Christmas Tree Shopping in Yellowknife. . .

Above is Dan headed down the Christmas Tree Aisle at an undisclosed location. No, it's not the dump -- however, I did see a lovely artificial christmas tree there in the Household Department the last time I patronized that particular establishment (and look it up: that is the correct usage of that verb, Ali :-).

It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done . . .
After failing to get lost or stumble upon one of those marveous misadventures which we always seem to find when they are least appreciated (we weren't that far from the road and Dan did, I suppose, have to be at work in an hour), and after looking at our watches, we denounce one semi-decent unrepublican tree to be sentanced to Madame Chainsaw. Unfortunately I forgot my knitting. (Those of you puzzling over that remark would do well to read more Dickens, or Dumas, or for that matter even the illustrious and imaginative Baroness Orkzy. . . LOL)

On the right is me about to drop the tree and make a grab our rampaging little sleddog heading full tilt in my direction.

(Isn't she cute?)

Our castle on a rock

At long last, here are some overly-due pictures of our house:

It's on a beautiful lot with cranberries, raspberries, black currants and wild strawberries. In the back "yard" (which in Yellowknife is not to be confused with a "lawn," as such suburban luxuries are still few and far between here due to lack of dirt), we even have a greenhouse! Some re-assembly required. . .

Below is the view from the front of the house which is seen through our picture window in front of the dining table - fortunately, that one's not getting plasticed for the winter. On the right in more of the property and a view of Old Town.

We enjoy all the modern conveniences of electricity and all the romantic rusticity of having to poop in a bucket. It is a one bedroom, 1/8 bath with a living/dining room, kitchen, and arctic entry/workshop. Our central heating consists of your choice (and wealth is choice is it not?) of either oil heater or woodstove in the middle of the house -- both of which must be started by match.
On the left is our dining/living room; the middle is the kitchen (much better than the apartment, hey mom?); and on the right we have the stoves and the ""bathroom."" (The honeybucket lives behind the cream-colored curtain - the white thing is just a trash can in case anyone is worried about our extreme lack of hygene...)




And finally . . .

. . . the guest house!

We are currently taking reservations for next summer and please be advised to bring your own water and linens. Just kidding! But you will want your bug nets, mosquito repellant, propane bottles, blow torches etc. to keep the bugs at bay.

Our new family member . . .

. . . although not as cute as Murray and Esther's. . . That will come later for us :-) For now this one's name is Tika - a Maori concept for everything true and right and just. It's the opposite of Teka, which is everything false or unjust. Cool, hey? No, she is not named after the Petzl headlamp: that's spelled with two K's.

After fourteen months of paperwork and waiting and fees... :-)

Well our big news for this week (although involving neither a nine-month period of expectancy nor explosions, mountains, car chases or bikes) is fairly exciting, or at the very least long-awaited. On Tuesday I got my Canadian permanant residency which means I can now work, study, and come and go the same as a citizen of this country. No more visas!! Anyone who has ever had to jump though immigrative (yes, I just made that an adjective) beurocratic hoops knows what cause that is to rejoice!