what?! We have been in Victoria now for some time. Vince has been studying non-stop but took a much needed study break. and I have been living a life of leisure. I took a gardening course and a weaving course and then I took a self employment course - all excellent choices. I also make really good granola.

Are we still North?

Can we still count? We moved to Victoria, BC. We are now living in farmland.

We sold most of our belongings at our garage sale held on our deck and left Prince Rupert on September 10 by ferry.

Can we still tell stories from the North? Why do I (sometimes we) blog? Is it to jar my memory of where we have gone and where we will yet go...?

Good hiking and did I say GOOD FOOD?

We ate gourmet meals on our trip in the back country from the book - "Fork in the Trail". With our dehydrator anything was possible.

Train to Civilization

Though we feel that it was more civilized in the woods - needless to say we came back to Skagway by train after emerging from the forest at the end of our trail. We had just enough rations left for our train ride back!

BULL-O-RAMA - Kitimat, June 12

Drive to a neighboring town called Kitimat and buy your ticket for BULL-O-RAMA (the name alone had me sold) taking place in the Tamitik (Kitimat spelled backwards) Arena. Watch real cowboys try for an 8 second ride to fame on bulls such as Van Helsing weighing in at 1800 lbs. No one could ride him for long. YEE-HAW! See the videos fer yerself:

A Weekend Getaway to our Neighbour Towns

Walks in the forest, a farmer's market, a canyon and more. Okay of course I was most impressed with BULL-O-RAMA but who wouldn't be!

A Weekend Adventure

Take the train from Prince Rupert to Smithers through forests and tunnels, and rivers and old settlements....meet up with some girls who befriended me at the civic centre. Go to a cabin in the woods and snowshoe to a lake! Or GT race at 9pm and it is still day light! Oh yeah, and eat copious amounts of sugar and decadent food the whole weekend!

THE NEW ROOF

It has finally happened - we are getting a new roof! After a very long wait - because it is hard to get someone to come and do your roof and the waitlists are soooo long - the new roof is happening! Check it out! Friends Dave and Shawn stop long enough for a flex pose and Aaron continues to smoke his pipe even while on the roof!

the lime green bike

Okay, I have the coolest bike now in the whole world! Vince remade this bike for me as an early one year wedding anniversary gift! I picked the colour for the bike. In 2007 we were on our way to a Van Tongeren family reunion in 100 mile house and as we whizzed by Clinton I saw the bike and bought it for $40.00! It was in a wretched state of disrepair and painted over with black paint.....and now - well see for yourself!!

The Lizard Costume

Yeah, yeah yeah, I know you have heard me going on about the lizard costume that I was making every waking moment outside of work. I didn't just make one by the way, but two for Harbour Theatre's production of Edward Albee's Seascape. It was too nice outside to be stuck indoors every weekend making the costumes so I solved that problem!!

Other Towns and Cities

in the true north strong and free, i sit tight

in other towns and cities

no one knows where I am

in the rain, the ocean, or forest

my usual playgrounds

here i am

way up here

i could only stay put

waiting it out

changed my clothes

put the heat on

wind is howling

like the wolves at our doorstep

tracks fresh

beside me on my skiis

one long breath and we part our ways

across the highway to nowhere

And other duties as required!

Being part of the recreation department means I get to do lots of fun community events - like dressing up as Dora and being in Prince Rupert's 100 year birthday party parade for kids -then hanging out in City Hall in the Council chambers after with my favourite coworkers!

RupertWrites Book Launch

RupertWrites held an International Women's Day writing contest organized by yours truly! A great night at the local coffee house reading poetry and prose.

Art Show

Art critic Jean-Pierre studies the recent collection of black and white photography featuring New Mexico at the newly opened Chimayo Gallery. Congratulations to artists in residence Michelle Willard and Vincent Van Tongeren for the great gallery show and food.

Watch out for Bears! Alaskan Adventures...

Some really good advice!

Very Mysterious...

On a sunny Saturday on October 17, Vince and I drove out of Prince Rupert along highway 16 (the only highway out of here) and found ourselves within the true north, strong and free, rugged wilderness just outside the city limits. After an hour drive we went down a service road for about 20 minutes and left our car behind and set out in our rubber boots. We hiked up, up and up to get to one of our favourite isolated lakes. Silence, peacefulness, no signs of human activity. Once there we searched out the old hidden canoe tied up in the trees and paddled to the end of the lake and landed on a sandbar. It was there that we discovered something quite mysterious. Watch the video below to find out what....

Haida Gwaii

a tree reaches out its hand, strange fingers bathed in light

a ship lays still

here's to the island

an old boat is quiet with many secrets

Spending my birthday Sept 6, on Haida Gwaii was a dream come true. So much beauty and stillness in northern Canada. Words cannot describe. One morning, we found ouselves in a little bakery called Moon over Naikoon, running on solar energy in the middle of an old growth forest. Later we walked in the fabled golden spruce trail and saw trees over 500 years old. We ate a lunch in another little cafe and read Life magazines from the 60's. We hiked to the Pesuta shipwreck and saw the rivers teeming with salmon along the way. We gazed out towards Alaska at Tow Hill and pondered our smallness on North Beach.

That's Some Zucchini!!

The highlight of our garden endeavours this year was our zucchini! Grown outside in our lovely Prince Rupert summer weather. It supplied us all summer and into the fall! Here is one of our biggies! Too bad we didn't have that ruler when we came across the Sasquatch print!!

Renos, Renos, Renos - a new bathroom

before... After...

We set to work or should I say Vince set to work at renovating our old and only bathroom and creating a great new bathroom to fit in with our heritage home. We decided to do this suddenly when our neighbors told us that they would be away for a month and could we house sit for them. Perfect, because we appreciated going over there to shower and do other bathroom related things when our bathroom was out of order. I have the before and after pictures here. I picked the paint colour - pea pod - and the mirror and lights and other accessories. Vince did all the work himself. Plumbing the new toilet and sink, putting in the new floor and all the electrical and the carpentry of the arched ceiling and built in cabinet. Super hero!