Coast Guard Ship Photos

Day time photo of the Coast Guard Ship and .....

because it has been overcast here for so long and I love night photography here is the same ship at night.

A Mixed Bag of News

Not much has been going on so this is a mixed bag of odds and ends over the last few days.

Yesterday a polar bear was rumored to be in town. I got to see lots of people running all over the place to see the bear but never actually got to see the bear myself. I sometimes question if there actually was a bear because I can’t find anyone who seen it with their own eyes or a photo of said bear. I usually get “I didn’t see it myself but a friend of my second cousin twice removed has a brother in law who has a friend of a friend who saw it”. Briefly it was rumored the bear was on the ridge running along the road. This was a bit nerve wracking because I was walking home on the road. Turns out it was just a white sled dog.

I noticed there was a Coast Guard ship in town while I was at the new lagoon. I later found out it had been in town for a couple of days. Guess I need to get out more. If it is still around tonight I will get some photos. My being at the lagoon is work related. Not something I usually go out of my way to do for fun.

There is a large group of people in from a group teaching digital photography and video to the community’s youth. It looks like we are a vibrant tourist town instead of the art capital of Canada. I hope the kids take full advantage of the program over the course of the next couple of days. Photography is a very fun hobby that can be fairly inexpensive to get into. If the passion continues then a person can move up to some nicer equipment. A lot of the photos on this blog were taken with a cheap $80 digital camera. Although I did move up the gear quality scale last year and will never go back.

I am still planning on doing a blog post regarding the adventure we had in purchasing a house here in the north. I think it will be done in three post covering finding, offering and purchase of the house. As a sneak preview the entire process has dragged on for most of this year with the purchase step now in its third month. That’s right we actually still don’t own the house we are currently living in but we finally have a stack of paperwork to review and sign.

We are now 31 days from our holidays not including today.

Talk with you folks later. :o)

Time Warp

"It's astounding, time is fleeting

Madness takes its toll

But listen closely, not for very much longer

I've got to keep control"

.

For some reason today I was at work and around 9:30 am I came to the realization that it's Friday. I could swear that it is Wednesday. Even though (to many peoples hilarity) I have confirmed that yes indeed it is Friday, I still feel like it is Wednesday. Madness is taking its toll.

.

Does the word Wednesday seem like an abbreviation of a day that you would be marrying a Nintendo gaming system (NES)?

.

...I've....got....to......keep....controlllllllllllllll......................*

Cape Dorset Photo 14

Flight landing in Cape Dorset at 12:30 today.

Cape Dorset Photo 13

T Lake. Named because it looks like a T. This is were the communities water comes from.

Cape Dorset Photo 12

Fog rolling over the hills on Mallik Island. Photo taken today.

Late Night Photos

I got home late Saturday night/Sunday morning and you could just see the weak northern lights. No one else was up to beg a ride to a darker location so I set up in the entry and took a couple of photos through the wires. The northern lights were so dim that they could have been mistaken for clouds. Only after a long exposure could they be seen.

The moon was very bright which probably affected the northern lights. The photo below has been modified with photoshop to make the sky look blue.

Snow Bunting

It has taken me all summer but I finally got a photo of a snow bunting. I don't have a super long telephoto lens (at least not yet) and I have to get close to my target to get a good photo. The snow buntings (snowflakes) are very skittish and hard to sneak up on. Yesterday morning several of them were on the ground outside our windows and I snapped several photos. The problem is glass is hard to get a good photo through and this is the only photo that turned out even moderately good. Once again I know there is some avid bird watchers in the Arctic blogging world so please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.

Voices in the Bathroom

Overheard in the bathroom.

"Can you blow on this for me?"

"Ahhhh, No."

Looks like we need some paper towel in the bathroom.

Snow Squalls

We are getting a lot of snow squalls in the area and the snow is currently staying on the ground in the higher elevations. Personally I can't wait for the snow to get here because I can then fire up the snow machine we purchased earlier this year. Zoom Zoom.

Denmark in My Heart

As I was checking out the traffic feed (yes I'm addicted) one of the hits was from the medieval capital of Denmark, a place called Roskilde. Coincidentally we received an old photo from my Mom last night with a picture of my Grampie and his brothers in it. All were born in Denmark and immigrated here through Ellis Island in New York with their parents. From there they went to Quebec, Canada then settled in southern New Brunswick. Grampie was 8 years old when he arrived in New Brunswick. I have always missed my Grampie John and the picture brought back some very good memories of him. These were some big men back in the day. There is a few stories I've heard over the years about their size and strength. Grampie was 6'4" and strong as an oxen.

From left to right. Gunner Ravn (youngest), Olaf Ravn (Oldest), John Ravn (Grampie). We think the little girl in the background is Olaf's oldest daughter. I definitely inherited my grampies hair and size (I am a couple of inches shorter).

-Update-
(Thanks Mom)
There is one brother, Peter, and two sisters Ellen and Sara not in the photo. Peter was the oldest of the brothers. Gunner died last year and was the last surviving brother. Sara is not spelled wrong. In danish sara is spelled without the H.

