A very tiring weekend .... but lots of FUN!

Conditions at 10:00 am - 20* Expected later - 24* and variably cloudy The weekend got off to a pleasant start with dinner on Friday night with the VanGaals and the Andersons. An evening filled with great wine, great food and great friends. I worked on Friday but it wa s a pretty quiet day as most of the department was out on vacation, and Tracey even sent out an email at 3:28 telling us all to go home, unfortunately I didn't read it till almost 3:45 so I lost out a little but it was still great to get off that few minutes early. When everyone got there I had help in making crepes as both Brenda and Daralen tried their hand at it. They both think it might be a good idea to offer cooking classes at Community School in the fall. I'll think about that one. It might be fun. Friday was Lloyd's last day here and he was leaving on Saturday. I had to be in Souris by 8:00 for the village feast, so a quick coffee and some last minute instructions before I left was all the time we ha d on Saturday. As I was driving to Souris, the sun was shining, the temperature was climbing and there was no traffic. The scenery along the way was beautiful and I thought to myself, how ve ry lucky I am to be able to call this place 'home'. When I got to the Arena in Souris, there was no one there but a military truck (for cooking the chowder) the cuisine machine (a large truck like vehicle with a fully equipped kitchen inside ) and one othervolunteer. Approximately 10 minutes later Chef Michael arrived and soon everyone else who helped setting up tables and chairs (for 1,000) and v arious other decorating functions. Then after lunch (pizza cooked in the cuisine machine) we had a little time to sit and relax before people started arriving around 3:00, even though we weren't going to begin serving until 4:00. arrived and began to organize things. People and trucks started arriving and what was an empty sports field when I arrived was gradually transformed into a spectacular dining space. I took lots of pictures during the day and there WILL be a scrapbook of the event coming soon. There were a couple of added features this year. One was a huge copper oven that was used to bake bread right on site in the field brought in by Speerville Organic Flours from New Brunswick, and Fortune organics supplied salad. When meal time came I was fortunate to be given a post on the plating line. We had four lines, depending on how you wanted your steak - Medium Rare, Medium, Medium Well and Burnt! I was in the burnt line. I was teamed up with two other really interesting folks. Angela, who is the wife of a chef who came in from Hamilton, ON, and Dennis, who is a local fellow. There were several chefs "from a way" - from Halifax, Ontario, Calgary, Winnipeg and BC. Many of them had been with Chef Michael at the Olympics.After everyone was fed, the crew came to get their meals, then it was time to tear it down. I was amazed at just how quickly everything came together. We were done serving at 7:00 and by 8:35 we left. Some of the guys were still there loading chairs and tables into trucks but they were going to various places so I thought it best to stay out of that one. Besides there were lots of other things to do. After it was over, the volunteers were invited to join Chef Michael at his house for a beer. I went for a short time, only staying for about an hour as it had been a long day and I was pretty tired. I also had a bit of a drive ahead of me, about 45 minutes. When I got home I fell into bed, and had a great sleep. It had been an all round great day! Sunday morning I got up, got a bit organized, did a few things around the house, then made a list of what still needed to be done. I'm a big list person. I tend to forget things if they are not written down on a list and there's also something psychologically satisfying each time you cross something off that list. Lloyd called in the morning to tell me he had arrived in Guelph around 8:00 am - just in time to go for breakfast with the guys from the airport - a coincidence? I think not! In the afternoon I went into town when I realized I didn't have enough pillows for the number of people coming to visit. When I got back, I was quite tired, still a bit fatigued from Saturday in the sun all day. So, I was sitting on the couch, watching TV and doing absolutely nothing, when Brenda called to see if I was interested in going in to see Circ de Soleil. So I dragged my sorry butt off the couch, had a shower and away we went. We picked up our tickets and wrist bands at the waterfront, then headed to Victoria Row to find something to eat. (I hadn't eaten yet and Brenda had butterscotch pie for supper - we think alike!)We ordered the jambalaya, and it was okay but not as good as we might have expected. I thought the presentation was a BIT lacking and we had to ask for bread, which wasn't bread, it was a warm pita, AND it didn't arrive until we were all done eating. Next time we'll try somewhere else, I suspect. Not that we're that picky, but we do have our standards! We then headed over to Great George Street to watch the performers parade down to the show area. As the parade passed, we filed in behind to make our way down to the show. It was quite packed and standing room only, so I was glad it didn't last any longer than it did, as my feet were getting sore standing. Meghan (1) and her friends were at the Old Triangle so we walked over there and joined them outside on the patio for a beer. It was a truly spectacular night, weather wise. It was still 24* at midnight when we got home. Needless to say I slept in this morning!

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