The Ugly Truth

Speaking with friends and family about this blog, I've received a few comments about the fact that I make everything seem so nice Up Here. My blogging life looks too good. Well, it is nice in The North and we are quite happy with our lifestyle, but it would be misleading to say that we live in a completely idyllic setting. In fact, it would be an outright lie. A whopper, even. Of course there are many things that are down-right troubling about our Northern Community. I've subtly alluded to a few in previous posts; mainly drunkenness and littering, but I'm going to take this opportunity to elaborate a bit more. 

Warning: don't read this post if you like to picture The North as a Wilderness Wonderland of Love, or if you try to ignore the ugly side of life in general.

There are many reasons why Northern Canada is not well-populated, and the first is the most obvious: it gets really cold Up Here!

We've already had several days at -15 degrees Celcius and below; in fact, I doubt that the temperature will go above zero again until March, maybe even April. If you count them, that's over five months of winter, and there are many more weeks that may not be freezing, but still require a warm jacket and a home-knitted scarf. I've started tying my hair back when I take the puppies for a walk because the condensation from my breath is coating the strands with frost. Bundling up takes ever more time and layers. Even the dogs, although they still get excited over walks, don't spend nearly as much time in the backyard as they did in the summer/fall; they are always more than happy to return to the warmth of the house as soon as their outdoor business is finished with.

On the subject of dogs, this one will probably break your heart. Many people have dogs up here but few keep them inside, fenced or tied up. As a result, the canine population is ever rising and few are looked after properly. Dogs get hit by vehicles, fight over scraps, are mistreated by kids in some pretty brutal ways, can become aggressive, and in the winter some freeze to death. I came across the little guy above shivering on someone's front porch, a common sight right about now. He's a bit bigger than some of the puppies I've seen around lately, and he seems to be mostly Husky (he has the most gorgeous light blue eyes), so he has a good chance of surviving the winter. Others won't be so lucky. The other day I was talking to two little girls and asked if they had a dog. The answer: "We had a puppy, but it froze." They didn't seem fazed by it, and I suppose it's a fact of life Up North. Still, it doesn't stop me from wanting to adopt every little fur-ball I see.

Another reality in our community is the abuse of homes. Boarded windows are a common sight on many homes because of frequent vandalism and carelessness. As there are few jobs in a remote northern town, many of the residents are on social assistance and quite a few live in social housing. Since both family and government budgets are tight, and windows are not cheap, things don't get always get fixed as they should.

Speaking of things not getting done properly, this trailer burned down a few months ago, and I doubt anything will be done about it for quite some time. Arson is suspected as the reason for the blaze, which touches on another issue facing The North: restless youth. Lack of jobs and activities for teenagers means that they have lots of time to get in trouble, and this is perhaps the biggest challenge in our particular community. The results of this dilema are commonly broken windows, slashed tires, graffiti and gang activity. Add drugs and alcohol to the mix, and and we've got some very serious problems.

One of the things that bothers me most about living in The North is the lack of respect for the environment. I've mentioned graffiti on the Canadian Shield and garbage in the woods. Of course these are realities in all areas where humans reside. Up here, though, littering seems to have been elevated to a higher level. The above photo is taken from the beach where we take the dogs most days. The photo below is taken in the same spot, 180 degrees later. Not a pretty sight. I don't feel the need to explain the scene; I think that it speaks for itself.

There you have it. Of course, I don't mean to imply that all of the inhabitants of The North are involved in these things. As in any place, there are people who do not respect their surroundings, and people who do. It would appear, however, that in more isolated areas the issues that I've mentioned today seem more prevalent. We can blame history, the government, First Nations, society or whomever else seems convenient, but the reality remains the same. And it's one that simply cannot be ignored because it is not going to go away on its own.

Snow Angels

Although the season technically won't change for over a month, it is winter here in The North, no doubt about it. My daily walks with the doggies have become more of a challenge, as I now have to dress warmer and trudging through the snow demands a lot more effort. During one walk this week I realized that I haven't posted anything about our darling pups lately, so here's one devoted to the little ones enjoying the season opener snow.

 Reina has gotten so much bigger, weighing in at 48 pounds. 

She's a bit of a scare-dy cat, although if there's a fence between her and a neighbourhood dog she'll put on a brave face and bark incessantly. Can you find Nanuq in this picture too?

 

Face wash! She didn't mind; she generally dives face-first into the snow anyway.

Nanuq is also growing like a weed; he now weighs 24 pounds. He's a little Momma's boy right now, but we think he'll be the fiercer one of the two when they're full grown. 

