Villa & Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild

In June Meredith had a grad party. They watched the movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It takes place on the French Riviera and she called and asked me if I had visited the town of "Beaumont-sur-Mer" last year while I was here. With a bit of Googling we realized that Beaumont-sur-Mer is a fictitious town created for the movie but that yes, I have either been to or passed through many of the places where the filming took place.

When I arrived in France and actually had time, I watched the movie myself. I recognized a few of the locations and made a mental note to try and check out some of the other places. A few days later the family I work for announced they were going sightseeing and asked if I wanted to go with them. I took them up on the offer at the last minute and we headed towards Cap-Ferrat which I thought sounded vaguely familiar. I didn't know where we were going but since I was just along for the ride I didn't think very much of it. I figured it would be good to see the area and then maybe when I had a day off I could go explore the area on my own.

 Well it turns out our destination was the Villa and Gardens of Ephrussi de Rothschild which was one of the specific filming locations for the movie!!! It's not the main house (that's a private villa according to Wikipedia) but it was still used in the movie. How cool.

The villa is gorgeous. Aside from the fascinating history and the dancing fountains that do a choreographed water show every twenty minutes, the gardens are gorgeous. It was a super hot day but we had fun exploring this beautiful spot together. I definitely understand why they used it in the movie.

My List Update

Apparently I haven't posted an update on My List since halfway through 2011. I find that very strange. Anyway, this will be two parts, first I'm going to post about what I've accomplished this past year (or since 2011 I guess) and then I'll repost the whole list updated with what I need to still complete.

1. Fly first class

So this technically happened this year but it's number one on my list so I'm really excited! LOL Flying back to Buffalo from Seattle. My flight, like thousands of others, was affected by a massive snow storm on the east coast. My connection from Philadelphia to Buffalo was cancelled so I rebooked onto a new flight that took me from Seattle to Charlotte and then caught a new connection to Buffalo. For the leg between Seattle and Charlotte, the longest part, I was given a first class seat!!! It's really nice and spacious. I slept pretty much the whole time and the seats didn't recline as much as I would have liked but it was still nice. I could definitely get used to that.

4. Live in a different country...or at least a different province.

I crossed this off the list when I moved to Ontario in 2010 but in 2013 I got to live in two different countries. The United States and France. Now it's fully achieved.

37. Tour the US Eastern seaboard

This is another one that will always be under development but considering I visit St. Augustine, Florida, Boston, Massachusetts and multiple points in between, I'm marking it complete.





46. Fire a gun

It didn't have bullets but I'm sure a "real" gun will come in time. For now, this will have to do.





69. Go to Paris in the spring time

So Paris in the spring is rainy...but so beautiful. It's not too hot and it's great for walking. I fell in love with the city even though I totally didn't expect to.

72. Visit all five great lakes.

After camping at Lake Huron with Grace and Jess this is officially complete.

82. Take a trip by train

When I wrote this list I never really believed that I would ever take a trip in Europe but it turned out that was the first place I took a trip by train. Multiple trips. Between countries. This picture is me travelling from Amsterdam to Paris. My first train trip!!!

87. Visit all 10 Provincial Legislature Building (9 down, 1 to go)

Only Newfoundland is left!!!

97. Visit Melville's gravesite in Ortona

This was never on my published list but I mentally added it shortly after I wrote the list. It's something I always wanted to do and this summer I accomplished it.

Distillery District

I'm having adventures faster than I can blog about them! Let's see if I can catch up a bit here.

I do realize the irony in following the previous blog post up with this one but I want to stay chronological here. So after posting about how much I like doing things with my friends, Wednesday, May 30th I headed into Toronto by myself. My destination was the First Parliament Interpretive Centre. I need to back up though and give a bit of background. Before I moved to Ontario I was at a ScrapShare Washington Retreat and discussing my plans with my friend Linda. She suggested that I connect with her friend Wendy who is involved in some of the fields I am looking at employment opportunities in. Wendy and I added each other on Facebook and then life got in the way. I moved, settled into school, went to Quebec and took my epic road trip last summer. She moved between Ottawa and Toronto and got divorced. This year when school ended I contacted her again and made plans to come out to visit. Wednesday was that day. 

