October 31st 2018
Happy birthday Uncle Harold! I know you are battling the dreaded “C” in Tasmania and being in the Tassie Sports Hall of Fame you possess incredible determination and optimistic strength. You are such an amazing individual and role model! We’re so glad we brought mom/Patti, your only sister, out from Canada to surprise you in Burnie for your 80th birthday last year. We love you so much xoxo. Happy birthday and may these photos of Halloween in Burns Lake bring you a smile! 😘😉
Brat the cat is a constant source of entertainment and company. She was a rescue cat and is approximately 9–10 years old according to her owners. She has a broken tail, 1 fang tooth, lots of hair, and purrs most of the time. She loves to sit on your lap or knead your neck when you are trying to sleep. She explores everywhere–even inside the dryer! She loves to have her daily bath (warm water rubbed down her head and back) and brush down in the mornings. Then she admires herself in the mirror! She is definitely the most affectionate cat I’ve ever experienced and a joy to see at the end of a challenging day!
Can you tell I am getting pretty attached to her?
October 22nd
Back in Burns Lake. What to do on a Monday evening? Well….How about attending a concert featuring global music! The Lakes District Arts Council brings some amazing concerts to the Burns Lake area. The last one was the East Coast Kitchen party. Tonight we embrace the B.C. World Music Collective! Thirteen performers graced the stage to entice the audience with sounds and culture from Brazil, Mexico, Europe, Zimbabwe, Chile, Cuba, and Canada. In addition, Ronnie Dean Harris “Ostwelve” is a Aboriginal rapper!
The variety of instruments, vocal experimentation, and harmony was upbeat and exhilarating! I was still humming and walking with a bounce in my step all the way back to my BL home base!
October 20–21st, 2018
After attending the Pro-D in Prince George, I got to spend some valuable time with my bro, Mark, at his place in Prince George. It was a beautiful sunny day and he spent all day working on friends’ vehicles switching summer to winter tires as well as winterizing his boat. His wonderful neighbors popped over and we had a lovely outdoor visit.
I also managed to go shopping and locate snow boots (2 pairs) as stores finally had a selection available! One pair of snow boots is good up to – 20 degrees. The second pair Sorels are heavy duty snow boots for up to -40 degree weather. My feet will be warm now! P.S. The pose of me in my red jacket is modelling the door prize I won at the Pro-D conference….It’s called a “kitchen boa” lol . Aren’t the Hallowe’en decorations cute on this house on my brother’s street?
October 18-19th, 2018
Still no snow! (At least none that is staying yet!) This weekend I travelled the 2 1/2 hours east toward Prince George to attend the provincial Home Economics conference. I passed the CN engine at Fort Fraser, the semi trucks and wood piles at Vanderhoof, to Mr PG marking Prince George. The draw for this conference was the connection tying tactile projects and food preparation with Aboriginal influence and customs. I was curious how similar/different the FN customs and crafts were here in mid northern BC to my experiences with coastal FN customs. 
The key note speaker was articulate and his ideas were thought provoking. I took workshops which were practical and able to transfer immediately to my current positions in a Burns Lake. I missed my Sd85 and fellow BC teacher-librarian colleagues. I only knew 1 person at this provincial conference… but it was an interesting day at the biggest high school in Prince George!
October 14th 2018
Curious about the South Side and Grassy Plains, I decided to head out on an exploration adventure. Recent forest fires around the Lakes District were devastating and Grassy Plains school opened a few days late this year. The school district even contemplated having the students and staff come to one of the schools I work at to commence the school year. But luckily, the fires were able to be safely contained and are now mostly extinguished. It was time to go and see the scene for myself. After driving to the Francois Lake Ferry terminal, I was lucky enough to have a short wait. The ferry crosses every 50 minutes and is FREE! Although the name is Francois Lake, locals tend to call it Frances Lake.
Once you arrive in South side you drive straight up the hill and soon find yourself surrounded by pasture and farm land. There is a strong Mennonite presence here including a school, a cafe, and churches. As I entered Grassy Plains I was in awe at the beauty. Across from the Grassy Plains public school was rolling hills, cattle, a beautiful little lake, and snow capped mountains in the distance! (Tweedsmuir Park). It is so peaceful and rural here.
I stopped several times to admire the views and take photos. I followed the road past Grassy Plains ending up at Takysie Lake. There are recreational camping areas here overlooking lovely Takysie Lake.
I had seen some evidence of the fires to this point, but was quite shocked as I approached Takysie Lake Resort. The owners of this “resort” would not evacuate and the fire devastated the property across the street and even burned through their fence and sign! The owners stayed and said they fed the fire fighters every day and only slept from midnight until 4:00 a.m. most of the summer. The cabins, camping spots, cafe, store, and gas pumps all are still standing while much of the woods and land around them was lost to fires. I took some photos of the pink popular trees on the edge of the lake. The trees were covered with pink fire retardant.
