A Glorious Winter
I have hesitated to write this entry, because part of me believes that an internet acknowledgement of good fortune will inevitably ruin everything. However, after a fabulous after-work ski yesterday, I can not help but blog about our wonderful winter.
As Yukoners, we can often be heard complaining about the winter, or more accurately sucking up sympathy from Southerners who, upon hearing where we live, say things like: "You poor soul, I would never make it through the winter". We, of course, blush then nod, as if to say - yeah, well some of us are just made tougher then the rest. The truth is, when the weather gets ridiculous, most of us curl in front of a fireplace or oil monitor and patiently wait for better times. If we figured out a way to keep the sun turned on, we might even transform into a happy (and more often sober) bunch!
I have to admit, I have bad mouthed winter on more than one occasion. But, this year, winter has treated me like a princess. Since returning from Belize it's only gotten below -30 twice and most days have been sunny, and relatively warm (from you Southerners that's around -10). It has been the perfect winter to try to train for the marathon, because a week hasn't gone by where I wasn't able to do at least one lunchtime run. Tony has been on his bike everyday since I returned from Belize and Starbuck doesn't have a full winter's coat.
Skiing has been a particular luxury this year. I have not even pulled out the Stick Green Rode yet, managing fine with my Swix Blue and Purple. Last night, I went out with Starbuck after work. I managed to enjoy a full hour of skiing before wathcing the sun slowly set. It was fabulous; I am officially converted - winter is wonderful!
Please note I stole the photo from my friend Andrew Stark's site. He captures the spirit of winter MUCH better than I ever could
Sierra posted this on Jan 31, 2007 from the outside | | permanent link
A Family Run
This year's big New Year's resolution was to run a marathon. I figure this will be the toughest physical challenge I will ever face, and have tried to prepare myself by buying some training books. Unfortunately, all the books seem to agree that running is the key to preparation. I had hoped that the books would come up with some better way of getting ready....one that involved chocolate and cheese. My Dad sent me an awesome gift to help me with the training process, a new heart rate monitor/exercise watch. I like to think that this watch will miraculously increase my ability to run, but at the very least it lets me track what I'm doing. Today I took it out on its inaugural run. Tony joined me on his mountain bike, so it turned out to be a family affair. It would have been the perfect family outing if Starbuck hadn't gotten into it with another dog 25 meters from the house.
On a brighter note (literally), it was still light out when I finished at 5:30 pm...Spring is on its way!
Sierra posted this on Jan 28, 2007 from the outside | | permanent link
And the Oscar Goes To...
This morning they announced the Oscar nominees for the year. As I was perusing the list of potential winners I realized I've seen almost no movies this year. When I lived in Vancouver I saw a new film every week and by the time the Oscan nominations rolled around, I had not only seen all the movies up for Best Picture, but I'd usually covered the Best Foreign Film nominations as well. I guess it doesn't help that we only have 2 movie theatres or that my last few trips to the theatre have been beyond dissapointing, some might even say traumatizing. I guess that's what happens when you let your husband convince you to see Dawn of the Dead and Crank. In the end, I know my pick for movie of the year... If you haven't seen "Little Miss Sunshine", rent it. If you have seen it, enjoy this little clip:
Sierra posted this on Jan 23, 2007 from the livingroom | | permanent link
The Seeds Are Here....
It may be mid January, but it's never too cold or dark to think about the garden. Today the first three parts of my seed order arrived. Tomatos are the fruit of the hour, and the season, and all future seasons. In fact, tomatos are practically I'll I care about this summer (in addition to daylilies, lilies, peonies, etc...). Fine- I'm basically lieing, the tomato seeds were the first to arrive and thus the first to be obsessed over. This year I am interested in growing more tomatoes then I have room for. This is sure to be a problem, but until the law of physics ruin my greenhouse, I'm excited about the many heirloom tomatos that I could enjoy this season. So far, the tomatos that I have ordered are:
- Purple Prince (the best tasting tomato...EVER)
- Stupice (fabulously early and productive)
- Tumblers (great for hanging)
- Gardener's Delight
- Yellow Perfection
- Bloody Butcher (only for the name)
- Golden Girl
- Golden Cherry
- Harbinger
- Early Cascade
I won't plant the tomatoes until the 3rd week of February, but until then I will fantasize about the delicious possibilities.
Sierra posted this on Jan 23, 2007 from the garden | | permanent link
Sea-misting it up...
While I would love to spend my week-end lying on the couch and watching bad tv movies, I have started a new project that is slowly eating away at my time. While Tony's mother was in town, we picked out new paint, sink, mirror and more for our guest bathroom. So far, I'll have had time to do is strip off the old hardware and start patching up holes. There are a lot more holes and imperfections than I had thought, and there may need to be some strategically placed pictures hung on the walls. I'm trying to suppress the urge to rush everything and concentrating on doing a good job. We shall see if this works. Here is the before picture of the bathroom, the after picture will have to wait....until after.
Ugly n'est ce pas?
Sierra posted this on Jan 21, 2007 from the livingroom | | permanent link
La Cuisine (or is it le)?
This Christmas, Tony and I treated ourselves to a beautiful new buffet for the kitchen. I've been anxiously awaiting an opportunity to show off the new kitchen piece, but didn't want to show of my impeccable cleanliness. Okay, the truth is the kitchen is never clean enough for me to take a picture without alerting biohazard specialists around the world. This week, however, Tony and I were lucky enough to have his Mother for a visit, so I felt the need to pretend (if only for a split second) that I was a good house cleaner. While my shiny, disinfected veneer didn't last long, I did have enough time to grab some pictures of the re-done kitchen. In addition to the awesome new buffet, we took out some of the cupboards to better display the dish obsession.
