Someone from Hamilton Ontario recently Googled mv Dutch Runner for sale.

DD&D Torngats style. Some left over prime rib, onion green pepper gravy on bread for Fran. Hamburger, onion green pepper mushroom gravy with sour cream chive pasta for me.
DD&D is a one of the favorite shows on the food network.

Another tragedy in the making, this time a young boy is missing in Makkovik. No sign of the lad after he left his grandmothers house on ski doo for the 3 minute drive to his house.

Sunday was less a steely gray day and more a brushed aluminum looking day. Low foggy looking clouds and a fine snow falling that melted as soon as it hit your cloths still it was nice for walking.  

Another tragedy struck Saturday night. A young woman who went missing earlier in the evening was found perished in the community.

I do not know the circumstances that lead to this sad death, just that we knew the family [mom and dad] and that the young woman, who had a young child, always went out of her way to make a fuss of Siutik and let her nuzzle the baby whenever we passed on the streets.

Its as quite as the grave out there now. 

Not so bloody quite from about 1 to 3 am though.Dumb ass people driving around and around on ski doos. Not going anywhere just annoying people trying to sleep. According to Facebook lots of people upset with gas being stolen from machines, complaints about private property being damaged and the like.

Will anything be done about it? Not likely.

As you can see I took a large first bite out of my bagel, cream cheese, smoked char, green onion with beer chaser.

 I have been following a growing problem of loitering and open drug dealing up in Iqaluit on tweeter for some time.
People hang around the entrance to two stores up there. Being so far away it was difficult to get a true handle on what was going on, but it seemed to me the people who had authority were just shrigging their shoulders and not dealing with it.

That seems to be changing as this story points out. If the homeless are the main culprits then shame on the authorities for letting it get this bad. If drug dealers are the main culprits then shame on the cops.

It

I am on the cautiously optimistic side this morning. I don’t want to step into anyone’s private space but felt compelled to share this Facebook post shown below.

It was posted by a young woman here in Nain, many of her friends commented on the post, all in the positive.

Elder abuse is a problem that is not spoken about much, and it should be. I commend this woman and her friends for hopefully starting the process of getting it out into the open.

Perhaps the powers that be will pick up on this conversation and start leading.

 Dont have much time for facebook lately, thats a good thing right...or am I missing out. Just came to log in to share about how I think elders abuse can get sickening sometimes, not fit. For example, how can a young abled man send out an elder in like minus 40 temperatures to go to the store to buy darn JUNK food. Its hard not to get upset when you see things like that happening. Enough of that negativity, on the brighter note....I will be available to give rides for the elderly here in Nain tomorrow morning. If you know a senior that needs a ride to the store, gas station, hospital or need water fetched...please dont hesitate to call [phone number deleted by Nain Bay] for a lift. Or if you need to run errands for an elder, give me a shout...nakummek.

For the decades I have been living here I, and others, have held out hope that the younger generations coming along will become involved in local and regional government and start the process of Inuit taking charge. Making the hard choices and looking after their people’s interest no matter their social or monetary status.

To date I have been disappointed.

Some things have been going on behind the official scene that is encouraging. Many younger folk are not waiting for approval from the puppet masters; they are starting to do things on their own initiative, the above being just one.

Several have joined the crises response team, on the encouragement of Fran not officialdom I might add. Others have joined the volunteer firefighters, other are talking on social media and phoning talk back shows.There is activity I have missed too, but I encourage all.

 Let’s hope they don’t get put down as has happened in the past [this is the cautious part, been bitten in the arse too many times I guess]. 

 "CANADA - Terre d'aventure, des glaces de l'Arctique aux Iles de l'Atlantique" filmé en 2011

A documentary filmed in September 2011 with media aboard Le Boreal’s maiden voyage to Nunatsiavut (traveling the coastline and visiting Rigolet) has been developed for French audiences and will be aired:on French TV channel VOYAGES on January 26^th, January 29^th, February 2^nd and February 9^th.

The communities trail groomer snow plow was doing the rounds yesterday afternoon for the first time this season. Not sure why this day was chosen, I would think it only coincidental that two members of the Cains Quest snowmobile race were in town for talks about the upcoming race.

