hunt was awesome... even if it was pouring rain!

Then to top off a wonderful trip, we arrived back in Fort St John to spring... the snow is almost completely gone and it is warm. Ahh spring, I have missed you!

Our trip home was good... but a little over-stuffed!

A lot has happened in a year

2009-03-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me the other day that it was over a year ago when hubby and I flew up here to look at houses and look through the school - and I suppose when I started this blog. The picture at the top of this blog was taken in early March...

We hadn't moved up here yet, one year ago, but we were gearing up to it, and all the panic and depression that ensues during that kind of upheaval. I have some friends who are going through the exact same thing as we did a year ago, and I feel for them. That was the hardest part. I have been trying to help them as much as I can, but there is only so much I can do... time does the most and I must say that after almost one year up here, as much as I complain about the weather... life is so very much easier now and I am thankful for being where we are.

Blahh!!!

2009-03-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

Ok... I know the other day it felt like we made it through winter... but now we are snowed under AGAIN! Make it stop already! No seriously, everyone in town is not enjoying this lengthy winter and so many people keep saying that they are sure this must be the end of it, and yet it keeps coming... so we are going down to the coast for spring break and get away from it for a bit. We are all very excited to see everyone again and are trying to work it so that we can see everyone. Hopefully by the time we come back winter will ACTUALLY be receding... one can hope!

We made it.

2009-03-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of spring, the spring equinox... we made it through our first winter. It is still winter here according to the weather, but I know that it won't last long, so it doesn't feel as depressing as it did a month ago. In fact we are getting snow as I type this, but yesterday was a magnificently sunny day that melted snow piles into huge puddles and reminded me of the mud season we are about to begin (where are my rubber boots?!)

The days are already much longer, the sun rises and sets at around 8 each day, which is really nice. The days are long enough that we can go play outside after Maria gets home from school, in fact the kids are anxious to get their bikes out, although I think it best if we wait until the sidewalks are clear of ice.

So it feels like we are in the home stretch and we are almost there. It is spring.

Time for Some Escapism...

2009-03-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

Winter is hanging in there, long after it has lost its welcome. I really think that I was very patient with it, I certainly don't expect it to be gone, just milder... is that really too much to ask? Apparently it is, so maybe today I will think of Mexico...

The colourful bus that took us to the park

One of the highlights of our trip (well actually there were many, but this is one...) was going to Xcaret (the "X" is pronounced "Ish"). We didn't really know what to expect on this excursion, but we knew it was kid friendly so we thought it would be good.

Arriving at Xcaret!

We, and our friends who met us in Mexico, all got on the bus early in the morning and less than 1/2 an hour later arrived at a zoo... well it was crazy busy anyway! After finally filtering our way in (they made us all trade in our sunscreen for bio-degradable sunscreen to protect the animals in the park...) then we had 4 kids and 4 adults who all wanted to see something special in the park... This place is huge and has so much to see it was hard to know what to head to see first and what was where... you would be walking along and see a sign for something really cool so we would wind up veering off here or there... but we had requests to see the manatees, the bats, the dolphins, the underground river and the sharks, everything else was a bonus... and a bonus it was.

The mining caves right near the start of the park

The Mexican cemetary

Xcaret had so many things to see and we saw so much, I am sure we missed some cool things, but we do not feel like we missed out on anything. One of the highlights for me was seeing the traditional Mexican burial ground with its labyrinth of graves and its Mary shrines, but it was also very cool to see a tapier.

The Tapier

The Iguana that scared Maria... she was standing up leaning on the wall looking in at the leopard and didn't see it and it was RIGHT in front of her!

The leopard was huge and very impressive

However, after walking around through the jungle-like park all morning, we were COOKING hot so we decided to head for the underground river. The park gives you a lovely pink life jacket and snorkel equipment if you want, they also have you put all of your belongings into a duffle bag with a lock on it, you keep the key and they take the bag to wait for you at the end of the river.

They have a turtle release program to give the turtles a better chance at survival, these little guys are sooo cute!

After doing all that you go down some stairs into a small canyon and you choose... a river that is completely underground - i.e. cave the whole way or a mixture of cave and open air. Michael is still moaning about the fact that he would have rather done underground entirely, but I for one am glad that we went for the mixed route! So we all hopped into the water which was quite chilly and for 45 minutes floated along through caves (which kind of freaked me out) and through mangroves and even past some animal enclosures, including the manatee area, so there were also fish swimming about. We were not able to take our camera into the river, although we did have Maria's underwater camera, but the pictures did not turn out well, so just believe me that it was very cool.

They have photographers here and there along the river to get pictures of all the people so this is one of two that we have. Maria was further along the river swimming with her friend Katie!

After the river we came out and had some lunch, while being serenaded by an amazing mariachi band. We then spent a while checking out the bats, butterflies and the aquarium, where we saw so many different creatures it was incredible.

The Blue Morphos Butterfly was the highlight in the butterfly pavilion

About this time we were debating whether the kids would be able to handle the show that was to cap off the evening. The show was to be two hours long, starting at 6:30pm and we would then have our bus ride home... and this was on top of a very busy, long day. We decided we might as well give it a whirl, the kids were still in good spirits and it would be a fun memory for them.

So we hustled back all the way across to the other side of the park and just made it in time for the show. The show was really quite cool. There was a demonstration of the Mayan ball games that were played long ago, then they did a brief show of the history of the area and then musical numbers from different areas of Mexico. It was very entertaining, and just a little too long for the younger two kids, they each fell asleep during the show... but that was ok too. Part way through the show, we became aware of a loud pounding sound, and soon realized that it was not raining... it was down-pouring. The large grass roof on the show arena kept out most of the rain... but then we had to make a run back to the bus, and we got SOAKED! It was a blast...

The ball game where the players are not allowed to use hands or feet to shoot the ball through the rings... this looked tricky, but the one with a burning ball looked very impressive to the kids!

Some music and dancing at the show

Ahh, I almost got warm there! Now back to our regularly scheduled, long-lasting, winter...

We had a blizzard on Saturday and today it is -29... sigh.

These Boots are Made for Walking

2009-03-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

One of our concerns of moving up here has been our dog, Suki. Suki has never liked being cold and it was really difficult to get her to go outside when it was cold and rainy... we had no idea how she would do in the REAL cold.

She has actually done quite well, much better than we expected. She is much more willing to go outside in the dry cold and since we don't get much rain, it hasn't been an issue. The only problem she has had is when it is -30 or colder her feet hurt. There were a few times when she went outside and would be limping and whining after a quick pee, so there was no question of going out for any longer (not that anyone wants to be outside when it is -30 or colder!).

So Nana decided that Suki needed some boots. Yes, our dog has boots, but these boots aren't made for walking... more like dancing :)

The Sun is Following Me

2009-02-18T08:17:00.001-08:00

I think I like it that way!

