Fall Updates

Then

Just weeks ago things were still relatively green here. But over the last few days the temperature has been holding below zero and it's been snowing constantly. Once the ground freezes it won't be long before we are able to walk to the Northern. 

Now

Last week while it was still warm I went for a hike and made it all the way out to the quarry. I really wanted to find another one of the trails that Felix showed me last year so I detoured into the woods. The peat moss is so thick here that it came up to my knees in places. I got a bit turned around in the woods close to one of the interior lakes... and then it started to rain. 

The Quarry

Ender and I had some pretty great classes this week. For science the kids are working with microscopes and looked at plant cells, animal cells and protists. 

In my class we are making monsters masks for our haunted house fundraiser. The kids drew designs of their masks and now almost all of them are finished the papier-mache stage and will begin painting next week. I'm really impressed with their designs can't wait to see what he final products look like.  

And finally this is probably one of the most adorable dogs/ luck dragons I have ever seen. He's a favourite among many of the teachers here and I think he 'belongs' to the high school Home Economics teacher and her family. 

Camping

Last week Ender and I went camping on one of the many islands in Island Lake. We couldn't have asked for better weather then we set out; the sky was clear, the air was warm and we had perfectly calm water. While most of the larger islands in the area have names (some are Cree names but most are English), the one we camped on was little more than a rock with some moss and trees so I doubt it has an official name. 

When we left the next morning the wind had picked up and the water was much more rough. The largest stretch we had to cross took between 20-30 minutes of hard paddling against the waves and wind. We likely won't camp again this fall (it snowed today!) but we might take the canoe out again to get to the store on Stevenson Island.