Weekend update

We just got home from tending to Deb's dogs and puppies- I brought the camera, and went a bit crazy...

Breakfast time!

Deb's away until Monday, and we're helping her out with twice-daily feedings and the occasional poop-scooping, plus keeping the fire in the stove stoked so that the cabin (and the cat inside it!) doesn't freeze up. We thought we might go out with a dogsled this weekend, but there are some other things planned too, so it might not happen. 

Tonight we're going to see a film 

called Fever Year, part of the Available Light Film Festival that is running this week in Whitehorse. It's about a year of touring done by Andrew Bird, an incredible musician that we saw perform in Toronto a couple of years ago.

Tomorrow's plans include some time spent
with Deb's dogs, and then preparing for
our upcoming week of basic training for the
Mt Lorne Volunteer Fire Dept. We will be
able to be more involved in the active
training sessions (twice monthly) at our
fire hall after this week, and when there are
real calls for fires in Mt Lorne, we'll be able
to participate in the response and help
our neighbours, to the extent that we are
trained for. There are some volunteers that
are trained to the same level as professional
firefighters! We have the chance to get our Class 3 driver's licenses so that we can drive the pumper truck (I probably have to wait until my Yukon learner's permit is up, though), and there is training available for wildland fires, dispatching, HazMat, etc. It's a really unique opportunity, and the people we've met in the volunteer fire department are friendly. At the first training session I went to last week, we ran a practice call to the Mt Lorne community centre, where Colin was attending a meeting of the community association board. As soon as he dropped me off at the station, I geared up in my heavy boots, pants, coat, helmet and gloves, jumped on the pumper truck (Pumper 64), and we headed over to the parking lot behind the community centre to check the equipment and practice our response. I saw Colin look out through the window of the centre at the fire truck as it careened around the building to the parking lot in the back- we had the lights going but not the sirens, because the sirens make people think that something bad has happened. In a community this small, it is unlikely that a motor vehicle accident or house fire could happen to someone and you wouldn't know them, and we don't want to cause our neighbours any undue stress :)

The Yukon Quest mushers and dog teams are almost halfway through their 1000-mile race, and we might able to catch the teams arriving into Whitehorse this week. Deb's friend and neighbour Yuka is currently in 15th place (out of 19 teams still in the race), and the Whitehorse Star reported this week that she found out that one of the dogs on her team is pregnant! There was a nice photo of her with the dog on the front page, and Colin saved it to bring over to her when she returns. 

Cookie and Smiley are happy and cute as ever, and are enjoying the freedom that they have now to run around off the leash. They always (eventually) come back when we call them, and Smiley has really made herself useful in going after Cookie if she takes a bit too long to respond. We're off for a hike in the forest before leaving for town to see the movie. Hope you are all having a good weekend!

Bye for now,

Love Lauren and Colin