I have not died but I am sure close to cheese heaven at the moment. A friend and long time researcher in the area is in town for a couple days.
He came barring chocolates and magazines for Fran and a big bag of assorted cheeses for me. Timely too as my last cheese shipment from the south was almost depleted.
Included were some exotic cheese, from Ireland two porter [Guinness] laced ones, a Brillo Vino flavored one, three aged cheddar's, parmigiarno riggiano and an Oka semi soft.


The warming trend is still with us, nice low to mid -teens with -20 chills.

Happy Australia day to me, or what is left of it down under and a very Happy Birthday to daughter Stephanie. 

Nunatsiaq News

24-year-old Noah Nochasak, left, of Nain, Labrador, and writer/photographer Jerry Kobalenko plan to set out next month on a 550-kilometre walking expedition from Nunatsiavut to Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik. Both experienced Arctic travellers, the pair plans to do the hike over the period of a month, hauling about 225 pounds of gear with them. Read about their trip later this week at www.nunatsiaqonline.ca.

Nice little warming trend; -11, -18 chill, light snow falling. Everybody happy about that for sure.
Good bit of fresh powder on ground, not sure if I will go out with the banjo or wait for the forecasted wind later in day to deal with it.

When I heard that some snowmobilers were overdue traveling from Hopedale to Natuashish on Sunday I thought something was odd.
Like who leaves on a trip in a ragging blizzard.

Well now we know why. 

Talk about stupid and irresponsible, if they want to risk their own lives for some easy bucks go ahead, but for christ sake don't pout the lives of others at risk. These yobos should be made an example of by the law and the band members at Natuashish.

Later: If anyone has an E Reader then here are some photographic books that may interest you, the ones on Nain that is. Buddy had a link on Facebook.

I have been thinking on purchasing an e book for a bit, not sure what to buy, Kindle or Nook Kindle. It will come to me someday.

Well.ca and Canada Post.

The last two orders I have made with Well.ca I had shipped to Goose Bay. This saves me the $30:00 minimum mailing charges for orders under $300:00.

Fortunately, I then get the package up to Nain free of charge. I do not want to continue doing this; I find it unfair to the good folks in GB what with putting them out picking the order up from the post office and then arranging to get it up to me.

I don’t mind paying for the shipping, but I still am of the opinion that Can Post is unreasonable with shipping rates into rural remote communities.

I have done cost comparisons before, here is the latest.

The two recent orders from Well.ca were of comparable $ value, around the 156 $ mark.. Both were comparable in size and weight to be shipped. The following was taken from the Can Post web site.

The most recent shipping dimensions were: 27.09x36.8x15.2 cm weight 3.33 KG.

Shipped from:  N1E 6Y9 to A0P 1C0.

Base cost $13:44

Fuel surcharge $00:97

Tax $1.87

For total of: $16.28.

Seeing as Well.ca ships for free to everywhere other that rural and remote locations Well.ca absorbs this shipping cost.

If I had asked to send the package direct to my address I would have had to pay the $30:00 minimum ship charges.

According to Can Post the cost for the package from N1E 6Y9 to A0P 1L0 would have been:

Base cost $30:61

Fuel surcharge $2:22

Tax $4:27

For total cost of $37:10.

So according to those figures Well.ca still absorbs $7:27 shipping costs to Nain.

Now if I wanted to get the package shipped to Goose Bay with shipping paid by Well.ca, picked up at post office and re mailed to me [A0P 1C0 to A0P 1L0] the cost would be:

Base cost $19:27

Fuel surcharge $1:40

Tax $2:69

For total cost of $23:36.

I am still saving 6 $ and change doing it this way.

The orders are expedited quite fast and get to Goose Bay ground transport, hence the low fuel surcharge.

There has to be some way round these high air freight charges.

There are entities in place that could lower the cost of living within Nunatsiavut if there was a will.

In the absence of those entities taking an interest several local ladies have banned together to make a bulk order from Well.ca. These women have babies and young children. With the absence of many drug store items and the lack of verity many people shop on line for these things.

So by making an order over 300$ these ladies will save more on shipping as Well.ca charges just $20:00 for orders over $300:00. 

Perhaps this is the way forward, people forming local consumer buying co ops, or clubs, call it what you will.

