Long time no see!

I have to confess to being guilty of not keeping up  my information.  It was a pretty busy summer and I can't believe we are now into October.

After spending most weekends at highland games, things have finally settled down a little. After competing all summer, Tristen tied with another piper for the award of Champion Supreme in the Grade 5 under 18 category.  His award will be presented at a special ceremony in Kingston at the Royal Military College.  The governing body is the PPBSO, aka Piper and Pipe Band Society of Ontario. This year marks their 75th anniversary so it's part of the celebrations.  We're looking forward to our weekend in Kingston the weekend of October 22nd. Photos to follow later this month.

September was a little quieter although I did spend a couple of weekends up in Kincardine helping my friend Kay close up their trailer.  Her husband had surgery and is now in a rehab facility recovering from leg surgery, until he an come home again, so she and I managed to get everything done before the snow arrives.

Me with a chain saw - a very scary sight!

Tristen and I attempted to go to Edinburgh, Scotland with Patti for a 48 hour layover. Unfortunately we were flying out the Saturday before the Queen's funeral and we didn't get on. We are hoping to give it another shot this coming weekend. I have no problem spending Thanksgiving in Scotland. In fact I'm planning to spend another few days there after Patti and Tristen leave. I loved the city the last time I was there and look forward to exploring it more.  I'm staying at hostels, which are a very budget friendly way to travel.

As I write this I'm also watching Compass from PEI on my Roku TV. I get the program at 5:00 here, live from the island. It is now day 11 after hurricane Fiona roared through the place.  The devestation that I'm seeing is gut wrenching. My friends in Fort Augustus finally have power back on but some areas may not get it back until Sunday, which will be 16 days post storm.  Those of us here in upper Canada have no concept of what it's like, although we were there in 2019 for Dorian, but it was nothing like this.

It's not going to look like the same island next time I visit. It's going to take a long time to recover from this.

Friday, August 19th - where has the summer gone?

I know it's not quite over yet but the fall is quickly approaching.

I had my chrome book with me on the island but it quit part way through my trip. When I got home, of course, it worked fine. Guess it thought it was on vacation as well.

Carle and I finished up her time on the island and she flew home on the Friday. I stayed at the VanGaals until Tuesday. They were away on Saturday so I had the house to myself. Sunday was a fairly quiet day and Monday was a busy one. Brenda's brothers and their families were coming over for supper so we were out early picking strawberries, then into town to do the shopping then back home to prep. It was great to work together, just the two of us. Just like old times. We had everything ready by the time the guests arrived. By all accounts, everyone enjoyed themselves.

We had gone to the movies on Sunday night and I stayed an extra day so we could go and see another one on Tuesday night. 

Then on Wednesday morning, I hit the road, headed for Edmundston, NB. Ironically my friend Nancy was also in town that night, on her way to Halifax, but we didn't try to connect. Lots of time for that later.

I spent a lovely evening camping in the same spot as last year. I had picked up a small one person tent and it was more than adequate.

Next morning I headed out to Cornwall, ON to meet up with Patti and Tristen. We were all going to the Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville. But there's really no place to stay in Maxville, so the band had a block of rooms rented in Cornwall. It's only about a half hour drive so not too bad.

I was stewarding on Friday and Tristen was competing on Saturday. I'd connected with my ex brother in law last year and when they heard I was coming through the area I was told I had to come and stay over. Mike and Cathy actually ended up coming to the games on Saturday. They seemed to enjoy themselves and it was a great day. Patti and Mike hadn't seen each other in probably at least 30 years so it was nice for them to catch up.

Apparently the beer tent was a lot of fun!

Patti and Tristen left after the games on Saturday and I spent a couple of nights with Mike and Cathy. They have a gorgeous house on the water.

 

I arrived home on holiday Monday. 

A bit of a breather before the Fergus Highland games, and what games they were!

Fergus Highland Games - part 1)   It was a crazy busy weekend starting with the parade down the main street of Fergus on Thursday evening. James just happened to be home from Borden, on vacation, and just happened to have his pipes with him. So after a mad scramble to find him a kilt, he was asked to play in the parade so it was pretty special to have both boys playing at the same time. Not something that's happened before. After the parade the bands congregated at the legion for hot dogs and beer. My friend Carle had come with me so we didn't stay that late, but it was still after 10:00 by the time we got back to Kitchener.

Fergus Highland Games part 2)    Friday was the opening ceremonies but we had to be there a little early as Tristen was one of the pipers playing at the main gate as people came in. And boy did they come! The crowds were huge all weekend long.

Patti had brought some food and we met up with John and Sarah and had a picnic. We'd all brought our own lawn chairs. I had a special little bottle of wine that Brenda had given me before I left and I saved it for a special occassion. This was it!

