Baffin Canners

I had my first houseguests this weekend. Mark and Sophie came over for brunch. I made home fries for the first time. They turned out well, but the combination of roasting them and frying breakfast sausage set off both smoke detectors, which went off for almost minutes! Mark finally climbed up to the top of the second level of my place to wave a towel under the one upstairs. That and the combination of open windows seemed to work. A price to pay for sausage and potatoes.



We walked over to Baffin Canners after that. It's a small warehouse with plain shelves full of veggies, cheese, canned stuff and groceries and big freezer cases full of frozen meat, seafood and fruit. I got big bags of raspberries and blueberries for about $7.00 each. Cheaper than home! It was kind of exciting. I have been missing berries in my cereal this week. It isn't a place for lingering, though. I took up so much room in my purple parka that it was hard for people to get around me with a cart. My problem is that I can't help being fascinated by everything because it is so new. Also, I have always loved grocery stores. In every place I visit, I go to the market or the grocery store. It's my obsession with all things culinary.

As most of you will know, my culinary obsession goes hand-in-hand with my gym obsession. Yesterday, I officially joined the gym here. It's called the Atii Fitness Centre and it's located right across from the airport. And I mean right across. Most people would probably mistake it for a cargo hanger. Of course, you could mistake almost any building here for a cargo hanger... In any case, it's a nice little gym with a few treadmills, a couple ellipticals and bikes and the requisite weight equipment, i.e. squat rack, bench press and free weights. There is also a decent sized studio where they offer step, pilates, and circuit classes--no spinning, though. And no change rooms or showers. You change in the washroom. Since a lot of people drive to the gym, most change at home. I walk there and have accepted the fact that I will change in the washroom. But many people rely on swimming in the small pool and the many team sports for fitness. I am hesitating joining because I fear my lack of athletic skill will drive people away rather than make me friends! I trip and fall on the way home from the grocery store. On the way home from Baffin Canners, I had quite an impressive fall, complete with a 2 foot skid along the snow. If only I could channel that into something like baseball to steal bases...

This weekend I also discovered the movie theatre. It's at the Frobisher Inn, which, as Mark pointed out, is more of a mall than an Inn really, what with the pharmacy, the bar, the restaurant and the pool all being located there. I walked over with Mark and Sophie to see Into the Wild--perhaps a poor choice given my new surroundings. Or maybe the best thing you could see? It makes you realize how fragile life is in surroundings as harsh as ours. Indeed, our surroundings are harsher than those depicted. There are no trees here, and you would be fortunate to find any kind of berry or plant, even if it is poisonous, in the early spring. It gives you a healthy respect for the outdoors and makes you realize that nature is still a force to be reckoned with.

Right, speaking of nature, the sun is out and the day is bright, so I need to go make the most of it. Scary or not.