I have had discussions on this in the past but nothing eventuates, always other distractions or no one wants to take the lead.

Wow, hard oh Sunday: Wind chills down to the low -30's until 2 pm when they took a drop into the -40 to -44 right through to this morning. The wind and chill warning has ended this morning so a balmy -30 chill or so for the day.

My throttle on the ski doo was frozen too, had to go down to the airstrip so thawed it out with the heat gun. Siutik was keen to be out but not in that wind, she did agree to go for a run [with me on ski doo], a quick role in the snow on return and the rest of the day indoors, smart dog.

Update: One wonders what constitutes wind and chill warnings at Enviro Canada. Warnings have been down several hours yet it is still 68 to 74 K from WNW with -41 wind chill.. 

K to 3 closed and planes are on hold.

Upertydate: Wind dropped right off by 9:30, see what wind chill will be @ 10.

10: OK to go out now, dropped to -34 chill, practically balmy. 

As mentioned on twitter, deadly eats going on there.

Ribs and drumsticks in the stove top smoker last evening.

Put a dry rub on the ribs and into the fridge for 24 hours. Injected marinade into the drumsticks and into the fridge for 3 hours.

Smoked [oak] the ribs for 1 hour, the drumsticks for 45 minutes.

Smothered ribs with BBQ sauce and into the oven for 45 minutes. Drumsticks for 1/2 an hour. 

Served with a beef based rice and spinach.

As buddy said; deadly eats going on there.

It is turning into a sea food week at the house, last night was poached char [Nain] snow crab [Makkovik] with mashed spud, peas and home made tarter sauce.














Today maybe pigs trotters.
 

Just kidding about the trotters of course. Those are Siutiks paws showing the abundence of hair insulating her paw pads. Her coat is lush also, not looking forward to the shedding.

Having said that I would not mind a feed of trotters, when younger it was a favorite, with myself and my father at least. You would buy the cooked trotters at any delicatessen and eat them cold, tasty snack for sure. 

The storm yesterday was a fizzer for us as winter storms go.  Lot of wind with chills down to -30, not that much snow, Makkovik seems to have coped the bulk of the snow and wind. Goose Bay lots of snow, again.
For Nain 4 wheel vehicles are still driving around, that is amazing considering the council has not graded or used the trail groomer on the roads since Christmas. Another one of those on going puzzles.

Now we are into the clear and cold again, well colder than yesterday with -36 chills.

Nice looking fillet of cod eh? Looks like just out of the water, which it is, frozen water.Fried up nice after dipping in egg wash then flour/cornmeal then fried in combo of salt pork [for the flavor] and olive oil. .

Bit of a storm on the go, mainly south of Hopedale all sorts of closures, here we have wind and very light snow at moment. Must be something more expected as the school is closed K to 12.
The little guys sure but the bigger ones not so sure. We have had worse storms without closure, hard call to make I guess.

Which reminds me of this little anecdote. There was once a teacher here who had trouble with the school closing at all, no matter what the conditions. He claimed that the kids would go out and play anyway when the school closed. Some kids may have but not all.

When someone offered the it was a bit much to ask younger kids who lived furthermost from the school to walk into -30 to 50 blizzards the bloke replied, just tell them to walk backwards. True story.

Stop these capitalist oil crazies from destroying our world.

I'm feeling so healthy and revitalized and green party'ish after last nights meal.

I wanted something easy to prepare but not sure what. Asked Fran for some options, lo and behold quiche was recommended.

Some times these junk mail flyers come in handy, had one promoting cheese as a healthy alternative.

One recipe was for Gouda, green pea and sweet potato pie, or  frittata baked in the oven or a crestless quiche. I substituted bacon for the peas and beside the Gouda added some Havarti.
Fran does not like hot shrimp so I added some of those tiger prawns to my half of the dish. Good prawns are great in omelets and rice dishes, but Fran insists on pushing them aside, even Siutik rejects prawns, my good fortune.
Served with a cabbage slaw with dried cranberries and walnuts along with tomatoes/olives drowned in olive oil.

The bottom two photographs were twittered to my by Mitchel White, he thought I'd like a look at them. They are of the first session of the NG assembly held in the new assembly building in Hopedale. Sent by android I tweaked then for contrast and clarity.