After eating it was time for the opening ceremonies and the first of several mass bands. Because he did such a great job the night before, James was conscripted to play again.

The festivities continued until well in to the evening. The high light of the night was a band from Scotland named Red Hot Chili Pipers. They are basically a rock band with drums, guitars and bagpipes. Strangely it works really well, at least for an old rock and roll fan like myself. Check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbY8eNkaW4k

I would have liked to stay to the end but I had to be back in Fergus again by 8:00 the next morning. 

Fergus Highland Games - day 3)  It was anothet beautiful day, although it started out a bit chilly. When Patti arrived around 9:30 I texted her to bring me a coffee or tea, if nothing else, to warm up my fingers. 

When my class was done, we met up with John and Sarah to watch the mass band. 

Tristen has been competing all summer long for first place with one other young piper. In order to tie for the honour of Champion Supreme, he needed to place first in Fergus. And he did! 
He was pretty pleased with his results. 

Tristen with his first place medal

It was a very busy place, and we learned later that there were 27,000 people over the weekend. We had brought our own food on Friday but not on Saturday. In retrospect, we should have brought our picnic on Saturday instead as the food truck line up were very long.

We spend an enjoyable afternoon and it was an earlier night than the previous two,

Fergus Highland Games - day 4)    Patti and James and I were planning to go camping after the first mass band on Sunday so we brought all our stuff with us and planned to leave from there. James had returned to Borden to play soccer and was going to meet us at the park in Port Severn.

 We started our morning in the tea tent, with a choice of teas, scones, jams and of course, clotted cream, YUMMM.  From where we sat in the tent, we were able to watch the mass band. When it finished we spent some time checking out the vendors. There was one who specialized in Outlander products so I splurged and bought myself an Outlander hoodie. 

Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series was in attendance but all events were sold out.  John and Sarah went into the main building and John saw that one of the panel discussions was just about to start. He went over and asked if by chance there were any more tickets and to his surprise, someone had turned in 4, that they weren't going to use. Bonus. So we had the pleasure of hearing her as well as Duncan LaCroix, who plays Murtagh on the TV series. 

Some of the boys saw Duncan watching the mass band so they took off running across the field as soon as it was over. They caught up with Duncan and got photos with him as well as some great conversation. He said he'd seen the Guelph band play and asked Tristen if he was part of the Spirit band. When he replied yes, Duncan said that for a bunch of very young people, they played very well. Tristen was pretty proud to hear that come from a celebrity!

Then we were off to hear a band play that we'd heard on Thursday night. They were from Brazil but had a definite Irish feel to their music.  A very entertaining way to pass some of the afternoon. So much for our leaving early!

Once the last mass band was finished, we made our way to the parking lot and off to go camping!

It was going to be nice to just relax for a few days.

Saturday, July 16th - PEI day 5

 Once again it was a really full day.

After breakfast at the hotel, we ventured out to see some of the sights. I'd been all of these places but they were new to Carle.

First stop was The Bottle houses in Wellington. It's really quite a unique sight to see, buildings made entirely of every imaginable kind of bottle or glass container.

 

The gardens around the glass houses are beautiful.

We left there and headed to Victoria by the sea. My GPS must have thought I meant another Victoria because before I knew it, I was on the road to cross the bridge! Yikes, not my plan.

 A quick U-turn brought us into Gateway Village. I've never actually been there so we took the opportuntity to stop and browse, and grab a bit of lunch.From there, it was once again off to Victoria. I at least know the way there from Borden, so this time I didn't need the GPS. 

We did the usual tour through the village and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't too busy. I fully expected it would be crazy.

By now it was getting later in the day. We had originally thought we might go to the beach but we'll save that for another day. 

A quick stop at the grocery store in Cornwall on our way back and just rest and relaxation (and a little wine) for the rest of the evening!

Friday, July 15th - PEI day 4...

...and what a day it was. 

I received a call on Thursday morning from a number I didn't recognize. I almost didn't answer it, but it was a 902 number. Turns out it was the Inn at Bay Fortune. I had checked with them a while back about the Fire Feast but they were booked up all summer. I put my name on a waiting list and prompty forgot about it.

They were calling to advise they had a cancellation for Friday, and was I still interested? Seriously? What a question! Of course I was interested.

So after breakfast, we toured around the immediate area a little bit - Cows, Meyer, How Bizarre, etc. Then it was over to the Mission Thrift Store and then the mall. 

We needed a photo to share with the store at home

 By this time, we could head up to east point. 

A stop in St. Peter's to poke around the little shops there, and an ice cream of course. Next stop, the East Point light house.

