-On Thursday we received about 10-12 centimetres of snow in just a few hours.
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By yesterday afternoon/evening the snow was almost completely gone and it was almost 10.
Though Environment Canada is suggesting that it is currently about 1 in the region, I don't believe this. The continuing formation of ice suggests to me that it is at least below freezing and that it has been for a while.
Anyway, temperatures and conditions have definitely been yo-yoing recently and it is less than fun.
-Tonight Jeannette and I will be attending an Old Man Luedecke concert in Windsor. The question on everyone's mind surely is whether or not he will perform the crowd favourite Joy of Cooking?
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-I think I will be making some leek and potato soup shortly. Much to my surprise, we were able to buy both leeks and potatoes at our local farmer's market.
Showing posts with label Windsor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Windsor. Show all posts
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
More from the 2011 Windsor Pumpkin Regatta
While at the 2011 Windsor Pumpkin Regatta I grabbed a few clips of the races.
[Embedded video]
As you can see, even the motorized pumpkins aren't particularly fast.
On a related note, not that it really matters, but at least at points today we have been the first Google Blogs result when searching for the "Windsor Pumpkin Regatta." This really amazes me. I really thought that higher profile blogs would have claimed this spot. Apparently not.
[Embedded video]
As you can see, even the motorized pumpkins aren't particularly fast.
On a related note, not that it really matters, but at least at points today we have been the first Google Blogs result when searching for the "Windsor Pumpkin Regatta." This really amazes me. I really thought that higher profile blogs would have claimed this spot. Apparently not.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Windsor Pumpkin Regatta
Over the past few years I have occasionally heard about the Windsor Pumpkin Regatta, an event where giant pumpkins are turned into boats and raced. Of course, after hearing about Martha Stewart's failed attempts to attend such event I began paying even more attention to the existence of this event.
Though I may have been interested, for years I wasn't close enough to the even to take it in.
This year, for the first time, I was close enough to Windsor to make the trip. Actually, Jeannette, her parents, and I were all close enough to make the trip.
Yesterday afternoon after an early holiday meal we made our way to Windsor. Within a few kilometers of Windsor it became apparent that we were about to be attending a popular event.
Traffic slowed to a crawl and we soon saw that people were beaching their cars almost anywhere they could find room. The highway off ramps were almost completely lined with parked cars. Not surprisingly, as we drew nearer there were even fewer parking spaces.
At about this time we also began to see the crowds. My guess would be that there were a few hundred people on the Falmouth side (the starting point) and maybe a few thousand on the Windsor side (the termination point).
Another surprise was the weather. Instead of the nice seasonal 10 degree day that I expected we were confronted with a sunny day in the high twenties. Almost immediately I was hot and felt as though I was burning. Of course because it is now October I didn't think to wear sunscreen.
Though we arrived at the scheduled starting time instead of immediately seeing giant pumpkins sail across the water we first had the pleasure of listening to a number of dignitaries speak through an insufficiently powerful PA system. The only amusing aspect of the speeches was that we could hear delayed versions of the speeches coming back across the water from the Falmouth PA system.
Eventually they were ready to start the first heat, or the experimental heat. Instead of calling this heat the experimental heat they really should have just called it the "with frame and motor" heat.
Almost immediately one of the three boats pulled out ahead. As the race went on their lead continued to grow and grow. I think that the winner likely finished a minute or two ahead of their competitors, which is a rather impressive gap given the relatively short length of the course.
The second, and final, heat included the single and double paddle powered pumpkins. Though I expected that the doubles might have an advantage it soon became clear that about five singles were way out in front and were clearly going to win. Eventually one of the singles pulled away and developed quite a lead.
Many minutes after the first single finished the bulk of the singles began to near the finish line. And after this bulk made their way to the finish line the stragglers gradually came towards the shore.
I think that all of the doubles were in this last group. And also seemed to be the case that those individuals in the doubles were not effective rowers.
The more we thought about it the more we realized that the doubles were actually mostly filled with girls, likely because two adults wouldn't fit in most pumpkins. Anyway, it seems that these doubles were really quite slow. Though, much to our surprise, a few of these inexpertly rowed pumpkins managed to finish the race. There was one pumpkin in particular that we really thought was going to tip over at several points.
