RAWK the COOP 3!!!

As is the custom, Rawk the Coop III officially got underway with the delivery of the porta-pottie. Light showers kept the first evening damp, but from there on out we were graced with glorious May weather - sunny and warm, with a light breeze to keep things pleasant.

A weekend of food and fun unfolded, with a BBQ feast one night and a fish and chip fry the next. In between, heated games of cards, Risk and ultimate frisbee kept us entertained before evening bonfires and relaxation.

No injuries (long term liver and kidney damage notwithstanding), nothing broken, and nobody cried. People even slept in tents.

Thanks to all who came out for yet another successful RTC!

So it begins...

Sign of the times

Jane scores a goal!

Point Taunya....unless they can catch that cup!

Mmmmmmarshmellows

The Gang around the campfire

Lightning crashes....

....an old motherboard dies.

The house got hit by lightning (quite a BAM! actually), and we're pretty sure the bolt hit the TV tower and came directly through the ethernet cable and fried both our router and computer. Clearly Mother Nature is savvy enough to avoid the six lightning rods that grace the house and barn....and hit our TV tower and internet dish instead.

With the gracious help of John and Julie, we tore down the old computer piece by piece, and rescued those parts that were not toast. In the end, we had to replace the motherboard, tower case and operating system, but thankfully the hard drive and it's data remained intact.

Back up and running (obviously!), and actually upgraded a little with Windows 7 a decided improvement over Vista. Also added a $9.99 wireless card to the desktop so that we are no longer physically connected to the ethernet.

Curious John and the Swapping of the Hard Drive

The leftover pieces of the old system

Dandelion Wine

Sure, there are already 14 wineries in this area...but I think I could establish a niche market by opening Ontario's first dandelion winery and marketing it to gullible tourists as the medieval drink of choice. We certainly have the dandelions for it....and the gullible tourists.

Rather than trying for VQA status, I am currently petitioning the Canadian Vintner's Association for the rights to establish the WQA (Weed Quality Alliance) designation for my wines. Currently accepting orders for 2011 delivery.

Also got the garden underway this weekend, with a two rows of green beans and three hills of cucumbers. It may be early yet so I'm going to hold there for now. Before tilling again for the third time (first time by hand and then two by electric tiller) I added some ashes from the fire pit to help break up the clay, and a bit of composted soybean waste from the nearby farmer's field. I even uncovered the strawberries (again!) to find that several are already in blossom!

The 2010 vintage - a fine year

Don't blink or you'll miss it - Jane cutting grass!

Freshly tilled and a few rows planted

Annoyed Jebus - apparently I was tipping off his hiding spot to the birds