Awesome, awesome, awesome! I got a note from Clare today over at The House and Other Arctic Musings, and what a great surprise! Apparently I’ve been nominated as ‘best new blog’. Now, this kind of feels like cheating…I did, after all, have a different blog last year. However, I’ll take my luck as it comes.

The blogging world in the north is pretty strong…I haven’t yet been able to get used to being referred to as ‘Pang Bound’ (my site last year) or ‘The Daily Muise’, but it’s like family after awhile. ‘The Nunies’ is a yearly contest for northern blogs. If you win, the earned badge is a nice little piece bling to adorn your homepage.

Though I have some pretty tight competition, I’m going to do a little bit of shameless self-promotion here and say: vote for meeeee! Come on lurkers, make yourself known. You can find the ‘vote’ button here.

For the past few months I’ve been having problems with my water. I seemed to run out frequently, and the hamlet started charging me for call-out fees. Not cool.

…for those of you unfamiliar with the north, the first thing to note is that, though there is running water, it’s stored in a tank under your house. Beside it, you generally find the same sized tank filled with sewage…as one decreases, the other increases, and trucks travel the roads to pump and suck. Yuck.

How is it possible to run out of water so quickly? It’s true that the tank is small, but it’s not like I’m a chronic cleaner with the shower and washing machine constantly in use. Finally, I just refused to pay the account until someone came to the place to check out the problem.

As it turns out, the ‘float’ reader wasn’t set right and my taps would stop running when there was still half a tank left! No more weekly $150 call-out fee and, since Clint has started passing out pop to the drivers, we never run dry…

Now, to the main point of this post. When I was under the house, laying on the tank, and peering into the small access hole, I couldn’t help but notice the sediment piled up on the bottom…and that’s literally my drinking water! When I asked around, I learned that the inside of the tank is actually supposed to be cleaned once a year. I have no idea when my unit was cleaned last, but it’s certainly been more than 365 days.

…so I set off on the adventure of trying to get the tank cleaned. In fact, the Co-op in town employs someone to do this – a small someone. She has to actually get in the tank through that tiny hole to scrub it clean after the water has been emptied. Nasty! We drained as much as we could by running the taps and washing every bit of clothing in the apartment, but still more had to be scooped out.

Brace yourself for this…the following picture is not a pot of coffee dumped in the snow. It’s where the bucketfuls of water taken from the tank were dumped. My drinking water.

My drinking water...

Before continuing with my narrative about the end of 2010, I thought I would first regale you with the interesting – though somewhat disturbing – stories of yesterday. My first will be categorized here, in ‘Snow Dogs’, while the second will definitely have a northern living tag.

First off my dear readers, I’m sure you’ve noticed the statistical frequency with which I mention my dogs Sophie, Scarlett, and Gryphon: the st. bernard, chiweenie, and chihuahua. Well, that theme continues. Years ago, after examining the types of food available to the pups, I decided that commercial kibble was one thing that made me uncomfortable when trying to provide a balanced diet. I tried various possibilities, but it ended up that I always went back to high quality store-bought kibble and tried to assuage my guilt by feeding them far too many treats. Hmmm…I associate it with the guilt that single parents or divorced parents must feel when they give their kids outrageous gifts because they cannot afford the gift of time.

A far too tubby chiweenie...

This was the result…although you might think that an increase of 3 lbs might not be too much for the average person, for a dog whose target weight is about 8 lbs, this is the equal to about 30 lbs overweight for me. And it’s all my fault. She doesn’t get the chance to run around outside at this time of year, so she’s sunk into the mid-winter lethargy of sleeping under blankets here, there, and everywhere. Ok, that’s probably just a personification of some sort, but it’s still not healthy.

Solution? Homemade food and homemade treats. Out with the commercial fillers and in with the packed freezer of ice-cube sized meals.