We had an amazing time in Mexico... The weather wasn't hot, but it was hot enough... particularly for those of us coming from -30! We left for Mexico after a weekend birthday party for Maria, followed by an overnight stay with Nana & Grandad (with another party for Maria!) Our flight from Vancouver to Cancun left late in the afternoon so we finally arrived at our hotel in the middle of the night. They had put out sandwiches and bottles of water in our room for us to eat on our arrival, which was great for the kids as they were very hungry and thirsty at this point so by the time we got to sleep it was after 3am... we were very tired to say the least!

The tired family... we just arrived in Akumal!

It was about almost 6am when I heard a noise I couldn't identify... a very loud noise. Michael and I both heard this noise and since we were half delirious from being so tired it took a while to identify this sound as birds. I know that sounds ridiculous, but you have to hear these birds - I have never heard anything like it. This is not a beautiful, peaceful, lilting bird song... as Maria put it "WHY ARE THE BIRDS YELLING AT EACH OTHER?!?!" and yes, she yelled that so that I could hear her over the sound of the birds yelling! I hope that the link works... my camera makes large files so it might be too big...

We have a lot of other stories from our vacation, but that is enough for now... We are happy to be home, the kids seem rejuvenated and excited to be doing the day to day activities again. I am also glad that the weather has warmed up a fair bit and we have been having beautiful sunny days... sun is good.

Cold x Two!

2009-01-22T19:35:00.000-08:00

My house has been infected be a nasty cold... it is working its way through all of us and we are just hoping to clear it mostly away before we leave on Monday.

Also the cold weather has returned with a vengeance. Maria has been anxiously wanting to see a blizzard... now she has! We had a horrid north wind along with snow and temperatures around -22 not counting the wind chill... all I can say is bbbrrrr!

We are really looking forward to leaving on Monday for our trip to Mexico... we just have to get through the sickness and a very busy weekend first!

Chinook!

2009-01-21T10:55:00.000-08:00

A seriously warm chinook has been blowing our way, we have had almost a week of temperatures near +10. It has been heavenly... for me at least! Not only has it been unusually warm, but it has also been beautiful and sunny. We have been out and about; going to the parks, walking ON Charlie Lake and just enjoying being outside.

Today it has clouded over and cooled off again so I think we are heading back to normal winter weather (hopefully not quite as cold as before) but having that brief chance to defrost our bones before we head to the tropics was certainly welcome!

High On Ice

2009-01-18T13:47:00.001-08:00

This weekend is the High on Ice Festival here in Fort St John. This is an annual event which has done quite well in attracting lots of spectators and competitors. The big thing is the ice carving, similar to the sand sculptures in Parksville but (obviously) done in ice! This year they were able to harvest the ice from local lakes (because it was sooooo cold) so there was an added element to the event.

The theme this year was "The Ice Age" so there were carvings of dinosaurs and fossils

There were also quite a few carvings of the characters from the movie "Ice Age" The kids particularly like any that had the squirrel in them!

Apart from the carving competitions there were also an ice fishing derby. They also have lots of kids activities like toboggan races, horse drawn sleigh rides, crafts and this amazingly awesome ice slide that they made for the event.
The ice slide was probably the highlight for my kids, I am hoping we get a chance to go back this evening as the slide had Christmas lights frozen inside it which would look very cool and all the sculptures (which should be completed this afternoon as they are still working on them when we were there)

This sculpture of the characters from the movie is still under construction...

had special lighting. They also built an ice chimney which they will light a fire in to end the event.

This is the chimney that they will be lighting up tonight

Quite a fun way to spend the weekend anyway, something unique to the North!

Even the concession stand was made of ice!

Home

2009-01-15T06:49:00.000-08:00

For all of my complaining (so sorry, I looked back and realized I was complaining a lot recently!) I have also realized something the other day which shocked the heck out of me.

This is home.

I didn't expect Fort St John to feel like home so quickly, I almost wondered if it ever would. I don't know if it was having Christmas here, or the friends that I am making, the way my kids are blossoming and doing so well, or if it is being able to see the Island through my eyes that are no longer rose-tinted (it is still beautiful, but it isn't perfect!) Maybe it is all of those things.

The winter is damn cold and well, damn cold. But it is beautiful too. The trees twinkling with the frost and ice, the beautiful sunrises and sunsets that colour the entire huge sky, the wildlife (we have seen loads of deer, elk, some moose, an ermine and a fox! Not to mention Buffalo, horses, donkeys and cows!) The people are really good too... they are different from Island folk, but they are good.

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to live through a "real" Canadian winter, I have never experienced one before and they truly are a wonder. I still haven't seen the Northern Lights up here... but I will. From home.

Where for Art Thou... Mexico???

2009-01-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

I am soooo ready to go to Mexico. I think I have a mild case of Seasonally Affected Disorder, or whatever SAD is. We had a few bright blue days and I felt so recharged and ready to go outside, but it has been snowing again for the last few days (week?) and I am tired of it... Although it is starting to warm up, a bit. The damn weatherman keeps promising temperatures right around zero (which would be great!) but we are still around -17 to -20... sigh.

On a positive note, we got some work done in the house, since we were stuck inside. I think we have officially unpacked more boxes in this house than we did in the entire time we were in Saltair!

Mike did a great job on cutting the mats to fit

Mike and I attacked a room that had been a stash place for "stuff". The room is now empty, completely. In fact it echoes like crazy and the kids love to play tag in there, which is great since they can't really run around outside. This room was used as a billiards room by the previous owners of our house - for us it is known as the "Wrestling Room". Although exercise room might be more apt. We are getting a treadmill so we can get our blood moving from its current frozen state. I had plans of getting into cross-country skiing, but apparently I am too wimpy to brave the cold. Also a place for the kids to run wild and bounce on the bouncy castle thing... We have a big house, so we are taking advantage with a completely frivolous space. I just need to do something about that echo... any suggestions?

I Need to Thaw

2009-01-06T18:07:00.000-08:00

That isn't snow on the trees... it is frost/ice

Happy New Year! We have had a very nice winter holiday and thoroughly enjoyed some time off, but man... this cold snap has got to break. It has been between -25 to -40 for weeks now it seems. I know that the weather has been nasty everywhere, but I am just about frozen right through.

The view out Maria's bedroom window!

Even the people who were born here are complaining about it, so it isn't just me! In all seriousness though... it is too cold to go outside so we are probably suffering from a bad case of "cabin fever". I think the cure is two weeks in Mexico...

Check out Hubby' eyelash extensions! Again that isn't snow on him, it is ice from shoveling the driveway!

It's a Marshmallow World In the Winter...

2008-12-22T10:13:00.001-08:00

But it is too cold to go outside and take a picture... no really it is, my camera doesn't like to take pictures outside, it freezes (literally) up! Yesterday my van was showing temperatures around -34! It was so cold that when I started to drive, my tires were frozen in the shape they sat at all night and it took a little bit for them to "round up" again and stop thumping.... I thought I had a flat, but it was just a square!

Michael's union put on a Christmas party at the gymnastics club. The kids had a blast, they got to do gymnastics, have pizza and goodies, sit on Santa's knee AND get a present from the big guy too!