I was late leaving Waterloo but traffic wasn't too bad so I got to Toronto around 1pm. Wendy was waiting for me and greeted me by name when I walked in. We started chatting and talked for probably two hours straight. It was great. We discussed the exhibit and how it developed, her involvement and the other places she has worked. From what Linda had said I knew Wendy would be a good resource and I was right. We discussed the job market in our field in Ontario, ways to network and a bunch of other things. The exhibit itself is a temporary one so it's mostly just informational panels. I didn't take any pictures but it was interesting to read and a good introduction to the War of 1812 bicentennial events happening in Ontario starting this year.

 The exhibit closed at 4 and I left just before that. Wendy directed me to the nearby historic Distillery District (which is where I had ended up parking my car) and because I wasn't in a rush to get anywhere, I hung around for awhile. I browsed through the shops, ate the lunch I had packed while people watching and treated myself to some fabulous chocolate and a tart from the bakery. In a store called Bergo I found THIS. I first saw it in the MOMA gift shop when Meredith and I were in NYC. I also recently pinned it on Pinterest. I know you can buy it at uncommongoods but I found it for cheaper here. I don't know what I'll use it for. I have no need for a creamer but I've regretted not buying it for two and a half years so I had to get it. Interesting side note. I had a feeling I would find it in that store. All their other stock was similar gadgets and by the same designer so I was working my way through looking closely at each display. Just before I found it I got a call from Meredith. We had been playing telephone tag so I was expecting her call. I also had a pretty good idea of why she was calling. The day before I had learned that one of our elementary school classmates had passed away. I don't even know the last time I saw or spoke to Laura but she used to live across the street from me and we played together a bit. This is really random but one of the clearest memories I have of Laura isn't even about her. It was of Meredith telling me, in maybe grade 3 that Laura had said that her older sister was "bleeding from between her legs". It was the first I had ever really heard of menstruation and I remember Meredith sounding really concerned about Laura's sister and the fact that it could happen to us. I also remember responding in that "I'm-younger-than-you-but-the-oldest-child-in-my-family-calmness" that "There must be an explanation for it. We just don't know what it is yet". Anyway, as I said. Random. The point of that segue was to say that just after I hung up with Mere I found the creamer so in a weird way it felt like she was there with me this time too. Anyway, this has gotten kind of long and rambly. I guess I can finish up by saying it was a nice, relaxing, productive day and I can't wait to get back to the Distillery District and to other parts of Toronto over the summer.

BlackBird Vintage. Another amazing shop that was like having my Pinterest boards come to life. It was everything I could do to hold back and not drop major $$$!

The chocolate shop

Attitude of Gratitude V3#21 - Skype

I finally got Skype. I can't remember if I've mentioned it or not but it's pretty much the only way of contacting me that I didn't already have. You can email me on four different email addresses, text me, BBM me, call me, send me a message on Facebook or SS and I technically have a Twitter account though I've only tweeted twice and I rarely log in over there. Anyways, I have Skype as well now. I don't use it very much but last night was pretty sweet. I had planned a call with my best friend and just as the call was starting I posted my last blog entry. We talked for awhile and then I asked if she had read it yet (which was a trick question because I knew she hadn't. Sorry Mere ;)) But I got to watch her read it. <3 Very cool.

I'm not planning on blasting the fact that I'm going home for Christmas all over Facebook because I don't want everyone to know that I'm there and then feel left out because I'm not making time for them. There are a few people I will tell and others that will find out that I'm coming but I'm not going to make a huge deal of it. It's fun to tell the ones that I am telling though :) And Skype made telling Mere REALLY fun!

March 12 of 12

At work on time. Woohoo!
Breakfast of muffins...I think I need to do a layout dedicated to these things. They tend to show up in my 12 of 12 often...

It's roll up the rim time! No luck...but the latte was good.
The funny thing this year was McDonalds was giving away FREE coffee for the whole duration of Roll-up The Rim. I have a few coworkers who get coffee at Tim Hortons or McDonalds every morning...McD's got their business for those two weeks. Personally, I like the chance of winning.

And more coffee. This one is in the green mugs that this office has had for YEARS.
I'm working on ripping all my cd's to my laptop. As I finish them, I'm lining them up in the hallway so I can keep track of what I've done and what I still have to do. So far I'm up to 11GB of music!
The requisite self portrait. It's Friday, I wore a denim skirt to work :)
The sun came out and made the purple flowers lining the walk way to my building more vibrant. I love spring :)
Tonight was Meredith's birthday celebration. We started the evening at a local Mexican restaurant and then went back to her parents place.

