Wine, Food and Tall Ships

I am still running in arrears here. I got distracted by the floods out west. I have friends and family out there in the midst of all that mess so it's hard for me to tear myself away from the TV.  It all makes me very grateful that the catastrophe we suffered here years ago was just an Ice Storm.  I know that was really hard on some people, but at least we all still had our homes and the stuff in them by the time it was over. My heart goes out to all those in the flood zone.

Now to catch up.

Last Saturday we went to the Brockville for the 1000 Islands Wine and Food Festival. This is the third time I've been to that, but it if had been the first time, I doubt we would have ever gone again. I mentioned to one of the vendors that there didn't seem to be as much this year.  She said that that might be because of the date change.  They decided they wanted it to be the same day as the Tall Ships were in town, and when they changed the date, some of the vendors said they were already booked to be somewhere else. Oh, there was lots of wine, but only a few food places and we always enjoyed sampling so many different things in the past.  We did discover the Barley Mow had the best pulled pork sandwiches I've ever tasted so far though. We also took part in another cheese tasting. This one was put on by the Dairy Farmers of Canada.  It was the third time we have taken part in such an event, and we always discover some cheese we have never tasted before that we will definitely be looking for to buy in the future. This year it was the Boursin with Pepper from Fromagerie Bel Montreal, Quebec.  That stuff was so fantastic, I even managed to get another piece of it off one of the spare plates that had been set out.  I have since been instructed, by a chef I know, on a great way to serve it to guests, and when I get my hands on some, I just might have to have some company.

People had been told to park at the Municipal Complex where the Wine and Food Show was, and to take the shuttle bus down to see the Tall Ships.  But the line up was so long for the buses, that hubby decided we would drive down town and see if we could find parking anyway. We lucked out and found a spot just four blocks from some of the ships.  We didn't buy passports to go on board, which was just as well, as those line ups were long too. So while people stood in line and waited to board one boat or another, we walked all over the parkland and got to see them all.  I'm sure the folks in the line ups never got on half of them.  The weather was perfect that day, though I know
some people who went the next day, when it was raining still enjoyed it.  Apparently some of the ships even took people for a 90 minute sail, but those were booked up well in advance, as were the dinner cruises.  We had a really great day.

 I think the lady here is telling the children about the gun, but if you just look at the young soldier, you might think he has other intentions.



Basically, I've only worked my way through half of the photos I took that day so I'm sure I have one I will probably wish I had been able to show you . 

Life just gets in the way sometimes.