Wild Hare Daze

Fancy Birthday to You!

My sweet little Isabelle turned 5 yesterday and I can't believe how time has flown. I would swear that we just brought her home from the hospital. How can she be 5 already?!

Of course, when turning 5, only a Fancy Nancy birthday will do. We invited friends and family to come over on Saturday to celebrate, so I tried my best to put together a soiree (that's fancy for a party) that would be fit for my little princess. There were feather boas, pink gauze fairy wings, sequined tiaras and glittered bowlers. There was a butterfly pavilion and a big bouquet of gorgeous roses. In case anyone needed a fancy word for something, there were helpful signs posted around the house to give you a hint. The little girls, big girls (I wrestled Callee into a tiara) and some of the boys got fancied up and a glamorous time was had by all!

The fanciest of all was the cake. I think I must have lost my mind on this one because I decided to do my first cake with fondant. The pre-made fondant was expensive and tastes bad, so I got the harebrained notion to make my own. The recipe sounded simple but the process was a lot messier than I expected. There was much sugary stickiness and not-so-sugary swearing under my breath. At one point, Tim even offered to go out and just buy the pre-made stuff in a box. I was too stubborn and it was too early in the game for me to be willing to admit defeat, so I persevered and ended up kneading the fondant into reluctant submission. The next day Callee rolled the heck out of the stuff and the fondant had no choice but to admit defeat and cooperate. There was some gnashing of teeth when I realized that I still had to make buttercream frosting in order to adhere the fondant to the cake, but it ended up adding just the right touch, in the end.

I baked 2 cakes - one 10" square and one 8" square - and used the fondant to make them look like stacked presents in Isabelle's favorite colors.  The bottom layer was pink with white ribbon and the top was blue. Of course, being admittedly insane, I decided that plain blue fondant was not fancy enough so I use a teensy 1/2" cutter to punch dots out of the blue and replace them with pink & white ones. The whole thing was topped with a simple, white fondant bow. I must admit that I was totally charmed by the outcome. The cake was light, fluffy & moist; the buttercream added a nice texture and a slightly lemony flavor; and the fondant looked beautiful, tasted like the marshmallow bits in Lucky Charms, and people actually ate it. Most importantly, Isabelle loved  it! Nothing like the sweet taste of success. :)

Tim and I did our best to fill the house with good food and even better friends and family. Tim always manages to cook really good food for a crowd and make it look easy. Callee literally rolled up her sleeves and helped with everything - from fondant to fairy wings, she was there. I couldn't have done it without them. The entire day seemed enchanted as grown-ups chatted and laughed while the kids raced around, clad in fancy dresses and smiles. Mission 101 played up a storm while the little girls showed off their fancy footwork. As Tim and I sat snuggled on the sofa, surrounded by amazing people and incredible music, I turned to him and asked, "When you were in high school, did you think your life would turn out so good?" He said, "I never even imagined that this kind of life could ever be this good." *sigh*

All of the hard work and agonizing over the planning, decorating and baking was worth it when I saw how much Isabelle noticed and appreciated each detail. For days before her party, she would get all excited and just giggle with delight as I told her what I had planned. On the actual day of the party, she reveled in it all. She was in a glorious mood and the sun seemed to beam from her. She laughed and played and danced and sang until I thought I might swoon. I almost pinched myself to make sure she was real and was really mine. She is perpetually filled with life and love, mischievous and bright, with tender kisses and a wicked sense of fun. I love being around her and would carry her in my pocket wherever I went, if I could. I'm totally enamored with this beautiful creature who landed in my arms 5 years ago.

Geek Humor

I found this in an old e-mail and it made me laugh. So, I'm posting it here in honor of all those dear computer geeks I adore! :)

"Jesus and Satan got into an argument over which of them was the better computer programmer. Finally God got tired of the bickering and told them that he would judge a contest between them. They each had four hours to write the best program they could, and then God would decide the winner.

Well, they both got right down to business, and wrote lines and lines and lines of code. But just before the four hours were up there was a flash of lightning and a tremendous clap of thunder. The lights flickered, the power faltered, and both computer screens went dead.

When power was restored, God declared that time was up and asked to see the results of their work. Jesus flipped on his computer and displayed the most elegant program you could imagine, with beautiful architecture and wonderful syllogisms, triumphs of multimedia sound and pictures -- all kinds of bells and whistles.