 Taking a "break" in the snow.

Playing fetch on the beach has a new element in a foot of snow; finding the buried stick. Reina's the fetcher, and Nanuq runs beside and either tries to get the stick, 

or bites her neck. Either way, super annoying for Reina.

 This part of the lake has yet to freeze over. The tiny ice crystals make a bizarre squeaking noise as they rub against the sandy shore. We took a long pause to enjoy the sound.

We had originally thought that Nanuq was a mix of husky and Labrador, however as he grows we see that he's more German shepherd, although he's definitely got that husky tail!

Sister and brother off to explore winter sights, sounds and smells.

 

The best thing to do after a long, cold walk? Snuggle with a friend.

Custom Capelet

I love knitting and the results that it can yield. I love how knitting can make a boring movie or a hockey game that I'm stuck watching fly by. I love how I can sit and socialize and knit at the same time. What I don't love about knitting, however, is spending hours upon hours making something and then realizing that it didn't quite turn out the way it was supposed to. I have the tendency to alter new patterns (and recipes, too) and they don't always work out. If I mess up dinner, oh well, I'll throw a pizza in the oven or we'll struggle through it. Messed up knitting, however, can mean many hours and skeins of beautiful yarn wasted. 

I recently set out to make a beautiful herringbone cowl found on a very lovely knitting website called The Purl Bee. Included with the pattern is a pretty good step-by-step instruction on how to do the herringbone stitch, and I set out to make my own cowl which was supposed to comfortably wrap twice or maybe even thrice around my neck. I used a different type of yarn than the recommended worsted, and fewer stitches since I wanted mine good and snug. I had 3 skeins of beautiful mustard yellow yarn that I'd been dying to use, and estimate putting about 40 hours of knitting time into the scarf. The result: it was so tight to my neck that I felt like I was wearing a wool neck brace. It was not good, but there was no way I was going to admit defeat. It was time to get creative.

I used Bernat's Roving yarn in Amber, which simply did not have the give that the worsted would have, so there's very little stretch to be had. My first thought was to cut through it, sew in the ends, and make a normal scarf including tassels made from the leftover scraps of yarn. This seemed very time consuming, however, and I wasn't sure how good of a job I would do of tying in the loose yarn. Also, the scarf wouldn't be very long. Plan B, the one I ended up administering, was simply folding part of the cowl in on itself and sewing on some buttons to make it into a shrug or semi-cape-type thing.

The buttons I purchased from a cute knitting store in downtown Prince Albert (Saskatchewan). They were handmade by a fellow in Ontario. At the time I bought them without an idea of what I would do with them, and I'm glad that I did.

I'm pretty pleased with the idea, and if I want I can always take off the buttons and try the scarf option, since I didn't cut it in any way. It's not something that I would wear often, but I feel like I'll be able to pull it off once in a while; it seems like the type of thing one would wear in a ski chalet with a mug of hot chocolate. Hmmm...I'll have to start skiing. I could wear it at the office, I suppose, it's always a bit chilly in there. Otherwise...an art gallery opening? An episode of "Little House on the Prairie"? Any ideas?

So I think I've learned my lesson for now: I'm too new to knitting to be changing patterns. I wasn't familiar with the stitch and I'm not sufficiently yarn-savvy to be able to decide what type of yarn to use other than what was recommended in the first place. For my next few projects I'll stick closely to the pattern and hopefully have greater success. 

I'm not too upset, however, about this result. It was fun to try and figure out what might work. And when I do wear my capelet out, it will be virtually guaranteed that no one else in the room (or maybe the world) will be wearing the same thing. And that is what knitting is all about.

Deep Freeze Part II

In continuing with the theme from my previous post, I want to share with you some more frozen delights of this or any season...ice cream! I realize that ice cream is not your typical winter snack, but I'm talking about homemade ice cream, which is always a special treat no matter how frosty it may be outdoors.

I recently decided to bite the bullet and get a kitchen appliance that I've always wanted (no, there's no pun here; I already have a Magic Bullet!). My desire for this particular machine has been developing over years of living in a tiny apartment with very limited kitchen space. I've balked at the cost and been undecided about the model and colour that I would want, but finally, after much consideration, I got one. 

A KitchenAid Stand Mixer (insert angelic music here).

This particular beauty is of the Artisan series and the colour is Bay Leaf. I ordered it from Amazon.ca and it arrived about 4 days later (hooray for free nation-wide shipping!).

