Deirdre's brain is fried. I'm writing for the post today while she takes her time to relax. She's been working sixteen hour days for the past five days to feed us all, keeping it healthy and providing us the fuel to keep us working on set 10 to 12 hours a day.
In preparation for the first day, we drove to Grimsby on the 18th to start to clean the place up. This farm has has been mostly abandoned for four years so there was a lot of work to do. Especially in the kitchen. Thankfully we had family and friends on our side. Deirdre was tickled that we were able to make a very large industrial stove in the kitchen work again. Our parents scoured it and had it inspected by a licensed gas-fitter.
Then everyone else arrived and it was time to start.
What was Day One like? Entirely insane.
Breakfast was a blur. We had a really rocky start on set. I think I ate some cereal and some sort of egg-bake with potatoes but I was also so tense that I could barely eat at 6:30 in the morning. Our call time was 7am but we didn't manage to start filming till 11am, what with getting used to each other, negotiating the weather and having a main actor quit on the first morning. We had planned to shoot outdoors in the sunshine, and then do some scenes inside but saw that the weather was going to be overcast so had decided to shoot an indoor scene that would look good with overcast lighting. So we went to go pick up an actor and he had decided not to partake in the film. So we decided to switch to our original plan which mostly included scenes that didn't involve him. The overcast weather for the outdoor scenes would actually be to our advantage as well, since the rest of the week seemed to have a similar forecast and that kind of light makes for a nicer, softer tone that matches the conversational tone of the film anyway.
And then eventually we had lunch. And it was great. I was so happy, as I am sure Deirdre was, that we had a wonderful contribution from Hibiscus, my favourite lunch place in Kensington Market in Toronto. Their menu has become a staple in my weekly diet. Their entire menu is vegan and gluten-free (except some of their crepes come with cheese if you want it) I'm not a vegetarian but I am coeliac and have an allergy to dairy. I would eat there frequently even before I figured that mess all out. But even more so now, I appreciate their approach to the food they serve. My friend who has a more severe dairy allergy told me once that he doesn't try to find substitutes (like the non-dairy custard I was telling him I had just made.) He feels like it's too much work when there are other things out there that are great and aren't pretending to be dairy. I partially agree. But I also had an insatiable sweet tooth for a number of years. The thing I love about 
Hibiscus is that their menu includes both side of the coin. Their salad box is a mixture of about six unique salads that are rich and light, with enough protein to be substantial. I always wish I could figure out what they put in them to make them so good but I can't really. Its alright though because they are a really affordable place to eat. Hibiscus also sells homemade non-dairy ice cream and usually have an assortment of cookies and brownies. A lot of non-dairy, gluten free desserts can be cardboardy or texture-deprived, but they manage to make really excellent versions with their own distinct flavours. Their ice cream include black sesame and cookies include a raspberry walnut. Wow, anyway, they made us a tonne of salad boxes and sent us some brownies. We had more people than we expected so Deirdre made her classic lentil soup (I think she plans to post the recipe at some point) and grilled cheese for those who could eat all the gluten they wanted.Then it was back to work... or art.... or whatever you want to call it. Working hard on art.
And then we wrapped for the day and decided to have dinner all together at a long table.
W
e managed to rustle up a gallon bottle of some home-made plonk, which was not too bad. And Deirdre made a fantastic meal. Organics 4 Life, also in Kensington Market, sent us some organic parsnips, carrots and beets our way. Deirdre roasted them, and some sausages and chicken from Sanagan's Meat Locker...in, you guessed it, Kensington Market. I shop at both of these places frequently. Pots at Organics 4 Life brings in a really abundant selection of organic produce from primarily local farmers. Sanagan's is a relatively new place that sells mostly free-range and organic meats. They make their own sausage themselves. The one we had was their Italian Sausage. Very delicious. I started frequenting there as soon as I found out that they get beef from Scotch Mountain Farms in Meaford, Ontario. My mum lives near there and the beef they raise is some of the best I've ever had. And once again, Sanagan's is very affordable for the quality of fare they sell. 
Deirdre also made a very good green salad and a rice and bean dish. The style seems to be the easiest for her, cook vegan non-gluten and offer a side of meat. It makes everyone happy.
The twenty of us didn't manage to finish off the wine surprisingly. I drank a few glasses myself but still. A gallon of wine.... wow. We didn't even crack into the beer yet. But we will. I think everyone worked so hard, that by the time dinner was done, we mostly went to bed. In our different rooms, in this rambling (and cold) eighteen bedroom farmhouse.
1-2-3 Soup!!!
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