It is summer in the Yukon

Happy Sunday everyone,

There are a lot of strong indicators that Summer has arrived. Our first summer pilgrims have come and earlier today sadly left (more on this later); we have passed the Solstice (our days are getting shorter from now until December 21); we have been enjoying time off from our jobs- we spent a few ours on the sunny beach at Kookatsoon Lake yesterday with our hottest day during our 15-month tenure here. The temperature got up to 30C, which is 5 degrees warmer then last year's hottest day. After coming back from the beach we had a lazy day under the bug tent, reading Yukon-themed books and playing games. There were a few beverages poured too.

Kookatsoon Lake in Lorne Mountain (not our photo)

Today's sunlight specs for your interest:

		Length of day		Solar noon
Date	Sunrise	Sunset	This day	Difference	Time	Altitude	Distance
							(106 km)
Jun 24, 2012	4:29 AM	11:37 PM	19h 07m 50s	− 40s	2:03 PM	52.7°	152.059

We have not been taking photos lately, so we will  have to steal pictures from the internet while we wait for the postal people to deliver a disc of photos from our first guests of the year, Kevin and Cathy (Lauren's parents). Kev and Cath arrived on the 11th of June and stayed for 14 days. While they were here they got to see the McBride Museum, SS Klondike, eat at the Klondike Rib and Salmon, visit the outdoor market, go for a hospital tour and a fire hall tour, enjoy a midnight sun drive from Whitehorse to Tombstone, toured Dawson City including Diamond Tooth Gertie's and the sternwheeler graveyard. Oh boy, they kept busy- there was also trips to Haines Junction and Sheep Mountain, an overnight in Atlin BC, and a train trip from Carcross to Skagway, Alaska.

(not our photo ago) Cathy and Kevin got to see their first ever grizzly bears on the night drive north on the Klondike Hwy. We saw a sow (mother) and two cubs. We got to watch the cubs wrassling for a few minutes while the sow was eating dandelions on the side of the road.

It was so wonderful to have family here with us- that is something we have really been missing since our trip to Ontario in November. Not being able to go have a short-notice meal with your folks or siblings, or venturing out with some of your old buds is still the hardest part about living in the natural wonderland we have found for ourselves.

Fingers are crossed that we can paddle from Carcross over to
Tagish and onto Whitehorse through Marsh Lake
and Miles Canyon, while Brian is visiting in late July.

After 2 weeks with the Barretts we have what I'm sure will prove to be a quiet house for a week, and then our pals Stephen and Cailey are coming up for a quick visit while they are on this side of the Saskatchewan. We think we will stay close to home when they're here, with some great hiking trips and maybe even a canoe trip if Colin can get around to getting the canoe fiberglassing done. The next morning after Steve and Cailey leave another good pal, Brian, is visiting for a few weeks celebrating the end of anther school year (Brian is a highschool science teacher and close buddies with Evelyn - our super best friend from the Rouge). We think Brian's Yukon Adventure will be out of this world, as he is going to get into behind-the-scenes workings of the Lorne Mountain growing community. We will also have a long weekend with Brian with nothing booked on our calenders, so fingers are crossed for a overnight canoe trip. The thinking was that we could get someone to drive us down to Carcross and we can paddle through to Whitehorse.

Off for some outdoor work!
Love Colin and Lauren

Hello again!

It's not easy to explain why Colin and I are having such a hard time keeping up with the blog right now... we still miss our family and friends and want to keep in touch, there are lots of interesting things to write about, and we still enjoy telling the stories when we get around to it. Maybe part of it is that it feels odd to blog about our regular, everyday lives- this place feels more like home than like a far-off adventure. It's also a bit tough to sit in front of a computer at home, when there are so many great things to do outdoors (especially now that Cookie and Smiley are bike-joring again!). Hopefully we can get back into the habit of writing, or at least convince our visitors this summer to write a few guest-blogs for us. Hope you are all having a good week so far. We're off to Tombstone and Dawson City for the weekend with Mom and Dad Barrett!

