Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Tigh One On

Please pardon my absence from Blogland but I was taken captive by my sister and forced to attend a wine and gourmet food tasting event at the Tigh-Na-Mara Resort in Parksville on Vancouver Island.


We were celebrating my birthday of a few weeks ago at an event called Swirl,
as in swirling wine in a glass,
or swirling about the room sampling the wares
from 50 BC wineries 




while at the same time nibbling on delectables, savory and sweet, prepared by numerous local chefs. 



It was serious business, demanding a great deal of concentration and dedication to the task at hand.




There was as much variety in people's attire as there was in food and wine.




Some went all out in their get-ups, possibly even delving into their closets for their old prom dresses.



and definitely garnering some attention.




Warm embraces and bootilicious hugs were observed here...




as well as there.



For three full hours the food and wine kept on being served.  I stuck with the red wines while my sister sampled the whites but we both dipped our sticky fingers into all of the pots of food, except for the oysters as she had once had an unfortunate experience with them and I just find them repulsive.





There was a  rather good jazz trio providing an excellent ambiance and good old standards.




At least, I think there were three of them.



As the evening wore on and the wine continued to go down, things got a little hazy,




if not downright out of focus.

Fortunately all we had to do was stagger swagger through the brisk night air back to our cozy rustic suite where we slept soundly, soothed by the sound of the roaring surf (unless that was my sister that I heard snoring from her bedroom as I lay in my Murphy bed?) and visions of sugar plums Asian spice ganache balls swirling in our heads.

18 comments:

  1. Oh to be forced to endure such indignities. Everyone should have a sister like yours. Sounds like a great time right up to the blurry end.

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  2. Ah, when the wetness on the Coast is red and white!

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  3. I love how your photos get drunker & drunker! The guy playing the sax is great--reminds me of Duchamp's Nude descending a staircase--abstract motion.

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  4. I'm guessing the progressive blurring is a good sign - A belated happy birthday xxx

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  5. Bugger, at times like this it's not so great being The Other Sister!
    However I am sure you did us all proud, dining and not much whining?
    Wistfully yours, the straggler.

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  6. bootilicious hugs, haha, hilarious! :-)

    (i would have stuck with the red wines as well)

    mmm - it seems that it is all i can say now (and should i confess that i am right now on a little diet which doesn't allow me to take delight in such pleasures other than in imagination? damn!)

    and i so love the hazy visions, of course of course! :-)

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  7. Thank you for the taste of the night - can't even remember when last we went out, not when I got drunk.
    Please have a good Wednesday you all.

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  8. Hilary,
    Oh the things I have to put up with my sister! She forces me right out of my comfort zone and into the lap of luxury time after time.

    DCW,
    With a few pink tones and bubbles thrown in one gets a real taste of the wet coast situation.

    jann,
    Good call! I had to look up the Duchamp image to refresh my memory and I certainly see the similarity. I think he might have used the same approach to art making as I indulged in.

    Driftwood,
    Dewine and degusting at the same time!

    Lulu,
    Blurring?
    Thanks for wishes and kisses. xo

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  9. Sister Saj,
    Not too much whining on my part, other than when threatened with the possibility of having to don a bathing suit and get into a hot tub. Fortunately, our sister came to her senses and realized our time would be better spent strolling along the beach in the morning rather than parading around the resort grounds in bathrobes to get to the indoor pool. I did my best to do you proud in the wine tasting department. After all, what's a big sister for?

    Roxana,
    A diet? I've heard of such things.
    Hazy visions and wine-soaked images were a wonderful by-product of the night's offerings. I am pleased if they delight you as that will perhaps compensate in some measure for your (hopefully temporary) state of abstinence.

    Robert,
    Perhaps it's time that you remedied the situation of not remembering the last time you and the little woman went out by making some brand new memories. Just a thought. Drunkeness is not required, but a little tipsiness might not hurt.

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  10. Oh my goodness, the man in the third pic looks positively hostile! Did the women take his wine or something?

    Looks like a fun night.

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  11. Audrey,
    I dare not venture to guess what's on that guy's mind! Maybe only a spot of indigestion and a little concern about how to "express" it without drawing undue attention to himself?
    Fun was had, 'tis true.

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  12. I might have to adopt or even kidnap your SIS. She sure knows where the good times are rolling. The progression of images to blurry as the night wore on is perfect!

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  13. Stickup,
    I don't get to see my sister very often but she really makes up for lost time when we get together. She took me to a Sting concert for Christmas! Oh, maybe I shouldn't have told you that as it might just serve to reinforce your dastardly intentions to steal her away from me.
    The evening was all a blur next morning...

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  14. What a wonderful adventure and b-day celebration, two sisters out of three! Your photos are wonderful and you have artfully presented them in a believably intentional sequence... love the blur and motion!

    From the oldest of 6 girls (no boys),
    Genie

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  15. We should all be taken hostage and forced to attend such a torturous event, Louciao! ha! It sounds like you had a wonderful time and how was the wine? Your comment at the end made me giggle! :)

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  16. Genie,
    Two out of three aint bad, you're right! Especially as one is an adopted blog sister in New Zealand. Bit of a jaunt for her to join the fun. Six girls in one house, Genie! Those teen years must have been quite something. I'm a lot older than my sister, so was more of a babysitter for her. Needing to make up for lost time now, especially as we live on opposite sides of the country. I think I'm up to the task!
    :-)

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  17. Bella,
    The wine was good because it was free! However, there were some that were definitely better than others...which required a return trip to their tables just to make sure that my first, and perhaps even second, impression was correct.

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