God asked Satan what he had created, but Satan said, "I've got nothing, absolutely nothing. My program was twice as good as that, but I lost it all when the power went out. Jesus must have cheated. How could he still have such a great program?"

God replied, "Everybody knows -- Jesus Saves."

Belated Birthday Blogging

Or, should I say, just plain old extremely belated blogging. Period. Aiden's birthday and party was last weekend, and I figured that if I didn't get off my tuckus and post about it now, I wasn't likely to post anything at all for quite some time as a result of the guilt from neglecting to acknowledge the natal celebration of my first born son. So, here I am! I hope I am now removed from several people's proverbial poop-list.

As I mentioned, my dearest, darling, charming son turned another year older last weekend. How could that happen? I'm still recovering from his last birthday! He refuses to listen to me when I tell him to stop growing, and now he's gone and had another birthday. It's enough to make a mother weep, I tell you.

He decided that he wanted a robot themed birthday this year and I was so excited. What a fun thing to work with. (Tim, on the other hand, is still mystified as to why every birthday has to have a theme. I figured that if he even had to ask, there was no point explaining it to him. Some things must be taken on faith as a universal law. That's why.) My enthusiasm began to diminish as I realized that the party and event industry is not as hip and retro inspired as the general crafty blogging world I live in. I was therefore forced to improvise. Which wouldn't be much of a problem except that I was a) totally broke and b) my time was significantly over-booked. I couldn't let my little sweetheart down, though. (The kid is sharp as a whip, with a memory for details that is often the bane of his mother's existence. I would have to live with the melancholy reminders of my failings for the rest of my life.)

Fortunately, being brought up Mormon, where frugality, crafting, re-purposing and creativity is practically a requirement for membership, saved me. I remembered that I had tucked a couple of the metallic thermal blankets tucked into the emergency kit in my car - instant tablecloth!

I had recently bought one of those miniature, wooden, jointed artist figures and realized that it had a rather robotic look to it. I purchased a bunch on after Christmas clearance at a local frame shop and painted them with chrome colored spray paint. They made great decorations that became party favors for the kids. Watching my mother frost millions of home-made cakes over the years paid off big time, too. I baked a cake, cut it into a robot shape, and decorated it with red & gray frosting and candy bits. It looked & tasted great and was the hit of the party, along with some truly decadent homemade ice cream.

One of my favorite things was the robot decorations I made. I went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of disposable foil pans. I punched holes in the sides and used metallic pipe cleaners...er... chenille stems for you PC crafter types, to piece them together and make arms & legs. Then I used permanent markers to draw faces, buttons, gauges and dials. When I was done, I had one of a kind robot decorations to hang up. I thought they were very clever, but being a Virgo, I really wished I had more time to go all out and do them up right with washers and screws and tubing and such. But I guess it didn't really make a large difference in the end. All that mattered to Aiden was the fact that I made the effort.

We invited a bunch of family and friends over to the house to celebrate. Not everyone was able to make it, but we still ended up with a house full and had a lovely time. Tim laid out a ton of really scrumptious food and we spent the day eating and chatting and trying to stay out of the way of the roving herds of rambunctious children barrelling every which way through the house. At times things were a bit noisy and wild, but I felt truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life. I was happy that, even though money has been a bit tight, I was able to do something nice for the sweetest boy on the planet for his birthday and extend hospitality to those that I love. Although I may complain about life's frustrations and inconveniences, there really isn't a lot more that I could ask for. I'm so very grateful.

And most of all, I'm grateful to be the mother to such an amazing boy. He is loving, sweet, smart, kind and tender. He is so very, very good that I can scarcely believe my luck that he is mine. Though it pains me that each passing year takes him a small step farther away from me, I am so proud of who he is and the person he is becoming. I am thankful to have a boy that has given us all nothing but reasons to celebrate. Here's to many more happy years ahead to celebrate!

'Tis the Season

Hello everyone! Did you miss me? I really haven't dropped off the face of the earth, it just seems that way. November and December really kicked things into high gear around our house. There has been so much going on and I just haven't taken the time to sit down and write about it.

