Yesterday I ventured out for a walk with the camera as I was off and it was a sunny (if breezy and cool) day. Today I am first on call so if I was to check on any changes since my last visit, yesterday was the day. Today has been one of interior pursuits as I sit by the phone.
I walked out towards the airport and then down to the beach. I was wearing my Pang hat with the hood of my Columbia jacket pulled over top but I regretted choosing my 'southern' gloves over the sealskin mittens I left on the table. The wind made it feel like a walk on a NS beach on a December day, the kind that numbs your thighs through your pants and your face seem like it's on fire. As I walked along the road I realized the ponds were freezing over, there was only cotton grass left for flowering vegetation and then got a squeaky lecture from a sik sik (arctic marmot) which I surprised near his burrow. Waiting patiently as if I were an Inuk hunter, I managed to capture a couple of shots as he played peek a boo with me - oops, she's still there. Sure was chubby with a thick pelt, getting ready for the long winter.
Lots of construction going on in the hamlet, a great deal of it surrounding the health centre. The work continues seven days a week as the push is on to get this stage of the project completed before winter sets in. The barge has been unloaded of supplies and equipment which are ready and waiting.
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| Heavy equipment |
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| Supplies stacked |
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| new health centre |
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Waiting to go
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| arena renos |
It sure looks like winter work to me but one of the workers told me proudly today that the weather had been cooperating nicely and they were continuing on later than they'd hoped. And there is no snow which has stayed yet, in fact since I've been here, no white stuff falling although communities all around us have had some white outs. The feeling in the air is that it won't be long now. Kind of like that maritime December weather when it's just making up its mind whether to be rain or snow. I've decided that my favourite season in this community is spring/summer as in May/June when it's warmish, no bugs and 24 hours of daylight. At this point the daylight is equal to the maritimes but shortens more quickly.
Last night, me, my coworker and the mental health worker had supper together here. My coworker is wanting to learn to bake/cook so we gave her stew making lessons and she created caribou stew as we'd been gifted with some, biscuits and a dessert called crema de catalina - kind of a creme brûlée. There was a gift of wine as well so we had a nice meal and a few laughs. After supper there was a fireworks display visible out our window so that was Saturday evening Taloyoak style.
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| Maude |
I had a message from the nurse daughter who had mentioned during her visit in Edmonton that they were looking into adopting a three legged kitty from the shelter. Not sure of the details but it was an injury not a birth defect and is a hind leg. As her father said the pest control (an outdoor three legged cat which came with the fish plant he bought a few years ago) "gets around pretty good and we think she's 16 or so". So, Maude (as she was renamed by the adoptive parents) was picked up yesterday. She looked a bit unsure in the first photo but today's picture showed her settling in. She is friendly and personable and I told her adoptive mother that taking in a three legged kitty made up for her abandoning Stanley to us when she was a teenaged mother. But...... there is another chapter to the story. When on their way to the shelter they found a small puppy (looks to be about eight weeks old) wandering on the main road and thinking she'd escaped from the shelter took her inside. Nope, not theirs but they were taken out back and shown a mother dog with a puppy identical to this one found outside of town. What to do? Well, take her home of course, as she'd found them. Apparently she slept all night - I'm sure by the time she was bathed, fed and put to sleep in a soft bed she just collapsed. Tonight will likely be the test. The resident cat and dog are apparently coping well with the babies and they are now a four animal family. Babies are so much work but what can you do when they find you?
So, my call day has been manageable and although I've seen patients and fielded phone calls, I had a chance to work on an infinity scarf for my coworker, make split pea soup and biscuits and catch up on email. The slower pace suits a CHN recovering from the cold her coworker gave her. Oh and if you're wondering about the work done by a CHN (community health nurse) here's a link to an article in the Canadian Nurses Association newsletter - albeit a different cultural group, but many similarities.
Anyway, enough rambling. Time to gather myself and go check out a baby.
I had a message from the nurse daughter who had mentioned during her visit in Edmonton that they were looking into adopting a three legged kitty from the shelter. Not sure of the details but it was an injury not a birth defect and is a hind leg. As her father said the pest control (an outdoor three legged cat which came with the fish plant he bought a few years ago) "gets around pretty good and we think she's 16 or so". So, Maude (as she was renamed by the adoptive parents) was picked up yesterday. She looked a bit unsure in the first photo but today's picture showed her settling in. She is friendly and personable and I told her adoptive mother that taking in a three legged kitty made up for her abandoning Stanley to us when she was a teenaged mother. But...... there is another chapter to the story. When on their way to the shelter they found a small puppy (looks to be about eight weeks old) wandering on the main road and thinking she'd escaped from the shelter took her inside. Nope, not theirs but they were taken out back and shown a mother dog with a puppy identical to this one found outside of town. What to do? Well, take her home of course, as she'd found them. Apparently she slept all night - I'm sure by the time she was bathed, fed and put to sleep in a soft bed she just collapsed. Tonight will likely be the test. The resident cat and dog are apparently coping well with the babies and they are now a four animal family. Babies are so much work but what can you do when they find you?