I had to ask the question, the one about the awful pink looking table. As I thought it is the speakers chair, and it seems someone forgot the golden rule of carpentry, measure twice and cut one. Not the first mistake in the construction of this building for sure, part of the roof section, shaped like an igloo also had 'fitting' issues. So I guess all these add up to the reason the official opening has been delayed.


Any way you can see the observation area above in one picture, the floor is impressive being of anorthosite tiles. I have seen photos of the entrance and stair way too, not sure what to make of it all, have to see it in person..

i

To date I have received three comments on yesterday posting. One is up in comments section, another agrees with my condemnation of the trip to the Galapagos Islands and was via e mail and the other shall remain anonymous too. It was supportive of my right to express my views and encourages the exchange of ideas, it was in support of the trip to Galapagos, which I strongly disagree with and I sent supportive evidence as to why that is.

With the newest national park just up the coast from here, and Nain being the administration center for the park, I pay a passing interest on the goings on. I find this article interesting on the big picture of Parks Canada but it also has similarities of what has been going on regards the Torngat park.

Some say that the almost 450 grand for two consultation contracts is a bit much. That may be or maybe not.

What I would like to see is a breakdown of consultants fees associated with the establishment and operation of the Torngat park to date, as well as fees associated with developing tourism in Nunatsiavut in general.

For whatever is going on it does not seem to be developing tourism that well.

I briefly attended two tourism workshops the last few years, they were overloaded with consultants, some who did not have a clue about tourism in remote and northern locals. At one of these some Inuit from Quebec broached some ideas and criticism of the 'consultants' and their ideas, that did not go over very well indeed.

One infamous consultant had the bright idea of taking a group of Labrador Inuit and local tourism business people to the Galapagos Islands on a fact finding trip. Needles to say said consultant went along to guide the poor little Inuks in this misguided venture/boondoggle. I believe 250 grand was blown on that trip alone. 

In the intervening years all sorts of 'consultants' and tourism operator types have come through here on the way to the park, along with untold numbers of 'VIP's' and the like.
The result to date is very few tourists heading to the park, and not that many more visiting the coastal communities. 

All those nice positive videos of people in the park are a smoke screen from a tourism development point of view. The majority of folks up there to date are researchers or folks there on the government dime.

Speaking to several tourists who have made it into the park they speak of too many road blocks. These road blocks vary from the provinces tourist information people to the crowd that handle the bookings for the park itself.
Some were told when developing their trip that there was no bookings available for their time frame. Low n behold when said tourists made there way up north another way they discover plenty of empty tents within the base camp of the park. I wonder what the real reason was for being told there were no vacancies?

Mind you all who are fortunate to get up there are all blown away with the majestic rugged beauty of the place, as well as enamored with the local people who are there in menial rolls.

 

Now I have an inkling of the logistics and costing that it takes to get up here and onto the park, as well as acknowledging that the park is new and NG is almost new.

But so much is done in secrete without any public input or public exposure. It is after all ALL public funds that go into operating both the park and NG, so people have a right to know, alas the media don’t seem to take an interest, except to cover the goody goody two shoes everything is bright and rosy aspect of the park and NG.

It could be that moves are under foot to correct some of the stumbles of the past years. It could be that the people with the right skill sets are being recruited to give advice and direction, I think it is time for the yes sir no sir three bags full types are given the heave ho.

Also problematic are some who are portrayed as advocates for Inuit Culture and values but in truth do not give a rat’s arse for Inuit culture and values. They are more interested in their own ego boosting and having control and protecting their perceived turf.

The 7 % drop in park attendance mentioned in the article most likely does not include Torngat, what with it being early days. But much can be done to boost tourist interest and participation in this area.

One thing that could be considered is; come to terms with the fact that the base camp being used for both research and tourism is not working. At the moment research takes precedence, this leads to many issues vis a vis tourists not being happy with the control and operation at the base camp. Incidentally the high turnover of base camp managers has to be troubling as well.

People with knowledge of what is going on are essential at point of first contact with potential tourists. Things like, “I will have to check on that and get back to you”, makes people a little hesitant and wary.

As I say things may be in the works to improve things, but from past knowledge things move very slow within bureaucracies, especially within NG.

