Winter is Coming

First off, I'd like to thank all you readers for reading!  This is mind-boggling, but blogger tells me there are people from Canada, the US, Mexico, Germany and the Philippines checking out the blog.  (Unless some of my fellow Canadians checked the blog while on vacation in the Philippines?) Wherever you are following from, thanks!

It has felt like "fall" here in the the north for a few weeks now. This morning (again) it was below 0 degrees. I love fall colors.  Thunder Bay, Ontario (where our "forever home" is) doesn't really have fantastic fall colors, because most of the trees are evergreen.  Around our house there I've planted burning bushes, a maple shrub, black eyed susans, tall grasses, and every shrub I can find that displays fall colors (including a wall of virginia creeper against our fence). 

Believe it or not, there are fall colors here in Nunavut.  Yes, even without trees. You just have to look a little harder to find them. The tundra is dotted with tiny plants growing in amongst the rocks.  These turn glorious shades of crimson and yellow.  Two weeks ago I even captured some "tall" grasses.

Not quite "amber waves of grain", but still!

This is the also time of year that you can find blueberries, bearberries, crowberries and arctic cranberries.  They grow very close to the ground, against the rock, and take great patience to pick. After word got out on Facebook that the berries were ready for picking, I had to check it out. It actually took my mother and me three separate trips onto the tundra before we finally spotted them. We kept looking around and were starting to think people were either crazy, or just putting us on.

Every summer when I was young our family would go to visit my grandparents in Nova Scotia. I loved going out into the field to pick blueberries. There were blueberry bushes everywhere, and I could happily pick berries all afternoon.  Picking arctic blueberries is not the same!  After an hour your back is stiff from bending over and crawling around on the rocks.  The berries are tricky to spot unless you are literally standing on top of them. They don't grow in the swampy or low-lying areas, but actually on the slopes of the rocky hills.

These berries are growing only millimetres
above the ground.

A lot of people here LOVE berries, as they are part of a traditional Inuit diet. They are commonly used in baking, making jam, and the leaves used to make tea. Akutaq is a northern delicacy: berries mixed with fat. (Rumour has it the berries from Kimmirut are "better" than our berries here in Iqaluit. Apparently elders can tell the difference by taste alone. They also sell for more money.)  Since it is berry-season, the tundra is full of people picking.  Everywhere you go outside town people are bent over or crawling, carrying their bags or plastic containers.  It is backbreaking work, so they sell for quite a bit of money.  Facebook is commonly used to get the word out if people have extra for sale.

These berries are from Apex,  the only "suburb" of Iqaluit.

We picked our own.  I tried to talk my darling children into picking some extra berries to make themselves some cash, but they were not enthusiastic.  "Well, you know Mommy", said Captain JS wearily at the end of the day.  "Picking berries takes a long time.  Its a lot of work."

Some of Gramma's yummy blueberry muffins.

My mother made two batches of these blueberry muffins with our freshly picked berries. Totally worth the work!

It has been almost 3 weeks since I took my fall photos.  A few days ago we woke up to this:

The lake in our backyard.

There has been snow on the ground ever since. We are not quite "north of the wall" yet, but we are well on the way.  Today I've decided I may need to pick myself up a sealskin headband to keep my ears warm. :)  (More on sealskin later.)  

Up next: Fire!

The Fall Fair

I said my next post would be on "Fall Colours", unless something more interesting came up over the next couple of days.  Guess what?

Its beginning to get colder every day.  The kids are still playing outside, but now they are bundling up in warm hats and mittens every time.  Today they were down by the lake wearing splash pants (windbreaker fabric with a lining for warmth) to help protect them from the blustery winds.  Hot chocolate has been pulled to the front of the pantry shelf.

In many small towns across North America, its time for the annual "Fall Harvest Festival".  You know, the kind where you see people compete for "biggest pumpkin of the year".  They proudly enter freshly picked vegetables or baked goods, vying to win "best zucchini" or ""tastiest apple pie".

There is no harvest here on the tundra, so my interest was piqued when I came across a sign advertising the Rotary Club's Annual Fall Fair.  A Fall Fair?  In the Arctic? The more I looked into it, the more interested I became.  One advertisement proclaimed "World's Best French Fries!"  Another "Fresh New Games!"

I frequently visit the local library here in town. On my last trip to the circulation desk the librarian said "Don't forget to visit our booth at the Fall Fair! First 500 kids get a free book!"  "Um, yeah, about that.....What exactly is the Fall Fair?"  She stammered a bit and said "Look, there's a sign over there."  I dutifully checked out the sign. World's Best French Fries!, it read.  Fresh New Games!

