Inuit carvings

The North is full of great artists who do amazing work. I am going to post a few pictures of the many carvings we have purchased since moving to Igloolik.


Laura's grampa was very excited about her moving to the North. He requested that we try and buy him a polar bear carving with a cub.


Here are the same carvings (at a different angle). They are done by a local artist named Esa. The material used in these carvings is Marble. In the winter, the carvers drive their snowmachines about 8 hours away and harvest the stone from another community.


This is the family of bears that we purchased from Esa. They are also made from Marble and are in different poses. In the real world, the male would not be found anywhere near the mom and her cub.

At Richard and Lee's cabin

We took a drive on the snowmachine to Richard and Lee's cabin. He's a construction worker in town and Lee's father lived up in Igloolik for over 20 years. It wasn't far from town but it was nice to get out.


Here is a picture of us taken from the step of the cabin. There is lots of frozen ice and nothing much else behind us.


Here are Mike (RCMP) and Reagan (temporary RCMP) outside the cabin by the fire. It was very cold and it took a while to get a fire going. Luckily, there was a can of camp fuel that Mike poured all over the wood.


The girls spent most of the time inside by the fire. On the left are Laura and Jessie (teacher). On the right, there is Reagan and Sharon (nurse).


Here is Mike on the ski-doo. He is on the roof of a cabin. The snow drift is pretty high and has all but buried most of the cabin.

Christmas in Igloolik

We hung up our Christmas lights two weekends ago. I don't think we will win any contests but it does help to brighten up the neighbourhood!


On the inside of our place, we strung up some blue lights. In true "Don Kennedy" style, I didn't have a ladder so I improvised and climbed on the cat condo to install them while Laura prayed in the corner.


On the outside, we put some icicle lights on the house and then decorated the shed. You probably noticed the burnt out string of lights. They worked inside but broke when I put them up. We tried to get a replacement bulb but they don't sell them anywhere.


Exact same picture but taken at 2 in the afternoon (top one is taken at about 6). It starts to get dark really fast now. Did I mention we haven't seen the sun in 2 weeks?

Two guys and a smoker

We had the opportunity to smoke some Arctic Char on the weekend. We will both be trying to bring some home on the plane. The early reviews say that we did an excellent job and everone seems to enjoy it.


We smoked three Arctic Char. This is the biggest of the three. I caught this fish using a 10 dollar bill. I would love to say that I caught the fish, but we bought them from a kid at school who has a net under the ice.


This is our friend Marty who is a supply teacher at the school. He is a trained chef and the brains of the operation. He made the brine and did most of the filleting.


Here is the smoker. We picked one of the coldest days to smoke. We had the smoker in my shed, covered in cardboard, with a space heater and it was still freezing. We smoked the fish for about two hours and then finished it in the oven at a low temp. Since the smoking, my shed and snowmobile now smell like ribs!

Some dogs, a cat and the orange igloo

Well, here is a collection of random photos that we wanted to share but couldn't fill up an entire post by themselves.


Here are Dan and Kim's new Husky pups, Kayuq and Toby. This was the best picture I could get of them together since they are usually wrestling or running. Notice the expert carpentry of the dog house entrance that I cut for Dan with my circular saw.


Here's Laura with our (neighbour's) dog Arcpiq. We took this guy for many walks and Laura is enjoying trying to keep him still. Arcpiq really enjoys bitting Laura's mitts. Unfortunately, Arcpiq has moved to Iqaluit with his owner. He was a great dog!


Even cats need to stay warm in the Arctic!


Kayuq was able to sit still long enough so I could snap this pic. The dogs were fed with seal as pups and smell really bad. Dan and Kim gave them baths so they are smelling much better these days.


This orange igloo was built behind our school. Scarlett, a photographer from Holland, hired some elders to build the igloo and then dyed the blocks orange.

Rememberance Day blizzard

On Rememberance Day, we had a blizzard in Igloolik. The winds were about 100 km/h and we couldn't see across the street because of blowing snow. It was very windy and cold!


We went to Mike's house (RCMP officer) for diner. He gave us a ride home in his truck and we got stuck in a drift. It took about 6 guys 30 minutes to dig it out. When we got home, this is a picture of the shed we jumped from into the snow bank. This was the best picture that turned out because so much snow was blowing!


The morning after. This is the front of our neighbours house. Believe it or not, there is a snowmachine buried beside the shed on the right (left side of picture). It will take Dan some shoveling to get it out.


This was the drift we found behind out house. The day before, the snow was only about a foot high.

Ice fishing in November

Here are a few pics from the ice fishing trip we took on Saturday (November 10th). It was a beautiful day but it took us about an hour to find the lake because everything looks the same. Needless to say, you don't have to ask why there are no pictures of fish posted! We went fishing with two other couples: Dan and Kim (our neighbours) and Jessie and Mike (teacher and an RCMP officer).


Fishing up here is much different than the south. You lie on a caribou skin (or piece of foam insulation) and stare down at your hole. You keep jigging your line and watch the fish come to it. I don't think they actually bite because people just tell you to snag them when they get close.


Laura made sure she stayed warm while she ice fished. She wore her big parka and her dog fur mitts.


It doesn't take long to get a good buildup of snow on your beard up here. We had to chip our holes and the perspiration just clung to every little hair you had exposed.


Laura loved ice fishing. Look at the beautiful smile on her face. She wanted me to add that she did have fun and that she was smiling under her balaclava. She looks forward to venturing out on the land very soon!


Our friends Dan and Kim were excited to bring their new Husky pups on the trip. Kim is holding the male Kayuq and Dan is holding the female Toby. I had to rescue Toby from the ice fishing hole when she fell in butt first. She was cold and Dan had to keep her in his jacket the entire afternoon!