The snow arrived in November, and although we still haven't had as much as I feared we might get, by English standards the country would be well and truly shut down by now. We had a weekend up in Meadow Lake in November and woke up after our first night there so see 3 inches of snow on the car and everything looking very scenic. This was the weekend when I took in my first Canadian Football League game as the whole province was going mad. The Saskatchewan Roughriders had made it to the playoffs (for the first time in ages) and they fancied their chances of going all the way this year. I seemed to be something of a lucky charm for them, as they coasted to victory to set up a semi final appearance the following weekend. Amazingly they won the semi final too, and found themselves in the Grey Cup final. Having watched these two games I thought I had better tune in for the final, and watched as they pulled of only their third victory (in a tournament which has been running for nearly 100 years, and only has about 10 teams competing for it!). Cue much celebration around town, and topless women dancing around the streets in temperatures of -20 (sorry no photos!)
November was a pretty cold month here, with the thermometer regularly showing -20 every morning. We didn't really get a lot of snow in Saskatoon, but little and often seemed to be the order of things. Our flat is very poorly insulated and we had problems with the patio doors icing up to the point where we were unable to open them. Thawing a hole in the ice was the only way that we could get a chance to see out on to the balcony to find out the temperature.
We continue to live like squatters in the flat, as we know we will be moving out again in the summer. We are still making lots of plans for the house, and when the next picture was taken you it may be quite obvious that flooring was the concern of the moment.
Some of you will probably be aware that we were back in England for a week at the start of December for Matt and Taras wedding. This was a great (and exhausting) trip, but we both had a great time, and wouldn't have missed it for the world. As we now have no idea when we will next be back in Europe we would like to extend invitations to everyone to come over here and see us.
December also saw a monumentous moment for my football team. Having gone 6 games of the season with a 100% record (lost all 6) we came up against the only other team in the league yet to win a point. Something had to give, and we came out victorious (just) with a 6-4 victory. I even managed to score a goal in the game (cancelling out my own goal in the first game, andputting me back on a net zero).
Lea continues to enjoy her work and my job is going pretty well. In preparation for my first field trip I was sent on a winter survival weekend. This was amusing, until the point where we all had to sleep outside in a shelter which we had built ourselves (out of tree trunks and branches) and the temperature dropped to -23. The weekend was certainly an eye opener, and I am certain that I don't want to get stuck outside overnight during the winter here!
My first field trip duly followed and I was sent north for a week to count animal tracks in the snow. I know, it sounds like a tough trip and it involved me flying around in a helicopter for a day counting moose and caribou, follwed by a few days of hiking around in the woods. Below are a few scenery shots from the helicopter ride and the herd of woodland caribou which we saw.
Following the fieldwork we both finished work for the xmas holiday. We had a relaxing day at home before we headed over to Alberta to see Simo, Arin and James for a week. We planned on staying a while and kicking back before we headed off into the mountains somewhere for a bit of skiing. But you will just have to wait a few days longer for me to get round to writing that section. Please be content with a shot of James for now.........
Happy new year to you all........
Rob and Lea