I imagine I will not make many friends and influence people in certain circle bringing these things up, which is OK as I know they are not my friends and I have no influence as it is.

But I feel strongly that putting these things out into the public domain can do more good than harm. 

A recent example of this was the recent attempt by the council in Happy Valley Goose Bay to ram through a bogus development project for a construction camp close by residential area.

The proletariat became incensed and took on the councilors and the mayor who supported the decision resulting in them backtracking big time with egg all over their faces.

 

I wont go on; my point is the all this secrecy and control does no good for the democratic process, then again maybe that is the whole point in doing so.

So if anyone has an issue with what I have written, or any corrections to offer please do not hesitate to say so in any medium you wish, I have no turf to protect or ego to boost.

That was a day to be indoors [yesterday], blowing snow, clear sky, wind chills from -36 to -32.
Even Siutik did not make a fuss to go out and play, she was content with the odd bathroom break and lay around or sit at the window watching the vortex blowing snow in circles outside the living room window.
She did get plenty of exercise Saturday with a couple of runs, a walk and some running around me in circles.

Similar weather for today and the rest of the week it seems.

I had a prime rib roast out for yesterdays evening meal, but then thought about maybe using the new stove top smoker to try it out.

I had already applied a dry rub and let it sit for about 3 hours.

After some Google searches I was apprehensive about smoking a larger piece of meat, most forums were saying that their smokers did not impart the smoke into the meat adequately. Some said theirs poached more than smoke.

Bugger it I said to self, give it a go anyway. I did borrow one bit of advice. After starting the smoking process on the stove top I then put it into a low oven [300] for two hours.

The result was meat well done, just as Fran likes, but it was tender and still moist. The smell of the smoke in the kitchen was apparent but not overwhelming and there was not a hint of actual smoke.

So all in all a good result. ashtongreen.com have several sizes of the smokers plus the special wood chips, no soaking and only use 1 to 2 tablespoons for each use. Looking forward to doing some fish, and of course ribs.

Going to have to drag myself out for some banjo practice today, will have to use the steel job instead of the plastic one, that blowing snow really packs in tight.

Bloody amazing video,

not much of that going on out there in this weather though.

A two day respite from the extreme cold was welcome, temps in the high minus teens with light snow falling for most part, really nice.
Now we are back to blowing snow and cold wind chills in the high minus 30's.

Partridge soup 2201,

with dough-boys.
There are variances of how I cook partridge soup, or stew, this is the basics that I used yesterday.
Going by the pictures in order: First gut and clean the birds [if your lucky enough to have them given you already plucked]. Separate the heat, gizzard and liver and clean, clean the inside of bird thoroughly under running water.

I then soak the whole or dissected bird in water with about a teaspoon of white vinegar. This is not essential, just he way I do it and I have had no complaints.

I then sauteed the sections in some pork fat and olive oil until brown all over. Remove sections if neccesary and brown the rest.

Add some diced onions, you can add peppers and garlic at this time, but for this one I left those out.

Put all the birds back into pot and add water and or chicken stock or bullion cubes to cover.

Bring to a boil, then lower to simmer and leave for an hour minimum with the lid on.








Make up your dough-boys, bring the pot back up to boiling, add the boys and cover pot immediately and lower heat to simmer. Fran's mom taught me that.
I add the rice at this time as well, about 3/4 to a cup depending on how much liquid is in the pot.

Simmer for half an hour, serve and enjoy.

Here is the CBC Lab Morning clip of the Omatik group, and an OKS brief on same subject.

On one controversial topic I think I do have all my ducks in a row: That would be the provincial oil tank replacement program. Talk about convoluted and bad policy decisions as it pertains to Northern Labrador.

Personally I have not problem with having a safe and environmentallysecure oil tank. It was the long drawn out process and the somewhat arbitrary way government went about it. Plus the famous [due diligence] that the present premier used to go on about that was not evident as it pertains to Northern Labrador that miffed most people.

I could go on and on with the links, but you get the point I hope.

Initially no consideration was given to our remote location, cost of shipping, availability of qualified people to do the job or the insistence on qualified inspectors, non were available in Labrador in the early years of the program. Miraculously in the lead up to the last election these qualified people were discovered, though not without a hiccup.