We have been having fun though. It is hard to not get into the Christmas spirit when you are surrounded by winter everywhere you go - so we have been busy with Christmas parties, skating parties, Christmas concerts and all other Christmas preparations! We had a nice evening the other day... Maria's school had their winter concert and Maria did a great job and we enjoyed watching the show. Upon arriving home we had the pleasant surprise of finding three deer in our front yard, eating what is left of our trees and garden (and maybe a few veggies that found their way into the garden after we had been seeing the deers hoofprints).

This is the best picture I could get as the camera wasn't doing that well outside and the noisy kids were scaring the deer away!

Chances are I won't be on here again until after Christmas, so I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

The kids are in hyper-active mode now that the countdown to Christmas is on!

This was one of the healthiest and nicest Poinsettia's that I have ever seen...

at least it was in the store! After I bought it and brought it straight home in -33 weather it wasn't so healthy looking!

You know you are talking to a "true" Northerner when...

2008-12-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

Well first let me fill you in...

It has been a busy, but fun, week around here. Maria has been over to a friends house and has had a friend over here. We have made plans for Allan to have a little friend over too, so the kids are happy. On top of that, Maria has two birthday parties this week (one for twins!) as well as a skating party for all the grade ones in her school and the kids Christmas party put on by Hubby's work! My kids have a social life that puts most adults to shame!

Anyway, getting back on track... the other day we had one of Maria's friends in our van and Maria was telling her stories about how on the Island the snow didn't last very long and how last year she only got to play in a bit of slush...

Her friend laughs for a moment and then asks Maria "What is slush?"

The Days are Getting Shorter

2008-12-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

Last week, I was telling myself that I needed to bring the camera along with me on the drive to take Maria to school in the morning. There were some of the most amazing sunrises that I have ever seen - and I have actually seen a lot of them! The entire sky was orange with pink clouds and a vibrant orange sun...

However, today I took Maria to school in the pitch dark. The sun finally dawned after I dropped her AND Allan off. A few more weeks to go until the winter solstice... how dark will it get?!?

On a side note... we had a funny conversation with Allan the other day. Allan was trying to describe one of the kids in his class and he was having trouble telling us what colour his hair was until finally he thought of how to describe it "it is the colour of a sweet potato!" A very accurate description actually! Much more so than "red"!

November

2008-11-29T11:23:00.000-08:00

November has been good, although it has gone by so quickly I am amazed.

We have had a good start on winter, with a fair bit of snow and other winter weather, but for the last week it has warmed up to above freezing and I find I am missing the colder temperatures. When it is colder, I don't feel so cold, I think it has to do with the moisture in the air, but the last few days I have been freezing!

We are feeling the Christmas season coming... it has been difficult not to go ahead and decorate for Christmas yet. It feels like Christmas with the white landscape.

We went to the Santa Claus parade one evening, which was fun, although THAT was cold. We have also been doing a lot of sledding and other snow sports... speaking of which, I find it very cool that Maria's school supplies sleds for the kids to play on at lunch time and they also have cross-country skis for the older grades... now I just have to convince them to let me use them!

But most of all, we are having fun and enjoying the winter... who would have thought?!?

Maria, Brock and Allan waiting for the Santa Claus Parade to begin

It Is Winter...

2008-11-12T16:19:00.000-08:00

In every way except by the calendar!

We have had four more snowfalls since I last logged in here and the kids have enjoyed everyone of them. I haven't minded them either... now that I know my van will function just fine on the snowy/slippery roads, a lot of my apprehension about winter is gone. Shovelling has been WAY easier than on the coast since the snow is light and fluffy for the most part.

The part that hasn't been as much fun has been the freezing rain, apparently a common early/late winter occurrence up here... We have several times gone out to our van and found it encased in ice... it is almost impossible to scrape off the windows until the van has defrosted it... but first you have to try to get IN to the van to turn it on!

Anyhow, two snowmen later (we did get some snowman snow!) and several snow forts and sledding excursions later, the novelty hasn't worn off yet... mind you it is still warm enough that we can go out and play in it!

Guess What!?!

2008-11-05T20:05:00.000-08:00

It snowed! We woke up this morning to about 4-5 inches of snow, and it was still snowing. The finest, smallest, flakes of snow... but it added up.

Maria's little fairies were too busy playing and forgot to hibernate for winter! My plants finally decided to pack it in too...

Hubby had a heck of a time coming home from work this morning, his truck is still a work in progress and the 4x4 part of it isn't hooked up. But my van did pretty well. I was concerned since my van was terrible last winter, to the point where we could not go anywhere if it was snowy or icy... and that just wouldn't do, living where we are now! So we got really good winter tires for it and so far, so good.

Later in the morning the snow had all stopped and the sun came out and it turned into a fabulously, beautiful day. The sun also helped to melt the snow down a fair bit, although not too much as I think the high temperature today was about -3! I shovelled the driveway, which seemed like a piece of cake with the sun shining, the snow light as feathers, and a paved driveway to boot! I am sure I won't be too thrilled with it come March, or April for that matter, but for now... it is good.

I don't think there is a square inch of snow left untouched in our yard... the kids has a BLAST!

I Am Now a Time Zone Away...

2008-11-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

This part of B.C. doesn't follow the daylight savings time changes so I am now on Alberta time. Which on one hand feels a bit strange as my clocks are now different from all my family and friends on the coast.

However, for me personally it is excellent. I am horrible with time-changes. If I wasn't over-sleeping after the time changes, I had insomnia, my body just did not adjust well at all. One year I had plans to change all that and be organized and had my clocks set and ready to go, I went to bed early so I wouldn't sleep in - in the morning , I was prepared. So, I woke up in the morning and was all ready to go (I must have been 17) and I went to pick-up Michael in the morning for school... I was quite surprised to have his dad answer the door-bell in his housecoat and tell me that Michael was still asleep... I had changed my clocks in the wrong direction and was two hours early!

So, I am happy to not have to change my clocks for once... just forgive me if I call you and forget what time it is!

Hey, Wait a Minute!

2008-11-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

Well, last night was Halloween... and it was FUN! BUT... the one thing I was not prepared for on Halloween up here, was RAIN. Snow, I was prepared for but I thought rainy Halloween's were a thing of the past. Well that is o.k. though because it was only drizzling and the kids had a blast.

My Beautiful Butterfly...

There were all the usual Halloween activities going on up here... parties in the kids classes (I made spiderweb cookies for Allan's class and helped out at the pool for Maria's class), and the costumes, trick-or-treating and of course the candy.

Spiderman explaining how he got his powers...

There was a little surprise for us too... the day before Halloween, upon opening the front door, there was a little package waiting for us. It was a pumpkin filled with some goodies and treats for the kids along with a poem. Basically a chain-letter, but a fun one. It advised us to anonymously leave small packages of goodies on two peoples door-steps on our street. You put a little ghost up on your door to let others know that you have already been "ghosted"... it was a lot of fun for the kids and to be honest, it was fun for Hubby and I too... It had everyone on our street guessing "who was it".