I walked around the Takysie Lake “resort” then went inside to explore the unique store and have lunch at the cafe (with many of the locals). The owners and locals were super friendly and chatted with me. It turns out the previous night was a community heroes gala in Burns Lake. The owners won an award and the husband attended but the wife stayed at the resort to cook dinner! This is a wonderful area to explore…The people are so friendly and you can definitely step back from the chaos of urban or hectic life. I will definitely be back!
October 13th, 2018
Yes. It’s Saturday! SD91 Nechako Lakes district is invested in Literacy Intervention using Joyful Literacy Interventions program created by Dr. Janet Mort. I chose to become involved as part of the Literacy team for both William Konkin Elem. and Decker Elementary schools. I participated with the WKE team for the day’s events as I actually teach there 60% of my time and 40% at Decker. It was a foggy morning as we car pooled to Fraser Lake. Usual sites included the lengthy CN trains and ATV’s in trucks. (It is hunting season up here!). This school district encompasses a vast physical area and Fraser Lake is kind of a central location.
FYI: SD91 Superintendent is from Fort St. James. (I met Manu at the Inservice). Our Assistant Superintendent is from Burns Lake (I was hired by Mike). Our Director of Instruction is also from Fort St. James. (I met Claire today too). The school board office is at Vanderhoof. Many of the other S.B.O. personnel live and work out of Vanderhoof. There is a second location (SBO at Burns Lake). Sd91 includes: Fort St. James, Vanderhoof, Fort Fraser, Fraser Lake, Burns Lake, Francois Lake, Grassy Plains, Decker Lake, and Gran Isle. This was my first experience at Fraser Lake high school. My principal drove me around the village after the conference and showed me the favorite sites here–including: the Mexican cafe, and Mouse Mountain school. Bucket list–To climb Mouse Mountain! I’m expecting it should take about 1/2 hour? Mouse Mountain is located behind the elementary school in the lower right photo! There are so many beautiful lakes and areas to explore here!
October 9th, 2018
My dear friend and colleague Kathleen MacArthur was an innovative and enthusiastic art teacher, yoga instructor, house renovator, and fiery individual with a zest for life and optimistic attitude. In spite of her shocking diagnosis of bone cancer, Kathleen fought and continued to be optimistic. Although her house was in Port McNeill and her chemo was in Campbell River and Nanaimo, we were texting regularly… Her last text to me was on Sept. 25th “We are hopeful and OK”. I attended a workshop led by Kathleen several years ago about Zentangle patterns. She loved them! I told her I had the grade 5–7 students at both schools creating zentangle patterns on paint stir sticks to be used as shelf markers in the Library/Learning Commons areas. They made zentangle designs on the front of the sticks and wrote a positive message on the back. I sent her photos in progress, but unfortunately….Kathleen’s cancer beat her and we lost her on October 9th. 🙁 My world slowed down for awhile. We completed the very popular shelf markers and they are used daily at both schools.
In my mind….These are dedicated to my dear friend Kathleen. With love always.
Early October
This was a tough week as Mark and I passed our 10 years together anniversary in separate locations. Our hearts are united, but our locations aren’t at the moment! Soon… It was also my first Thanksgiving that I can ever recall, without any family around . My brother was busy hunting with his girlfriend. My son is in Thailand. Mom and Mark were together in Port Hardy. (Which I was very happy about!) My nieces and nephews live way over in Ontario!
It was rather emotional for me I must admit. 🙁 But I was very thankful to be invited to join my host family in their celebration. I also learned that in this neck of the woods it is fairly common not to celebrate Thanksgiving with turkey etc. as it’s hunting season and many people focus on that! So…May we all be thankful for family and acceptance of diversity and new experiences.
I also added some photos of cool autumn art at school and beautiful flowers I received to brighten my week!
September 30th
What a treat! Several of our students in grades 5–7 at both Elementary schools are involved in highland dancing, or taking violin, fiddle, or string lessons. One young lass is in all of the above and her family also teaches various string instrument lessons and performs together! Such creative talents and opportunities here. Hmmmm…I wonder if I should try violin? Maybe cello? Double bass does look fun…
I attended the Burns Lake East Coast Kitchen Party event–as did most of Burns Lake! It was fun, funny, dynamic, diverse, musical, and so up beat! I didn’t realize there were so many Newfies and East coast transplants here too. It felt like I was back in Port Hardy! Lots of young children (and some moms) danced up front as the lively bands performed. There were jokes, skits, and constant entertainment! I took lots of video…but unfortunately this blog platform doesn’t support video 🙁 Well done, Lakes District!
I also added a few photos of Mr. P.G. whom I see each time I leave Prince George and head towards Vanderhoof. The bottom right photo is at Fraser Lake. This was the site of the forest fire tent city most of the summer. It’s so nice to see it back to a field now! The middle photo is me waiting in my vehicle as one of the many, many trains pass by downtown Burns Lake!