Horse/Ox pull & Variety Supper--single horse class

Horse/Ox pull--Single horse
Conquerall Mills, NS
June 21, 2008

I look forward to this event every year, and with good reason. An afternoon of free entertainment, followed by an elbow macaroni and ground beef comfort food extravaganza, what's not to love?!

We watched the single horse and medium team horse pulls for about an hour. The air was muggy and thick with the smell of horses, hay, manure and cigarette smoke. Lots of men sporting 'muffin top' bellies in attendance, thank god for belts!

It was interesting to watch the various styles of driving horses. Some guys like to shout, snap the reigns and push on the horses:



One senior teamster simply whistled and the horse did his bidding:






Hehe, that horse looks like it knows it did a good job, eh?

I've worked with both, young/fiery horses and older/calm horses and believe me, slow and steady gets way more accomplished in a day than a young 'hot' horse.

Tomorrow, pictures from the medium class teams. Keep your eyes peeled for 'the kid'.

This is how we deal with problems 'down home'

http://www.southshorenow.ca/newsnow/newsnow3564.php

I've been following this story since I saw the headline in the Bulletin, "Chainsaw chase leads to charges".

Reminds me of fights that break out at the Lounge in Bridgewater, fought with shovels and hammers. Who needs gun control? We need chainsaw, shovel and hammer control! (O_o)

What's on this weekend for suppers

Suppers

June 21
Variety Supper & Horse Pull/Ox Pull
Conquerall Mills Community Hall,
Conquerall Mills, NS
4:30 - 6:00?
Adults $7, Children 5 - 12 $4, Under 5 free.

This is a 'must attend' in the community supper circuit. It is a cavalcade of comfort food, hope you like ground beef and sugar! ^_^ Also, the horse and ox pull that takes place earlier in the afternoon is good fun and a great way to people watch.

June 22, 2008
Strawberry Supper
Conquerall Bank Fire Hall
Conquerall Bank, NS
Baked Beans,Ham,Brown Bread,Cole Slaw & Strawberries
4pm-6pm
$7 Adults, $3 Children, Under 5 free
Wheel Chair Accessible
902-543-1948
cbfdfire@eastlink.ca

I've seen the first batch of strawberries at the local farmer's market, so hopefully they use fresh berries at this one and not frozen! Ask before you buy your tickets!

Breakfasts

June 21
Firemen's Breakfast,
Petite Riviere fire hall,
8 - 11 a.m.
Full menu.
Adults $5.50; under 12, $2.75; under 5 free.
Information call 688-2356

"Bring your appetite!"

June 21 Riverport and District Firemen's Breakfast, 7:30- 11:30 a.m., usual menu, $6.00 adults; $3.00 children 612; children 5 and under free.

For those that don't know, "usual menu" for breakfast includes: eggs, bacon, beans, toast, tea/coffee and assorted goodies on the table like muffins.

Those were the days?

Hemford, NS



I can remember driving past this convenience store thinking "I'd never pay THAT much for gas!"....

Now, paying 87.9 cents/litre for supreme seems like a dream come true. As you can see, the store has long since closed. I'm just glad I got a picture of these old gas prices before the signs were removed!

Books that changed my life

(Jan. 5, '08) Greetings Cool Tools readers! I owe Kevin Kelly for all the traffic this post and link on Cool Tools has garnered over the months.

While here, please check out my pictures of:
brake burns (aka burnouts, brodies, brake stands, etc.)
truck tractors
surfing
and, my church supper/fireman's breakfast/luncheon and tea reviews

Here's the original post, enjoy!:

Inspired by Kevin Kelly's recent blog post about books that changed his life, here is my list:

• Total Loss Farm (and eventually everything by Raymond Mungo)--helped me get in touch with my folks' Back to the Land roots
• Living the Good Life--see above, can't remember which one I read first...inspired me to keep living in the sticks!
• Earth by David Brin--amazing. how come all the sci fi i read is coming true?
• Mother of Storms by John Barnes--see above, it's coming true....made me feel like i knew what was coming...
• Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson--pretty much everything by him as well. it's like he's the voice of my times....made me feel 'at home' in this modern world.
• Forest Primeval by Chris Maser--gave me a new understanding for forest ecology
• Clay's Ark by Octavia E. Butler--what can i say, she is a genius, also expanded my mind when it came to gender
• The Marketplace by Laura Antoniou--shocked me at times, and...you know.
• The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson--made me realize i was not the only weirdo out there
• T.A.Z. and Immediatism by Hakim Bey--One of the first books I read as an adult that really resonated with me politically and socially
• Soft Tech by Co-Evolution Quarterly--because it just made sense!

Canaan Roast Turkey Supper

Canaan, NS
June 08, 2008

Home to one of the cutest lil' churches and church halls on the South Shore, Canaan is at the end of a dead end road off the Windsor Rd..As luck would have it, we ended up following a mini convoy of cars off the 103 highway, all heading to the turkey supper. Apparently we're not the only ones who knew 'it's worth the drive to Canaan'.

We arrived to a full parking lot:



After a brief wait to be served, we received our delicious plates of food! After adding some awesome mustard pickles and bread and butter pickles, we tucked in to our dinner.

I'm not sure why I love carrots cut with those 'zig zag' blades, but I do. Frozen peas, delish. Mashed taters and stuffing were great. My turkey was good, but there were a few dry and tough bits. My nearby diners were complaining their turkey was tough, so I think I got one of the better plates:



Unfortunately, when it came time to order our dessert, they had run out of the rhubarb custard pie which I was dying to try! My coconut cream pie had a weird dried up topping, not sure what was going on there...Lisa's lemon meringue pie wasn't as dayglo yellow as usual, but just as delicious.

Afterwards, we perused the bake sale table, picked up some brownies, delicious molasses cookies and some brown bread. I'm kicking myself for not buying the carrot cake on the table that was only 9 BUCKS!!!

Next time this supper rolls around, I'm stocking up on more baked goods.

Blast from the past: Simpson's Corner 'Fish Hooks'

Simpson's Corner, NS
Hwy. 208

File under "oldie, but a goodie", this set of 'fish hook' burns is pretty creative, looking more like a 'y' than your usual fish hook burns.

Never underestimate a brake burner's ingenuity when provided with a slight incline, an old set of 'puddin' skin tieyahs' and the desire to burn rubber: