Monday, August 5, 2013

We had a good weekend on the Island. We took the first ferry out on Friday morning and, while we waited for the ferry to arrive, we admired some of the horses that took part in the Musical Ride. There were two trailers of horses, possibly three, and we think another trailer was full of tack. No sign of the riders, at least no one in uniform. The horses are beautiful and seemed totally comfortable with the crowd gathered around the open doors of their trailer trucks.

We spent Friday at the Filberg Festival. We were there specifically to see Fred Eaglesmith and Murray McLauchlan, but there were a couple of other acts we wanted to catch and, of course, a chance to see all the arts and crafts. Fred’s bus broke down leaving Victoria so he had a shortened amount of time. He made up for it in his energetic performance. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen him perform, but I’d see him again in a minute!

I was disappointed in the arts and craft vendors. Many were the same as have been there other years, with only a few new ones added in. There is so much jewelery and pottery, neither of which I take much interest in. I was tempted by a booth selling fish (wall art) made from spoons, forks and knives. They were there on Friday but when I went to take another look on Sunday the booth was gone. Just as well I suppose.

Saturday we took a day to explore the Comox region a bit. Our first stop was the Farmer’s Market. There were lots of vendors, all the produce looked good, and we came away with a couple of cinnamon buns. Then we drove out to Campbell River and had a look around. We stopped for lunch at the spot that Peggy and Bill took us to recently. We weren’t very hungry but eating clam chowder on the deck by the ocean was perfect. Next we stopped at Miracle Beach where we sat in the shade and watched the tide come in. Back in Comox we wandered around the Nautical Days event. There were more arts and crafts vendors here, but again lots of jewelery and pottery. We were on hand for the first annual fish toss which was fun to watch but I wouldn’t have wanted to participate! To top off the night we had a lovely dinner at the Kingfisher Resort and Spa – home of the Lavender Tea Martini.

Sunday we were back at the festival where we enjoyed the performance by Murray McLauchlan. His songs are as good as ever, and he tells great stories. The only other performance we caught was Wendy Bird. She is the niece of the fellow who lives across the street. Then we were off to Little River to catch the ferry home. We had a brief glimpse of some orcas just off Harwood Island – we were on the wrong side of the ferry to catch the whole show!

This evening we had dinner at our local Farmer’s Market. They do a special event for BC Day. We saw a few performers at the Open Mic and then listened to Devon Hanley’s set. There was much more music in the works, but we didn’t stay.

I was back in my studio today. I finished two of my half-finished projects and completed a third. I’m struggling with what I should work on at the bee tomorrow. I still have a couple of Christmas things that need to get done, but I’m also anxious to start on the baby quilt. I’ll struggle with that tonight and pack up whatever wins in the morning.