My winter supply of Nutrience dog food came ashore off our second and last re-supply ship of the year. I off loaded this before a long run.

There’s a sand spit called Walrus Bay not far from home that makes for a good run. The walrus colony was hunted and eaten yonks ago. I ran for two hours sometimes jumping or running through streams still gushing into the sea.

Before the ship set sail I packed the 9.5 kg of fur I’d collected from grooming my dogs this summer. The ship took it to Denmark. From there it was trucked to Yorkshire in England where it was spun into wool to make snazzy garment trim.

Before the standpipe water was turned off I decided to fill all my Harcostar Drums with 500 litres of water.

We get about 20 cruise ships land here a summer. The captains have to get permission and once granted their passengers are allowed ashore but only for four hours. Some passenger numbers can double the population of Ittoqqortoormiit and it feels and looks very strange to see so many people here.

I get asked a lot of questions and try to answer them the best I can. Some questions are predictable, others unforgettable. An American asked me from a crowd why the church flag was at half- mast. I said a hunter had drowned. The American asked about the family and I said a little girl is now orphaned to which the American said, “us cruise ship passengers should pool some money to take the kid away and give her a life”. I stood there speechless and appalled. And so did the crowd.

One very sweet old cruise-ship visitor came and spoke to me for ages. She couldn’t walk very well so one by one I bought friendly and handsome Mikkey, Mettle and Frank out for her to stroke. I liked her questions about what makes a lead dog and how the dynamics of running a dog team works. I wish I could remember the woman’s name but I can’t. She loved dogs and over 50 years ago she said she very nearly answered an advert from London Zoo who was wanting to sell Greenland Dogs.

The last question I was asked this year was from an elderly German gentleman. He pointed to one of my dogs and asked, “Vat is his name?” I paused and thought for a moment thinking should I or shouldn’t I. I said it, “Panzer”. The German stormed off.

The German Panzer tank is synonymous with blitzkrieg (lightning war). It was a feared Nazi tactic based on speed and surprise. It hit brutally hard without stopping, creating mayhem and terror. For a while Hitler used the tactic to devastating effect. To me a dog’s name describes its characteristics or the way it looks. But just to be sure I asked Panzer what he thought about all this. He likes his name. It stays.

Good job the German gentleman wasn’t pointing to my neighbour’s lone dog. That dog is called Adolf. I’m not making this up.

Visitors’ behaviour can be so odd. No, rude. Some people walk into houses without invitation to photograph the interior. What are these people thinking of when they do this? What I do know is, sometimes there’s an air that they’re here to witness a living museum. I always think it’s a credit to all locals that such behaviour is on the whole ignored. I live here and the atmosphere is very good-natured and gentle, people are kind and they smile a lot. Would you do the same if someone came up to your house and started taking pictures of what’s going on inside without you knowing?

We hadn’t been without snow all year and by September winter was really beginning to clench its fists hard. By the end of the month came winter’s first spectacular showing of the northern lights and everything began to freeze.

We’d had snow patches all summer and fresh falls just simply filled in any gaps. Kids cycled up and down the frozen river and there were a few crashes. My dogs began biting at snowflakes as if bothered by flies.

With the onset of winter the winds returned and our days became darker and darker.