Our surprise package that we found on the front porch

Anyway, after the trick-or-treating and the following gorge-fest, we went up the street to a friends house to watch some fireworks and have a visit. We got home at about 10:30 and had kids who were exhausted and happy... what more could you ask for.

Happy Halloween!

Fall

2008-10-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

Fall has been absolutely stunning up here... for all that I keep hearing that it will be brief (I am told that Halloween is the usual time for snow...) you couldn't have asked for nicer fall weather.

At the river with Papa

Fall has been excellent for many reasons... the gorgeous colours, the kids starting school again and enjoying it so much (the schools really are awesome), the kids loving the sports programs they are in, I got to go back to the Island for a whirlwind girly weekend which was sooo much fun, we had both my parents and Hubby's parents up for great visits, both Hubby and I had our birthdays... all in all Fall has been very full and busy and fun.

Allan scoring a goal at soccer! (he is Blue jersey #1)

So now we have been up North here for spring, summer and fall... only one season left... and its a big one!

Maria in Can-Skate and doing great... she can skate forwards, backwards and even do tiny jumps!

And So It Begins...

2008-10-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been much "blogging" going on around here due to all the usual excuses (busy, away, company here, busy, busy , computer issues...) But today marked a new milestone for us up here, so there is no excuse... We put on the snowtires.

I wonder if people hibernate up here?

One for Sorrow, Two for Joy...

2008-09-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Magpies are a common sighting up here. I had never seen one before coming up here, and on first seeing them thought they were quite beautiful with their long tails and striking colouring. They are still beautiful to me, but they are rascals... comparable to the blue Stellar's Jay and Crows for their naughtiness.

One thing I learned about magpies from my neighbour is that they often raid the nests of other birds, not the nicest thing to learn, so I kept that little nugget of info from Maria, who is somewhat sensitive about things like that. Maria has been fascinated by them and frequently has tried to get closer to one, but has never had any luck. Until recently.

The other day Maria was trying to tell me about her day and it was obvious something was bothering her. So I am trying to listen through her words to hear what is wrong. She and her friend were playing in the front yard and saw a Magpie nearby so the two girls snuck closer and closer. The magpie flew a little further away and still the girls snuck closer, eventually the bird gave up and flew away and it was at this point the girls reached the spot where the bird had been standing. There on the grass was a set of bird legs.

So Maria is telling me this and saying how bad she feels. I am trying to re-assure her that in nature things like this happen... and before I get much further than that she asks "but how will it land?" At which point I realize she thinks her friend and her scared "the legs" OFF the magpie. After I finished giggling and explaining that no, the magpie still has its own legs those were the legs of another bird, Maria giggled too and was much happier with the knowledge of canibalistic birds than birds with detachable legs...

I am still giggling though.

One Last Summer Adventure

2008-09-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

Last week we decided to go out in the boat again, this time with the gas motor. We opted to explore the Peace River and put in at the Peace Island Park and went upstream.

It was very different boating in the river, the motor had to work constantly or you would go backwards, but it was fun too. Lots of different branches to take along the river and the need to watch the depth so as to not touch the bottom with the propeller... (we only did that once, but we did it good!)

We got to watch a train cross the bridge just ahead of us, and see people fly-fishing... we saw a lot of beaver evidence, several lodges and a few piles of sticks that I think were attempts at dams but I am not too certain. We went almost all the way up to the big lookout in Fort St John eating lunch along the way and then we floated back down.

Beaver Lodge

Floating down was a lot more fun than going up. For one thing, it was easier. The kids rowed, which means we went in circles like a horrible ride at the fair, and even going in circles, you go in the right direction! So we took our time ging back, drifting and circling... looking to try and catch a glimpse of the beavers that were so busy around there (no luck). We did see some deer and a large eagle with a nest and a lot of game trails but no other wildlife.

We had fun

The Park Warden came by in his boat to make sure we were alright - it was probably hard to tell with all that spinning. We also saw a lovely beach with a river pool that we will have to go back to next summer to swim in. All in all it was a nice time, well Allan wasn't so keen at the end when he fell in the river while climbing out of the boat - but we all had a giggle at his expense, I think it was quite cold by the volume of his howling. Thank goodness I had a change of clothes in the van!

His boots were totally full of water and his whole left side was soaked!

Fall Comes Here Early

2008-08-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

As is evident by the cool nights we are starting to have... but more obvious is the fact that all the fall fairs are already over. Believe me because we missed them all! We were really hoping to get to them as we have really enjoyed the fall fair in Duncan over the last four years and we had heard that the ones in Fort St John and Dawson Creek are really good. However, the one in Dawson Creek was the 2nd weekend in August - while we were away on our trip back home; and the one in Fort St John was the following weekend and we had just arrived back home from our trip and didn't realize it was on until it was too late.

We had seen some signs on our way home of another Fall Fair on the weekend of the 23rd in Hudson's Hope - about an hour away in the little town nearest the WAC Bennet Dam. Michael was working night shift that weekend so on Sunday the kids and I decided we would go and check it out by ourselves.

We headed out fairly early and managed to get about two minutes away from home when we noticed that the main street in downtown Fort St John was closed off... and not with the usual work crews but with tents and cars and people milling about... something to check out! So we went in and explored, it was a classic car show but it had all sorts of things going on to entertain those of us who can manage "ooh that is a pretty car" but are otherwise unimpressed by car shows.

The kids got to ride a neat little train that had barrels as train cars for the kids to ride in and we all got to ride in a horse drawn wagon, they had remote control car races and a big bounce castle slide thing, cotton candy and hot dogs (not to mention race cars handing out race schedules so Allan has been telling everyone that we are invited to watch the race cars, when are the race cars, we are going to see the race cars, race cars, race cars, race cars...)

Anyway we were there for an hour when we had pretty much seen it all and were ready to go - I was ready to go home but the kids still wanted to go to Hudson's Hope, so off we went. We drove and drove and drove - the kids were asking if we were there yet, I was asking if we were there yet... I don't know how long it took exactly but it was more than the hour away I was told it was... Along the way we stopped at a gravel pit to run around and stretch our legs - we actually had a lot of fun here, we collected a lot of cool rocks (my house is full of rocks) and the kids had fun climbing the hills and sliding down, not to mention inspecting all the different wildlife poop they found (oh joy!)

In the Gravel Pit... throwing rocks, sliding, exploring and running... what more does a kid need?

After about half an hour we continued on again and drove the last stretch to Hudson's Hope to learn that the Fall Fair was on Saturday only... not Sunday. So, no Fall Fair even after a long drive... quick what to do, what to do... Oh look kids, there is a museum with DINOSAUR BONES!!! That will be exciting! And it was pretty cool - they had an assortment of footprints and casts of skull bones that had been found in the area as well as a bunch of other small bones... it was interesting but it also only took about 10 minutes to check out the inside of the museum and about 5 minutes to check out the outside... we did find a snake in the grass which kept us occupied for about 15 minutes.

