Greetings young travellers! It is I, your favourite frog overlord, Alfred.

As summer rolls around and heat slowly falls upon our small region of the world, so too begin our many events. We have had a busy month, and this has only been the cusp of all the chaos ahead.

I began June with a very strange sight: an incredibly large cut out of my voluptuous body in plastic. Is this the price of fame? No one asks a little frog how he feels about having himself turned into a five-foot-tall flat corrugated plastic being. Of course, I will be the first to acknowledge how absolutely stunning my visage is, and this giant version of myself is no different, but it does feel strange. Nonetheless, my fellow companions insist that this giant cutout of myself will be “useful” and “popular” at all the upcoming events. So if you see “Giant Alfred” (as we have taken to calling him) around at the markets, please take a photo with him. 

As June progressed we attended our very first farmers market of the season: the Ladner Market. Now that was quite a gathering! We did not stop all day, giving sample after sample, selling beer after beer. We had some marvellous conversations with customers who wanted to know more about my wonderful company, and some lovely people purchased t-shirts and even our little art postcards. The selling of the art postcards made our resident artists, Tatiana and Brigitta, quite pleased. I think they enjoy it when people like the packaging, which of course is only thanks to how wonderful I appear on the beer labels. So really, they should be thanking me for being such a handsome subject. What would they do without me?

All this to say: the first farmers market of the season was a raging success.

Now, we will be attending many farmers markets this summer. With alternating weeks at the False Creek Farmers Market and the Vancouver Art Gallery Farmers Market booked until September. In theory, this is a wondrous notion, but in practice, it is a bit more difficult. 

Currently, this company is only made up of five individuals, myself as the head, and my four underlings with their various tasks and responsibilities. We are very good at making sure that all areas are covered, but there is one area that we are quite bereft at: having drivers’ licences. You would think that, in a company made up of individuals all above the age of twenty-three, a majority would have the ability to drive a motor vehicle. But you would be sorely mistaken.

You see, of the five of us, only our resident brewer, Sebastian, is capable of operating such a vehicle and I can’t have him driving the rest of us around when I need him producing our beautiful beverages. Of course, I did attempt to rectify this issue myself by procuring a licence of my own, but the people at the DMV said I “ couldn’t have a licence,” that my “legs were too short to reach the pedals,” and that I “ wouldn’t be able to see over the wheel.” They also said that “frogs didn’t get drivers’ licences,” which I would like to argue is only the case because they have never let an esteemed frog gentleman like myself try. Tragically, that argument didn’t work, and we still have the conundrum of a mostly driverless company.

So Sean, Brigitta and Tatiana, in all their infinite wisdom, have devised a plan to go about all these markets without access to a motor vehicle. What is that plan you ask? Lug around everything in rented cars, also known as taxis. It’s worked quite well for them so far, so I truly can’t say anything about their methods. But if you see a group of individuals bogged down by beers and dragging a tent behind them to a market, you’ve spotted my worker bees.  

Beyond farmers markets, June has brought about a new beer release, Spires of the Sunken Tomb, a Hazy Double IPA. It’s full of flavour, including coconut and tropical fruits, and overall is quite refreshing for these summer months. Its reception so far has been quite good, and we look forward to hearing more of what people have to say about it as the weeks go on.

We also have some new merchandise. Firstly, we have a lovely fleece pullover of pink, white, and blue, that features beautiful embroidery of my annoying younger brother Thelonious, and his numerous mushrooms.

Then we have some stunning 100% cotton items, all the way from Portugal, featuring a simple embroidery of my beautiful face on the front, and the Curious Creatures word-mark on the back. They are incredibly thick and luxurious, and if we were selling them in my size I would be living in them. These come in two options: a dusty pink hoodie and a green crewneck.

There is so much to come in the next few months and I look forward to sharing it with you all. Keep your eyes peeled for a new beer release (hint, hint)…