I wanted to do it right, though…so…I finally did something I’ve been toying with for awhile: I signed up for a canine nutrition certificate which will allow me, after about a year, to become a sort of consultant. Well, it wouldn’t allow me to make it into a career, but it will certainly allow me to understand and put together a diet designed specifically for a dog (opposed to what most believe is ok).

Basically, the proportions I’ve been working with for meals is about 50% protein, 25% carb, and 25% veggie. Although some argue for dividing meals into thirds, I make up for it with healthy treats. My dogs love small pieces of carrot and apple and I have taken to making their ‘cookie’ treats which generally include some portion of whole wheat flour, wheat germ, brown rice, or oatmeal.

There are a few exceptions when it comes to treats, though, and last night I decided to spoil them a little bit. It’s an easy enough recipe, but you really have to love your dogs to put together these squares. Ingredients? Liver, eggs, cornmeal, and the smallest of small dash of garlic powder.

Oowie, goowie, liver mixture...

Step 1: puree about 1 lb of beef liver (I think I used closer to 1.5 lbs); Step 2: add 4 eggs and continue to blend; Step 4: try to ignore the smell of blood and avoid all thoughts of Jeffery Dahmer; Step 5: add 1 cup of cornmeal; Step 6: blend in a shake or two of garlic powder; and Step 7: pour onto a heavily greased cookie sheet.

Then bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Although this liver recipe is always cheap (liver – minus foie gras – is not generally sold for top-notch meals), it’s not something that smells too good when it’s baking. Blah. Not only that, though…even though the dogs go absolutely crazy for it, it can be toxic in large amounts. As a result, they’ll only be allowed 2 or 3 pieces/week. Thank goodness for freezers!

What can I call this image other than just...'waiting'?

The final product can be cubed and frozen into whatever size fits your dog. I usually make mine really small which means that Sophie, the st. bernard, gets bunches…and the other ones just get jealous…

Yummy!

It’s time…I cannot tell a lie. Since December 20, 2010 (my last post), I have received so many emails re: my inactivity on this site! Aww, I feel so special. Apparently the day-to-day minutiae of my life and my meandering thought process has hooked a few people; who woulda thought?

Actually, it’s not just the small details that people have been missing; after all, I haven’t written anything about Christmas, New Year’s, or my birthday! Oh, and the constant power outages are noteworthy as well, I suppose. Where should I even start? I think I’ll go with a reverse chronological record of the past few weeks…no reason, just had to start somewhere!

This year – and what seems like most years – I returned to work on my birthday. Not really the most wonderful ‘welcome back’, but at least I had two days of respite before classes started. I figured that being at my desk with my Mac and iPod pumping tunes wouldn’t be so bad. It wasn’t, actually…it was a good way to ease back into the swing of things.

My cherry cake with an insane amount of icing (and candles) on top. In fact, I think there were close to 3 cans of icing throughout the whole thing!

Anyway, my boyfriend did the coolest thing that morning when I was out…he baked me a cake! I’m not sure what it’s like for you readers, but I can’t remember the last time someone put together a cake for me. By the time you hit my age, I suppose, people have moved on to other things. Don’t get me wrong – my friends and family have provided me with my fair share of ‘candled sweets’ served up by a singing staff at random restaurants, but I really can’t recall the last time someone pulled out a Duncan Hines pack and take the time to put it together. This whole episode was doubly impressive considering the fact that he lived on Pizza Pops, Eggos, and PB and J sandwiches until about a month ago.

Oh, and after giving 2 pieces away to co-workers, we took 2 forks and finished the whole thing in 2 days (with about a pot of tea). Although I’m sure it wasn’t the healthiest thing to gorge myself on, isn’t that what birthday’s are all about? My birthday’s on January 4th, so resolutions don’t officially begin until the tree comes down on the 5th. Absolute truth.

And my main gift? A Keurig coffee maker! We’re still waiting for Canada Post to make itself known, but I already have an idea of how awesome it is…a few people have the up here. Oh, and well.ca has finally started to sell the k-cups!

…and that’s my birthday 2011…