The hiccup was that we were initially contacted by phone and by mail of the availability of the program and explaining that the government would help to defray some of the costs. Also that if we did not update or replace our oil tanks then they would be deemed illegal and it would be breaking the law to fill them.

Seeing that I needed a new oil tank any way I signed on to the program with the understanding that the cost would be $1,800:00 for the tank, parts, shipping, pre inspection, installation and post inspection.

Then just prior to the last election [is there a coincidence forming?] we received a phone call from the same civil servant as previous informing us of the good news that seeing as the lowest bid for the instillation and post inspections had come in under estimate we now only had to pay $1, 000:00, a saving of $800:00.

Subsequently I had a conversation with the then MHA [now ex MHA] and a big deal was made about the good fortune of us only having to pay $1,000:00 now.

Fast forward to after the last election.

Not having any contact personally from the government officials, and seeing as winter was fast approaching and no details of timing of installation had been forth coming I took the liberty of phoning the winning bid firm in Goose Bay.

I was shocked when told that that firm was no longer interested in the contract, after some questioning I was told the reasons were complicated and that the government was being unreasonable and the like.

In the next couple of days we hear via the media {no personal contact this time] that ooops, the low bid contractor was no longer available to do the work so another contractor was chosen [the next lowest bidder we were told] and that now we were up for an extra $800:00, the total amount of the original deal.

Needless to say the doo doo hit the fan big time.

Still no contact from government officials: So I fire off an e mail to the newly elected MHA for Menihek and newly appointed minister for Labrador and aboriginal affairs.

The responding e mail was full of bureaucratic stuff justifying the government’s incompetence with no apologies for misleading the public with the phone call promising the $1, 000:00 price tag. And most of all no apologies for not doing due diligence prior to selecting the original contractor, you see the minister/government said publicly that the original winning bid contractor did not have the qualifications to carry out the work.

So now I have the oil tank installed, it was done this past Tuesday. Still no contact from any government official, I’m not sure if any one else has had contact but I would doubt it.  

There are some issues that still need to be talked about, mainly to hopefully avoid all the pit falls and incompetence’s of the last several years in developing this program. I know, it is fruitless some will say. But I am a great believer [though at times a non believer] that things can change and governments will do what is right and fair for constituents.

I think one thing that needs looking at is why local contractors or individuals could not have carried out the installation work. I am sure each community has those individuals, you just had to take the time to seek them out and with minimal training or instruction they would be more than capable of doing the work.

If a little younger and with a good back I could have done the work myself. I know for sure there are people here who could do the work and need the work.

This could have lowered the cost significantly. No travel costs, no hotel and meals to pay for the two individuals who came in from Goose Bay to do the work.

My guesstimet is that in the 6 grand region could have been saved for Nain alone. I guess the airline and hotel operators would be a little unhappy, but I am sure they would consider the greater good.

Even with government insistence on pre and post inspection local people could have been certified to do that work. 

By the way NL government is not the only one with such a program.

I also think that the 200 or so gallon tank supplied is too big for this area. More and more people cannot afford to fill these tanks as the price of oil increases. Only very few can afford the $1,400:00 plus to fill these things. I know there are environmental 100 gallon tanks on the market, why not the choices?

Again the lack of consideration for the geographics and logistics of our location.

To top all that off we will now have a situation where some people [a minority in this town] will have legal oil tanks and the rest will not have legal oil tanks. What will the government do then one wonders?

For now that’s it from me and that’s it from him.

I’m feeling like writing something controversial. There are a number of topics that meet that criterion; alas I feel I need to get more ducks lined up before committing to writing on them.

Yesterday was some darn cold on a consistent basis. The cold keep most people who intended to go off wooding stay home warm safe and sound.

But not all: A newly formed volunteer group called Omatik had committed to going and getting wood for seniors on the 12th..

There is also an audio interview with two of the volunteers recorded on the CBC Lab Morning show yesterday.

A fellow up interview would be more than interesting.

With the weather as it was I felt for sure this would be postponed.

No sir, five ski doo’s [not sure how many people] took off as planed and came back with wood.

The logs were then cut and junked up for delivery. My hat goes off to those who took part and an extra tip for going off on such an inhospitable day as yesterday. Wind chills were in the -45 to -33 ranges while they were gone. Most of the time it in the -40’s.

