The days are getting shorter!

I have been so behind lately on my blog posts, just trying to catch up really, that I thought I would update everyone on how it really looks in Nome right now!  Or at least around our apartment.  I guess it is time to take snowy pictures of the town!

This is Lila waiting for the bus to come at 7:30 in the morning.  This morning there were big flakes falling, I would say this was one of the first big snows.  It was early October.

This is how our truck looked...covered in snow!

Will dressed to go out to play!

The sun doesn't get too high in the sky anymore!  This was around three o'clock in the afternoon!

Last Saturday we did some sledding.

Going up.

Going down!

This is a picture of our apartments.  Sun rising at about 11 o'clock in the morning!

The snow is deep!  I think we are in for a long winter!

Sea Glass and a Gold Dredge

There are gold dredges all over Nome.  In 1989 "Three Lucky Swedes" arrived in Nome and found gold on Anvil creek and the gold boom began.  I think that Nome was the most populated city in Alaska for a while.  Crazy right?  People lived here in TENTS.  They must have froze.

People still come up from all over to work on more modern dredges.  They go in boats and divers go down to the sea floor and vaccum it up.  Aparently there are huge chunks of gold down there.  If you are interested in coming up to be a prospector, here is some information: http://www.visitnomealaska.com/nome-gold-dredging.html .

There are huge gold dredges all over Nome.  Some are more easy to get to than others.  About a month ago I decided to take the kids to see one of the more accessable ones.

Isn't it beautiful?  This is the ...  Okay, I have no idea the name of this dredge.  I was too worried my kids were going to fall off the boardwalk or get eaten by bears.  I do know that this dredge was only used for one season because the people who brought it up lost money, then the bank took it over and now it is here for people to come and see.  If you look in the upper left hand corner you can see the new hospital being built!

So off we went.  Walking down the boardwalk to the dredge.  Will was not too interested in walking.  He decided to crawl.  That made me feel better.  I could just see him toddling off the boardwalk into the tundra!

This the back of the dredge.  There are hundreds of these large iron things on the back that are used to scoop up the dirt.  Now you can find hundreds of them all over Nome.  They are mostly used as planters or road blocks. 

There is lots of information on the dredge that I didn't get a chance to read because I was chasing after Will and Lila!

After looking at the dredge we went across the street to the beach.  We decided to look for our own "gold", sea glass!

Sea glass are little bits of broken glass that after being in the sand eventually turn in to really pretty different coloured glass rocks.  We found, brown, white, green, and light blue..

Lila threw rocks into the ocean.

Will tried to eat some.

Both had a good day!



Winter is already here, but this is the picture I took of Fall on the Tundra the day we went to see the gold dredge.  The colours here in Fall (the few short weeks we got!) were beautiful!







Moose

We were graciously given two Moose roasts from some friends of ours from work.  I have been wanting to cook them/scared of cooking them for a while.  But I had to try.  So I cooked it like a pot roast.  The flavor was good, but I good it a little too long so it was tough.  Although Moose is typically a very lean and tough meet.  Next time I will try it a different way.  Here are the pictures:

In the package

Out of the package.  I prepared it by taking off the silver skin and the white stuff so it wouldn't taste too gamey.

Seared it.

I cut holes in the meat and put garlic in side, rubbed it with lots of different herbs, then placed it on top of onions and beef stock.  I also put bacon on top of the roast.

The leftovers. 

And I roasted some veggies to go along with it!  We also had salad and mashed potatoes.

First Day of Kindergarten

Well the day finally came.  My little Lila's first day of Kindergarten!!

Lila has been ready to go to school for at least a year now.  She has been asking, and asking, and asking when she would start school. 

The week before school, Lila had her Kindergarten screening with her new teacher Mr. Collins.

Lila with Mr. Collins

They do a screening before Kindergarten, then they repeat it after Kindergarten to see their progress.  Lila did pretty well, until she got bored.  Then she answered every question with, "I don't know".  It was hard to keep from laughing!

After her screening, we took a picture in front of the Elementary School building.

Lila in front of her school

Because of the permifrost, most of the buildings here are built on metal poles that are drilled deep into the earth.  This is how they make the foundation. 

On the first day of school, we work up early.  I got ready, then I got Lila up.  I made her blueberry pancakes (from the blueberries we picked earlier) and got her ready. 

Lila wearing the outfit I got her from Gymboree a year ago!