To catch you up on life at Eaglefield Estates, long-time resident and roommate, Barrett, and his fiancee bought a darling little 1930's bungalow. It's small but not cramped and has some of that Craftsman charm from that era, with built-ins and a mature garden. It's like a fairytale nook and it suits them well. We spent a couple of weekends helping them get moved and we're so happy for them. Now, if only they could get the cat to behave (fat chance!), they will be set.

In the middle was Thanksgiving with Tim's family. It was a nice relaxing break from work and the day-to-day drudgery. The girls have a tradition of going shopping on Black Friday, even if we don't have the money to buy much. Tim usually rolls his eyes at all of this, but I had been checking out ads online beforehand and found some really good sales on TVs. Barrett had a ginormous TV that moved out with him and Tim had been saving his pennies for a new one. I could hardly believe that he actually got up at 4:30AM so that we could go get a TV on Black Friday. I must say that we got a really good deal on it and we have all been enjoying it.

But even better than the new TV is our new roommate. Or, should I say, new roommates. Callee, one of my most favorite people in the whole world, moved in with her little boy. Life had pulled us in different ways for a few years, but when Barrett first started the process of buying a house, things fell into place.  She  is so sweet and kind, full of good thoughts and a great attitude. Tim loves it because she loves football and cooking. I love it because she's crafty and girly and great to talk to. The kids love it because her little boy is just Isabelle's age and the 3 of them run around like wild, hairy hooligans.

In the midst of all the moving mayhem, the Christmas season was also upon us. We tromped through the hills and cut our own Christmas tree. We've had such big trees in the past couple of years that the one we got this year seems so small, even though it's probably just right.  We decided to only put up the kids' ornaments this year and a few decorations around the house. I decided that I wasn't into all the effort this year and there's not sense in doing something if it stresses me out and doesn't make me happy. So, we have the tree up, my Nightmare Before Christmas garland and my nativities scattered throughout the house. It's just perfect.

I finished the decorating just in time for our annual Christmas dinner party. I love having a reason to pull out my good china! Our dear ConPons (aka the Conway-Ponzanelli clan) had too much going on to be able to make it down this year, and were sorely missed but we muddled on without them. The food was wonderful, but the company was better. The night was filled with happy children, good conversation and a relaxed celebration of friends and the season. It was a delight from start to finish!

In the midst of all that was going on, I'm so proud that I managed to pull off some hand made presents that I am really proud of. I'm dying to post them here, but some of the people who read this blog will be receiving them, so pictures will have to wait. I'm really happy with the way they turned out, though, and finished early enough that I'm not panicky down to the wire. There are a couple of small things I'm thinking about making still, but they're only nice to haves and there's no stress if I don't get them done. Tim and I even sat down together for a very pleasant evening of wrapping presents one night while the kids were in bed. It was so enjoyable to spend some time alone together, doing something happy, especially since it meant that we wouldn't have to be up into the wee hours of Christmas Eve to do it.

All together, this has been one of the loveliest holiday seasons I've had in a long time. Despite so many things going on, I've decided not to push too hard and really take a look at what makes me truly happy this season. I don't need  to do everything and have things be just so for Christmas to be perfect. Having good friends and a good family around me is what makes all the difference. In that way, I am truly blessed.

I hope all of you reading have been able to make the season a happy one for you, too!

This Is Halloween!

I'm sitting here, basking in the pleasant Halloween after-glow and decided to try to be good and post about it. Usually I get myself worked up into thinking about an event until it becomes a big deal that has to be "just so" and never end up posting because I can't get beyond that and get started. Being a perfectionist and a procrastinator  is not a good thing.

Yesterday was perfectly lovely and we all had such fun. I got off of work early and headed over to Aiden's school to see if I could help at their Halloween festival. It was mostly over by the time I got there, but it was fun to see what they had going on. I got to pick both kids up early so that they could change into their real costumes and we could go trick or treating without being stressed or rushing.
We usually send the kids to school in something other than their "real" costumes so that they aren't destroyed before I get pictures and we go trick-or treating. This year, I had enough time to get shots of both outfits. Isabelle got to wear Halloween clothes and kitty ears; Aiden got to wear his Jeff Gordon outfit from his NASCAR birthday party earlier this year. I must say that they were both pretty darned cute!

Of course, there's no comparison to the real deal and both kids were ecstatic about their costumes. Isabelle was, and I quote, a Baby-Blue Fairy Princess. What little girl wouldn't love a costume that has yards of sheer and shimmery fabric, a sparkly tiara and fairy wings that were almost as big as she is? There was much running and twirling as she showed off at Tim's office. Her hamming it up was quite a hit.