Our visit with Tony's Mom has been great and we've done a wonderful job in insuring the trip is efficient by putting her to work staining, painting, and drilling in various base boards around the house. Hopefully tomorrow we can go for a ski break and show off some of the gorgeous Whitehorse scenery...of course that will only be possible if all the renovations get done. In all seriousness, having Norma around has done wonders for my decorating skills, it's like having my own personal Debbie Travis.
Sierra posted this on Jan 15, 2007 from the kitchen | | permanent link
Top 10 Thing About Belize: #1
It's cold...dark and I'm grumpy. Time to revisit the good times...
#1: Tanning With A Book
There is nothing as fabulous as sunning yourself while enjoying a good novel. I read some amazing books while I was in Belize: The Kite Runner, Inheritance of Loss, Bridget Jones Diary: The Edge of Reason (ridiculously funny), and Penelopiad, to name a few. Vacations are the perfect time to catch up on months of non-reading.
I ordered my garden seeds today, soon the obsession will be back in full swing.
Sierra posted this on Jan 10, 2007 from the outside | | permanent link
Top Ten Things About Belize: #4, #3, #2
The holidays were great, but now we are back to the grind and it is once again time to remind myself that I was recently basking in the sun in Belize. We're moving quickly through the list and it shouldn't be long until you learn about the best thing about Belize.
#4 Animals in General...Leaf Cutter Ants in Particular
Two of my Belize highlights were courtesy of the local creatures. Tony and I took a fantastic trip to the Belize Zoo. I was so impressed, that I became a member, despite the fact that I will probably never get to go again. At the zoo, we had a howling competition with the monkeys before visiting the odd looking Tapir. Tapirs are endagered in Belize, which isn't particularly surprising given there size, shape and speed (or lack there of). As Tony said when he saw them: "Man, if I was hungry, that thing would look just right for roasting". Thankfully Tony was kept well-fed during his travels, and the Tapirs were never forced onto our dinner plate. 
Even more exciting then the Tapirs OR even the zoo, were the leafcutter ants. Now, some of you may remember my slight obsession with ants from my days in Fiji . In fact, at the time I was definitely an antist and may even be rightfully accused of mercilessly murdering thousands of little antlets. However, my trip to Belize enlightened me to the wonder of formicidae. It probably helped that they were outside and NOT in my bedroom. These leafcutters, not only created an amazing mini-highway across the road, there route extended hundreds of meters into the forest. In fact, despite my best efforts, I was never able to locate their nest. 
#3 Bikes
Bicycle...Bicycle...I want to ride my bicycle...I want to ride my bike!
One of the greatest things about the Belizean atolls, and Caye Caulker in particular, is the lack of motorized vehicles and the excess of bicycles. Most of the bicycles are fabulous beach-style cruisers with big baskets perfect for towels and swimsuits. Tony and I cruised on beaches, airport runways, mangrove paths and clay roads. While I can't imagine trying to bicycle down the busy (and far too hot!) highways of Belize, the islands are beautiful and breezy; and a cool dip in the ocean is never too far away! 
#2 Scuba Diving
One of the big reasons I went to Belize was for the scuba diving. I have had the extreme pleasure of diving in some amazing locations - specifically the Similian Islands in Thailand and Gili Trawangan in Indonesia. For that reason, I am a bit spoiled when it comes to diving. When I first started diving in Belize, it was dissapointing at best. Unfortunately, it appears as though a significant amount of the coral reef surrounding Belize is dead. This reef, which I imagine was once magnificent and colorful, is now bleached out and covered with algae. The fish life was also a little dissapointing. There was neither the diversity nor the quanitiy of fish I had seen on other scuba and snorkel trips. That being said, I saw a lot of sharks, eagle rays and sea turtles. I was also treated to two fabulous dives at Glover's Reef and Turneffe's Atoll. In the end, my suggestion to scuba divers in Belize is...skip the local reef dives at Caye Caulker and Ambergris and spend the money to go to Lighthouse, Glover's or Turneffe. It's definitely worth the money. 
Sierra posted this on Jan 05, 2007 from the outside | | permanent link
Holiday Un-wrap
It's been just over a week since Christmas Eve, and I've spent the last 9 days in a food induced coma. I spent the holidays with my darling sister Kirsten and the usual crew from Whitehorse. It was a great Christmas filled with wine and lessons learned:
1. People may argue about the meaning of Christmas, but I, like every good Norwegian know that Christmas is not about shopping, gifts or even eggnog - it's about baking....a lot. I think the oven was on for 4 days straight getting all the cookies and breads ready for the big day.
2. There's no Christmas like a Guitar Hero Christmas. Starbuck was an extremely generous puppy this year and there was a cherry red wireless guitar under the tree for Mommy. This quickly helped Christmas Eve transform into an all-out strum-off. 
3. It's true, everyone should try dogsledding at least once...just make sure you wear LOTS of clothes. When you think you have enough clothes, add a few more layers and light a small fire in your boots.
Hopefully 2007 brings lots of blogging and maybe mononucleosis to help me get rid of the 10 lbs. Christmas present currently residing in my arse.
Sierra posted this on Jan 02, 2007 from the livingroom | | permanent link