Maria in front of a Trapper's Cabin at the museum

Then we went over to the Visitor Information Centre and they told us to go to Dinosaur Lake for a playground and lake to play around. It wasn't warm enough for swimming but good for exploring and playing. Except that when we drove the way the girl told us to go to find the lake we never did find it... so after stocking the kids with some goodies for the drive back (it keeps them much more happy along the drive) we turned around and headed back home... It wasn't quite the day we had planned, but we had fun and it was an adventure... just ask the kids!

Snake in the grass, he was hard to follow he could hide very well!

Fun Stuff Always Happens When I don't Have the Camera

2008-08-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

The other day we all hopped in the van and headed down to Taylor to check out the Peace River Campground (or something along those lines). It has a great playground that we could see from the highway and Hubby wanted to check out the boat launch. The kids had fun playing at the playground for a while but there weren't any OTHER kids so the playground fun didn't last too long so we headed down to the river.

The rivers up here are not lined with rocks like the rivers I am used to, they are lined with dirt - or more specifically... mud. The slipperiest, gooiest mud you can imagine. On this particular day the river was quite low - we found out later it was because they slowed the flow at the dam to look for a body... ewww.

Anyway, walking down the river bank is fun on its own as at any particular moment you could slip and fall in the muck. However, once you embrace the fact that you are going to be dirty and let yourself sink up to your ankles (knees sometimes) and just go with it, you don't seem to fall so much.

So we were walking along, checking out various animal footprints... pretty sure we saw wolf, maybe some sort of large cat, beaver maybe, raccoon, squirrel and a bunch of dogs... We played in the mud, squished it in our toes, crossed a small creek then crossed another to a larger, steeper, mud bank. By this point the kids were swimming, it was just deep enough to cover their heads in the middle but they could touch most of the places and then they were playing in a mud puddle that was warmed in the sun... which led to the making of a "river" down from the puddle to the actual river... which led to the "otter-slide"

Maria loves to play in the dirt and it took not long at all for her to try sliding down the bank into the river, but it wasn't very fast moving here and the mud was a little bit hard, so she moved on to the next slide site, better but still not fast enough so we all built the third slide further down in the softest glop you could imagine and she slid much better here, but she wasn't running at it so Hubby had to show her how it was done of course and they had such a blast. Allan doesn't like to get dirty so he rode down it on Hubby's back but Maria was in her glory... She was covered in mud from just below her eyes and all the way down. I wish I had my camera, but honestly it would have gotten in the way, we had too much fun.

Inspiration...

2008-08-24T08:25:00.001-07:00

Well I finally have the inspiration to learn more about how to use my camera. I have been so happy with the various "auto" settings on it that I hadn't really felt any need to learn more. I played around with it when I first got it and fumbled, but I never actually made any effort. The pictures from the automatic mode are great and the the ones from all the pre-programmed settings have been more than adequate... until the other night.

Some friends of ours popped over and wound up staying longer than they expected. They were just about to leave when she noticed lightning flashes out our dining room windows, then we were mesmerized. There was no sound (we heard only a few thunderclaps) and no wind or rain so we went out on the deck and watched as several different lightning shows went on for over an hour.

It was stunning, I have never witnessed that much lightning before. We had an unobstructed view of the whole thing in two different locations and often the flashes were non-stop between the two locations... some of the flashes were so large they flashed from one storm site to the other... Only pictures would be able to explain how awesome they were but that is one setting my camera doesn't have, I will have to work on that.

Wow... who knew summer was so busy!

2008-08-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

But nice too... There has been too much going on to have had time to post anything and how much do I have to post about anyway??? Not much, but the fact that we are so totally blessed and loved and whatever other mushy thing you can think of. We have had no shortage of visitors and not just visitors but friends and family who have driven a very long way to come and see us... well not JUST to see us, but they did come see us, and we had so much fun with them all.

Then we had our own driving trip and had a wonderful time going back to Squamish and then the Island seeing all of our friends and families and seeing our old home (it still feels like home)... I just wish we had more time to spend time with each person... our visits were quite brief trying to see everyone...

It was the strangest feeling driving off the ferry in Nanaimo though... even Allan felt it. It really felt like we were coming home Allan made the comment "well we had fun in Fort St John but we are going home now!" But on the other hand it was good to get home, to our new home after two weeks away... that also felt like "coming home".

We stopped at several tourist traps on the way home... the kids LOVED it!

The Grand Adventure on Charlie Lake!

2008-07-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

So we gave up on Cecil Lake... Hubby has heard rumour that it is a swampy thing but I spoke to a friend of mine who said she and her family looked for it and never found it either... perhaps the people of Cecil Lake like to keep to themselves...

Anyway, we decided to take our little boat out on Charlie Lake instead. Charlie Lake is about 10 - 15 minutes away, a big lake, easy to find... but I wouldn't want to swim in it. Charlie Lake is icky... green floaty things are all through it as well as a lot of fish and ducks, but it is fairly big and has good fishing, lots of boating and (again!) easy to find!

Allan's usual spot

So we take the boat to the lake, hubby inflates it (a Zodiac type boat) and we put in with the electric motor. We had a very nice time putting around checking out the waterfront properties, looking for places to visit from shore, enjoying the views... The canola is all in bloom so there are huge expanses of yellow patchwork, it is really quite beautiful... although I haven't got a picture to show it well.

A strange hollow in the rocks... if this was a Rorschach test what would you see?

Anyway we cross the lake to check out some neat rock formations and start back when Hubby mentions that the motor is having trouble finding its gear. I assume he means we are running out of battery and tell him to point us for the dock then but we keep putting along slowly and keep getting closer to the shore. Eventually I realize that by "having trouble finding gears" means the motor is barely working... so eventually hubby sets to on the oars and I use the motor as back up for him. It is working a smidge but with almost no strength, it can find 1st gear and 2nd is weaker than 1st... 3rd and 4th are gone... and of course it is windy, it is always windy, but the wind is blowing the wrong way for us.

We get to the dock and hubby decided he should get out with the kids and I should take the boat to the ramp because "he can catch the front of the boat better than I can" (Meanwhile I am thinking that I caught the front of the boat every other time we went out in the boat...) Anyway I limp the boat over to the ramp, painfully slowly and the once empty ramp is now full of people putting their boats in... great. I am getting there but I could seriously swim and pull the boat faster but I am not getting in that yucky water! So I get within feet of the ramp and of course a big gust of wind pushes the boat and I try to correct with the broken motor and it does nothing so now I am drifting towards the other boat at the ramp but I am withing 2 feet of the shore and there is hubby standing there just watching... well he is also scowling at me mouthing at me to do something . Apparently he doesn't understand that to catch a boat you have to put your feet IN the water and CATCH it. I stick the oar out to try and stop bumping into the other boat and manage to stop getting any closer but I am still not getting any further either... thank goodness a woman from the other boat realizes that sometimes you are in the water and she nicely pushes the boat over to our ramp. Eventually hubby catches the boat, once he can reach it without touching the water, I hop out slightly P.O.'d and take the kids over to the park (so I can calm down) and hubby put the boat away and this is the first time that "event" has been mentioned since!Damn Man... good thing he is cute...