Aiden was absolutely smitten with his costume, too. He in sisted on spiky hair, just like Calvin. I did my best, but we didn't really have the time or patience necessary to make it super spiky. In the end, it didn't matter. He liked what I did and loved being able to walk around in Calvin's skin, toting his very own Hobbes. Not many people got who he was right away, but the ones that did were very enthusiastic. I don't think Aiden even noticed one way or the other. He knew who he was supposed to be and that was all that mattered. Very Calvin, indeed.

We met up with Callee, Keenan and Sean at the tail end of our route. Isabelle and Keenan were delighted to see one another and insisted on holding hands the entire way for the rest of the night. They were so cute, but it is incredibly hard to take a picture of two busy, fast-moving 4-year-olds in fading light but Cal and I tried our best!

Homicidal, Psycho, Jungle Cat

You can blame my current exhaustion on one small, cute trouble maker. Yup. This little stripy fellow has been giving me quite a run for me money the past few weeks. But what else is a mom to do when are very sweet little boy looks up at you with big blue eyes and a pleading, crooked smile and asks to be Calvin for Halloween? You end up doing what I did. You tell him of course he can be Calvin while simultaneously doing a private victory dance that he didn't ask for Pokemon or Yugi-Oh and then cursing Bill Watterson for the anti-commercialism that you had so recently admired. I'm sure I'm not the only mom who found herself wondering how bad it would have been to license just one darned stuffed tiger.

I thought I had a solution to the Great Hobbes Dilemma of 2007. I'd dress Isabelle up as Hobbes! I practically swooned at the thought of the darling pictures I could get of the two of them dressed up. She loves animals, so I thought this one was going to be an easy sell. Apparently I forgot that my darling dear was a Taurus and about the most stubborn thing on the face of the planet once she sets her mind on something. I hadn't realized that she had her mind set on the color blue and any costume that was not blue would not be acceptable. I begged. I pleaded. I cajoled. All in vain. She calmly explained that she wanted to be something blue and, besides it was impossible for her to be Hobbes because he was taller than Calvin and she was not taller than her brother, thereby proving the impossibility of that consideration. At one point she did agree to dress up as a tiger, but only if it was a blue tiger, which kind of defeated the whole purpose.

So, I was stuck trying to figure our how to make my own stuffed Hobbes. I hunted the internet for tiger fabric and patterns, which proved frustratingly elusive. I did end up finding some tiger printed minkee fabric, but try as I might I could not find a pattern. It took me weeks of plotting, planning, sketching and stuffing. There were many false starts, cutting, cursing and ripping of seams. There was a point late Sunday night when I despaired and wondered if Wal-Mart might have any Pokemon costumes left. It was not going well. And then I started to work on the face. As each little feature came painfully into life, I fell in love. I just couldn't leave that sweet little face disembodied on my sewing table, no matter how little sleep I got. Then I was struck by a moment of inspiration and it all came together. I kept wanting to pinch myself as I sat last night with Hobbes cradled in my arms.

He wasn't perfect. There were spots that made me wrinkle my nose and wish that I could do better. But he was there, flaws and all, full of love and magic and tears and laughter. I crept into Aiden's darkened room and tucked Hobbes into his arms. It was where he belonged. When Aiden woke up to see Hobbes done, his delight was absolutely radiant. He talked with Hobbes, ate breakfast with Hobbes, made up stories with Hobbes. He had seen Hobbes in progress and marveled at all of the problems that were fixed and how right he was now. As they sat together, silently beaming at one another, I realized that Bill Watterson had it right after all. Our Hobbes had become something more than a cheaply made stuffed toy, mass produced in a Chinese factory, easily forgotten and discarded. He was the embodiment of what the comic strip Hobbes was really about. He was a love letter from a mother to a child, a dream materialized for a little boy, a cherished and one-of-a-kind creature that will last long after all of the other stuffed toys have passed away.

Thank you,  Bill.

Happy, Happy!

Yup! Today's the day I'm officially one year older. Now that I'm "a grown up" I'm torn between being excited and wanting to be the princess for a day and being calm and letting it pass quietly.  Part of me is still 6-years-old and wants a party and a pony and a tiara. The other part of me feels every inch of my age, replete with the wistful recounting of what I've done and what could have been, and wants to make as little of another passing year as possible.

