No sooner than I expected to spend another week alone, and Mountain Man had showed up once again. This time with another huge load including groceries, and a few items to create some special meals for his birthday on the first day of Spring. He was coming to spend the weekend at home, as he was having a frustrating time on his plane and needed to step back and give it a breather. It's a pretty hard job to do by yourself, and there's little to no one in BC with experience in covering a fuselage with Orotex. The shop has done wings - just not a fuselage! This information…

A Happy CoupleWhen a man loves a woman, he usually tries to do everything in his power to keep her happy. That way a reciprocal relationship develops. (We've already established by now, I'm a giver). Reciprocity is a mutual exchange of actions, goods, energy, time, emotion, etc; between two people. There’s a rhythm or a flow of a back and forth exchange. When someone reciprocates our efforts, it can leave us feeling validated in our choices and friendship, energized to keep going in a relationship and give more, leaving us with an overall sense that we are valued and appreciated. Meaningful relationships require investment, and reciprocity can be the gauge…

chain-sawing a gridWe had a hunch that the ice wouldn't set up, and we were right! We waited as long as we could monitoring the colder nights, while the warmer days undid all the work of ice setting up at night. We laid our chalk lines down and started cutting the grid lines for the ice harvest. Line after line, water rooster tailed up through the cut - into the air, and coming back down to land on us (we exchanged glances without speaking), knowing full well that the ice wouldn't be harvestable. After a few lines, we stopped, and tried to pop a block out. The first block crumbled…

Stunning SunrisesMarch. Mother nature sheds her Winter coat, as we get some wild winds with shifting weather. This month will see Spring arrive along with the rest of you getting to spring ahead; finally catching up to Eliguk time zone! It's a great month for those of surviving out in the wilderness. Our cabin seedlings are stretching for the longer light in the day, and we are hitting above zero temps. The chickens are happily clucking away, laying more eggs everyday. The snow levels are shrinking and melting with the warmth spreading over the land. On our South slope, the snow is now compacting to about 2.5 feet with a…

It was an intense couple of days after the rice incident. My chest felt heavy, I actually struggled to breathe normally and worried about being so far in the middle of no-where to deal with such a thing. If it was a viral pneumonia, I'd be okay with it, as I've had several of those and know what to expect. At my worst moment one evening, I jumped up from my chair as I patted my chest and my eyes got wide - Mountain Man could see the panic in my face. I was struggling to breathe! We decided that was it...I had to seek medical attention, and get this…

Our expected Arctic flow came and went, it was uneventful and barely lasted a week. Not nearly as long as years passed. It's not likely to reach those temps for the remainder of the Winter. The coldest temperature we reached was -39C (-38.2F), which wasn't bad - so we thought. Better than last years -51C (-59.8F)! I couldn't get Mountain Man outside early enough to do our annual hot water toss (where the boiling water instantly turns into ice crystals), as he just wasn't as enthusiastic as I was - so I opted to go outside and play with my bubble wand; amusing myself as I watched the bubbles freeze…

Blowing snow while packing down a runway.It's been an uneventful few weeks to say the least! Music to my soul, actually. No drama, no death defying incidents, mishaps, emergencies or heart stopping dilemma's! Other than the weather, which dumped another 16 inches or so of more snow, and finally hit some good ol' arctic temps. But that's February! When you're living off the grid in the Winter - if you aren't prepared for an arctic blast, you have no business being there. Every single year that I've been tracking the weather out here at Eliguk, February is the one to watch out for, (if you dread the plunging cold temperatures.)…

Saying bye again...It's been forever, or at least that's how it feels - right? Mountain Man has come and gone once more. Home for a week of wilderness work & recluse, 7 short days of enjoying each others company. Eating every meal together, working together, and playing together. The time went way too fast, as it does when he's only home for a short while. He made sure to fill the deck with 2 rows of wood this time, as an arctic front would come while he was away. Before he left we got a message and an invite to go visit a friend at Laidman Lake Lodge. The couple…

My green eyed man is home!Of course Mountain Man got home just in time. I had him up on the roof within a half hour of being home. I did my usual indoor thing of digging out the creosote with a stick and a headlamp, while he used the chimney sweep to push all the chunks down to me. Well a funny thing happened...thinking his job was done, he came down off the roof. I was still struggling to clear the pipe, as for some reason it still seemed plugged; and all the smoke was still coming out the door into my face! Mountain Man grabbed my stick, and gave…

Walks with Dogs...It’s been over a week, (I’m on day nine to be exact); since Mountain Man left for Vanderhoof. The first 7 days were very much enjoyable. The weather was windy, but sunny…skiffs of snow here and there. I got outside everyday for some fresh air. I’d been compiling all my journals into the format of a book. Until I realized I had a total of 180,448 words! I guess I may have to break it up into the actual 2 years that it is, using the months as chapters. Anyhow, I’ve had Vertigo before…a short period of it last year where it was bad enough I could barely…