We want neighbours, we just don't want to see them...

2008-07-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

So, one of the things we aren't crazy about with our house is the lack of privacy. Our yard here in FSJ is considerably smaller than our yard in Ladysmith and we are mostly ok with that (especially when it comes time to mow). The one thing we are not so good with is the low fence in the back yard so that we have to look at our neighbours if we are all out in the backyard... Although for those of you who recall our backyard in Ladysmith, it is not as bad as having "Tom" looking down on it!

The fence is a nasty chain-link thing which we will get rid of, but probably not until next year as there are other things we have to figure out first (one of which is how to tell the neighbours that we are going to take down the chain link and put up wood!) . So the one thing we wanted to do this year was make the deck better. We have a really nice sized deck, but again it had no privacy... So we took down the benches that ran the edges of the deck and put privacy panels up on the one side, pushed the hot-tub over to the other side of the deck and got a natural gas BBQ that plugs into the house and fits into the corner and now we have a lovely deck. We are not quite finished as we have to take down a few more benches and put up one more panel (we think) but the bulk of the work is done and it is soooo nice... for the first time ummmm ever(!) we are actually eating outside! Maybe I need a outdoor table & chair set... hmmm.

This is the only "before" picture I can find... see how much it sucks with all that white stuff on it!

This is after... much better, not white and much better! Just don't mention the shaggy lawn, we were busy building up the deck!

I've Got a Peaceful, Easy Feeling...

2008-07-25T07:52:00.000-07:00

The Beautiful Peace River Canyon...

Well, July is coming near its end and so far... we have been having a lovely summer. I can't say whether it is the result of Hubby having so much time off (with his schedule it feels like he is never at work!) or if it is because for the first time in a long time we haven't had to worry if his job is secure, or because we have more money in savings... but we are really having fun and relaxing.

The other day we were speculating, as we always do, about some "what if" scenario's and for the first time our automatic response wasn't "move back to the Island". It took me for a surprise actually because I wasn't aware that I felt that way... Hubby's job is so good, our house is great - not perfect but just fine, the kids are doing great and their schools are awesome, we are making friends and exploring and there is so much to see and do that I am not ready to leave at this point... Really.

Now if we were to win the lottery and be billionaires or something I would probably change my mind, but the fact is that Hubby's job is really good and I am really enjoying spending time with him again... although ask me again in the middle of winter!

It Has Been a While...

2008-07-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, June finally finished with Hubby working from the 3rd of June until the 1st of July and after that we all needed some time... and we have had it. We have been up to a whole lot of not much besides puttering around the house (a new house still has a list a mile long of things that need doing) and playing.

We have found some people that we have started becoming friends with and phoning for get-togethers the kids did swimming lessons, we had some friends come to town and stay with us for a while... we haven't done much more exploring as there still hasn't been much time but all in all, life is good.

On a side note... last night while I was up with one of my kids at 3am I looked outside (as I seem to always do) and there was red sky from the sun coming up and red sky where the sun goes down... it was quite cool... but I must say it took me a while to decide that the sunset side was NOT a forest fire... it was late - what can I say!?!

Canada Day Fun!
We went to the parade, went to the park and checked out the car show and all the kids stuff going on, then we had my brother-in-law and his family over for dinner... we had a lot of fun.

Strangeness...

2008-06-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

I find it weird that up until ten minutes ago my kids and I were outside hot as can be... actually sweating. The kids were running in and out of the pool and throwing water at each other, I was starting to think that I might actually need some sunscreen (that doesn't happen easily!) Anyway, a cloud blew in front of the sun. A big black cloud and now the temperature has dropped about 10 degrees and it is crazy-windy and I can see rain coming. Rain. So much for a beautiful day!

I also find it weird that there are seagulls here. I mean I am about as land-locked as you can get and there are seagulls... I wonder if these land-gulls aim as well as the ones by the ocean?

Sweet Summer Solstice...

2008-06-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

I always have loved the summer solstice mostly because it is the start of summer... Really, what more reason do you need... but it was always especially nice in Squamish because at this time of year you would actually have light for a long time during the day. With the high mountains there the days were considerably shorter than elsewhere on the lower mainland. Ladysmith was definitely brighter as there were only hills, not mountains and then we were right beside the ocean so the sunrises in the morning were quite early...

However, up here where the land is so flat and wide open not to mention so far up north... holy cow. I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that I noticed the sky starting to get lighter at 2:30 in the morning... last night I saw the sun rise. Rise! At 2:45 am... and it was still very bright when I went to bed at 11 pm that night so I don't know what time it went down... It was a beautiful day.

On a different note today was the wrap-up for baseball and gymnastics... here are some pictures!Maria with her t-ball medal... go Jets!

Allan just got his medal for gymnastics...

Maria with her gymnastics medal

June... what happened to it?

2008-06-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I know... it flew by and kicked my butt in the process!

Hubby has been working absolutely every day since early June and he will continue to until June is over... Allan is going to preschool three days a week and Maria has switched to all-day kindergarten every other day to help her transition to full days next year. T-ball is wrapping up which means wind-up tournaments and bbq, gymnastics is wrapping up for both of the kids which means a show as well as award ceremonies for each and then there are the field trips with their schools... We are all tired!

Another thing has started which is good, but adds to our schedule is birthday parties... we were out of the loop of birthday parties for all of a month and a half with our move - which was soooo nice as between Maria and Allan there seemed to be one almost every weekend during the spring... However Maria has been invited to one this weekend and that is awesome too. To know that in a month and a half she has become one of the kids, not just "the new kid"... wow. Now we just have to try to curb all the talk she has been doing about boyfriends...

Kids are Amazing...

2008-06-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

Our biggest worry moving up here, was our kids. You can't help but worry about them... will they like it, will they find friends, will they get frostbite...

We talked to our kids a lot to prepare them for the move, and most likely sugar-coated what it would be like, but overall we just let them know everything we could think of and answered every question they had. In the few months leading up to our departure, Maria was actually excited about moving (which I have probably mentioned about 15 times to everyone I talked to, but I was amazed!) She was so excited to go on this big adventure with us and see what it was like to live in a different part of BC. She was sad about leaving her friends and school, but she saw the bright side too. Allan fed off of her excitement so he was pretty happy about the whole thing too, but probably wasn't exactly sure about the whole thing... he was more concerned about having people, "other people" live in HIS house and be in HIS room... and I get that and agree somewhat!

Anyhow, when we moved the kids were still excited and eager to see everything, it was about a week after we moved that reality set in and it probably felt like this adventure was over and now we should be going home... except we were staying. So we definitely went through some whining and sadness about things not being what they were... but overall, the kids have done so amazingly well, I am overwhelmed.

Maria has friends everwhere, at school, on our street, even ones she just met at the park, and she has been doing amazingly well at t-ball and gymnastics. Allan doesn't have any friends yet, but he has made himself quite at home playing with whoever is nearest, he doesn't care how old they are, just as long as they play... and so far they all have. The kids on our street all call him "little man" and he thinks that is so cool... they ride bikes with him and chase him and turn him into a lawn-mower... Allan has also started pre-school so it is probably a matter of time until he finds a new buddy of his own. His teachers commented that he has made himself fit in so well that it is like he has been here all year, I think that is the best you can hope for.

