Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Winter silence, then comes the noise..


January has passed by quickly it seems, yet I have little to report on.  Fun outings with my friends, and plans for more in Feb.  As January comes to a close we're back into the rain, but here's some photos of the riverside promenade of Fort Langley a few weeks ago. Frost and a rosy sunset.
I am eager for color to return.  My rosemary bloomed at Christmas, and the snowdrops and miniature irises and grape hyacinth are coming soon.

I attended the Robbie Burns Supper put on by the Vancouver Police Pipe Band, as I have in years past.  They did a great job, and I can recommend going though it seems tickets are sold through friend-of-a-friend of the police force and/or pipe band, with proceeds going towards their touring.
The band was great, one I was familiar with seeing at the Irish Heather I frequented years ago, they covered plenty of songs I knew from Great Big Sea and Spirit of the West.
The food was fantastic; rolls, two kinds of salad, steamed veggies, traditional turnips, whipped potatos and haggis, and roast beef.  I got my yearly dose of haggis and more - in past years I'd heard that they sold off the leftovers in takeaway containers (and I just missed out), yet this year I inquired early and I suppose it filtered back to the kitchen somehow, there was an extra entire haggis, cooked yet unopened, and they simply gave it to me at the end of the night. Nice score!
On top of all this fine night was my highlight, the pipe band itself.  The pomp and pageantry of the bright  polished uniforms is exciting, and the wall of sound was tremendous.  A haunting call that wafts o'er the moors from a distance would befit this weather, but mere feet away from me it filled the hall triumphantly and I was silently cheering.  I felt I could crash through an entire battlefield single handed and annihilate everyone just because I have a wall of bagpipes with me!!!
I got three samples of different scotches and they were quite generous pours, so maybe that helps...