It's all kind of bittersweet. I guess it's a good thing that I've come to like bittersweet chocolate! Maybe I'll treat myself to a whole bar of my favorite kind - the Chocolove Raspberries in Dark Chocolate. While I'm busy not counting years today, I might as well not count calories, either!

In any case, my birthday wish is that all of you lovely people reading my little blog will have a Very Merry Un-Birthday today. That way we can all celebrate together. Let's break out the tiaras and dine on chocolate and cupcakes! I'm giving you permission to not count the years or calories, too.

*UPDATED*

I missed Talk Like A Pirate Day yesterday, so in honor of that I wanted to post a joke that had me in tears this afternoon over at The Felt Mouse.

    A pirate walks into a bar.

    The bartender says to him, "Hey, pirate! Did you know you have a steering wheel down your pants?"

    The pirate replies, "Arrrgh! It's driving me nuts!" 

I hope no one is offended, but I thought it was hilarious. My inner 6 year old is apparently in full force today! We all need a little laugh on our birthdays, though.  Right?

Be Still My Heart!

I think I may swoon! I have been crafty for as long as I can remember - always had crayons or glue or yarn in my hand. Some of my earliest memories are of my grandmother teaching me to embroider and crochet, or carefully picking out embroidery floss and cross stitch patterns with my mother. Inever had a sister, so in my heart of hearts I longed to have a little girl that I could sew and paint and create with.

Still, you can't force a child's interests and I wanted my children to come to love the things I did in a natural way. Aiden likes to draw, mostly as a way of illustrating the storied in his head. He doesn't like to fuss with lots of colors or fancy embellishment - just catch the action. Isabelle likes to draw, too, but her style is much more about color and mood. Given the chance, she will entertain herself  by coloring and cutting paper. They are both talented in their own ways.

I knew that Isabelle was a girl after my own heart when I was chatting with her teacher as I picked her up from pre-school one day a week recently. The teacher looked extra pretty that day and I commented on how nice she looked. She smiled and told me it was her birthday. She had dressed nicely to see if the kids would notice something different. When Isabelle found out it was her birthday, she immediately asked for paper and pens to make her a card. With pride, her teacher showed me the sweet card she had made. It wasn't just a sheet of paper with some scribbles on it. Instead, it was folded carefully in half, as best as could be done by 4-year-old hands. Isabelle had picked a pen in her favorite color and drew a cake with candles on the front. Inside was another cake full of candles and a smiling person;there were some squiggly lines for her teacher's name at the top and a meticulously written "I" signed at the bottom.

It took my breath away at the care and attention that had gone into the card and the fact that at the age of 4, Isabelle really "got it." I was impressed by such thoughtfulness at such a young age, without any prompting. She wanted to give her teacher something special and hand-made. She had paid enough attention to know that birthday cards were important and crafted the perfect one for her beloved teacher. It was a touching moment to see a matching wonder and pride in her teacher's eyes. It's clear that I'm not the only one who thinks she's a special little girl.

As if this wasn't enough, the next Saturday Isabelle came to me asking for something to do. I had been doing some embroidery just for fun and, on a whim, asked Isabelle if she would like to learn how to sew. I was surprised at her excitement when she said yes. I gathered a nice piece of white fabric and a small embroidery hoop for her. I drew a heart on the fabric and, together we found the perfect shade of baby blue thread and a needle. I showed her the basics of how to pull the thread up and down and a trick for how to find the right place to come up when pulling the the thread from the back side of the fabric. She set off on her own, with only an occasional request for help when the thread got tangled or was hard to pull through the fabric.  I thrilled to see how easily she took to the task and made each precious stitch.

It was a charmed moment in the slow, summer afternoon sun as I sat by her side, watching her progress with my own embroidery in my hand held snugly in my great-grandmother's antique hoop. It felt as if time stretched and slowed for a moment. I could feel the memories of sewing with my mother and grandmother press close and the presence of countless foremothers filling the space, linked by a chain of family ties and an age old passing of knowledge from one generation to the next. I could almost see the mothers and daughters sitting by their fires and candlelight with their thread and needles in hand, companionably silent or chatting about their thoughts and lives. I am so grateful that I am part of that noble line of tradition and that the knowledge did not die out before me and will continue on after me. I hope Isabelle will cherish this time as I do and that she will one day take pride in teaching her own daughter to love the feel of a needle in hand and the familiar pull of  thread that ties more than just fabric.