Both my kids were in a gymnastics "show" last weekend, they have only been here for just over a month but they both wanted to be part of it and they did awesome. I have the best kids.

The four of us at the gymnastics show

The Missing Lake...

2008-06-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

So we had a lot of company for a while... Hubbies parents were here for nearly a week and one day after they left my parents arrived for nearly a week. It was wonderful having company to make this place feel like home a bit more... now they know where we are and can visualize what we are talking about... But it was also nice to have home to ourselves again. On Sunday after my parents left we were so tired and so greatful that we finally had a day with nothing planned.

No school, no work, no sports, no company, no anything... ahh this is nice. Well, a few hours into the day of doing nothing and we felt we needed to do something.

So we decided to find Cecil Lake. We had seen the signs pointing to Cecil Lake just up the road from our house and wouldn't that be awesome to find a lake close to our house. So we drove, and drove, well it would be nice to have a lake kind of near our house... and we kept driving. It was a beautiful drive, down and then up a small canyon with a nice river running through it, beautiful scenery through a bunch of pasture land (cows, cows and more cows even cowboys and cowgirls on a cattle-drive!) but no sign of a lake.

Eventually we turned a corner (a corner!) and we could see some buildings up ahead and signs that said Cecil Lake... we saw a cool, OLD church (no pictures unfortunately), and not much else until we got to an ice rink and school... in the middle of nowhere. If you build it they will come, I suppose.
So Allan is starting to fall asleep in his seat now, so we decide to stop and have our picnic, that we packed, at the playground between the ice rink and the school. We had a very nice picnic, the kids had fun and enjoyed running around playing and having a picnic... but there were a lot of mosquitoes so eventually Hubby and I had enough, so we started looking for Cecil Lake again.

Red-Winged Blackbird (I assume) I see these a lot up here...

We drove back through the "town" of Cecil Lake but never did find any sign of a lake anywhere... So instead we stopped at the river we drove past on the way through. What a great place! So many very cool rocks and the kids playing in the mud and water, stripped to their underwear... and just us.So we never did find Cecil Lake, but I think we have found a place we will go back to, things are good.

Honeymoon is Over...

2008-05-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

We are starting to all whine a little bit about our new town... I think it is normal, as we adjust to everything...

For Maria she is whining about school, they don't go to gym often enough, they sing different songs, basically they don't do what her last class did.

For Allan he really wants his little buddy Austin...

For Michael and I we are both whining about the lousy drivers up here. They are horrible!

Not too bad in the whole scheme of things, but we all miss the island, it is still home...

Of Missing Teeth and Endless Skies...

2008-05-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

Well, we went for a BBQ at the neighbours house the other day... you did read earlier when I said people you don't know invite you for BBQ's right? Well we went and it was fine, after a glass of wine... before that it was awkward since they were all on their 2nd or more glass of wine or bottle of beer.... when in Rome.

Anyway, we were at the BBQ and Maria opted to take a corn on the cob and proceeded to whine at me that she couldn't eat it because she had a wiggly tooth... so I told her to leave it, I turned around to help Allan have a bite of his hot dog and then turn back when Maria says "ew, there is something on my corn".

She hands me this little thing that she had in her mouth (why do they put yucky things in my hand and not on the plate?) Anyway, I thought it was just a little kernel of corn, but I noticed a bit of blood on it, so I quickly put it in a napkin so Maria wouldn't see the blood and freak out (experience with that one) I tell Maria to not eat the rest of the corn just leave it as it might hurt her wiggly tooth, when she wipes her mouth and sees blood... a lot of blood.

I tell her to open up so I can look, as she is now starting to FREAK out and when I look in, there is no tooth. Uh oh. I look around in her mouth and start to ask her questions and she is freaking because of the blood, when I think of the little yuck she handed me... I look on her plate and there it is in the napkin, the cutest, tiniest tooth you ever saw. My little girl, lost her first tooth. However, my little girl is still freaking out, "I didn't know it would bleed!" she keeps saying at me, quite accusingly like I did this to her... So the fellow whose house it is tells her that if she leaves out a glass of water it will turn the colour of the tooth-fairies dress to try to stop her crying, which did work, but now I have to see if I have unpacked the food colouring, but all the same, she was now a happy kid. I have nice neighbours.

On a completely different note... I love the sky here, it is huge. I have a ton of pictures too, a few aren't bad.

Perspective...

2008-05-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

Before moving to Fort St John I thought "Oh my god that is so far up north, so far from everything... it is in the middle of nowhere."

Now that I am here, it feels like everywhere else... it doesn't feel remote at all, in fact it is kind of busy. the only thing that seems a bit odd to me is the flatness of it and the lack of ocean... hm.

On a side note though... I was up last night and the night before due to Allan's bad dreams, I look out the window to hopefully see some northern lights. I do not see northern lights though because the sky was already becoming light... at 2:30 in the morning... I can't even imagine what the solstice will be like.

Horseshoes...

2008-05-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems our move up here was definitely a good decision as far as employment goes... the pulp mill where Hubby was working has closed its doors. There was a buyer lined up to rescue the mill from bankruptcy, but the deal fell through and now a lot of people that mean a lot to us are out of work, and many of them are close but not quite ready for retirement. I really hope they can figure out something...

Meanwhile we are breathing a little sigh of relief... whew.

Some things I have noticed since arriving in the north...

2008-05-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

Driving home from Dawson Creek at 10:30 at night... we chased the sunset the whole way
Moose!
Sunny days almost everyday... but also wind.
Parks everywhere
Bike path from one end of town to the other, and even I could ride on it since it is flat!
Lots of trucks...
Very different birds, some are the same but there are many I don't recognize
Kids everywhere, and many families have more than two kids... there are quite a few with more than three!
People invite you over even when they don't know you
kids play in the front yard...

And Here We are...

2008-05-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

Hello! Well, here we are in Fort St John and a little over one week has passed since we arrived (there were some technical issues to delay internet connection... as in our service provider forgot to hook it up!) Anyway, it has been an extremely eventful and FULL two weeks since I last posted...

I never expected it would be so very hard to leave Ladysmith, but man was it. I still get a bit misty thinking about the goodbyes but I am almost through it. I was only in Ladysmith for three years, but I was totally in love, so bear with me. Anyhow, there were many goodbyes... there was the goodbye to the LaFF board, then there was goodbye to Allan's preschool (which was Maria's before his) and goodbye to his little buddies. There was goodbye to Maria's kindergarten and all of her friends, there was goodbye to all of my friends many of whom took me out for one last dinner! The goodbyes to all of the relatives in Duncan, my sister and family on Saltspring and finally were the goodbyes to my closest friend Chantal and my sister, Kathy and her girls... then there was saying goodbye to the house, the town, the island... I think I bawled for days and I didn't stop until we were on the ferry for about half an hour!

