Friday, Feb. 01 Temp -12
Up at 08:00 and did some photography, then went to work at 13:00 I took the relief watch from 13:00 to 14:00 and again from 16:30 to 17:30. When FL took over from me I had finished the Jan accounts and they balanced first shot this time. I worked outside the rest of the afternoon. After supper Norman came in and stayed till midnight. Raney also came up tonight. He is going to stake out some claims that he found and came up to see if we would like him to stake one for us. It will only cost the recording fee so we said yes. Retired after they went.
Saturday, Feb 02 Temp -2
The country is now very pretty around here. It has been warming up a bit in the daytimes and the frost is coming out of things. The hoar frost is the thickest I have ever seen it. Out serial wires are about 3 inches thick. I got some good news tonight. Edmonton sent us the dope that the latest orders from Ottawa stating that I am now a Company Sergeant Major. CSM, and confirmed from Jan 01. I found Nona at Lyall's on my way home and told her. After supper I changed the chevrons on my arm. Nona was so tired that she went to bed at 20:30 and I finished Bert's set, I have it OK at last.
Sunday, Feb 03 Temp -1
Slept in till 11:00. Nona and I went to church today. After church Miss Catt, Mr & Mrs Conibear, Mrs Lyall came in and had a cup of tea. They stayed a couple of hours. In the evening Norman came in. Radio was real good tonight.
Monday, Feb 04 Temp -26
Worked on reports and statements and mail all day. After supper Nona and I went to Godsell's. Jim Woods was there and we played "Put and Take". Len came in today much to our surprise. He was up for supper. He says that they only got 2 minks since they went back. He came up for some more B batteries. Said that the Mercury was going jake when he left.
Tuesday, Feb 05 Temp -18
Finished all accounts, went uptown and collected the money today. Mrs Lyall and Norman came up. We played bridge till midnight then went to bed.
Wednesday, Feb 06 Temp -25
Mrs Godsell came up and helped Nona clean house. They did a swell job too. Kitchen, bedroom and the front room. Not much doing at the station today. I posted all the mail at the PO, the mail from the south arrived today. Mrs Godsell and Jim Woods came up this evening and we played bridge till midnight.
Thursday, Feb 07 Temp -6
Nothing doing at the station today. The mail was very slim. Nona went to the WA meeting. After supper Norman came in and he and I talked on Locomotives all day. Most of the talk was on comparing the American vrs the English type. He left about 01:00.
Friday, Feb 08 Temp -8
Nona went to visit Mrs McDougal this afternoon. The mail plane was due today and we were supposed to have gone on our trip over to the North east of here. The plane was so long getting to Fitz, owing to adverse winds south of here, that the trip was again postponed. No one came up this evening. I developed a few rolls of film then we went to bed.
Saturday, Feb 09 Temp -7
Up at 07:30. Nona went over to Miss Catts this morning and to Mrs Lyalls this afternoon. The mail plane was due today and we were to have gotten on our trip over North east of here. The plane was so long getting to Fitz owing to adverse winds south of here, that the trip was again postponed. No one came up this evening. I developed a few rolls of films then went to bed.
Sunday, Feb 10 Temp -5
Up at 09:00. The plane flew over about noon. It was beginning to cloud up in the north just before it got here. We were all down at the 3 mile island, the temporary landing field. Owing to the bad trail, we did not arrive long before them. I took a few pictures of the plane and groups around it, but none of them came out at all. In a few minutes the clouds were getting thick and they were of the heavy, low, blue type. It looked very much like another postponement. But as Nona and Mrs Conibear had made 2 trips with the same disappointment, Punch (Dickens) told us to get in and we would go for a short trip. I could then get some snaps and see how much territory the camera would take in and that would be of use to us on the final trip. Also, the ladies would be able to see what it was like in the air, neither of them had ever been in a plane before. We went up to the 1800 foot level first. The trip was North-west to Bell Rock Island, then we turned due north and went across the river over the rapids and then inland for about 10 miles then circling around the fort, we went back to the landing field. The trip was 35 minutes in the air. While up, I took 10 snaps. Every one of them was perfect. I kept several myself. We returned to the hotel at 14:30 and had dinner. I went home at 15:00 and developed the negatives that I took from the air. Norman came in after supper and spent the evening. We discussed the plane ride most of the time. The ladies were enthusiastic over it and seemed to more than enjoy it. The plane sure is dandy and it is very comfortable.
Monday, Feb 11 Temp - 31
This morning was very cloudy so no plane trip. It went on to Resolution then returned to Waterways. Nona spent the day at Mrs. Lyalls. I worked on the DR's and finished off some letters to Ottawa. After supper we went to Godsells. Callaghan and Jim Woods were there and we played cards till 01:00.
Tuesday, Feb 12 Temp -9
I slept till 10:00 then helped clean the house till time to go to work. Nona went over to the school then went to spend the rest of the afternoon with Mrs Conibear until I came home. We were invited to Mrs Leggo's whist drive this evening and went about 21:00. I had very good luck myself coming out with a total of about 1600 points up. We got home at 02:00.
Wednesday, Feb 13 Temp -19
I slept till 09:30 and was late for work today. The weather turned quite warm today and it was a good change. I worked all day on the Resolution ledgers but they are still in a bad mess. The gang at Resolution did nothing at all on them last summer and when they brought them down to Smith they left out or lost about half of the vouchers. I have been busy for a couple of months trying to trace things that came in last summer. Bill Schaffeur came up this evening and 21:00 and stayed till 01:30.
Thursday, Feb 14 Temp -20
I worked on the DR's most of the morning then finished the day on the Resolution ledgers. No one came up this evening so we went to bed early.
Friday, Feb 15 Temp -35
Our warm spell didn't last long. It was sure cold this morning when I got up. The fires had been left on low on account of the heat last night. I nearly froze this morning. The house was still so cold that we couldn't sit down long enough to eat. The plane was due at 02:00 and word was sent over for us to meet it for the ride. It was to have landed at the new field behind the house on the sloughs. Everybody in town was over to see it, but he circled around for a while then flew o down to the river. We went down as fast as we could go but it took an hour to get there. It was so cold that the oil tank froze on them just after they landed. They started the engine a few minutes after they landed and the tank burst. The trip was off again so I returned to the station and relieved Lanouette at the Key till 16:30.Mr Hugh Conn, Chief inspector of the HBC and Bonnycastle, District manager for the Eastern Arctic and Norman came up and spent the evening. Shortly after they came in, Bert Edge came in. We had a few rubbers of bridge, Conn and I vrs Bert and Bonnycastle. Conn and I had the short end of the score.They came up to look over my collection of snaps. Bert stayed all night.
Note: As my mill was out of repair and sent to Edmonton about Dec 24, and the notes for this diary were written in pencil to be copied when the mill returned, several sheets have become lost. The next sheet is marked Mar 03 and since this is the 09 of March, I will not try to remember what has gone. I would only get dates and events mixed up. There was little of importance anyway so I will carry on from here.