Treats on the table.
Mere's friends Julie (left) and Amy brought out the ice cream cake.

Make a wish!

The cake. Love the red high heels!

Olympics #3 - Vancouver with Meredith

Saturday, February 27th My cousin Heather and her husban Jared were staying with me so we met up with Meredith and took the West Coast Express Train into Vancouver together. It's too bad that WCE is primarily a commuter train (and therefore normally only runs at rush hour, they added extra trains for the Olympics). It's a beautiful trip and I wish it was more available to tourists. In Vancouver Mere and I went one way and Heather and Jared went their own. Our first stop was to get on the skytrain and take it to where we connected to the Bombardier Street car that they called the "Olympic Line". It was a test line that only ran during the Olympics to Granville Island. Again, something I think they should offer it year round. Granville Island was cool as always but aside from "Atlantic House", which had really long lines, there wasn't very much going on related to the Olympics so we got coffee and then got back on the street car and headed back down to water front.

Mere hadn't seen the cauldron yet, so we made our way over there. The crowds were kind of crazy and this was as close as we got. It looks so different in the day time!!! After seeing the cauldron we went for lunch at Steamworks. We actually ran into Heather and Jared outside the restaurant :)

From there we walked up to Robson Square to see the celebrations there. It was a grey overcast day and quite cool at times. It really didn't rain until later in the evening but it wasn't very pleasant.

We walked along Robson, stopping periodically to watch the events being broadcast and shown on a tv in practically every store. We got cupcakes at the Cupcake store and then spent some time in Chapters where it was warm and dry. This picture shows the Hotel Vancouver illuminated and towering over the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Because we didn't have a mapped out plan of what to do during the day, we ended up wandering quite a bit. Part of me wanted to stay and see the pyrotechnic show at Robson Square but by that time my feet were sore and I was cold so we decided to just catch the first train home.

Labour Day Long Weekend

This weekend was all the best parts of summer in three days. Saturday I met up with Jevon, Melissa and Melissa's Mom and we hiked up Mount Thom. It's not a long hike but it's fairly steep so it'a good work out. You get a beautiful view of the valley up there too. Afterwards we rewarded ourselves by going for pie at the airport :)

Saturday evening I went to a bar-b-que at Susan's. Susan is a new friend of mine. It was great to see her place and meet a few of her other friends. We had yummy steak and corn on the cob and other food and then made s'mores. It was great.

Sunday after church Mom, Dad and I went for Thai food and then I went home and scrapbooked for awhile.

Later that evening the three of us drove out and visited my Great-Aunty Phyllis. She is my grandma's sister (I visited their other sister, Elsie this summer) I just love her. As a kid, visiting Aunty Phyllis was kind of a chore. As an adult I treasure every moment I have with her. She has an incredible memory just like my grandma had and she'll talk non-stop until you leave. It was wonderful to see her again.

Monday we had a picnic at the church. Lots of people showed up and while some people played baseball and volleyball I was content to just sit and hold babies and visit :) There are LOTS of babies around so I definitely got my fill.

In the evening Meredith and I went out for dinner at Milestones and then for a walk on the pier at White Rock. We finished our day with dessert at Pearl.

Good food, good friends, lots of memories. It was a fitting way to say "good-bye" to summer...but I'm still hoping that it's not really gone!!!

Vancouver

Next to Victoria, Vancouver is a favourite city of Meredith and I. We love just going in for the day and hanging out. Saturday, June 28th we did just that. Our first stop was in the fun, funky shopping district of Kitsilano. I`ve driven by there many times but never stopped. Saturday was a perfect day for shopping. We didn`t buy a whole lot but we had a great time exploring all the shops. Book stores, chocolate shops, clothing botiques and more. We also stopped in at Capers market and while I was drooling over the cheese, one of the staff gave us a sample of this one. Yes, you read that right ``Drunken Goat`` Goat`s Milk Cheese. It`s a wonderfully smooth cheese that has been soaked in red wine which gives it a burgundy rind. Yummy.


