Yes, today was Chilli Festival time again. I can’t quite explain why I like this particular little vegetable so much. This year saw us bring home quite a sizeable loot, so I think we should be well stocked for a while. I believe my dream of having chilli for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (in a single day) may now come true.

This year Ely came along with us. While she is possibly more of a chilli eater than Carolyn, she discovered the hard way why you shouldn’t just dive into the hottest chilli for tasting. After much arm waving, tongue dousing, and general jumping up and down, she recovered enough to make the most of the huge range of things to scoff. I mean taste. Yes, taste. We were all consummate professionals.

Lessons learned today:

• Almost no one is polite or well-mannered these days. Please, thank you, or just a friendly smile is far too difficult for most.
• People will smoke at a smoke-free event. Sitting in the dry leaf litter.
• The majority of parents don’t seem very concerned about their toddlers falling into large bodies of water.
• Some chilli really is just too hot. But it’s fun to burn your sinuses clean once in a while.

Also, the made-at-home-this-evening chilli ice cream (ice cream topped with caramel nutty chilli crunchy things) was excellent. Take that, people who refuse to sell me proper chilli ice cream.