So, of COURSE, we had to check it out.

It was a CARNIVAL!

(Well, it was carnival games.  Close enough!)

This was our view from the line-up for tickets.

These people were waiting outside.
We're seeing more and more amautiit:
traditional parkas worn by Inuit mothers.
(I'm doing a post about these!)

Once we got inside we bought our tickets (50 cents each).  A hot dog cost 4 tickets, can of pop (soda) also 4 tickets.  The price of the various carnival games varied (2-3 tickets per go).

Hot dogs!  

The kids learned a few valuable lessons at the Fall Fair.  First lesson: Tickets don't go far and run out quickly.  They decided after seeing all the games (and cotton candy) that to conserve tickets they would split a drink together.  Teamwork!

A bucket of water just landed on this poor man's head.

Cotton candy! 8 tickets!!

Coraline giving ring toss a try.

8 tickets well spent.

Felt like the whole town was here.

Doesn't matter where you go.  The "poop emoji" is a favourite.

Captain Jack won a stuffy!

Coraline came so close...........

Daddy saved the day! Two happy kids
with two carnival prizes.

It was a great day.  And the kids got their free books from the library's booth as promised!  Captain Jack Sparrow went with Captain Underpants, Coraline with an old favourite: Bridge to Terabithia.

Up next: Fall colours.  For sure next time, promise!

Shopping Part One: Groceries

What? How much?

Awhile ago I published a post about the sealift arriving in the city. I'm sure some people looked at the crates and shipping containers and thought, "Why? Surely there must be shopping up there....Why are people getting things like groceries shipped on a boat?"

Yes, you can shop here.  And yes, it is THAT expensive.  It is cheaper to hire someone in Montreal to buy a bunch of goods such as toilet paper, rice, pasta, and cereal, a couch, a car, bicycles, etc., package it in a wooden crate, put it on a boat, and have it sail across the ocean to be delivered to your driveway.


You can't farm on tundra, so there is no such thing as "locally grown" produce.  There are two department stores that stock food: Northmart and Arctic Ventures. You can find bread, milk, cereal, cheese, meat, jam, pasta, etc....... Many of the same foods you would find in any grocery store. You can even get Old El' Paso taco kits. The difference is that you will have very little selection (and wacky brands. Ever hear of the brand "Gold D'Or"? I hadn't until I got up here. You can get Gold D'Or garbage bags, soups, hot chocolate, etc.). Plus, again, the prices are extremely high as all food has to be brought in by boat or plane.

Because the prices are so high, and so much of the population is struggling financially, Northmart even has an entire "discount" section in the middle of the store that is stocked with expired food.  Most of the food is dry goods (because, really, can Kraft Macaroni and Cheese go bad?), but also includes canned food, drinks, sauces, soups, etc.

Another option for food is the "Country Food Store".  I wasn't quite sure what "country food" is. (Having spent my teen years in Virginia my immediate thought was that "country food" sounded a lot like "southern food", so fried chicken and biscuits came to mind.) Turns out it is food that has been hunted on the tundra locally. The sign out-front the day I was there  says "maktaaq" which is frozen whale skin and blubber.  They also had "tuktu" which is caribou. Basically, the store sells meat that has been provided by Inuit hunters. The meat is vacuum packed and stored in freezers. You go in, open a chest freezer like you would at your house, dig around for awhile and voila! Iqaluit frozen dinner. 

One of those pictures that says 1000 words.

Whale skin anyone?

source
Maktaaq

The local stores are great (if pricey) if you want the basics. But want a particular brand of goods, such as (in JJ's case) Billy Bee honey? I personally like sugar-free apricot preserves (Smuckers brand). Even things like sesame seeds or plain bread crumbs can be hard to find. My options include 1) go without. 2) Have the non-perishable items shipped annually on the sealift. 3) Use a service such as The Northern Shopper. The Northern Shopper is a great little business deserving of its own post. People in Ottawa go to stores for you (Costco, M&M meat shops) and buy groceries that you have selected from an excel spreadsheet.  They package it up for you, and ship it via cargo plane. I haven't tried this service yet, but I'm eager to. I'll let you all know how it goes!

There IS another way to obtain fresh produce.  A local community group (called IqaluEAT--get it?) is striving to create a food co-op here in Iqaluit.  They plan semi-regular (about every 2 months) "markets",  for which they arrange a whole bunch of in-season produce from elsewhere in the country to be flown-in at a discount. They take advance orders for "food baskets" at a cost of $50.  The contents of these basket is a bit of a mystery until they arrive, but they are guaranteed to contain fresh fruits and vegetables.