Bye for now,
Love Lauren

Lots to do!

We are happily back into our Yukon lives after last weekend's visit to Vancouver. It was a great visit to a beautiful city, and we were lucky to squeeze in lots of delicious meals (Thai, Vietnamese, South Indian, and sushi, of course!), a visit with Steve and Michelle at their nice place in Kitsilano, and fun times with our pal Jesi. We went to MEC to outfit our new canoe with some foam blocks and straps for the car, plus nice new lifejackets and a dry sack backpack for canoe trips. And since the 115-litre dry sack had lots of extra room, we stocked up on sweatshirts and t-shirts from MEC :) There was also a great exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Beat Nation, that we checked out on the rainy holiday Monday

Somehow, we managed to not take any photos of Vancouver! We should have, though- there were tons of stunning blossoming bushes and flowers everywhere, and the deciduous trees were fully leafed out.

The second Fireweed Market of the year was yesterday, and it was a beautifully sunny day to be outside. Colin has been working hard on organizing the weekly workshops, and has a great schedule planned:

Back to work! We will write again this weekend :)

Love Lauren

Just when we thought it was summer, we get 15 cm of snow

The dogs have been sleeping inside so that we can limit Cookie's activity with her busted up leg and all. This has been going on for a few weeks and working out well. But last night Cookie was pacing and pacing - she just would not settle down. Once a was able to ignore her noise I could get back to my much needed sleep. The power must have gone off during the night because the sun rise alarm clock did not wake me up, the pacing and cloud filtered light coming through the window did - but not too worry the end of our slumber was right on time. We knew that we would have some snow on the ground this morning as the clouds last night looked dense like a snow storm, but we were not expecting the dump we got. Power outages usually mean either high winds or heavy snow loads, we got the later.

There was NO snow left in our yard before we went to bed last night, there are a few scattered piles from the driveway being cleared but the ground was bare and dry. Lorne Mountain even was upgraded to a moderate wild fire warning yesterday because it was so dry. But not this morning. 

We are in a good situation with the garden, all of our plants are still inside under the grow lights and beside the heater, so we are not at risk of loosing anything. And most importantly, i suppose, we love the snow. 

Just to make all this a little funnier, we are headed to Vancouver in two days - their weather forecast is to be sunny and in the mid-teens (a 20 degree difference from what we are enjoying this morning). Should be fun to go from this to the summer flowers and palm trees of Vancouver.

Happy hump day everyone.

Colin

Spring time

Hi all,

You guessed it- less blog posts means more Yukon adventures. Well, 'adventures' might be too strong a word for all of the firefighting training we are currently involved in- it's still really fun, but the bunker gear is so heavy and hot in the warm spring weather, and heavy perspiration doesn't really fit into my idea of adventure. Here are some photos from a recent training session we had at Bear Creek:

Hooking up a 1 3/4 inch hose, and thinking hard about what I'm doing :)

Supporting the deputy chief as we flow water from the 2 1/2 inch hose

Water power!

We have had some good news from the Fire Marshall's office, who oversees the volunteer departments in the territory- more money for gear and training. In the second photo from the top, Claire has the new gear, while I'm sporting the set that I inherited. 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2012/05/08/north-yukon-fire-services.html

We are also still nursing Cookie back to health- her front leg gash is healing slowly. She still has to wear the head cone all the time, except for when we take her for walks and she doesn't think about licking her leg with so many other things to smell. Cookie and Smiley continue to spend lots of time indoors with us, and are no happier with it than they were 2 1/2 weeks ago. Colin is taking Cookie to the vet tomorrow to have her stitches and staples removed (hopefully), and soon things will be back to normal, and we can take the pups out for their first bikejor of the year.

