Spot the difference...

What has changed, avid readers? Is it the dog? Or the human? Or, acoutrements on the human's face?

Send answers on the back of a five dollar bill to: "Spot the new spectacles competition, FSJ".

Does the dog look smarter? No, we didn't think so either. 

Nigel Cholmondeley Featherstonehaugh

This is an old photo from last Christmas but Charlie wanted to post a picture of his beloved, odd-looking right-hand drive six-seater pickup truck. 'Nigel', as we know him, was imported from Japan and gets many looks, primarily because you are sitting on the wrong side of it.

Nigel told us his name (in full) said in a frightfully, frightfully English accent that belies his bland asian face. 

 

N-I-C-O-L-E and Jet

You may be wondering how we got such a non-frozen shot. This is my bestest friend, Nicole, who lives down under in Melbourne. Her little girl is 6 weeks old in this photo (she is now almost 3 months old). Her name is Jet! Yes, I know that it is an unusual name but Nicole is also unusual so it shouldn't be surprising! Love ya Nic! 

Charlie on Charlie Lake

The North is quite a stunning place. Here is Charlie Lake, frozen all the way across (and has been for 2 months).

We are standing looking at the boatlaunch (this is also FSJ's beach in summer). 

Boxing Day in the Peace

We went for our daily constitutional down at Beatton Park on Boxing Day and got enticed into joining the community tobogganing. Apparently, this hill has been used for this purpose for many a long year.

As you can see, there is firewood for the firepit, the sun is shining, and Charlie Lake (in the middle ground of the photo) is frozen, allowing snowmobiles (or sleds as they are called here) to fly across the lake at 100 km +.

Everyone was having a fantastic time, from young children to the very old. The snow on the face really hurt on the way down the hill.

Beatton Park also offers 20 some odd km's of groomed cross-country skiing trails. Several weeks ago, we went out and were having a glorious time until Charlie fell down onto his ski pole and broke it! (But, you can't seem to buy a cross-country ski pole in this town!)

The same park has a beautiful campground right next to the lake which we hope to see thawed in 2007. 

Pillion Ventures...first FSJ then the world...

Tired of always working away from home, Charlie has taken the bull by the horns and is going self-employed as of January 1, 2007.

This is his new service truck, a 2007 3 tonne Mitsubishi Fuso, 4 wheel drive diesel truck.

He bought the truck in Vancouver, back in November. The deck was found in Alberta and still needs lots of TLC.

Charlie is still going to work on contract for Alpha Controls but is hoping to do more industrial/commercial service work, in and around Fort St John.

Beware Canada! Summer 2007 this truck, with a camper on the back, could be in your neighbourhood as we make our cross-Canada journey. 

101 uses for an old drilling rig...

Number 1: Turn said oil rig into a museum marker.

Number 2: Use to denote a trailer park. (Sourdough Pete's on the Alaska Hwy).

Number 3: Hwy marker for Jackfish Dundee's Pub (Charlie Lake...and we will make a point of posting a photo of this pub in future).

Number 4: Centre piece of the new trade school building at the Northern Lights College.



The more modern replacements dot the countryside in the ongoing exploration for oil and gas that the Peace country is known for. 

Oh, the foot lights and the grease paint....

This cathedral of the arts used to be the Hudson's Bay Company. Now, its use has changed into a multi-purpose facility. It will be here, at the end of February, that Tina will perform her stage debut in The Full Monty. (NO, she definitely keeps all of her clothes firmly on!).

Also, in this building is housed the public library, and an arts centre (just to counteract the perception that we are all illiterate Northern yahoos). 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas morning, we went for a 3 hour walk with the Mighty Og. This is a greeting from the City of Fort St John to EVERYBODY in the world!

The thing in the picture to the right, that looks like an urn, is a gas torch to celebrate the BC winter games that will be here in February. 

WINTER LIFE IN FSJ

Hello all, sorry to all our loyal fans who have regularly been checking in to hear all of our stories of the North. Ogri (and Charlie) have finally finished the electrical work on the hotel in Valleyview, Alberta. Tina sighs a great sigh of relief. She gets her boys back. Charlie was actually able to celebrate his birthday at home, the first in about 3 years. (Had birthdays in Fort Nelson, Fort Ware, Tsay Keh Dene, Parksville, all in recent memory).

Charlie is winding down for the Christmas hols. Tina is busier than ever as she has joined the North Peace Community Choir and has also accepted a part in the forthcoming production of The Full Monty to be put on by the local amateur theatrical society. At least, winter should fly by.

Ogri continues to grow in vast proportions (apart from his brain, which appears to be growing at a snail's pace). Since Charlie is going to be at home for awhile, Ogri is going to be going in for puppy training but it is more to train us than him because we really don't know what the heck we are doing!

We survived the cold snap that got down to minus 45 (with wind chill) that lasted several weeks and are now having more seasonal temps around minus 10 (positively balmy, T-shirt weather). But the cold doesn't stop the people of the the North, CBC broadcasted from a local coffee shop and when we arrrived at 7 am the place was already packed. We got to have our 5 minutes of fame talking about Tina's French motorcycle helmet and our love of classic Italian scooters.

Yesterday, we went snowshoeing down the railroad tracks. Ogri has a mind of his own, when we want him to go into the snow, he refuses but when we don't, we can't get him out. It is another bright and sunny day in the Peace so we are on our way out to go cross-country skiing...