Yesterday was the day for the 'Similkameen Sizzle' - the yearly pepper festival in Keremeos, so I drove over to see what they had and enjoy the entertainment. Turned out to be a beautiful day, not even any wind which was unusual as the town sits in the flats where three valleys meet, and there is almost always wind from one direction or another.

A painted poster to explain the different kinds of peppers there are.

A highly decorated stand from "Harkers"  with many of their offerings on display. Peppers, tomatoes, corn, pumpkins, sunflowers and more. They grow organic fruits and vegetables, and make fruit wine as well in their Rustic Roots Winery.

Hot sauce of almost every flavour imaginable! All created and bottled locally.

There were a variety of pepper plants for sale as well if you wanted to grow your own.

And, of course, entertainment - The Cruzeros.

As with any good country fair, there was a chili cook-off (competition) - and a Celebrity Chef turning out special dishes with chili peppers as the highlight. I should have taken pictures of the food because it looked really delicious - I guess I was thinking of my stomach, not my pictures!!

I had been looking forward to a little time away from the computer, and when I woke up, I looked out the window to a dull sky and wet ground from overnight rain. It was cool and damp and my first reaction was disappointment as I envisioned myself getting soaked - half the people not coming because they didn't have shelter for their goods - and the bands being canceled because of rain. But then I realized I should just go anyway and probably it would be just fine....... and that is exactly how it turned out. Just fine. It was just that 'monkey mind ' of mine being its usual grumpy self. Ignoring it is usually a good thing!