Monday, October 15th - very bizarre weather

This morning it's a rainy 9' but we're heading for a high of 18' that will feel like 22' later today, with even warmer temperatures forecast for the next couple of days. Saturday morning we woke up to our first ------ snow! Not a lot, mind you, at our place but some spots got quite a bit by comparison.  We just had little patches but on my way into work, about halfway into town, the roofs were completely white and the grass was covered.

The sun had come out so it was melting quickly but it was just not something we were expecting - none of the weather forecasts mentioned the   'S' word! 

There was certainly no inkling when we left town late on Friday night.  After work, I met Lloyd, Brenda and Bernie at the Gahan House for supper. Remember the Burger Love compaign in the spring?

Well, the pork producers have gotten on that bandwagon and declared October as 'Porktoberfest' month. Various restaurants around the city are featuring gourmet sausages on a bun. We thought it only right that we should check it out. So we chose the Gahan as our first sample. Once we were all seated and enjoying a beer we decided it would be most prudent to order one sausage per couple. That would allow us to split it, then go somewhere else for a second sample! It is, after all, half way through the month, so time is of the essence here.

We really enjoyed the first sausage.

Once we finished up there, we wandered over to the Blow Out Sale at the Civic Centre. A little shopping  worked up our appetite for sausage # 2 at the Redwater Grill,  at the Holman Grand Hotel. We chose this particular one for our second sample because
a) it sounded good and
b) we'd never been to that particular restaurant before.
It was good but not as good as the first one, so the Gahan is still the one to beat, in our books anyway.

What was interesting about the Redwater Grill, was the dessert.We ordered the Chocolate Pate but it came with a beet sauce. Certainly unexpected and I can't say the flavour combination totally worked for me but some of the others liked it.

Sunday was cool at  3' in the morning, so it was time to fire up the wood stove for the first time this season. Our chimney guy had arrived on Saturday to clean it so we were all ready to go. It was nice to come inside to a warm fire after being out in the cold. Lloyd had worked all day Saturday on cutting the pieces for the trusses, and finished up the last of the cuts on Sunday. Now he's ready to start joining all those pieces together.  That should go much faster. Then it will be time to put them up and cover them and we should be good for the winter. But one step at a time.

Sunday afternoon Brenda and Bernie came over for supper - something we haven't done in a while. We had Butternut Squash Risotto, made with butternut squash I grew myself, herb crusted rack of lamb and brocolli in cheese sauce. Everything turned out well and it seems to have been enjoyed by all. Good food, good wine and great friends -does it get any better? I don't think so.