After shopping we walked a couple of blocks to Kitsilano beach where we had a picnic lunch. For some reason, I didn`t take any pictures (aside from the one of the cheese which I actually took at home)


After our picnic we headed over to Robson Street for more shopping. Mere bought a dress at the Gap and I got a cd at HMV. We had drinks at the Cactus Club and then decided to get out of the city. My solution was to drive up Burnaby Mountain. There is a *beautiful* view of the city and the inlet there. It gives a great apprecation for Vancouver as a port city.

So there, nothing earth shattering, just another pleasant day enjoying one of the best cities in the world :)

May Long Weekend Report

My first full, no-work weekend. It was so nice. Really relaxing and wonderful. Friday I just puttered around. I ran some errands, hung out at home and mostly just enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Saturday I met mom at the Farmers' Market in the morning for a pancake breakfast. It was the official kick off for the season and they couldn't have ordered better weather. It was beautiful out!

That afternoon I went to the wedding ceremony of a girl I worked with at NR. It was really nice and I am so happy for them.

Sunday after church Mom, Dad and I went out to the Cloverdale Rodeo & Country Fair. We didn't actually go to the rodeo part because it's an extra charge over and above your gate admission. We did browse all the booths and exhibits though. I didn't take any pictures at all. Can you believe it? There was just nothing photo worthy. I could have filled a scrapbook with pictures of sunburnt people though. I haven't seen so much red skin in a long time.

After the fair we drove into White Rock and walked along the water for awhile before stopping for some fish and chips.

Monday morning was a statutory holiday (Victoria Day). I was up at 5:30 (there's something wrong with that!) and I drove into the Vancouver airport with Meredith's parents to pick her up. She's here from Australia for awhile. When we got back I went home and went back to bed for awhile. Then I puttered around (tidied my house, scrapbooked, checked emails etc) before joining Mere and her family for dinner.

So that was my long weekend. Quiet and relaxed just like it should be.

My brothers made the trip up to where my extended family (Dad's siblings and their kids) were having a reunion. No one was expecting Seth and Robert and they said when they walked into the hall everyone went quiet for a moment until they realized who they were. The boys haven't seen that side of the family since my Grandfather's funeral a few years ago. They had a nice time and I'm glad they were ready to go.

Today the weather is miserable. There was thunder and lighting so loud this morning that it woke me up and I thought for sure we were having an earthquake. It scared me so bad. It's supposed to get nicer later in the week but right now I'm back at work so it's not that big a deal.

Intelligent Blogging

I feel like I haven't blogged anything intelligent in forever. Well, maybe intelligent isn't the right word. Important maybe? Lately I've been reading a lot of older entries because I'm scrapbooking early 2006. It's nice to have blog posts that relate to the pictures I am working on but I admit, I get frustrated if I DON'T have anything recorded. So, with that in mind, what's been up with me?

Last weekend I was at Stillwood Camp & Conference Centre for a retreat with Deb. I attended my first one with her in 2006 and missed last year because I was in Texas. This year we had 13 people total. It was fun. I didn't stay up super late at night and I was up in time for breakfast. I got a fair bit accomplished but of course, this week I haven't been able to get back to it which is annoying.

I got my tax return over the weekend too. A portion of it will buy my ticket to Diane's wedding. The rest is in savings. My car gave me a scare last week. On Wednesday the "check engine" light came on. I couldn't get it in to the shop until Friday but they looked at it, ran the computer to clear the codes and came up with "the gas cap is loose". It was actually more technical than that. Something about "Evaporation" but that's what it came down to. There was another code about the actual gas line. The stupid thing is AFTER my light came on on Wednesday, I put gas in. I guess once the sensor is tripped, only a mechanic an clear the code.

Anyways, the point is, I now have a healthy, accesible savings in case my car DOES do something stupid. It's something I've been trying to build up for awhile but now it's there.

