winding down...

So things are starting to wind down here in camp and I'm thinking about the end of the season... which means that if you would like a postcard from Greenland, now's the time to say so. :D

Send your mailing address me at my gmail (which I think you can get from my profile), and I'll do my best to get you a postcard.

Still not sure when I will be home, but I'll update once I know.

impending snow

Yep, that right there is snow on the mountains around camp. There's quite a bit of it and it just sort of appeared overnight, with no sign of going away. It's been cold enough the last couple of days that there is ice on the little puddles in the morning (although it's pretty much melted by midday). There is snow in the forecast for this week.

*shivers*.
We had a pretty extraordinary storm here two nights ago. The wind was pretty crazy, every so often there would be huge gusts that felt like someone was taking my tent and shaking it, and heavy rain that would wake me up. So I didn't sleep too well. Yesterday was pretty sunny and today is spectacular, with a perfectly clear blue sky. It's only a couple of degrees C out there, but when the sun's out it's not so bad.

Yesterday Mike and Catherine and I got to take a trip into Fiskaenesset, which was a really great break from the routine. :) We went to the store and got some licorice and related gummy things for the next time we play yahtzee, and I bought some chips that turned out to be really terrible, which was disappointing. Danish chips are weird - they're all kind of like Munchos and Pringles and that kind of chip - like they're made out of those fake mashed potatoes or something. If you want chips made out of potato slices (like Cdn chips), you need to look for 'franske-kartoffeln', French-style potatoes.


I really like the little dragon/sea monster finials on the top of this house. It's fun to see little decorative touches like this - most of the houses in Fisk are prefab so they all look pretty much the same.


A view of Fiskaenesset from the ridge above the town. This is probably one of my favourite pictures I've taken this summer.


A shipwreck! This is on the other side of the ridge, I guess it wasn't worth it for the ship owner to recover it, so it was just left. It's in reasonable shape, I suppose - Mike climbed on it a little and didn't fall through the boards or anything. Anyway, it made a great subject.


Mike and Catherine on the ridge where I took the last picture from.

picspam yay!

Yesterday was one of the last really nice days we're likely to get, so I spent some time in the evening taking some photos. I also found out it was blueberry season so I picked myself some delicious berries as well. :)


This plant is related to Labrador tea, but I'm not sure of the name. You can see by the red that leaves are starting to turn... (it's also blurry, I wish I had a tripod, my knee isn't cutting it.)


I like how the hills look when only parts of them are sunlit. The clouds have been pretty low the last couple of mornings, and this morning they were low enough that the helicopter couldn't fly until almost 10.

More turning leaves.

A couple of neat fungus-like things.

More pics upcoming soon, we had some pretty impressive aurora last night...

The last few days have been pretty awesome. I got to do some real field work. :) We went up the hill to the place where the drilling was, and Mike and Jose and I made up a grid to map the area on, which Mike and I then photographed and mapped. It was tough work but a lot of fun. Also the weather has been*fantastic* for the last three days, so we finished just in time - today is cloudy and cold and tomorrow through Wednesday call for rain in the forecast. (It was nice enough that I got a bit of a sunburn on my arms and my nose has come over all freckly. oops. -_- My hands are nice and tanned though!) In this picture I have just finished painting some lines.


Yesterday I also learned how to drive a Zodiac boat, which was pretty cool. Mike and I weren't sure if the helicopter was going to be able to come up for us in time, so we took the boat across the lake and were just getting ready to start the hike down the hill when it showed up, so we took the boat back and got back in time for supper, instead of an hour late. yay!

The view was pretty spectacular from up there, too.

A handful of the remaining people in camp left on Saturday. Brian, Iqbal, Jose, and Gary have all left, so things are even quieter than before. I think pretty much everyone has a cabin to themselves.l-r: me, Mike, Jose, Brian, and Gary.

a caribou!

I saw a real live caribou yesterday, yay!


My camera is not so good with the wide shots, though, so that's why there is an arrow pointing him out. If I can get my hands on some of Britt or Gary's pics I'll post a better one.

I also got a nice shot of a raven:


And it was Jeppe and Tom's last day in camp yesterday. They are heading back to school soon, so off they went to spend most of a day in Kangerlussuaq (which apparently has a golf course! so they are going golfing...), and then leave for Copenhagen. Camp has been much quieter without them.
(Britt, Tom, me, and Jeppe. yes, I know, I look even shorter than usual. I'm actually standing in a hole. :P)

foodz

So we have a new cook/chef person at camp. Last night was his second night here; this was dessert:


Yes, that is in fact deep-fried ice cream with whipped cream and maple syrup. I made sure to skip for extra time last night. *sigh*

aaaaargh.

ETA: never mind. apparently it depends on the browser you're using or something. bleh.

why, why, WHY can I never seem to prevent the floating words that show up to the right of the pictures I'm posting? They are never there in the preview!

if anyone reading this knows how to work blogspot enough to fix it, please, I'm begging you, help me get rid of this ridiculous little quirk.