After 56 days of continuous sun in the Arctic, the sun is starting to take a break.  Last night the sun went down around 2 am, and rose again at 4 am (see below).  Fortunately, we're still enjoying warm sun and long days, at least for a little while longer.

Below are a few photos I have taken at different times this summer during the night.

Last Friday (the 13th, if that means anything to anyone!) the Town of Inuvik came under a boil water advisory (see below).  One week later, it has still not been lifted.

Tap water in Inuvik is generally off-colour, but for those who don't mind a yellowy tinge and a slight taste, it is usually safe to drink straight from the taps. Even so, most people (including myself) use a Brita filter before drinking from the tap, and some only use bottled water, which you can have delivered to your house for a fee.

But that has now changed, and until the advisory is lifted, I am drinking only bottled water, and only brushing my teeth with filtered water that has been boiled for over 1 minute (which means bringing it to the boil 3 times).

Exciting times in the North!  Hopefully our tap water will be safe to drink soon.

In addition to the impact on drinking water, the dirty water unfortunately makes your toilet bowl look like either you forgot to flush or haven't cleaned your toilet in a month (see photo).  And I know some (picky) people who refuse to draw baths because the water is so unappealing, but I figure with enough bubble-bath and purple bath salts, I can rough it in the North and handle the discoloration.

I will also include below a media clipping from the local paper, the Inuvik Drum - http://nnsl.com/northern-news-services/stories/papers/jul19_12bil.html.  According to the paper:  "The boil water advisory issued last Friday dragged on into this week, leaving store shelves empty of bottled water because most retailers could not restock due to the ferry closure."

Never a dull moment.

As I promised in a previous post, it's time I told you more about the amazing community greenhouse we have here in Inuvik.  If you want more information, visit www.inuvikgreenhouse.com.

Some interesting facts from the website:

·        The greenhouse was created from a former hockey arena -- you can still see hockey puck marks on the walls!
·        The greenhouse project started in 1998.
·        It is the most northerly greenhouse in North America and the only community greenhouse of its kind in the world!
·        The greenhouse is active from late April to October.
·        You can rent different size plots on the main floor area and everything you need is available -- watering cans, potting soil, fertilizer, hoes, a place to put compost, etc.
·        The greenhouse holds 74 full-size plots, approximately 10 ft. by 4 ft.  The rental fee per full plot is $100 ($50 per half plot).
·        There is a commercial greenhouse on the second floor where you can buy seedlings at the beginning of the summer.
·        The greenhouse is naturally heated through the summer by the 24-hour sun.
·        You can grow anything you like, and with 24-hour sunlight, anything is possible!

After a scorching dry June, I was afraid the poor plants in my backyard would never flourish.  Fortunately, a damp July has given new life to my wilting seedlings.

I have managed to harvest some strawberries (granted, I only got 3 little guys so far, but they were really sweet and clearly some little animal has enjoyed the rest!) and some lettuce.  Tomatoes will come soon I hope.  I've also used some of the dill, basil and oregano that I grew myself.  So rewarding!

I love receiving mail, and I love receiving packages.  Above anything else however, I like receiving CARE packages from friends and family far away.  Recently I have felt well-loved, as my cousins sent up a package of good things from Vancouver, and an amazing friend from Ottawa sent up some home-made granola lovingly packaged and wrapped.

They both gave me warm fuzzies -- like a long-distance hug.  You know who you are, and I love you!  Thanks for making me feel special.

In case you had nothing better to do, and were wondering how far your dollar would go in Inuvik if you wanted to dabble in residential real estate, below are a couple of house listings I came across recently.  Not surprisingly, you need to be prepared to pay a lot for a half-decent place.  Although there are some nice-looking houses in town, $400,000 - $450,000 is about average here from what I've seen, and you wouldn't get quite the same curb appeal that you would expect down South.

I'll let you judge for yourselves.  One thing to remember is that houses here generally look nicer on the inside than their exteriors would suggest.  The extreme weather doesn't lend itself to a lot of fancy trim or landscaping.

The house below is just down the road from me.  Details at this link.  Come be my neighbor!

I showed you the blue skies of Inuvik earlier this week, now I'll show you some pictures of the wild flowers in the area.  Below are just a few -- I am amazed at what has bloomed out of what used to be a frozen, snow-covered landscape.  It's now lush and green, with flowers scattered everywhere.

I won't even try to identify these flowers, so if anyone knows what they are, let me know!  My Mom is a botanist, and is on her way up to visit me for the summer (with my Dad), so I'll put her to work with a book on flowers from the library so she can identify these for us!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... the Arctic is gorgeous.  Although you usually think of snow, ice, and -40 temperatures when you think of the North, the best-kept secret is summertime.  Temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees, sun, blue skies, flowers, and almost no humidity. Wow.  I know this is still my first year here, but the summer has seemed nice and long, and it's only the beginning of July!

It took me a while to realize that today is the 4th of July.  It's a special day, and not just for Americans...  It marks the 6-month anniversary of my arrival in Inuvik.  Exciting!

I just couldn't resist posting some of my favourite pictures of the blue skies we've had recently - the clouds are amazing here.  You can't understand what expansive is until you've seen the Arctic sky stretching overhead.  It does the soul good. 

Every year for the past 12 years, the Town of Inuvik has hosted the Inuvik Petroleum Show... a must-attend event for oil and gas companies interested in doing business in the Arctic.  This year the conference took place June 18-20.  Attendance was up slightly from last year, with 500 participants and delegates flying up to our little town.  The two-day conference was open to the public in the afternoons, and it seems everyone in town came through to check out the booths, get some fun swag, and participate in the excitement.

In addition to the activities on the tradeshow floor, there was a full program of speakers, including Amanda Lang (of CBC's Lang and O'Leary Exchange), Ezra Levant (Conservative commentator who gave a brilliant and hilarious presentation on oil in Canada), and Vivian Krause (who became famous... or infamous... thanks to her review of the funding of environmental campaigns and whose blog prompted a Senate Inquiry into the involvement of foreign foundations in Canada's domestic affairs).

There were also a number of fun activities during the week, including a welcome barbeque, a golf and grill event, a pancake breakfast where white cowboy hats were distributed, and several comedians, including Steve Patterson of CBC's The Debaters.  Jordin Tootoo from Nunavut, now with the Detroit Red Wings (up until a few days ago with the Nashville Predators), came for a visit as well.  He is a big celebrity in the North, as he is the first Inuk player to play in the NHL.
 
Below are some photos of the conference.