Today's line-up in the rain--very popular spot!
We waited 45 minutes to get in.

My box of mystery food.........

Super fresh!  Captain JS and friends are shocked this all
came out of that box.

The freshest produce on Baffin Island! (Before the crowd.)

Line up for the market inside the building. Photo (and the previous photo above)
taken from the IqaluEAT Facebook site.

The IqaluEAT event was well worth attending, and I absolutely plan to go again next time.  Everything was fresh, and there was nothing crazy in there like fennel (cause, who eats fennel?).

Up next: Fall colors on the tundra--or does something more interesting happen over the next couple of days?  Check back to find out!

We can buy beer!

We can buy beer!  And wine!!  Wahoo!!

Like many economically depressed areas, a portion of the population of Iqaluit struggles with addiction and mental health issues.  In an attempt to curb alcoholism, the government made Iqaluit a partly-regulated city 40 years ago.  Its not "dry" like some other northern communities, instead it is more like "damp".  You can buy wine and beer to drink at restaurants, even hard liquor like vodka and rum (must be consumed on-site, not taken home with you).  You are even allowed to bring it up with you on a plane, so long as its no more than 12 bottles (and if it is you just need to obtain an import permit).  You can purchase alcohol to be delivered to you via Air Cargo, again with an import permit.

What you could NOT do, until last week, was walk down to the local store and purchase alcohol to just take home and drink. Its a bummer if you are having friends in for an evening and would just like to have a drink, or if you want to cook with wine or sherry.

Authors note:  I am using the photos from the CBC article linked to below.  Their pictures are better than anything I could take, and I don't think I'd be allowed to take photos from inside the store anyway.

Yes, the store is open.  The siding is on the next sealift.  

Read all about the opening of the new beer and wine store here.

The opening of this "liquor store" has caused a mixed reaction here in the city.  Some people feel the government is being irresponsible to allow such easy access to alcohol again without proper supports in place, like mental health and addictions counselling. Others feel its about time, since people were bootlegging and using import permits to sell booze to others.

The people who feel its irresponsible have a point.  This city has had such a huge problem in the past that it is difficult to purchase hairspray and yeast (hairspray because the desperate drink it, yeast because it can be used to make "beer"). At local stores mouthwash and hand sanitizer are kept locked up and require an employee with a key.

Proponents of the store claim it may actually help to reduce the amount of bootlegging happening, by providing  lower-alcohol content drinks.  The CBC article above quotes Dan Carlson, the assistant deputy minister of finance: "If someone's choosing to bootleg in a serious way, we don't think its going to be....a merlot or a pino grigio."

In an attempt to minimize problems, the government has decided that the local store will only sell beer and wine.  To purchase, you first need to register.  The store maintains a database, and you MUST have your ID with you to purchase alcohol (in fact, it must be the exact ID they have on file for you).  Even then, you are limited to 2 bottles of wine and 12 cans of beer every day (bottles are harder to come by, glass is much heavier so more expensive to ship via freight). So, you could technically buy 2 bottles of wine and a dozen beer every day if you wanted to.  Today I purchased 2 bottles of wine and 6 cans of beer.  The employee made it a point of telling me that if I wanted, I could go back to the store later that same day to purchase 6 additional beer.

Check out the booze lists while you are waiting in line.

It has to be the oddest liquor store I ever been in.  This isn't like adding a few bottles of beer to a local supermarket aisle or convenience store.  This store feels more like you are going to the bank.  You line up in a twisty line, while staff circulate and take your ID from you.  They enter your info. into a hand-held device confirming that you are indeed registered to purchase alcohol.  While they do this, you get to peruse the TV screen menu of what beer and wine is available for purchase. You finally approach one of 3 "tellers" who take your ID again and immediately enter your information into the system.  You pay for your drinks, then your order is sent to a screen in the warehouse.  Warehouse employees put your drinks into a bin that then rolls behind the teller, who gives it to you over the counter.  You then exit through the special "exit" door.  Security seems impressive, unless you consider the huge black dog who was wandering into and out of the store all afternoon, looking for attention from customers (this is, after all, Iqaluit).

My new cute little wine bag. Designed to hold exactly
 2 wine bottles, with a little divider between the bottles
to keep them from clanging together. Sweet!

Party time tonight!

I went to the new beer/wine store the first day it opened.  I only knew about it because I had gone to apply for an import permit (planning to have some wine sent up via air cargo) and the person working there told me about the opening date.  A few days later I thought I would stop by and pick up another bottle of white wine (I only had red).  The lineup looked like this:

This photo is from CBC--the line outside the store made the news!

