Traditional Weekend

This was our last traditional weekend in May. For those of you who don't know, Deer Lake has two back to back 4 day weekends in order to allow people to participate in traditional activities such as hunting and fishing. This weekend we got the opportunity to participate also. 

Yesterday (Sunday) Greg went out fishing for about an hour and half and came home with 11 fish that were filleted and ready to cook. Jon also went fishing, so this was the catch between the two of them. 

Today the same people came to pick us up and take the girls out (along with Greg). They were a little worried because the water was a little rough and they think the bumps are not good for pregnant people, so we just went slow (Don't worry mom, there was one life jacket in the boat and I sat on it- For some reason life jackets are not used here at all, you don't even see them for sale in the store). It was a lot of fun to go out and do something different. 

We went to a fishing spot I had never been to before. It was amazing. Greg literally threw his line in the water and he had a fish within 30 seconds (no exaggeration). He then caught four more fish in 5 minutes. It was crazy. All in all we caught 6 fish (I caught one). Once we had our catch we motored on over to the nearby Traditional Powwow Grounds. This is were we had our shoreline meal. Another teacher, Maria, and her husband Johnny, were the couple who took us fishing and they graciously cooked up the meal for us too. Amanda came along also and travelled with Vicky and her husband Calvin. Johnny was a great tour guide telling us all sorts of historical information about Deer Lake. We also learned today that the Northern has only been in Deer Lake for about 10 years. All in all it was an awesome experience and we had a lot of fun. One down fall was the bugs. They were BRUTAL!! They are so little and pesky and there are SO many of them. Enjoy the pictures from our fishing excursion. 

 Greg and I on the shore, while we were out exploring the Powwow grounds.

Where we cooked our lunch. Johnny was a great cook!

 Looking out on the lake.

For the last two years Johnny has been adding a rock or two to these piles every time he passes them. When I first saw them it kind of looked like a Gateway.
 

Greg and ONE of his catches. He definitely would make his dad proud today with the way he fished.

Amanda enjoying herself in the other boat

Greg and his fish, plus one of mine! They were tasty to eat.

The old abandoned cabin on the Powwow grounds. There was nothing in it except a mattress. Greg and I could definitely tell we have been watching to much Criminal Minds because we approached this building with caution. One we weren't sure what we would find and two I kept thinking about how there could be someone lurking in the woods watching us. CREEPY.

Weekend Haunts

Well it is the weekend again! Thank goodness. It has been a long week. We actually had a five day school week. I do not think we have had a five day week since March Break, so the extra day made the week feel extra long. Last weekend Greg, Amanda and I went for a hike. We tried to make it to the Deer Lake Hollywood sign, but unfortunately took a wrong turn some where, as there is not trails and didn't quite make. It was a nice hike anyway. 

Tonight we decided to go for a walk towards the school. We have enjoyed walking to the school lately (I think Edgar enjoys it more) because we let Edgar off his leash and he can run around, sniff and play. Tonight Dexter and Amanda came a long and the boys played together. Edgar spent most of his time chasing Dexter around and then they chased a frisbee while we (Amanda, Jon, Jill, Greg and I) all threw it around. All and in all it was a nice evening. It is nice to get out and do something different. 

 Edgar and Greg! Don't they look so cute!!!!

 Edgar down by the water, sniffing things out. He is such a good boy.

 Running Free and Loving it.

Our hike up the hill. There is no trail, just rocks and trees. This picture is going up the hill and looking out on Deer Lake.

 Edgar got really thirsty. Good thing Greg thought to bring his own water bottle. I was not going to share with Edgar.

 There was a forest fire awhile ago near Deer Lake and we hiked through the area. There was a ton of trees down and it was a big hassle for Edgar and his little legs to go up and over or under.

Sunset on Duck Lake

God's Paintings

Tonight I thought I would share some of God's handiwork. We have seen the Northern Lights many times this year and have enjoyed them each time. Whenever we see them we always let the rest of our little group of teachers know so that we can all enjoy them together. Hope you enjoy some of God's paintings.

BBQ!!!!

Today was a momentous occasion for us here in Deer Lake! We (along with Jon and Jill) invested in a BBQ. Although it is not a bbq in the traditional sense it is still so exciting. We got a little Grillmate, which reminds me of a camping bbq. Tonight Greg and I got to bbq a nice hamburger. It was so yummy and smelled delicious cooking. I thought I would share a few photos of our exciting event.

This is what Edgar has started doing now when one of us leaves the house. He hopes up on the couch and watches out the window to see what we are doing. Here you can tell his tail is waging! He could see Jon and Greg BBQing and Dexter was outside running around.
Jon sitting by our little Grillmate!