This week is the Homegrown Theatre Festival, and I am very excited to have a small part in the production that our pal Kim put together, called Echoes from the Rabbit Hole. I'm her 'tech', which means I run the visual show she put together, which plays behind her and her co-star as they perform, as well as run the lights. Yes, this means I sit in the audio booth behind the stage! Our first show is tomorrow at 7pm :)

And lastly, here is a delicious brownie recipe that is now a big part of our lives (from paleomg.com):

Sweet Potato Brownies           

1 sweet potato

3 eggs, whisked

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup chocolate chips

3 tablespoons coconut flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Coconut flakes to sprinkle on top

Time to bake that sweet potato. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees, use a fork to puncture holes all around it, then throw in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Once your sweet potato is soft and cooked through, peel off the skin and mash it up in a bowl. And turn your oven down to 350 degrees.

Now add your wet ingredients: oil, honey, vanilla, and whisked eggs to the bowl and mix together.

Then add your dry ingredients: coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and chocolate chips. 

Mix well to incorporate all that goodness. Sprinkle on the coconut flakes.

Pour into an 8×8 glass baking dish

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Bye for now,

Love Lauren

What happened to House Husband?

It only a faint memory now, during our early days in the Yukon when Colin was only working a little, and  spending lots of time exploring , meeting people and being an excellent House Husband. He now has at least 5 jobs, and I might even be missing one or two from his imaginary business card. There are two brand new ones- he agreed to coordinate the FireSmart projects in our community, which focus on reducing the threat posed by wildfire around Yukon communities, through removing deadfall and other forest fuels, thinning trees, and planting less flammable tree species. FireSmart also funds projects that help communities develop long-term wildfire safety plans, create firebreaks, and make roadways more accessible for fire-fighting equipment. And there is also a new position with the Fireweed Community Market Society, as general manager, which Colin can describe better than I can :) 

Here is the sunlight we have been enjoying lately:

Sunrise: Whitehorse 5:58am (Toronto 6:12am)

Sunset: Whitehorse 9:59pm (Toronto 8:18pm) 

Cookie is recovering well from her leg gash, although it keeps opening up with all the moving around she does. Colin had to take her back to the vet for some husky-strength staples to hold her leg skin together so it can heal. The dogs are settling well into being house pets, although they aren't their usual happy, bouncy selves until they are outside. We're going to try to bandage up Cookie's leg today, put the cone head on, and leave Smiley and Cookie outside in the pen while Colin works at the dump and I go to a practice for my role as tech support in our pal Kim's upcoming show called 'Echoes From the Rabbit Hole' in the Nakai Theatre's Homegrown Theatre Festival, happening in 2 weeks.

Bye for now,

Love Lauren

Light nights in spring

Hi all,

It's so bright at night now! I think of a line I read about this place before we came to the Yukon- because of the longer days in the summer, "there's more time to do the things you love to do here". The exciting feeling is back that we had last year at this time, about how the light here makes it feel like a really different place.

Here's what it looks like just before 10pm tonight:

We've amassed a rug collection so that Smiley will come onto the hardwood floor while she's indoors, but it's not changing her mind

Cookie and Smiley are hanging out in the cold room mostly. They don't stand a stare at the door anymore, though!

Colin's reading Chapter 20: Fire Prevention and Public Education

I got a haircut today :)

Cookie is recovering well, and getting more comfortable with the cone head when it's on. She isn't fixated on the stitches, so we can take her for walks without the cone, and all the spring smells are more than enough to keep her mind off it. When we're inside, though, she eventually starts to check it out, and we put the cone head back on. She's a much needier creature right now, and just basks when we scratch her head, especially after the head cone comes off. Smiley is still not liking the look of the head cone on Cookie, and pushes herself against the wall to avoid the cone when Cookie walks by her. We learned a trick to stop them from pulling on the leash when we have it hooked up to their collars- if you loop the leash around their belly, it gives them some pressure on their belly that they don't like, and they almost will walk right beside you! Almost.

The countdowns for a few awesome things are getting lower and lower, and our general excitement about life is staying high. 

