Continuing the Circle Farm Tour series from my adventures last week in the Harrison/Agassiz region, our next stop was The Farm House Natural Cheeses.

“The family farm is a great thing,” said owner Debra Boyes when we had our tasting. The farm hosts a retail shop so people can come and buy their cheese directly from Farm House and Debra says meeting the people who enjoy their product is key when it comes to being part of the community (and running a business).

The Farm House offers up hand-made cheeses made from goat and also cow milk and we were informed about procedures, milking, the differences in the cheeses, and were able to get some tasty samples.

I have to say that the Farm House Cheddar was definitely my favourite but the Alpine Gold isn’t too far behind in my books and I know John would love their Gouda.

We were also told that the Yew restaurant in downtown Vancouver’s Four Seasons Hotel make their macaroni and cheese with the Farm House Cheddar — something I would be very interested in trying now that I’ve seen where it all comes from… and had a taste from the source. Debra also told us that her La Pyramide was also recently served at the White House.

One of the best parts about The Farm House was not only to see how passionate and professional the owners are, but to also be able to walk around and see the animals themselves. Debra said her cows and goats are very “stress free” and given the lovely setting and the great facilities I can see why. We had the chance to meet some of the goats and they seemed very friendly.

You can stop by The Farm House [Google Map] to pick up your cheese from their store or for one of two tours: a cheesetasting with the cheesemaker, or for an interactive farm tour plus tasting.

Debra is also set to do an event with Books to Cooks next week but I believe it’s already sold out. You can however pick up her book 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes from your nearby book store.

You’ll also notice that when you do the Circle Farm Tour and stop by all of these unique places filled with talented and passionate community members that they’ll reference each other or each others products. The support system for the farms out in this area seems really strong and it just made my experience that much more enjoyable.

It’s opening night of Salome at the Vancouver Opera and I’ll be covering the evening on my site and Twitter along with Raul, Tanya, Tris, and Kimli. This is the final performance of the season and I’ve been lucky enough to attend every production by the Vancouver Opera this year.

Mlada Khudoley (Salome), John Mac Master (Herod), Judith Forst (Herodias)
Photo: Tim Matheson

Updates will begin around 6:00pm and so far I hear Salome will include things like nudity and a beheading and with a tag line of “lust and prophecy in Judea” to boot. I’ve come to realize that with opera, there really isn’t a dull moment.

You can view the opera’s manga at OperaLive to get an idea of the story and read the VO’s blog for a preview of Salome along with cast interviews.

Update: My mother and I have arrived at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre for Salome and have settled in at the blogger table. I also won’t be able to check the Canucks score throughout the evening but I have a feeling that (being two blocks away from GM Place) we’ll be able to hear the jubilation and car horns outside if our team is victorious. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

A new fashion, art and design market is happening in Vancouver this weekend at the Roundhouse in Yaletown. Make It! kicked off last night and will be open today at 10:00am until 5:00pm and again tomorrow from 11:00am until 5:00pm.

Make It is devoted to creating positive opportunities for artists and designers. On the flip side, Make It is a shopping event that gives enlightened shoppers the opportunity to buy unique, ethically made goods from top artisans from all over Canada!

The vibe at the show is funky, hip and modern…very different from you traditional granny craft show! Music is spun by top local DJs and there are always drinks and tasty eats to be enjoyed. Make It is about appreciating creativity, connecting entrepreneurs, and giving conscious shoppers an alternative to the mall. [About]

It’s basically a craft show meets a party-like atmosphere – upbeat, funky, and creative with fashion, accessories, baby items, art and jewelry from over 65 exhibitors. Tickets are $5 at the door and Make it will also feature a silent auction that will support the BC Cancer Foundation.

Next week is the first annual Look Fashion Show to benefit youth programs. The goal is to educate youth about healthy lifestyle choices, and have them share their insights on the topic through vlogs (video blogs) and the fashion showcase. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

I love random stats and tidbits of information which is why I’m currently addicted to Google’s Insights for Search feature.

Basically you can pop in a search term and see trends such as which cities or countries search what term the most, where people are located, what are some top searched words, and various other statistics.

I just received an email from Google letting me know some of the top Canucks trends, and I thought these were definitely worth noting:

Biggest Googling Canucks fans in BC…

1. Delta
2. Langley
3. Coquitlam
4. North Vancouver
5. Williams Lake
6. Surrey
7. Vancouver
8. Kamloops
9. Courtenay
10. Kelowna

What Canucks fans are searching for:

You can also text Google to get scores on the fly using their sms search service by texting the words “canucks score” to 466453. The result is a message in return that may look like this:

Vancouver Canucks (45-27-10)
Last game: 30 Apr, Vancouver Canucks 5 – Chicago Blackhawks 3
Next game: vs. Chicago Blackhawks, 2 May 10:00pm ET
canucks.nhl.com

It’s pretty evident that Canucks fans are connected, which you can even tell on game day when the term #Canucks is one of the top ten in the world on Twitter. I’m really liking the text feature and I think the search data may be valuable information for hockey bloggers and content creators.

Finally, according to Google, Canadians search for “hockey” more than any other country in the world, they search “NHL” more than anyone else and in BC, “hockey” is more popular than “Britney Spears”… as it should be in my books.

Photos in this post are from the Round Two Canucks #NHLTweetup