And after these two heats all that was left was the awarding of medals. Though we didn't stay around for the medals ceremony we head towards the dock to examine the pumpkin boats before we left.
This inspection also allowed us to see how the motorized pumpkin boats worked.
I was a little disappointed to see that a number of the motorized boats used the same design and that it appeared that these were anything but experimental and that rather the same design has been used year after year. Maybe next year they should require all participants to come up with new designs?
So while the event was definitely a pumpkin regatta I feel that it could do with a bit more sprucing up to really make it into a full-fledged outing/afternoon. As it stands the whole thing is over in about an hour and a half, and many of the thousands of people were out of their in less than an hour after it started. Hell, you can't even buy pumpkin themed confections while you are watching the races. Windsor is really sitting on a goldmine with this event so it is unfortunate to see them failing to capitalize on it.
Starting points for improvement might be to increase the number of heats. Two heats is just not enough pumpkin boat racing. They should also try to incorporate a few related events. Maybe they could have farmers selling pumpkins or pumpkin baked goods or even a pumpkin smashing event (for the misshapen/rotting pumpkins that many farmers must have). Basically there should be so much to do that people won't want to leave without spending a few hours and dollars in Windsor.
Though I may have been interested, for years I wasn't close enough to the even to take it in.
This year, for the first time, I was close enough to Windsor to make the trip. Actually, Jeannette, her parents, and I were all close enough to make the trip.
Yesterday afternoon after an early holiday meal we made our way to Windsor. Within a few kilometers of Windsor it became apparent that we were about to be attending a popular event.
Traffic slowed to a crawl and we soon saw that people were beaching their cars almost anywhere they could find room. The highway off ramps were almost completely lined with parked cars. Not surprisingly, as we drew nearer there were even fewer parking spaces.
At about this time we also began to see the crowds. My guess would be that there were a few hundred people on the Falmouth side (the starting point) and maybe a few thousand on the Windsor side (the termination point).
Another surprise was the weather. Instead of the nice seasonal 10 degree day that I expected we were confronted with a sunny day in the high twenties. Almost immediately I was hot and felt as though I was burning. Of course because it is now October I didn't think to wear sunscreen.
Though we arrived at the scheduled starting time instead of immediately seeing giant pumpkins sail across the water we first had the pleasure of listening to a number of dignitaries speak through an insufficiently powerful PA system. The only amusing aspect of the speeches was that we could hear delayed versions of the speeches coming back across the water from the Falmouth PA system.
Eventually they were ready to start the first heat, or the experimental heat. Instead of calling this heat the experimental heat they really should have just called it the "with frame and motor" heat.
Almost immediately one of the three boats pulled out ahead. As the race went on their lead continued to grow and grow. I think that the winner likely finished a minute or two ahead of their competitors, which is a rather impressive gap given the relatively short length of the course.
The second, and final, heat included the single and double paddle powered pumpkins. Though I expected that the doubles might have an advantage it soon became clear that about five singles were way out in front and were clearly going to win. Eventually one of the singles pulled away and developed quite a lead.
Many minutes after the first single finished the bulk of the singles began to near the finish line. And after this bulk made their way to the finish line the stragglers gradually came towards the shore.
I think that all of the doubles were in this last group. And also seemed to be the case that those individuals in the doubles were not effective rowers.
The more we thought about it the more we realized that the doubles were actually mostly filled with girls, likely because two adults wouldn't fit in most pumpkins. Anyway, it seems that these doubles were really quite slow. Though, much to our surprise, a few of these inexpertly rowed pumpkins managed to finish the race. There was one pumpkin in particular that we really thought was going to tip over at several points.
And after these two heats all that was left was the awarding of medals. Though we didn't stay around for the medals ceremony we head towards the dock to examine the pumpkin boats before we left.
This inspection also allowed us to see how the motorized pumpkin boats worked.
I was a little disappointed to see that a number of the motorized boats used the same design and that it appeared that these were anything but experimental and that rather the same design has been used year after year. Maybe next year they should require all participants to come up with new designs?