By the time we finished up there, we had just enough time to get back down to The Inn in time for the farm tour, that started at 4:00. It drizzled slightly on our way there and was overcast, but by the time we arrived, the sun was shining and it was a lovely afternoon.

We got a drink and headed out on the tour of the gardens and farm areas. It's expanded quite a bit since I was last there. It really is something to see.

After a very detailed account of what goes on to produce all the ingredients for the kitchen, we headed down what was known as the pot and pan trail, through the woods. The trees are loaded down with old pots and pans, hence the name.

Along the way are piles of oyster shells, some from previous years. They keep track each year of how many oysters get shucked over the summer. This year's total was a little over 19,000 so far and the hope was that we could beat 20,000 before the day was through.

When we came out of the woods, we were taken over to see the resident pigs. What a very happy group they were, just lounging in the mud.

Upon leaving the farm area, we came to a clearing and were greeted by Chef Michael, himself. He spoke about their goals and purpose and acknowledged the hard working staff. 

Our first treat was oysters grilled over hot coals. They were delicious. Then it was up a little hill to the oyster station. This was Carle's first ever raw oyster and Chef shucked it specially for her.  He even gave her a little sticker that dated and signed that it was her first oyster. She liked the oyster and went back for several more.

I, on the other hand, needed no coaxing! I lost track of how many I had but there were other options out there to sample as well.

(apparently, we exceeded the 20,000 mark by the end of the day. 

The goal is 60,000 by the end of the summer)

The next station was maple smoked salmon on a house made cracker.

Following that were grilled chicken livers, in a maple bourbon glaze with chili salt - absolutely delicious.

Next stop was the taco stand. The Inn is experimenting with making various hot sauces with a variety of peppers they produce. It was up to the individual to decide which sauce to try. I confess to trying several and they were all good, some much hotter than others.

From there, it was back out to the front of the Inn, where we all congregated to drink a toast with some bubbly, together. As we waited for everyone to gather, we used that opportunity to get Chef Michael to autograph Carle's cookbook, she had bought inside. 

Once the toast was done, we headed inside.

Our names were on cards on the table and were easy to find.

We were sat across from a really nice couple, celebrating her birthday. Turns out they live in Cambridge and he's a WRPS officer. Small world!

We started out with the Bread tree. A small loaf of bread made with RedFife, Acadian and Spelt flours, was accompanied by 3 spreads: Maple brown butter, Smokehouse pate, featuring last years pigs, and a house made fresh cheese.

Next, Chowder on a beach, crafted with island shellfish - bar clams, lobster, mussels, scallops, and chunks of fresh halibut. Simmered in a halibut broth, then finished with a little cream, and letting the starch from the potatoes thicken it slightly, while a variety of sea vegetables add that brininess. ( which I apparently forgot to take a photo of)  Delicious.

Next: The culinary farm. This was a really interesting presentation . We were each presented with an "Earth Plate" comprised of a  root puree trio - Ash baked beet, smoked parsnip and roasted carrot, lentil sprouts, seedy soil and today's forage.

  Then there was a bowl of greens to share and add to our plate. In this bowl there was herbs, shoots, stocks, stems, leaves, buds, fruits, flowers, and grains, combined with a house made vinegraite. The idea was to take a portion of greens and add them to your plate. The whole thing combined was magic!

.

Following the salad, was the main course, from Land and Sea.

We had both opted for the catch of the day, which was farmed New Brunswick Arctic Char with emulsified lobster essence. It was accompanied with Irish cobbler potato, snap peas, bok choy, radish, kale, garlic scapes, parsnip and tokyo turnip 

The meat option was Smoked island beef brisket and wood grilled flat iron steak. When everyone had been served, there was some of the beef left over so they came around with pieces for anyone who wanted to try it. It was all equally delicious!

Next we had what was called a Harvest Share. Cauliflower, with a blue cheese aioli, leek oil and lilac and elderflower sugar. It was all pretty amazing. Not something you would ever have the opportunity to try somewhere else.

Last but not least was Dessert. A strawberry and rose mousse atop a chiffon cake, garnished with anise hysop mousse, sour strawberry and rose gel, rye cookie, milk meringue and strawberry sorbet. 

During dessert our dining companion was surprised with sparklers to celebrate her birthday. 

All in all it had been quite a wonderful evening. It was even more wonderful when I went to pay the bill and someone, unbeknownst to me, had phoned in and paid a hefty portion of it. I will deal with them later!

After dinner, we were invited outside to the bonfire for homemade marshmallows. We each tried one, and then left as it was getting late. It was almost 9:30 and we had arrived at 4:00. 

A really lovely afternoon/evening, one I won't forget for a very long time and I'm sure Carle won't either. She had no idea what she was in for. She thought we were just going to a restaurant for dinner!