Buck 65 in 22 days!

This is where we're staying in Dawson with Mom and Dad Barrett, when they visit in 45 days!

This is what the place looked like 80 years ago (the three buildings in the lower right corner)

Hanging out around a campfire with Steve and Cailey when they visit in 67 days!

Hope you are having a happy spring,

Love Lauren

From the Yukon News Wednesday edition

Poor pup

We're trying to help Cookie see the bright side of her new head cone, but so far she's not impressed, and can't figure out why we've made a big deal about a little flesh wound. While on a free-wheeling hike around the neighbourhood yesterday, Cookie managed to run into something that gashed her front right leg, just above her elbow. It was a big laceration, and although she was walking around fine, when we called the emergency vet, he recommended that we take her in to have it stitched up this morning. It looks like it's held together with 12 or so stitches, and she's got a head cone on, and somehow we have to keep it on her, and keep her indoors, for two weeks! 

Smiley is taking this as hard as Cookie- she can't stand being inside, but howls and howls for Cookie when we bring her outside

It's snowing, and the pups are looking outside longingly

From happier times, on Sunday morning after a big hike

We'll pass on your get well wishes to the patient :)

Love Lauren and Colin

One week left of Advanced Firefighter training

Happy Earth Day, everyone. We hope that you spent time outside, enjoying this planet that sustains us. 

Our backyard this morning. 

Our community centre is hosting a grassroots Earth Day event (that means we are not preparing too much, but allowing the people who attend to dictate what will be happening)- this afternoon should be a lot of fun. Bev Gray, our local herbalist and the author of  The Boreal Herbal , is coming to cook up some natural medicines and wild-collected foods. The food theme does not end there; another amazing neighbour is doing a raw food demonstration. I'm planning on doing a litter clean-up on the areas that are no longer snow covered. There will also be some musical entertainment (including our pal Kim), and some youth are doing a magic show. All the entertainment will be local and people-powered (unplugged). 

It is still odd to not be planning the planting of thousands of trees with Friends of the Rouge Watershed, but we are delighted to share with you that they are doing very well. In fact, I want to congratulate them for their winning of a Green Award from the City of Toronto for their Community Involvement. 

Closer to home (our home, that is), Lauren and I are getting ready for the last week of Firefighter Advanced Training with the Yukon Fire Marshall's Office. Yesterday we had a practical exercise where we spent an afternoon extinguishing a car fire over and over again. It looked a bit like this (but this is just a photo found from the internet): 

All the protective gear gets really hot and heavy (especially the air pack that you carry on your back and the oversized helmet), and working with the charged hoses under 100psi is physically demanding; but despite this we had a tonne of fun. We even got some practice driving our fire hall's Quick Response vehicle, which was also a lot of fun. It is a big F350 with all the lights and sirens and a whole bunch of equipment on the back- yeah, super fun. 

Our fire hall has just got a "new to us" tanker truck (photo below), as soon as our new parking bay is finished (within a month we are thinking) we will be getting it all set up with pumps, hoses and tools so that when a call comes in we can just jump in and go. We can't get the truck set up just yet, as it is parked outside, and as irresponsible teenagers here have the same inclinations as irresponsible teenagers anywhere in Canada, we just can't take the risk of leaving a loaded emergency response vehicle sitting out unsupervised on a quiet road. 

Other exciting news to share is that Lauren's parents have sold their house in the Beaches and therefore will be retiring with a year or so. We are very excited for them, and delighted that they were able to realize their dream of retiring to the cottage in their fifties. They will be moving out of their house in July (just after they return from visiting us in 49 days!). It is odd to think that the next time we are in Toronto, we only have one family to visit there, as the Barretts will be living in Haliburton. 

