As seein 'on to' the road....

The sign is up, the supper is coming, mark your calendars:

Conquerall Bank Fire Department
Planked Halibut Supper
Aug. 24

Be there.

Got the blues?

Blueberries, to be exact...

If you happen to see old men and other random locals hanging about in ditches and elsewhere along the roads these days, don't worry! They're not disposing of evidence, they are picking blueberries:




Now, if only I could persuade one of them to let me take their picture....

Photo by baroing.

Blast from the Past--New Cumberland Truck Tractor

New Cumberland, NS

This 'ole gem got hauled away shortly after I took these shots, glad I stopped to capture them!

Upcoming events this weekend

Greenfield Fire Department Planked Salmon Supper
Sat., July 26
Greenfield, NS

Hwy 210
Rain or shine
4-7 pm
$12
Advance info: 685-3060
Info day of supper: 685-2174

Check out my review from last year, I'm fairly confident that the menu will not have changed. In fact, if it has, there'll be hell to pay.

Be prepared for a bit of a wait before you get in. The guy in the ticket booth usually makes up for it with funny comments over the bull horn/speaker.

Here's a tip, don't sweat to the oldies inside the hall. Stake your claim to some of the picnic tables across the road in front of the fire hall, and eat beside the relaxing river in the shade as you sip your Mickey Dee's orange drink....ah, bliss.

Also worth checking out this weekend:

Fireman's Breakfast
Sat. July 26th
United Communities Hall
Cherry Hill, NS
8-11 am

Well worth the drive down 'the shore'.

The Islands burns

July 19, 2008

After experiencing the "grand re-enactment" celebrations on the waterfront in Shelburne, I was blessed with this nice 'figure 8' brake burn en route to The Islands Provincial Park:






I missed capturing an incredible set of doughnuts on highway 103 near Liverpool, too bad! I will try to snap a shot of them later on this summer.

Guest Reviews: Berry Burst Luncheon

Trinity United (Rose Bay) Unit 2
Berry Burst Salad Luncheon
July 16, 2008




Menu: turkey salad, potato salad, cranberry jello, salad vegetables, home-made roll, choice of blueberry or strawberry shortcake, and juice.
Price $8.00.

As expected, frozen berries in the shortcake and small scoops of the salads....too bad it wasn't as good as the previous luncheon. Still, I enjoyed mine!

Here is KT's take on the luncheon:

Being an adult with a discerning palette I decided to start with the Strawberry Shortcake. Big mistake – I should have listened to Baroing as he clearly stated his displeasure last year with the soggy cakes. Quite a disappointment to be eating frozen strawberries – especially this time of year!

Thankfully the main part of the lunch made up for what was clearly lacking in my shortcake. The lunch consisted of a turkey salad, two generous helpings of potato salad, a bun, a slice of cheese and a scrumptious offering of cranberry sauce. I for one am a big fan of the cranberry sauce as it offers a nice contrast to the turkey. I immediately began to construct an open sandwich consisting of a large dollop of turkey salad, a nice smearing of cranberry sauce, a piece of very fresh and crisp leaf lettuce and my small offering of cheese. Delightful!

I was a little disappointed that the lunch did not offer up one more bun as I had a lot of turkey salad left over and it just wasn’t the same without my well constructed sandwich. The potato salad was also quite nice. I found that there was just the right amount of crunch and not too much mayonnaise, a nice balance. Perhaps next year they will consider fresh berries and maybe a macaroni salad as opposed to two generous scoops of potato salad.

Next year I’m going with the blueberry shortcake and I’m gonna steal someone else’s buttered bun!

And here is KG's review of the lunch:

Vegetarian Version:

Meat was replaced by a boiled egg and extra sliver of cheese, which was slightly redundant since there was already three scoops of potato salad. I saved the egg for the following day's breakfast because there was so much food I couldn't finish it all. Strawberry shortcake was sweet. :)

Guest Review: Canada Day Supper...or Not?

Strawberry Supper
Baker's Settlement Hall

June 29, 2008

By: KT

Baroing promised that this would be an awesome community supper that would leave your taste buds begging for more… strawberry shortcake. Considering myself a connoisseur of the wickedly wonderful berry, I felt compelled to attend. In fact, I hardly ate all day – saving myself and my appetite for the feast on such a fine day, there was not a cloud in the sky…

The Bridgewater Bulletin listed the supper as follows: June 29^th, 4-6pm. $7.50. Potato salad, scalloped potatoes, baked beans, ham, strawberry shortcakes, strawberry and cream and cakes. There seemed to be a fair amount of focus on the desert portion of the meal… How could I pass up this bountiful offering of strawberry bliss? In fact, we even took Baroing's advice and showed up 20 minutes early. Or so we thought…

The supper didn’t actually start until 4:30pm. When we arrived, there were already several families waiting to attend this supper spectacular. Both of us not really keen on waiting in line decided to go for a drive towards Chelsea. That in the very least would eat up some time… We were both starving at this point, and had even discussed giving up on the community supper and heading back to Lunenburg. I don’t even like ham but to be honest I was saving myself for that strawberry shortcake.

We showed back up at the Fire Hall just shortly before 4:30pm. Already quite a long line up had formed. I would say at the very least 50 people were in front of us. Baroing did warn us, he said that this was a popular community supper and to expect a bit of a wait. I’m all for waiting especially when it comes to shortcake!

The temperature was at the very least in the high 20’s. The air was stagnant and there was hardly a breeze, making it feel more like 40. The sun beat down on all the procrastinators making us wish that we had been more proactive and arrived earlier to avoid standing and waiting like starving fools. The first ones to arrive were already in the hall enjoying their meals. I’d been waiting all day for this supper and should really have eaten more than a handful of piss puffs (ed: rice cake/puffs). But, that is how I rolled… on the ground.

Just as the line started to move again… my girlfriend engages the 2 couples beside us in conversation. Just as Elmer was telling me that he had taught at Centre – I suddenly felt queasy – was it the mention of this crap school that made me feel so odd… I really had no idea… I just knew that I had to sit down and try and collect myself. I staggered over to an empty chair. Sitting down really wasn’t doing much to help the dizzy feeling that washed over me. I decided I needed to get Rosanne so that she could get me the hell out of here… I managed to lift myself off the chair in search of my chatty girlfriend but the tunnel vision was too much to overcome… I staggered back to my safe haven… the chair… but not before I planted my face on this wonderfully grassy knoll… Ahhh the queasy feeling subsided but now I had this throbbing pain on the side that I fell on… I remember is thinking – crap… I am going down in front of all these people that I don’t know… Great! As I lay there in a “Messi” heap all I could think of was, "damn – so much for getting that shortcake."

It was at this point that Rosanne started dosing her GF with cold water and dabbing a cold compress on my neck. Always a trooper in a crisis! A chubby little nurse decided to take me in her arms… I had no idea who she was, it just felt so good to be lying in her plump ole’ lap. Meanwhile, a firefighter was taking my pulse asking me random questions like do you have any serious medical issues? Do you know what day it is? Do you know your name? “Yes,” I replied – “Can I have some shortcake now?”

In the end, never did get my shortcake… Just a nice big goose egg…Next year I think I’ll not skip meals and keep hydrated throughout the day… Might not be a bad idea to show up a bit early too… huh Baroing?

Seriously though, if you ever feel the urge to pass out, a community supper isn’t a bad place to go down – there are all kinds of professionals there to help out… Nurses, firefighters, doctors… take your pick. Or perhaps you’ll be “lucky” like me and have them all look after you.