It's my dog's birthday party, eh!

So, strange title you may be thinking... well, it all started about a week ago when we were handed a flyer at the Pub and invited to a party... to celebrate a dog's birthday! Only in Fernie!

On further inspection, we soon established the history behind it. Some guys that have been living here for a few years throw a party every season, and it's the biggest house party in Fernie. The proviso is that it's free to attend and everyone is welcome, but you must bring a bottle of Colt45 beer with you to get in. There's a few bands, a raffle, DJs and a huge bonfire in the back garden. Apparently, one of the boys wrote to Colt45 to tell that he threw a party for his dog every year and that they favoured this particular beer, and so Colt45, being the generous beer company that they are, decided to sponsor it, and have been doing so for a couple of years now!

Needless to say, after chatting to the guy in the liquor store down the road he suggested it would be a bigger party than last year as they'd nearly sold out of Colt45 beer! There are three off-licences in Fernie, and one of them doesn't stock this particular brand of beer. By late afternoon, all had sold out! Jethro and I, being the sensible chickens that we are, bought our bottles at 9am! (Yes, you can buy any kind of booze you want at 9am in the morning...)

(We were amused to discover that Colt45 is a super strong beer and doesn't come in dinky little cans, but HUGE great bottles. Oh dear... more on that later.)

So after a day of relaxation - no snow as yet so no snowboarding for the meantime - we headed off to Wing night at The Pub - it seems to be a weekly thing now! We opted for a plate of vegetables too, so as not to have a meat overload. We like to keep healthy y'know! By the time that was finished, it was only about 8pm, so we decided to go back to the house and have an improptu "Before the party" party with a few buddies which lasted until 10pm ish, by which time we were itching to go.

The party was on the other side of town, so as we walked (there were about 15 of us) we saw other bunches of folk going in the same direction. Following the noise and the smoke, we got to the house and went straight to the bonfire in the backyard where a good 20 or so people were already gathered. An hour later, there were about 100 people there and growing all the time. It made for a great atmosphere and was pretty warm too, considering it was about minus 2 degrees and snowing lightly!

Now, back to the Colt45... Having taken a little sip, I had to wonder why ANYONE in their sane mind would like this beer... it tastes like a combination of Tenants Super, fortified wine and dog wee! MINGING! But it's very, very strong, so I guess that might be why?!

Luckily a few of our more sensible buddies and brought nicer beer with them, so I just opted for that. Jethro managed to drink a whole bottle though! ;-)

We made our merry way home, giggling profusely and trying to keep warm, glad that we had been to the "biggest" house party in Fernie. I have to go to work today, so I'm not enjoying the headache that seems to have taken residence inside my bonce!


Revellers around the bonfire


A warm glow from the firelight - not from the Colt45, I can assure you!


The world's most EVIL beer...