Needless to say I turned the car around and drove away. Since then some local "entrepreneurs" have decided to capitalize on the long lines for beer and wine.  They have brought out a table with snacks and drinks to sell to people while they wait.  Others offer their services to hold your place in line for $10. This pilot project is expected to last 3 years, and the local paper has announced that there has been no increase in "alcohol-related crime" since the store opened a week ago.  So, I suppose that's good news........

For those of you wondering what was in the box that was ravaged by ravens (see previous post), it contained toys.  One toy was a remote-control car.  Meant to be a Christmas gift, the packaging had been destroyed in several places.  Not a big deal.  If the box had contained clothing or something fragile it could have been much worse.

Desert racer. Bitten.

 Up next: Did I survive mass registration? What the heck IS mass registration, and is it worth posting about?  Check back to find out!

Our stuff!

So, our things have finally arrived.  Mostly.  The house that we are renting is furnished, so it already had the basics: 2 couches, table, chairs, full kitchen, beds, etc.  It was just missing the warmth that I really wanted.  On our trip here last fall we heard one thing time and time again from locals: "You need to be comfortable." Its so cold for so long, most of our time will spent inside our home.

We had the choice of moving into Government of Nunavut housing, which would have been much cheaper, or finding a rental home.  Government of Nunavut housing (or GN housing) would have meant an apartment complex. We were fairly certain (but not guaranteed) we'd be able to get a 3 bedroom apartment.  Some GN apartments are quite comfortable with hardwood floors and stainless steel new appliances, but some are small and decrepit. (The one we stayed in previously smelled strongly of cigarette smoke at times.) Some are in nice areas of town, others not so much. There is an area of town called "Slaughter Hill", so in my mind the neighbourhood we are in is kind of important. With GN housing you can't pick and choose, you have to go wherever there is a unit available. Also, we've been told the furniture in a furnished GN apartment isn't very nice or comfortable.

After a real-estate tour and some research, we decided we'd rather have a stand-alone home for our time up here. We wanted the kids to have more space to play in, as most of our time this winter will be spent indoors.  Local friends started "asking around" for us, and after a few deals that fell through, we found the home we are in now.

Um...since when?

So, I was super excited to finally be able to unpack area rugs, blankets, lamps, etc. and start turning our rental house into our "home away from home".  When the moving company showed up (early, no less!) they were friendly and professional.  Then the lead mover casually announced that three of our boxes just "didn't show up".  Normally its fairly easy to tell which boxes get lost during a move as every box is numbered. Apparently, this matters less on an air cargo move, where boxes are just re-packaged with other boxes to fit whatever space is available on the plane. So.....11 of our boxes now had no tracking numbers at all, and 3 were missing.  Also, our bookcase had been repackaged and labeled "broken bookcase".  Hmmmm.

Bam!

Ooooof...

Pow!

THAT wasn't the interesting bit though.  Many boxes were crushed or damaged during transit. I'd been warned that Air Cargo was notoriously hard on belongings, so I was disappointed but not shocked by this. One box though, looked unusual.  The side of the box looked torn, but not like anything I'd ever seen before.  "Um," I wondered aloud to the moving guy. "What happened here?"  He gave the box a cursory glance and said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice "Yah, the ravens got into that one."  Sorry, what? RAVENS?!  I had to register that for a few seconds before thinking "Where the heck were these boxes being stored that they were open to attack from ravens?"

Ravens.

Despite the crushed boxes all our belongings were OK (except of course the bookcase).  The kids were thrilled to see some toys show up, and JJ and I were thrilled to finally stop living out of suitcases.

Damn packing tape.

Living room before (with boxes)

It took a couple of days, but the living room is finally complete.  I added soft throws, an area rug, artwork, and a trunk to help with storage. The homeowner already had dimmer-switch lighting in the room, which helps with a feeling of warmth in the evening. For decor I decided to go with faux-fur (this is the north, after all), lots of texture, and of course, bright Iqaluit colors.

Living room after. 

 The dining room already had turquoise walls. Turquoise and purple seem to be common colors up here. They feature heavily in Inuit artwork, clothing, and home decor. I guess when there is nothing but snow and darkness for months, people enjoy a pop of "bold" here and there. I threw a nice crazy area rug on the floor, and done!

Dining room with new area rug.

Happy cat.

Happy dog.

Cap'n Jack chillin' on the couch.

Next: We can buy beer!

PS: It is September 10th and today was our first touch of snow.  It was just blowing in the air, but its definitely coming.  The kids were wearing mittens and touques outside. ("Touque" is Canadian for "winter hat" for you Americans.  Its pronounced "tooook".)