Weather is headed for a warming trend, and possibly some snow, for the weekend, then back into clear and cold next week.

Update on the Omatik group: CBC had an interview with one of the participants this morning, I will link it when up.
Seems only three ski doos went with five people on board. They started out with three komatiks but one gave out on the way out, so only two loads of wood was available which is better than a kick in the pants.

Yeeew, down into the -40's today, -42 being the lowest so far. As time passes I find i have less tolerance for this weather, -20 with no wind is ideal, but this is the pits.

There was a time when we had three ski doos, one [550cc Ski doo] was work related, a 440cc ski doo and a Yamaha bravo.
One of my tasks was to go out in the mornings and start them up to warm up the engines. No easy task at times as all ski doos have there own temperaments.

One morning sticks in my memory, it was -60 wind chill, that is minus sixty. Within seconds of going out my face was frozen and by the time I got back inside it was almost frozen solid, hands were painfull to as the frost withdrew from them.
But I did get all three machines going.

Seems many are having trouble with stating and keeping their machines going in this weather. Particularly bothersome are the some of the four strike models, some have water coolants and engine block heaters. For our weather and for the logistics of getting machines serviced [computers and the like] the old 2 stroke engine with a minimal of gizmos is the way to go.

I hear that there is also a lot of chatter about the new caribou hunting restrictions. Some sensible chatter and some not all that clever. Why insist on you aboriginal rights when a certain species is at risk. One bothersome argument is: "if they have a three animal limit per household over in George River why cant we have three". If these people just took a moment to think about the possible whys then it would save some aggravation.

I found this muscle mussel over brain story interesting, the poor old navy cant seem to catch a break, except when a ship leaves for deployment overseas most of the stories seem to be in the negative. They sure do throw good many after bad in many instances.

A brief respite from the intense cold yesterday, but back in the deep freeze again today -39 chill.

Hunting related stories seem to be the order of the week. A moose cull in western Newfoundland has finished for the time being.

Nunatsiavut Government issued a press release yesterday in answer to the declining George River caribou herd.

Nunatsiavut Government

George River Caribou Harvesting Recommendations

For Labrador Inuit Settlement Area

In light of all the current scientific information regarding of the status of the George River Caribou Herd and the traditional knowledge gathered from community consultations, the Nunatsiavut Government is encouraging Beneficiaries of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement and communities to use self-constraint and to monitor harvest levels.  The Nunatsiavut Government also recommends:

·        A caribou harvest of no more then 2 animals per household.

·        A season closure date of March 20, 2012 for all zones except the George River zone.

·        A season closure date of April 15, 2012 for the George River Caribou Zone.

Please note that the provincial laws of general application apply to all areas outside of the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area.

Please keep in mind that conservations measures taken today will ensure the resource for future generations.

For more information, please contact:

Renewable Resource Director:  Rebecca Willcott at (709)-896-8582

Wildlife Manager:  James Goudie at (709)-479-1043

This drastic cut back seems necessary but will impact many families severely once the caribou are handy.  Going from the usual 6 to 12 caribou to 2 will be a hard pill to swallow, lets hope everybody adheres to the recommendations. 

The contrast within Nunatsuavut and areas under provincial jurisdiction are not that great, outside NG licenses are required for a fee, enforcement is in place, one animal per license, no transfer of licenses for starters. 

There is also a fear that illegal hunting of Labrador based animals by Quebec based hunters will continue this year. A legitimate concern and one that is politically motivated, lets hope the NL politicians handle it better this year if it happens. 

No news yet on whether the Labrador Innu will conform with provincial regulations or set their own limits. 

On a non hunting topic: a helpful hand is being extended to seniors and some folk not so fortunate to be dragged up in the mini economic boom. 

Kudos to those involved in setting up this project, and to anyone who offers to help.

Nice crisp January Labrador morning, in the mid to high minus teens.

In a fellow up to the recent Narwhal harvest  there is this brief from CKOK. It would have been nice to hear how the person was chosen to keep the tusk, after all there were many out there helping.