The other thing I did with a portion of my return was invest in Sizzix. I'm kind of late to the party because everyone is getting rid of their's, including Deb. I debated long and hard about taking it and even posted on one of my message boards. In the end, I decided I just needed to do it. The thing is, even though the Sizzix belonged to Deb, I've always been the one that's used it. I've gotten a ton of use out of it over the years and truthfully, I've gotten used to having access to it. When it came time for her to part with it, it was just logical, and right, that I would take it. So, I am now the proud owner of a Sizzix Sidekick and six fonts (Fruit Smoothie, Funky Brush, Girls are Weird, Nouveau, Script and Rat-a-Tat) Girls are Weird, Nouveau and Funky Brush have been living at my house since, gosh, September? Maybe even before that. Anyways, I'm happy to welcome the other three to my house as well LOL

Okay, back to the retreat. I left early on Sunday to fill in for my co-worker at the store. I worked there from noon to three and then ran home and changed for church. I stopped by Mom and Dad's on the way for a quick dinner and then we went to church. Afterwards I went out with my friend Christa who is out visiting from Ontario. I haven't seen her since Texas last year so it was nice to catch up.

Monday was my last night of dance for the season. Can you believe that it's over already?! Crazy.

Tuesday I ran errands. First I stopped at Meredith's parents and picked up her Grandma's old microwave. See? I knew it would work out! I haven't even had a chance to use it yet but it looks good on my counter. I also had a nice chat with her mom and got to go "shopping". Mrs. K has always been good about sending her kids home with food when they visit. Since both of them are living abroad she hasn't hand anyone to give stuff to so she unloaded a bit on me. It was great :) Next stop was the library, my parents house briefly and then to Walmart.

Wednesday night I worked, tonight (Thursday) I work, tomorrow is the Kristal Barrett/Deric Ruttan concert and then the weekend is here again.

There, it's a bit of a brain dump but at least it's here and I don't have to keep reminding myself to blog stuff!

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the changing seasons :)

Vancouver with Meredith

I never blogged this. I'm not sure why. Probably because there were a lot of pictures and they take awhile to upload.

As you know, my best friend Meredith lived in Australia for two years. She came back to Canada on December 25, 2006 but has really felt that Australia is where she should be. She secured a position with Mercy Ministries Australia, the organization that she has wanted to work with for years. One that she did work with when she was in Australia and the one that the schooling she took prepared her for.

Our last full day together was Monday, October 8 (Thanksgiving Day) We spent it pretty much like how we spent her first day back (December 26, 2006) Doing our favourite thing, walking around Vancouver. We started in Stanley Park where we had lunch at Prospect Point. Then we walked through Gastown. Mere was super sensitive to all things "Canadian" like mounties and moose. So we got lots of pictures for her to remember her home country by. :)


We really didn't have any destination or goal. It was a beautiful sunny day so we wandered and ended up covering a lot of ground. One cool place we came across was Blood Alley just off Carrall Street. I found out later that according to stories, Blood Alley was the location for a number of butcher shops. At the end of each day they would be rinsed out resulting in the inevitable blood in the street. As if that was not enough they used to hold public executions in blood alley square.

There were some people hanging out back there so we didn't stay long but it looked really neat. There are some interesting restaurants down there that I'd love to go back and try out.

From there we made our way through Vancouver's "International Village" where I got to visit Daiso for the first time. (Daiso is a super cool Asian dollar store that has only been in Canada for a few years). Past the Vancouver Library and back to Robson Street.
Mere got a hot dog there and I got an ice cream cone and we wandered through the stores there. It was a really relaxed day. I already miss being able to do it whenever.

Too Many Good-byes

Wow. What a day. I was at Meredith's this morning by 8 am to drive to the airport with her and her parents. We had a few stops on the way and nasty Saturday traffic to fight which made it interesting. She got off okay and from what I saw, Singapore Airlines is living up to their reputation. I just hope her flight goes as well as the checking in portion did. She's almost halfway there if my calculations are correct. She should arrive some time tomorrow, which is actually Monday morning.

Then I came home and did my first shift at the store. Busy Saturday's are a great way to train. I learned how to process sales AND returns (repetion really is the best way to learn) and I discovered that while I enjoy being in the store, being on my feet for an extended period of time like that is going to take getting used to. My supervisor said I did well though and I am looking forward to another shift...which right now is scheduled for next Saturday.

After work I came home. Seth and Robert were both here doing some last minute packing. It turns out, and this doesn't surprise me, that Robert's going with Seth. The boys are only 17 months apart in age and being apart for this last year has been hard on them because they are so close. Robert could probably find work down here but he'd still be separated from Seth and who knows what kind of position he'd find.

