And it Turned out Nice Again After All

Fall is back again. Within 2 days the snow melted, the sun shone and shone, the trees knew they still had time to show their colors,













and my garden and flower bed weeds are calling me again.














The deck rails are all finished--big deck view.














North side view.














East side view, with Kubota Man.














I finished the alterations for a blog friend from Edmonton: total( not all done today) of 2 jackets to shorten the body and one of them, the sleeves, 3 skirts to shorten, and 1 pair of pants to take in and shorten. She'll be happy they're done.

Today we went on an annual "date" to the nearby village of Andrew, Alberta, about 70 miles NE of Edmonton, 13 miles from our place. This is significant for many reasons which I am about to reveal. I would guess the population of the village might, at best, be 300 people--if we include the agricultural trade area around the village, maybe 500 souls.














Andrew has one of very few remaining grain elevators. In the last 15 years almost all these Prairie Monuments to Agriculture have been demolished in favor of huge concrete silos to which farmers have to travel farther to deliver their grain. The Andrew Historical Society has purchased the elevator and is operating it as a museum.














Main Street of the bustling metropolis of Andrew, Alberta.














Andrew's symbol is the Mallard Duck. This is the largest mallard duck in the world.














Since the area around Andrew was first settled by Ukrainian and Romanian pioneers, and whose culinary arts depended heavily on garlic and other members of the allium family, there is an annual GARLIC FESTIVAL. This is an autumn celebration with a wonderful array of activities. We were welcomed to the arena by these citizens:




























There is a farmers' market, where we forget the "Sensible Eating Plan" and buy ourselves home-baked treats.














And a bench show, where Kubota Man, myself and another guest are the judges. The entries in the bench show have to be fall-oriented, and garlic has to be incorporated into each design.

The winner of the Novelty category, Junior level. That magazine in the side of the chair is a 1946 Eaton's Catalogue.














Scarecrow Category: Junior level.















Three Heads of Garlic-Seniors level. (I don't know what I did to activate the underline feature).















Novelty Category, senior level--this is a misshapen kohlrabi, with chains of garlic cloves connected for legs. That one got a lot of chuckles.















And the evening ended with a wonderful buffet of garlic-flavored and traditional Ukrainian dishes: Beets and mushrooms with garlic, Garlic Roast Beef, Garlic Meat Balls, Green beans with garlic, pickled garlic, Navy bean porridge with garlic (my favorite), Holubtsi (tiny sour cabbage rolls), Headcheese (laced with garlic), Nachynka (cornmeal porridge), salads, and a big bowl of crushed garlic to spread on the bread (I passed on this one, as I didn't want to sit by myself at church tomorrow), and for dessert: pumpkin cheesecake and lemon squares.














This wonderful meal was followed by a dance with a talented Ukrainian band. But, alas and alack, the only "downer" of the wonderful weekend is that Kubota Man does not like to dance, and for the first time we hardly knew anyone there so he couldn't visit, and I love to dance, but we went home early. So, in consolation, I went downstairs, uploaded pictures and blogged, which can sometimes be considered better than dancing--definitely better than moping about 44 years of dance-deprivation (that's my only major complaint about the old boy).

Till next time: Each day provides its own gifts. (Marshal)