Lastly, another doggy picture for all those people who only check our blog to see pictures of the huskies:

The dogs are loving the freedom of running unleashed in the bush when we go out for walks. It is amazing to us, the speed and agility that Cookie has. She can, at top speed, run over a 3 ft stump, weave between adjacent trees and climb over a huge pile of brush all within about 3 or 4 strides. All she needs now is to learn come, or at least run slower, so that by the time we realize she is gone she is still within earshot! 

We still miss you all (but you should all come visit cause we are not leaving here any time soon),

Love Colin and Lauren

Off to training

From yesterday's Yukon News- the northern lights illuminate the mountains along the Dempster Highway near Tombstone Territorial Park

Good morning all,

Colin and I are back at the firefighting training this weekend- First Aid for me, and Ladders, Ventilation and Power Tools for Colin (he wants you to know that he's particularly excited to try out the diamond-toothed chainsaw). We're now going through the training for Firefighting Advanced, and have the test coming up at the beginning of May. It continues to be a great experience, and after getting some Mt Lorne Volunteer Fire Department long-sleeved t-shirts recently, we are really into being in the Service :)

We don't have too much news from up our way to share, but there is so much happening with our families down South! Jennifer is getting ready to move back to Toronto, and has Bill transporting some things back with him in the next few days, and Andrea going down to help later, and escort Jenn home. And Mom and Dad Barrett have put their Toronto house up for sale and will become permanent Haliburtonians in a few months. Way to go, everyone! We're so excited for your big changes.

One of our main interest these days is all the light these days- we even have to keep sunglasses handy for the drive into town at 7:30am!
Whitehorse- Sunrise 6:42am, Sunset 9:20pm, Length of day 14h 37m
Toronto- Sunrise 6:36am, Sunset 8:00pm, Length of day 13h 24m

Bye for now,
Love Lauren

Easter Sunday

We celebrated Easter this year at Log Cabin, a beautiful spot in northern BC just 100km down the road (Highway 2 or the South Klondike Highway) from us. It's a well-known spot for lots of reasons- blueberry picking in the summer, proximity to the north end of the Chilkoot Trail and other gold-rush spots like Bennett Lake, and alpine skiing (the kind without a chairlift!).

Kim and Smokey came along and set the pace- that's Kim in front and Lauren behind

There was a cross-country ski race here two weeks ago, and there were a few of their snow castles still standing

Tea break in style

Heading back to the car and passing some old railway buildings along the way

It's neat to come across old buildings in such a remote spot

Ahh, time to relax. Awesome present, Jenn! I joined Colin a few seconds later

Easter fire in the backyard pit

We did miss the family gatherings, but still had a great long weekend. There were two test calls on our new firefighter radio, which you can't tell are tests until a few seconds after the warning tone, until the person doing the test starts to speak. For a few seconds, one of us thought that we were going to get some volunteer firefighting experience this weekend! We spent some time doing spring cleaning, and doing more firefighting studying, for a Firefighter Advanced level training session we have on Wednesday at the Whitehorse airport fire station. At a location like that, you might think we were learning something exciting, like aviation emergencies, or mass evacuation strategies, but no, we're learning about sprinklers, detection systems and fire extinguishers.

Bye for now,
Love Lauren and Colin

Saturday photos

Here is what the outside part of our home is looking like these days:

That ramp beside the window is the one we built when we were trying to get Jack the Pig back into his trailer :) And the skid against the house identifies us as Country People

That last little bit of snow on the deck didn't last long

There is about a stump's worth of snow left in the yard

Our new canoe! 

Colin's face just after calling Cookie and Smiley to come back, and realizing that they are far away

We're coming!

They run at top speed through the forest, (usually) dodging tree branches

This could make an excellent seat

Nice and warm, yet still snowy. This may be the best part of the year here.

Ahhhh

Hi everyone!

Nothing gets Cookie's attention like some digging around in the freezer

:)

There is also this great video of Smiley and Cookie running back to us after we call them to come:

We're off soon for a day of skiing at Log Cabin, at the White Pass near the border of Alaska and BC. Ahhhh! That is so awesome to write!

Love Lauren