The boys. By the way today was an exciting day for Greg. The Blue Jays started their season today in Cleveland. Greg was bummed that the game started at 2:05 our time and he was teaching through it. Luckily school was dismissed early 3:30 and we made it home to watch some, then we went to the grocery store bought our BBQ and he came home assembled it, cooked and still got to watch the same game at 6:30 while we ate our dinner. In the end it worked out for Greg to watch the 16 inning game with the Blue Jays winning (7-4). I think this is a great way for him to start the long weekend. He is already looking forward to Mondays game (Season Home Opener)
While we were BBQing a few kids came over to play with the dogs. Edgar had a great time!
The four of us with our new investment! We were really excited.

Cookout!

Well yesterday was Sunday and our Sundays are usually pretty low key, but this Sunday seemed to be pretty busy. Our morning started off with me sleeping in until 10, which was really nice. Then Greg and I went across the road to Jon and Jills for a brunch potluck. We then came home and I slept for two hours (I have seemed to be very tired lately).

Vicky the Native Language teacher then came over to invite us to a cookout at Little Bear Beach. We went and had a great time. The weather was super nice yesterday, a change from the weather we have been having (rainy, snowy and gloomy). Greg, Jon, Jill, Vicky, Marianne (Vicky's sister-in-law) and I all enjoyed the cook out.

When we got there Marianne and her husband Amos were on the ice checking their net for fish. The edge of the lake is not frozen anymore, so to get on the ice you have to jump over open water to get to the solid stuff. Amos had been there for a while and had managed to shoot down a duck. When I first saw it, I thought it was fake because of how rubbery its feet looked. After we finished cooking Marianne showed us how to prepare a duck for cooking. She plucked the duck of its big feathers and then to get the little feathers off you burn it in a fire and then hit it with evergreen branches. It was really neat to see.

Enjoy some of our pictures below of our adventure yesterday.

Jon and Greg cooking potatoes and pork chops over the fire. Marianne did most of the cooking, but the guys finished it up. It was so good!
Greg and I standing by the lake.
Greg going on to the ice. Leave it to him to want to try and walk on the melting ice. He managed to get on and then walked around for awhile.

Greg holding a piece of the ice that has melted away. The ice is still about a foot thick but it is full of air bubbles.

If fishing is a sport, then I'm an athlete

Well, we have made it back to our Deer Lake home. It was quite the journey, but enjoyed ourselves along the way. We left Bala at 9:30 on Saturday morning and rolled into Thunder Bay at midnight. The drive was actually pretty cool and was nice to see different parts of Ontario. About two hours outside of Thunder Bay, it became very foggy and visibility was extremely low. But we managed to make it into T-Bay. And both Claire and Edgar travelled very well.

Some news from Deer Lake. While we were out, there were two drug busts. The first yielded $1,400 of cash and $47,500 worth of OxyContin pills. A similar bust happened at the same time in another reserve. Later in the week another house was searched and $15,000 worth of pills were seized. Amazing amounts, but consider that one pill is worth $400 on the streets of Deer Lake.

The weather was scorching here as well. When we arrived it reached 19 degrees. The only snow left was in the woods or in piles on the side of the roads. The winter road is no more as the heat quickly put an end to many peoples' minds. In fact, several vehicles had left before March Break via the Winter Road and had tried to come back over the weekend. Since the heat melted away those ideas, cars were stuck on the road. Now, you might be wondering how a car could be stuck on the ice, but the road is actually mostly over land. From Deer Lake, there are only two lakes you must drive over. Cars were now stuck in mud and at the edge of lakes were ice used to be. These vehicles and people were stuck in the middle of nowhere, far from outside contact. To save them, helicopters were picking people up from their stranded positions. Bad luck for the rescuees as they now leave behind a vehicle for an entire year. One staff member was stuck and had a family member kill a moose with a hatchet for food (I don't know how true that story is).

Tomorrow is career day at the Nursing Station, so another afternoon of chaos and missed lessons. Today's title was inspired by Steve's (the Janitor) t-shirt.

Winter Carnival

Today we had our Winter Carnival for the students. It was about -10 outside all day with heavy snowfall to start the festivities, but the sun made an appearance near the end of the morning. The kids seemed to have fun although there were a number of them that went inside due to the cold. Claire was the timekeeper and I ran a hockey-style game in the snow. Afterwards the school had prepared bannock dogs for lunch.

This year the school hasn't run a breakfast program, even though they order food at the beginning of the year. Since much of it was expiring, we have been giving things out for a couple of weeks. Today was the oats that were being given to the students to take home. After a while, they noticed that inside the bag there were bugs so they had the students return the oats. Some did make it out of the school, so let's hope parents see the message on facebook about the bugs.

Tomorrow we are off to Niagara for March Break. Time seems to fly and we are excited to catch up with family and friends when we are home. It will be nice to see Edgar again as we have both missed him the past two months.