Right now I'm finding it hard to be losing my best friend and two brothers all in one day but at the same time I'm happy and excited for all three of them. I'm also overtired which is making me emotional :)

Oh, and the roommate thing? Because Seth really didn't prepare himself before leaving he'll pay for rent for November for sure because his stuff is all here. In December we'll see. It will all depend on the housing situation that the boys find. It could well be that I'll bring all Robert's stuff here (it's currently in Mom & Dad's garage) and store it and they'll pay rent as a storage fee. Or, I may try and find a new roommate. Or, move. I don't know. I'm not too worried about it right now but I will have to make some decisions in the next while. I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, please keep me in your thoughts as I go through all these changes. Thanks :)

~Heidi

New Shoes!

Meredith went shopping on Saturday and said these shoes reminded me of her. She took a picture with her cell phone and sent it to me. I agreed that they were super cute so she bought them for me!!! They fit great and I LOVE them! What an awesome friend. Not everyone will buy you shoes!

Beautiful BC

Meredith's friend Zoe is visiting from Australia so we've been showing her Beauiful Bitish Columbia. Yesterday was Bridal Falls. It was a grey day but warm enough to go for a short hike. It's late in the year so the water over the falls was light but they were still beautiful.


The good part about the less than perfect weather was the fact that tehre were only a half a dozen other people around. It was great.

Mere and I in front of the falls.








Today (Sunday) we went out to Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver. Mere and I have tried to go there a few times and we never made it. Today was a perfect day. It was warm and not too windy. We didn't stay long but it was nice to hike down, take a few pictures and then head out.

I have been very negligent in enjoying my beautiful province this summer. Granted it was a wet summer and I had myself so busy I didn't really make time to go out and enjoy what this area of the world has to offer. Hopefully I'll get to do a bit more this fall.

Abbotsford Agri-fair

Now that was LONG weekend! For me, the weekend started on Thursday night with my first shift as a volunteer security guard at the Abbotsford Agri-fair. I volunteered at the fair in 1997 and 1998 (according to my resume) and had a wonderful time. I've always wanted to get back to it but because it's so close to my birthday and I'm usually away on the long weekend, nine years have slipped by without me making it back. This year on of the organizers at the Berrybeat Festival was in charge of security at Agri-fair and asked for my help. I knew it would be a good opportunity to get involved again so I agreed. I'm glad I did but man am I tired! I "worked" Thursday and Sunday from 6-10pm and Monday from 10am-2pm. Please excuse the rather unflattering self portrait. I was telling people all weekend about how they gave me a freakishly bright orange shirt (it says "Volunteer Security" on the back) and a radio and called me a security guard so I had to take a picture.

Friday Meredith wanted to go to the fair just to see it so we went together. She bought a cowboy hat and we visited a few of the animals before heading over to the rodeo for most of the evening. Kristal Barret, a local singer who actually graduated just one year after me from the same highschool, sang the anthems (American and Canadian). The Mighty Fraser Bud Pro Rodeo includes seven events: ladies barrel racing, tie down roping, bareback bronc riding, team roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, and bull riding.


The funny thing was when I did my shift Sunday night, I was stationed at the rodeo again! (for crowd control) so I got to see it twice! Friday night we stayed until after the fireworks but my camera batteries decided to die so I didn't get any pictures of them.

Sunday night Chris Janz was on the mainstage. I only caught a few minutes of his set but it was nice to hear him again. The midway is a very popular attraction at the fair. I patrolled it a lot while I was on duty and took pictures when I was off.

The West Coast Logging Show made a return appearance. One of my duties was "catching axes" as my supervisor liked to call it. During the show two volunteer security guards stood behind the stage and kept people away just in case a stray axe missed it's mark. They never did but it was fun to say that was why we were there :)

Monday I was stationed in a corner of the fairgrounds watching for fence jumpers. It was a rather boring spot but someone had to do the job. My arms got fried as did the back of my ears. Other then that I fared pretty well. After my shift I hung around for awhile and took in some of the shows that I had missed. Jack Jackson on the main stage, the Rodeo Riders (who did their drills to Dierks Bentley's "Long Trip Alone" cd), and the Avatar Circus Project. Eight amazing young men and women who did "Circ de Soleil" type acrobatics. Very cool. By most accounts this was a highly successful Agri-fair and I was glad to be a part of it again.