I couldn't help but order the ice cream attachment as well, since one of my biggest beefs about living Up North is that it's difficult to get good ice cream up here. The drive from the supermarket is over two hours. We have a little refrigerated cooler for the truck, but I've been afraid to transport ice cream in it because I'd hate for it to melt. Re-frozen ice cream is just never as good as the fresh stuff. I suppose now that winter is setting in we could bring back ice cream more easily now, as we'd only have to keep it in the bed of the truck in the freezing weather and it would stay set. Of course there is ice cream for sale in the tiny and basic grocery store in our town, but it's only your standard and very bland vanilla and chocolate. And it's not cheap. So all of the factors considered, I feel that the attachment was a great investment both for our wallets and our tastebuds!

My other purchase in this order was a cookbook that has been highly recommended by a friend (and I've tested a few of the recipes so I know it's a good one!). The book is called "The Perfect Scoop" by David Lebovitz and it's full of fantastic ice cream recipes, but also has frozen yogurt, sorbets, granitas, sauces, accompaniments, ice cream vessels, and great helpful tips for aspiring ice cream afficionados like myself.

The very first recipe that I tried was the one that I knew would impress my partner the most: Chocolate-Peanut Butter (pictured on the right above). This fantasically easy and simple recipe produced delicious results; we can't get enough! It's rich and creamy with a beautiful blend of cocoa and peanut. This would be the ultimate ice cream for a banana split, or just great with sliced banana pieces. 

The second kind I made was Honey Lavender (the middle one). I'm crazy for lavender, so I used some lovely raw honey given to me by a friend and some dried lavender I had bought at a tea shop. The only thing I added to the recipe was a bit of food colouring to give the ice cream a purplish finish. Unfortunately I halved the recipe but forgot to halve the lavender, so the result was a bit too floral (some might say soapy) but I think it's still palatable; I just wouldn't want to eat a lot at one sitting, which is probably for the best anyway.

By the third run I decided that I was ready to experiment a little and create a flavour not in the book. I used the Peanut Butter ice cream recipe, but added Nutella instead. The result (pictured on the left) was not as great as I was hoping for. The initial flavour is nice; first chocolate, followed by hazelnut, but there is a bit of an oily taste that is not the greatest. Also, the texture of the ice cream was a bit grainy. Looking at the Nutella ingredients list, the modified palm oil listed second is probably the reason for both the taste and texture malfunctions. There appears to be a reason why Nutella ice cream is not in the book. Next time I'll try a chocolate-hazelnut recipe and save the pre-made spread for my toast.

Of the three flavours, chocolate peanut butter was hands-down the best so far. In fact, I had to resort to threats to keep it around long enough to take a photo with the other two flavours. The thing about the KitchenAid ice cream attachment is that the bowl needs to be frozen overnight in between each batch, so I needed so keep at least a scoop for the photos for three days. Not easy to do when it tastes so good! I plan on making lots of ice cream in the future, and would love any ideas for interesting flavours.

As a side note, the bowls featured in this post are Homer Laughlin "Virginia Rose" china. They were my great-grandmother's, and they're perfect for keeping dessert portions under control. I feel that taste is the most important part of eating, not huge portions. Small bowls are a great way to savour each bite slowly.

Of course, there is more to the KitchenAid mixer than ice cream. Bread, cake, cookies and sauces are only the beginning; the possibilities are endless! My lovely appliance is currently resting in its new home on the counter...but I'm sure it won't be there for long, especially with Christmas around the corner!

Deep Freeze

Winter is slowly creeping its way into every nook and cranny of our lives Up North. The sun seems to sleep in more every day and is off to bed again ever earlier. The temperature is more often below zero degrees than above. Each time I take a walk with the puppies, I look forward to seeing what new signs of winter can be found. 

The lake is just starting to freeze in its more quiet edges, 

however the open waters are still have a long way to go.

Last week I noticed some mysterious eggs lapping up on the beach; 

as the chilly water has receded over time it has coated the eggs so that they 

seem like crystal marbles in the washed up debris.

A sheet of ice makes makes a lovely frame for multi-coloured stones. 

Autumn is preserved in an icy puddle, one of the many on the uneven surface of the Canadian Shield.

 A corner of field is transformed into a rustic ice rink where my puppies love to slip and slide!

 Bubbles caught red-handed in a frenzied escape from the ground; 

I can't really blame them for wanting to flee the freezing earth.

 A wiry shrub is definitely feeling the deep freeze of the season...right down to its roots.

I`m happy to have shared some treats of the changing seasons. It`s always amazing to me what can be seen as beautiful when you appreciate the smaller, more subtle parts of nature as much as the obvious ones. I dare you to take a walk and do the same!