She was so excited that morning!  After we got dressed I took her downstairs to her "bus stop".  Lucky for us, the bus picks Lila up right outside our building.  That will be very nice when winter comes!

Winter coat and boots on a rainy August morning in Nome

Finally the bus came and the two other kids at our stop went running on to the bus.  Lila turned to me and said, "is that my bus Mommy?".  I said yes and she ran on too.  I had to stop her to take her picture!  Luckily the bus driver didn't mind.  I think he's done the first day of school a time or two before!

Lila and her bus driver

After Lila got on the bus, I ran upstairs and got Will, and off we went to the school to make sure she found her class okay.  Once we got there and I found a spot for our big diesel truck, I went looking for Lila.  I couldn't find the busses anywhere.  Finally we went to her classroom and there she was, happily colouring.  She didn't need me, she found her classroom on her own!

Lila colouring a page of Salmon...only in Nome!

Will and I had a quiet day at home waiting for Lila to arrive.  It felt like forever, but she finally made it home.  I can see her bus arrive from the window of our apartment.

 Here she is getting off the bus and up the stairs to the apartment.

She told me that she had a great day and so much fun!  She made two friends and saw another friend who is in Grade 1.  Will and I were very happy to see her home again!

Showing her brother what she learned in school.













Berry Picking

Almost everyone here in Nome fishes, hunts, and picks berries or different greens.  In fact at my work, you can get sustenance leave, where you get paid time off to fish, hunt, pick berries, etc.  Food here can be really expensive, so if you can fill up your freezer during the summer you can eat all winter.

One thing that I love about being out here, is that people use everything when they hunt an animal.  They use the fur, bones, meat, teeth, claws, etc.  Fur is used for warmth, like to make a Ruff for your coat, or gloves.  Then bones, teeth, ivory, etc is used for art, or tools, etc.  It is amazing the talented art I have seen while we've been here!  Everything from beaded items, to tools, carvings, jewlery, it is really amazing.

So the one thing I really wanted to do was to go berry picking.  I did not think we would get a chance this year, but when a group of people at work meantioned they were going, I jumped on the opportunity! 

This is the view as we drove out to find somewhere to pick our berries.

Lila getting help to cross a little "river" on the Tundra.

The kids and I on the Tundra.

Will picking berries on the Tundra.

Lila picking berries on the Tundra

Our blueberries!

Will fell asleep. 

Out here carrying your baby on your back is called (sounds like) "Uppok".  I have heard people say, just Uppok him.  Most people put their babies in their coats on their backs and you just see their little heads poking out. 

Have I told you lately that I love it here?

Until next time!

A Day Off

As well as doing laundry on days off, we also try to go out and do things.  Especially on a nice day.  We had a week of rain before me and the kids spent a nice Saturday together.

A cruise ship was in town and Front Street was filled with people speaking in a Germanic language of some sort.  It was a busy Saturday! 

My beautiful Alaskan Girl!

After running some errands, we stopped to have lunch at a restaurant called Milano's.  It seems like every restaurant in Nome offers Pizza, and/or Sushi, Chineese, or Japanese food.  I ordered Veggie rolls for me and a cheese pizza for the kids to share.

Lila enjoying a $4 strawberry shake



Will tired after a long day took his nap during lunch.

After lunch we went to look at the Farmer's Market that they had because of the cruise ship.  There really weren't any fresh fruits or vegitables.  Some people out here have home made green houses, but I doubt they would grow enough to sell at a farmer's market.  Plus fresh fruits and veggies are pretty dear here.  But there was some beautiful art and some wild blueberry jams that people where selling.

Then we went out to the beach.  It was a little windy and chilly but there was no rain so we wanted to enjoy being outside a little more.  And we did!

Nome beaches.



A fishing boat out on the water.

It really is just so breath takingly beautiful out here.  My pictures just don't do it justice.  Even on the rainy days when the clouds are low it is just amazing.  I'm so glad we took the opportunity to come out here to experience Nome!

Soon I'll post about our blueberry picking adventure!!



Laundry

I have never in my life lived somewhere that did not have a washer and dryer inside the house. 

Now I have to pay $1.25 for each load to wash and then $1.25 for each load to dry.  (Yesterday I did 8 loads of laundry because with moving upstairs and working I had gotten a little behind.)  I think this is going to add up.  Any suggestions?

Anyway, here are some pictures (mostly taken by Lila) of how we do laundry now...

 Washers (there are four)

 Dryers

(there are three and one doesn't work too well)

I just had to include this one of our little photographer.