So while the event was definitely a pumpkin regatta I feel that it could do with a bit more sprucing up to really make it into a full-fledged outing/afternoon. As it stands the whole thing is over in about an hour and a half, and many of the thousands of people were out of their in less than an hour after it started. Hell, you can't even buy pumpkin themed confections while you are watching the races. Windsor is really sitting on a goldmine with this event so it is unfortunate to see them failing to capitalize on it.
Starting points for improvement might be to increase the number of heats. Two heats is just not enough pumpkin boat racing. They should also try to incorporate a few related events. Maybe they could have farmers selling pumpkins or pumpkin baked goods or even a pumpkin smashing event (for the misshapen/rotting pumpkins that many farmers must have). Basically there should be so much to do that people won't want to leave without spending a few hours and dollars in Windsor.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Growing a Giant Pumpkin
A few months ago Jeannette was given a package of giant pumpkin seeds from the Howard Dill operation in Windsor, Nova Scotia. Of course, we had to wait until it was Spring/Summer before we could plant them.
Soon after we arrived in Wolfville we finally got around to starting the seeds. One mistake that we made was to try to start the seeds outdoors instead of indoors. The seriousness of this mistake was compounded by the poor May and June that we experienced. Fortunately, one of the three seeds did germinate, and it started to grow relatively quickly once we moved it indoors.
About two weeks ago we the one successful plant was large enough to re-pot so we finally moved it into a far-to-small-but-the-best-we-could-do pot that is now outside with another of the other plants in our container garden.
So far the transfer to the new pot seems to be going well. The plant has really start spitting out new leaves on a regular basis. If things keep going at this rate the plant will clearly be too big for the pot.
And quite recently I noticed that the plant also finally has finally started to show signs of flowering.
Even though this plant is doing better than I ever thought it would, we are still quiet a ways away from a viable giant pumpkin. And I guess ever having anything even approximating a giant pumpkin was a long shot, it really would be satisfying to at least have something approximating a pumpkin, but I guess we will have to wait and see if even this comes to pass.
And I should probably note that we aren't the only ones with a giant pumpkin plant in the Wolfville area. A few weeks ago Jeannette and I learned that a giant pumpkin plant had secretly been planted in a flower bed in downtown Wolfville.
When we last checked on this rogue pumpkin plant we noticed that even though the flower bed in which it is growing had been weeded it had not been removed. Unfortunately, I don't think that it is getting the water or attention that it needs so, like our plant, it isn't very close to producing a giant pumpkin. I guess we will have to keep an eye on it as the summer progresses to see if anything comes of it later in the season.
Soon after we arrived in Wolfville we finally got around to starting the seeds. One mistake that we made was to try to start the seeds outdoors instead of indoors. The seriousness of this mistake was compounded by the poor May and June that we experienced. Fortunately, one of the three seeds did germinate, and it started to grow relatively quickly once we moved it indoors.
About two weeks ago we the one successful plant was large enough to re-pot so we finally moved it into a far-to-small-but-the-best-we-could-do pot that is now outside with another of the other plants in our container garden.
So far the transfer to the new pot seems to be going well. The plant has really start spitting out new leaves on a regular basis. If things keep going at this rate the plant will clearly be too big for the pot.
And quite recently I noticed that the plant also finally has finally started to show signs of flowering.
Even though this plant is doing better than I ever thought it would, we are still quiet a ways away from a viable giant pumpkin. And I guess ever having anything even approximating a giant pumpkin was a long shot, it really would be satisfying to at least have something approximating a pumpkin, but I guess we will have to wait and see if even this comes to pass.
And I should probably note that we aren't the only ones with a giant pumpkin plant in the Wolfville area. A few weeks ago Jeannette and I learned that a giant pumpkin plant had secretly been planted in a flower bed in downtown Wolfville.
When we last checked on this rogue pumpkin plant we noticed that even though the flower bed in which it is growing had been weeded it had not been removed. Unfortunately, I don't think that it is getting the water or attention that it needs so, like our plant, it isn't very close to producing a giant pumpkin. I guess we will have to keep an eye on it as the summer progresses to see if anything comes of it later in the season.
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