Robin and Lucas wedding

A handfasting ceremony on a perfect September day in the field behind Robin's childhood home. We sat in a circle while Robin and Lucas had their wrists bound with silk cord.

We prepared a Harvest meal for the guests including roast pork and fresh corn and salads and perogies. Lots of tasty food and spectacular desserts by Robin's aunt Alexa. The tree-planters tent was decorated with cedar boughs and twinkle lights and garden flowers and there was a fireworks display in the hayfield and a pantomime which featured Spot (in the sunglasses) and lots of music and Krupnik (the dreaded Polish honey liqeur and also Slivovich brough from Czechoslovakia by the grooms father. A good time was had by all.

And just after the long weekend in September we closed for a day to celebrate Tom's daughter Robin's wedding to Lucas. Our dearest friends made the journey from southern Ontario to join us and here we are having a roast chicken dinner with chicken from Maureen McMillan, green and yellow beans from Christine and potatoes from the Walsh's. The wine wasn't made here but everything else was. A fun evening.

Harvest time at Red Canoe Cafe

Here's Spot the wonder-pig who is being loaded onto our truck for his trip to the abattoir. Real local pork is very different from the stuff you buy in the supermarket...these piggies have been raised on cafe scraps (lots of organic left over lettuce and their favorites which are cheesecake and Wilno Heritage beer...and they also get grain and apples and all sorts of other goodies.
The wild plum tree down by the suites has a bumper crop this year. It's always a fine line between picking them a bit green or waiting until the birds, wasps, racoons or the bear gets them. This year I got a basket full and there's still lots left.
Josh grew these squash in his garden and donated them to the kitchen and then turned them into a delicious roasted squash soup with ginger. Terry Walsh grew the gigantic zuchini in the background.


The cafe entrance is really bright this year with the new posters we made from Linda's paintings. The geraniums have done well also and all the summer's rain has kept everything fresh and blooming.

heritage park wilno summer

Beautiful summer in Wilno as we celebrate our 150th anniversary of the Kashub settlement of the area. This is Heritage Park in full bloom before the festivities on the long weekend in August.

And then to see the sheep

The lambs are happy in their new pen with lots of fresh grass. I've been researching the Navajo-Churro breed on the Internet and discovering that they are an endangered breed and were the original sheep of the Navajo Indians in the American Southwest. They originate in Spain and were brought to the new world by the Spanish colonists. They are able to exist on the sparse dry desserts of New Mexico and their wool has less lanolin than many other breeds so it is ideal for a dry climate. (Wool with lots of lanolin needs a great deal of washing before it is fit to spin). I am hoping to breed these sheep and get into the specialized wool business in a small way. Would like to have some distinctive Wilno blankets or wall hangings...and we have a new weaver moving into town this week so who knows!!!
Tom and Agnes...she is much less timid now and is really an affectionate little creature. Carmelita (the grey one) is a bossy outfit and generally rules the roost. She's also friendly and has taken to being hand-fed. Our cats are somewhat mystified by these two new members of the household and aren't really sure if they like sheep. I hope the neighbours aren't overly bothered by the bleating!


Farmer Tom and Agnes.

A visit to the piggies

Sometimes when life down in Middle Wilno gets too hectic we take a short drive up the Wilno Road South to visit our neighbour Pete and his able assistant Tommy Two Tone. Here they admire their new handiwork which is the expanded pig pen. The spotted piggie in the foreground is "Spot". He has honored by being chosen as the wedding pig for Robin.
(I'm sure he could do without that honor).

It was a beautiful June evening, the sun was setting over the hills and Ritsuko was working feverishly to get all her plants into the soggy garden.




The garden tour tomorrow is going to be a wet affair as it has rained and rained and only the weeds are really growing. It's too wet to get into the garden and the seedlings are having a tough time with all the water.

Here is the whole crew...they are happy piggies and they dug up this whole new pen in about six hours. Better than a roto tiller!!!


This is an evening view looking out over the Wilno hills from Pete and Ritsuko's hilltop hobby farm.

The goddess lives also in Wilno in her many glorious forms...this is Our Lady in a classic Polish bathtub shrine.

Polish Cardinal departs Wilno by helicopter

sunday morning at 8;20...the sound of a helicopter over Wilno and we jumped in the truck and sure enough, the rumoured leave-taking was in full swing...the parishioners sang a farewell song as they gathered on the steps, Father Marek in his black soutane accompanied the Cardinal in red toward the helicopter. Polish flags flew proudly in the breeze. Another Wilno moment!