Once I calmed down and we set off, we managed to hit the worst in weather - it snowed on us from Whistler all the way up the Prince George (where we stayed overnight) and the next day... until we got about three hours from Fort St John and it turned to rain. I haven't been so glad to see rain for a long time! But yay, it was rain, not snow! There was also very little snow on the ground anywhere up here, just in the odd shady patch... whew.

So the kids were thrilled to be in our new house and they ran around like crazy while the reality of our decision hit Hubby and I like a brick. We took turns doing the "what have we done?" routine for the first 24 hours, all the while trying to keep a good face on for the kids. Once our "stuff" arrived with the movers we had so much on our minds there was no more time for reflection and we started to settle in.

Maria's first day at kindergarten was not good. Maria panicked and the whole thing was not good but it was just a meet and greet with the teacher and kids so it was relatively short. The 2nd day was excellent. Her classmates made her queen of the day and she made friends with several of them and came out with a smile on her face... whew! She has some adjusting to do though as it is a lot more french than she was used to, in fact I don't think the teacher speaks English during class at all, but Maria is a smart kid and I know she will catch on quickly. Maria has also started t-ball which is just across the street from our house and she loves it.

Allan is quite upset to not be in pre-school anymore, but I couldn't get him in until the fall, so in the meantime I have him and Maria in gymnastics and they are both enjoying that too.

The best part for the kids are all the other kids. Our street is absolutely loaded with kids, in fact I think there is only one house that doesn't have kids. Just across the street is a girl Maria's age who is very nice and has been over almost daily since we got here! The kids are rarely in the back yard, they play in the front yard riding bikes and playing all ages together... it is nice.

I am starting to find my way around town now, it took a while and I am starting to see a lot of the beauty of this place, which I couldn't see at first. It isn't like Vancouver Island where the beauty is right in front of you and you couldn't miss it, but it is there, you just have to look for it a little bit. Some of the vista's and valleys and fields are spectacular and once I get my camera going again... I will try to show them to you.

Here We Go!

2008-04-23T18:25:00.001-07:00

The movers arrived this morning and started to pack all of our belongings for our move. They will come back tomorrow to pack the rest and then on Friday it all gets loaded onto the truck. I am in a bit of shock that it is actually happening, but here it goes!

That said, the computer will be packed up this evening and I don't know when I will next have access to it.

Wish me luck!

Friends.... I am going to miss you

2008-04-19T18:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was one of the best and worst days ever. Mostly it was the best. It was busy, having several different appointments/dates/meetings and everything else that is going on, but it was good.

I went to my last meeting as the secretary for LaFF, wrapped up my time with them and voted in a new secretary. I truly enjoyed my time on the board it was so rewarding and also enlightening not to mention a wonderful way to bring a mom-brain back into work-mode. I had no idea how much work and effort goes into making a successful program for the 0-6 and am amazed at the how much the current board has accomplished in the past few years - I think it will be exciting to see what hapens in the year(s) to come for LaFF. Anyways, the rest of the board and staff at LaFF also let me know how much I was appreciated and gave me a lovely card and pottery vase by a local potter which was such a thoughtful and unexpected gift and that was the start of the tears... but it was lovely all the same.

That evening was to be the last of my dinners out with the ladies too, which we decided should be a bit more adventurous than some of our other dinners, since it would be my last... so we chose Mexican food and dancing!

Dinner was excellent although I don't think I have ever had bad Mexican food... but as per usual the best part was the conversation. There were eight of us there and we had a lot of laughs and margaritas and I think we were there for nearly three hours! As we were wrapping up with dessert and tea the ladies pulled out some gifts that they had collectively bought for me. First the card was a painting of Transfer Beach, which got the tears flowing yet again... then I pulled out a beautiful print by EJ Hughes of High Street in Ladysmith which took my words away. I just got myself under control when Kimberly (who also lives in Saltair) pulled out another print by EJ Hughes, this one of the Lagoon Bridge.

Did you hear me?? THE LAGOON BRIDGE!!!

I was so blown away - the Lagoon Bridge is forever going to be one of those meaningful places... so much so that my family refers to it as the "M"agoon because Maria was convinced that was what it was called to the point of correcting other people who called it the Lagoon. So much so that the moment we KNEW we were moving I took a photo everytime I went over the Lagoon Bridge. So much so that I was totally overwhelmed and crying again/still.

We never did go dancing as we were all tired and or recently sick/injured and a few even have new babies so the few of us who were not quite ready to go home went for another cup of tea and some more talking to cap off an emotional day.

Anyway long story short I was overcome by these wonderful women who have become such a part of my life is a relatively short amount of time. It was so awesome and amazing that they think enough of me to have given me such a wonderful day with such thoughtful and insightful gifts and I will miss you all so very much.

Getting On With It...

2008-04-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

For the last month we have been living life as though nothing was going to change... with the exception being that Hubby finished his job down here and started work up there... So he has been up there working for 2 weeks and then home for 2 weeks, up for 2 weeks and tonight he comes home, but when he goes back - we go with him!

My dog chasing a sea otter at our beach... I am going to miss this

So my freaking out has started, but it is fairly minor. This may be because I don't have to pack, or maybe because there is so much going on in the next week and a half that there is no time to panic... I am sure at some point in the next few weeks I will freak out though... I don't know if it is human nature or not, but it is definately MY nature.

Daylights Saving Time... grrr

2008-03-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

I hate daylight savings time... Well I don't hate it after the fact, I just hate the change-over... Anything that robs me of an hour of sleep is evil...

Which is another good thing about Fort Saint John... they don't change their time back and forth. They stay on daylight savings time all year long. Which means that yesterday when Michael got off work at 6:30 it was only 5:30 here... but today it will be the same time... and it means that by moving there, I won't have to lose an hour of sleep for a long time... well not because of a time change anyway.

Coastal Limbo...

2008-03-06T18:15:00.000-08:00

Well, as we are still on the coast for nearly another two months we are taking advantage of the fact that it is pretty much spring here... Today I spent some time outside photographing the flowers that are blooming ...

"Did you hear me Fort Saint John? The flowers that are BLOOMING... You might have them but you wouldn't know as they are still under the snow..."

Also taking advantage of the fact that we still have a family doctor (who diagnosed me with pneumonia and Allan with Bronchitis - crap!) I don't know what the GP situation is up in FSJ but I did notice that there were several walk-in clinics which I am assuming means that there aren't enough GP's to go around... but that is pretty much a Canada-wide issue not just a northern one... I am thinking that we will keep our family doctors here since we will be coming back quite a bit (that is the plan anyway).

Michael is doing well up north, he is tired and still getting to know the ropes but he seems positive and is looking forward to us all being up there.

I have also been contacting a bunch of different sports clubs/organizations up in FSJ and it seems there is a plethora of things the kids can do to keep busy... baseball/soccer/gymnastics/swimming and just about any other activity you can imagine... even for Allan!

So we are still in limbo, but we are starting to get healthy again and we are going to enjoy our limbo as best we can... in springtime weather