Tuesday, October 3rd - summer is still trying to hang on a little

In spite of a very chilly day yesterday, the rest of the week is meant to get warmer as it goes by, maybe almost 20 by the end of it. We'll take it!

It was a very busy week. All efforts focused on preparing things for our first 'Farm Day in the City'.  Our plan was to pass out samples of various items we might include on a catered menu. We saw on the news last night that there were approximately 15,000 people who passed through the event over the course of 6 hours, from 11 to 5.

Getting set up

Of course, it helped that there was a VERY large cruise ship that docked early that morning so that added at least another 4,000 people to the mix. The fact that it was a sunny and mild day helped tremendously to bring people out.  And what a great event for all those tourists to experience.

Our day started very early, and we were on the road shortly after 8:00. There were a few challenges along the wa,y and while setting up, but we managed to overcome them.

We were located at the corner of King Street and Queen Street. Once we got there and unloaded the car and truck, it was time to get busy setting up our booth. We had brought straw bales and corn stalks for decorating and all the supplies we would need to serve our food.


Our menu included:

• BBQ pulled pork on a lightly toasted baguette slice
• Buckaroo Baked Beans
• Savoury Phyllo Tarts with cream cheese and red pepper jelly
• Lemon glazed shortbread cookies
• Chocolate chip cookies
• Mini apple tarts topped with whipped cream

Besides the food, we also had a draw for a small gift basket that contained a jar of honey, a jar of raspberry blueberry jam and a dozen short bread cookies.

We had a limited quantity of honey and jams for sale and we sold out, all except one jar of jam.
We also had a power point presentation that looped around and played all day, telling our story.

We probably had close to 1500 pieces/servings and it was all gone. We received a lot of great feedback from folks so that was good. Several people asked for more information on our services so we may get some calls. In fact, one lady loved our beans so much, she emailed us and asked if she could buy some. Then she also asked about a date next summer for her nephews wedding. He lives in Toronto but is getting married here on the island. We could become very busy.

All in all it was a really great day. Of course, Meghan and Brenda saved the day. I'd forgotten to bring anything to fill out the ballots for our draw. We had ballots and a ballot box but no pens or pencils. A short text to Brenda and within a very short time Meghan arrived with pens. A little while later Brenda arrived with more. They brought us coffees and Brenda was still there to help pack up. I could not ask for better friends.

I was a little sad that Tristen had too much going on to be able to come out as planned. I think he would have enjoyed the day, but maybe next year.  Our baby is growing up and has a life of his own!

 Lloyd finished up my storage shelves in the garage. It's a really functional space. It was meant to be painted but I just wanted to get things put away. The clutter was making me slightly crazy. Since it's a space few will ever see anyway, I opted to just go ahead and fill it up yesterday. And fill it up I did. Now things are super organized and I have space for more equipment that's arriving later this week. We've ordered 3 more chafing dishes and 2 hot boxes. We don't know for sure if we're getting the job we submitted a proposal for last week, but even if we don't, they were things we are going to need going forward.

Things are a little quieter this week so we're taking advantage of the chance to get some work done around the place before winter gets here. Lloyd worked yesterday at gutting the barn. All the goat and chicken pens are gone and now it just needs to have the old bedding taken out. It will be a great storage space for the winter for lawn tractors, motorcycles, etc.

Later this week when the weather is warmer, I may get to cut the grass one more time. But who knows. Everything is still so green, and all the leaves are still on the trees, with very few of them having changed colour yet. It's hard to imagine that in a few weeks, we'll be into November and snow will be on the way. I know we've just gotten into October but the time seems to really fly this time of year.

This week I felt a certain sense of permanence for probably the first time in my life. I've moved around so much both as a child and as an adult and believe it or not, the 8 1/2 years I've lived here has been the longest I've ever lived in one place in my entire life. My friend Sharyn has a couple of us over to her house on Sunday evenings to knit, or do whatever crafty item we're working on, but mostly just to sit around and chat. This Sunday she had to cancel as it was her mother-in-laws 87th birthday.   Then is struck me, that I remember when Anna turned 80.  I really felt settled in one place for the first time ever. So, thank you PEI.