Barge Season!

The barge arrived in town at the end of last week. It is a very exciting time for town as all of the new supplies for the next year arrive. The stores stock up on goods, especially pop! We could not count the pallets of pop that were delivered to the Northern and Coop. For the last two years, all of our goods have arrived on the first barge of the year. But this year we were not so lucky! Only one of our 11 pallets arrived. Everything else should arrive on the next barge which could arrive in the next 10 days to 3 weeks.

Here is the tug hauling three barge decks in the Coronation Gulf:

As the barge gets closer to town, the tug pushes all of the decks together to form one large platform and then it is pushed into place:

The barge travels with its own front end loaders to unload all of the seacans. There were a lot of new vehicles on the barge this year as well as equipment to build a new sewage lagoon for town:

There is a lot of supplies on here! From a distance it doesn't look like much, but when they start to unload it all, it really adds up. There are supplies on here to build a personal home as well as a few housing units:

So we will keep our fingers crossed that our stuff arrives on barge #2, and not on barge #3! We are excited to receive all of our groceries, skidoo and supplies for my sewing store!

Berry Picking Fun

I absolutely love this time of the year. Berries are out, the weather is starting to cool, and it is getting dark at night! We have been going about 8km out of town to go berry picking on a regular basis. Matt puts Hunter in the snuggly to walk around the trails and I pick berries. Last year I had enough to make 10 jars of jam and I am hoping to beat that this year.

We are getting excited for our next round of visitors. My folks arrive on Friday and then my brother, sister in law and their son arrive two days later. Our house is going to be full and entertaining!


Happy parents:

Lunch time on the tundra :)

Diaper changes on our handy dandy quad turned change table:

The blueberries are everywhere! I love this berry and have been picking it almost exclusively:

There have also been lots of aqpiks this year. I have picked some to join my blueberries for jam:

Sure sign that fall is coming:

Sunset

The other week I made the mistake of drinking a Mountain Dew Fuel... well I was no where close to sleeping, so at 11pm I had Matt driving me around town to take some pictures. This was only 2 weeks ago and how the sun is setting before 10pm. The change happens quickly.


Dog watching the sunset on the Coronation Gulf:

Beautiful Arctic sky:

When all the hotels are full....

So a few times now since we moved here two years ago, it has happened that both the Inn and the B&B in town have been booked solid. Of course, some poor soul is stuck at the airport with nowhere to go! Good thing Matthew and I enjoy random company because we seemed to get called whenever this happens!

Our last random house guest was a junior helicopter pilot and took the following picture. Definately a view I would have never been able to get on my own! It is the Coast Guard ship in town a few weeks ago for a crew change. Town looks so small compared the size of the ship.

Oodles of Pictures!

Hello Everyone!

It has been a busy couple of weeks. The in-laws arrived from Cape Breton for a week in the Arctic. The mauled the baby the whole time and were some sad to leave!

Hunter is 8 weeks old today and is already about 13 pounds (I weighed him on my kitchen scale!). He has clocked about 50 kilometers on the quad and is also getting used to his stroller. He makes lots of noise and is smiling at us. I love being a mommy!

The excitement now is waiting for the barge to arrive. It sounds like it will be here by Thursday. Then we will be busy unload all of the crap we bought when we were out to have the baby. I am really looking forward to seeing new stuff on my shelves!!

And soon after the barge gets here, my clan arrives! My folks, brother, sister in law and nephew are arriving at the end of the month. This will be my first visit with my nephew who is almost 10 months old already. I love living where I do, but I do miss family a lot!

And here are the oodles of pictures from the last couple of weeks!


Matts folks arriving at the airport and meeting their Grandson for the first time:



Nanny Gillis reading to Hunter:

Matt teaching Hunter the finer points of fishing char!

Our cute little family out at Heart Lake:

Matt with his mom and step-dad:
Me learning how to pack my baby like the Inuit ladies do in town. A friend gave me this packing shirt and I am slowly getting the hang of it. But I need Matt to help me get Hunter in. Hopefully with practice I can do that myself. Getting him out so far has been no problem. And the best part of packing my baby like this is that he falls asleep instantly!

Me out berry picking! The akpiks are out and the blueberries are everywhere! Matt walks around with Hunter while I pick to my hearts content. I could pick berries everyday! Hopefully we get out enough for me to make jam like I did last summer.

And here is a nice close up of the little man! He loves to stick his tongue out!

Nanny Gillis giving the boy some loving!

Hanging out in the bouncy chair:

And hanging out with mom in the screen tent.

We just had to pose him out in the yard with his camo and some caribou antlers.

Matt and his step dad on the Coppermine River:

Les with his char!

Matt with his 6lb char. This is our third summer up here and Matts first char!

Hunter checking out some caribou meat!

Les all ready for winter in a caribou parka:

Les stuck in a great mudhole!

I don't think Les could have been any happier! A grandson and an adventure in the arctic!

Les out fishing. Matt and him were lucky enough to go for a boat ride with one of the RCMP officers here in town.