Contrast that with this little ditty from down in Vermont. We have been down that way a couple of time, some purty part of the country with many wild and wooden places.
With the school authority insisting on shutting down information and any public debate it is hard to say who is right. But it does seem that hunting is part of the culture down there and it would seem that hunting would be an important part of 'life skills' training.

Carter has it all figured out,

he has taken to 'disappearing' on occasion. When hunted down he is sitting in a closet or a cupboard with a little 'snack' in his hand.
Photo from cell phone and edited by me.

Good oh January weather is with us,clear and bloody cold it is.
Blustery winds kept us indoors for the most part yesterday. I took a little stroll with Siutik down to the store for some smokes for Fran.
Siutik was her usual keen self getting out the door, after coming back into those gusty winds she was more than happy to be inside again.It was -39 chill at the time.
Being a Sunday and not much traffic about I let her run free, loves the fresh snow to bury her head and and frolic about in.

It is -26 mean and -39 chill again this morning and looking like similar right through to Saturday.

Yesterday was cloudy with occasional light snow, nice temps in the minus mid teens.

Took the pictures of the raven in the morning, he sat on that pole for ages. Could be the one that was raised [one of two] by the next door neighbor, he sits on trees and poles looking at the house in expectation of some food.

Contrast that with today, clear and windy and cold, as you may be able to tell by the photo, would not want to be out on the ice.

Well we are finished with the festive season

Yesterday and last night was Nulujuks so today the decorations come down.

Thought I’d take some last shots of outside the house, looked so nice with fresh snow on and around them. Most of houses round the town were lit up too.

Kept an eye out for northern lights, no luck, but it did cloud over early this morning.

Fran was in the mood for some comfort food [when is Fran not]. Aside for country food boiled pickled pork ribs is one of her favorites. Fran remembers these from when she was a kid.

In the picture it looks like a lot of meat for a small lady, but when the bones are discounted not a lot of meat is left.

I have been feeling a little of the winter blahs last few days, that or my body takes longer to recover from banjo playing.

But news this morning has put a bounce back. I have been following a little battle of wills between the fine citizens of Happy Valley Goose Bay and their council and mayor.

The battle is was over a proposal to build a 300 or 450 [depending on who you ask] man temporary construction camp in an area of town that has residential and a school in close proximity.

One citizen opened up a Facebook page called 'Opposed to Kelland Drive 450 man camp'.

The page soon had 477 members, many very outspoken to the camp proposal and more so towards the council and mayor who voted 4 to 3 to allow amendments to the towns by laws.

The mayor did quite a bit of media appearances lobbying in favor of the camp at that site, making a huge fool of himself while doing so.

Any way over 100 people crammed the council chambers last evening at a public meeting. The proponent sent in a letter withdrawing their proposal and the council is going to take more time and study ways to come up with a detailed development plan. One would of thought one would be in place already but there ya go.

This sort of thing reminds me of what went on in Nain back when nickle was first discovered in the area. Everybody and his dog wanted land to build all sorts of hypothetical businesses.

Of course non of them came to fruition, or were needed as it turned out. Same sort of thing on a larger scale is going on in HV-GB, and there are many more less than savory large companies eying the area, so the fine citizens will need to keep an eagle eye open.


The northern lights are supposed to be intensive the next few days. Pity for the snow and clouds last evening, something was going on up there as the light filtered through the clouds early morning.

The reason I am on alert is from a story on CBC radio about one of the tour operators out Yellowknife way who does intensive research on Aurora Borealis, he is predicting some good activity the next few days, he claims an 80% accuracy rate, so I am hoping that it translates over this way, if only clear sky.

Nice day yesterday, light snow falling with light to moderate winds, very purty indeed.

Superimposed over the nice day are two recent meals. On the left a very juicy grilled chicken thigh with vegetables boiled in with salt beef, jigs dinner so to speak. On the right is something I have not had for some years, curried prawns, or shrimp. Back in the day curried prawns was my second favorite meal at Chinese restaurants. Second behind prawn cutlets.
Seeing as I am having fun trying dishes with the raw prawns being sold at BigLand I might have to try the cutlets, though a bit on the small side I think it worth a try.

The Narwhal meat and mattak did not go to waste, lots of people trying both, getting good reviews for the most part.
Coincidentally, an article in Macleans magazine this week brings up many interesting points about narwhal hunting.