"Jeg elsker dig Grampie and Grammy"

Cape Dorset Photo 11

Kids playing in the pond. No one got wet as I walked by but the girl on the furthest rock out was saying "Are ya chicken!"

Snow Photos

This is not the first snow we have had this year but it is the first one that has occurred during the day and lasted for most of the day. It has now changed to a snow rain mix. Luckily I got picked up soon after starting the walk home and got to avoid most of the muddy, damp, cold walk.

This is where the title photo was taken at the end of last week.

Lots of building material being piled up for a couple of five units being built in front of the GN building. Should make for a noisy year.

Snow

It's snowing!!

Photos tonight

Autumn Colors/Blue Rock

Yesterday I not only was taking pictures of the house I also went wandering around town. It's nice to get out of the house for a bit. I tried to find some Autumn colors but they don't translate to the photos like they do down the south. If we get more days without rain I will try to get some better photos.

I think this is a type of willow tree. Not the majestic type you see south but it is what we have here in the arctic desert. Correct me if I'm wrong.
It seems when I'm out walking around I always find something weird or unusual. What is this blue painted rock doing in the middle of nowhere? It looks like it has been sitting there for sometime.

House Photos

It stopped raining!!

Or at least it stopped raining long enough to get out and take a photo of the house.

This is a better shot of the new home. See we do have windows.

Looking up the hallway towards the kitchen and living room. The box mountain feature has gotten a lot smaller and we should have it gone soon.

We Have a Bed!!

For the first time in my and Michele's life we have a new queen size box spring and mattress. As it was being put together I realized that all my mattresses and box springs have always been second hand. We could never afford new ones. Tonight will be the first time on (in?) the new bed.

Cape Dorset Photo 10

Photo taken mid July. That was the last time we seen a day without rain I think. I will have to get an underwater case for my camera so I can go out and play in the rain. Anyway back to this photo it was taken out by the tank farm and that is Michele and Dad in the background by the van. I can't hold a camera straight so why fight it.

My Election Opinions

This will be my only political post. Picture says it all.

Cape Dorset Photo 9

I should be back to regular posting soon. One that is coming up will address a question from Way Way Up regarding purchasing a house in the north. Seemed like it would make a good post.

A scene of what it will look like here soon.

Cape Dorset Photo 8

Taken earlier this year during the spring thaw. Kids here are very cute.

Cape Dorset Photo 7

Photo of some ice taken back in July.

Cape Dorset Photo 6

Another random photo of the Hamlet of Cape Dorset.

Sorry, it's still raining here. I thought this was a desert?

House Photo.

As most of you know Michele and I purchased a house in the north and here is the first photo of our cute little house. I'm going to wait until there is some nice weather to take different pictures. This photo is actually a picture of the RC valley taken from the hill behind our old apartment taken when I was exploring a month ago. I just cropped the photo using photoshop and there you have it, the first picture of our house.

Price of Food

Couple of days ago I told Michele I would pick up the onion we needed for supper that night. So I went to the Northern and picked up a solitary onion. It looked lonely and forgotten and all I could think about was how good it would taste after I hacked it apart.

When I arrived at the check out the clerk looked me right in the eye and said "That will be $3.99 please." A look of horror must have crossed my face because her next line was "Will there be anything else?" All I could say was "I don't get paid until Friday!"

Bad Weather

The weather in Cape Dorset has been bad for about a week. Last weekend started out good then it turned to high winds and rain. The long range forecast is not looking good either. Sigh.


Two night ago the skies cleared and the best northern lights of the summer were out. By keeping track of solar storms, coronal holes and sunspots on my favorite sites (Space Weather) I knew that the best was yet to come. So I got lazy and didn't bother to photograph the display. It was late and I was tired. What I should have been keeping track of was the local weather. I would have known that the bad weather was coming.


So in my frustration I haven't been taking photos and bloging. I am now trying to develop a Passion for photographing the clouds and we're not sure how that is going to work out. I did play a bit with some cloud photos in photoshop. They did turn out kind of neat. See Below.

New Stuff for the House

This photo is off the new bench and shelves in the entry way. Also pictured here is the new garbage box for outside and the new shelves for the living room.

Some assembly required.

Vacation It's Coming!!

I just realized that our vacation is 7 weeks away. I usually don't get excited about vacation, until a few days, before but we are doing something special this trip. We are first going back to New Brunswick to see family and friends. (Miss ya Mommy) Then we are flying to Miami Florida to get on a ship to cruise around the Gulf of Mexico. We will be stopping in Mexico, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. We are going to get a chance to see the Mayan ruins. Something I've always wanted to do. Thanks National Geographic. Michele's sister Jackie and family will be joining us and Michele's Mom will be going with us as well. (Miss you too other Mom) Jackie was featured in one of our blog post responding to a meme. Now to focus on work until then.

Mystery Ship

Another cargo ship came in yesterday and left yesterday. Apparently it was unscheduled and several people got surprise wake up calls that their stuff was in and come get it now. Michele and I went out to take photos of the ship but it was gone. The only thing that we had seen was a barge taking some backhall to the ship. So instead of a ship photo you get another iceberg photo. They were the only thing floating around out there yesterday.