With A Wonder And A Wild Desire

I'm posting in a sleep-deprived, euphoric haze on my lunch break at work, with my ears ringing and my heart singing after seeing Flogging Molly in concert last night. I may not be able to make heads or tails of my budget sheets today, but with the music high I'm riding, I couldn't care less!

Tim and I have been big Flogging Molly fans since being introduced to them several years ago by one of Tim's co-workers. Their music is a sublime combination of two of our favorite types of music  - punk rock and traditional Irish folk music. The musicians are masters of their art with fiddle and banjo, accordion and tin whistle, drums and guitars. Dave King's lyrics are wry, witty, touching and, often times, simultaneously biting and beautiful.

In recent years, most of their shows have been in Southern California or with many other artists on the Warped Tour. When I overheard a co-worker mention they were playing in Santa Cruz, I leaped at the chance and badgered Tim into going. Even though the show was an hour from home and the band didn't take the stage until 10:00 on a Tuesday night, I knew we wouldn't regret it. I was so very right.

We got to Santa Cruz a little bit before the doors opened and got to wander around the town a little bit. I really love Santa Cruz and, if the commute weren't so miserable, I think I would consider moving there. I love the whole feel of the place. It reminds me of a smaller, surf city version of Berkeley - full of interesting people, young and old, out and about even on a weeknight.

The show was at the Catalyst and, after being in this area for over 10 years, I'm not quite sure why this was the first time I had ever seen a show there. I fell in love with the place immediately. It reminded me of so many haunts from my college days. The nostalgia I felt, that had started earlier as I dusted off my cherished old friends - my battered and neglected combat boots, swelled within me even more when I walked through the Catalyst door. I felt like I stepped back to the time in my life when every weekend was spent in night clubs and concert halls filled with young and vibrant people, dancing and laughing and thrilling to a shared experience brought about through music. I felt 10 years of care and worry melt away from me as I was granted the rare opportunity to spend one joyous night as I had in my happy, carefree days from long ago.

We found a fantastic spot along the railing of a small balcony and settled in with a cold drink, watching the people below until the show started. The opening band was unremarkable, save for the lead singer's inebriated strutting - at times I wasn't quite sure if he was drunkenly swaying and prancing or merely trying to hold it in until after their set and he could use the restroom. At least it was entertaining to watch.

I could hardly contain myself as Flogging Molly took the stage, though.  I can't say enough about what an amazing experience it was to see them perform.  They are truly a band that must be seen live. This amazing passion and sincere joy of doing something they loved burst forth from every one of the musicians on the stage. The lavish energy they cast out to the crowd was enthusiastically returned in kind as voices and hands raised in time to the music,and bodies danced and jumped and swayed. Traditional jigs and reels skirled around punk beats and grinding guitars while words and emotions sang forth to whip us into a frenzied celebration of all that was right and wrong with the world and our lives within it.  Unlike other moments of happiness, witnessed in quiet and dignified ways, this night my own delight bubbled and overflowed, unable to be contained for a single moment.

Although the show ended all too soon, I rode that wave of bliss through my dreams and, despite a woefully inadequate amount of sleep, I awoke with a smile on my face and Flogging Molly's songs still playing in my head.  I hope you all can pardon me today, as I cling to the last few shreds of one of the happiest nights I've had in a long time. As you can probably tell, I'm not quite ready to let it go. Tomorrow comes a day too soon.

A Fine Day for a Games

Hello everybody! Did you miss me? :-D I've thought about this poor neglected little blog every day and have started a multitude of posts. Sadly, they are languishing unfinished on my computer - victims of my endlessly distracted mind.

I am happy to report that all residents of Eaglefield Estates are alive and well. Sometimes I feel like we are flitting about like butterflies, but it has all been in a pleasant, low-stress manner and we have had such fun! There have been parties and holidays, visits from friends and family, camps for children and trips to plan for. How I love summer!

This past weekend, we made a spur of the moment trip up to Oakland to the Dunsmuir House for the Dunsmuir Scottish Games. One of our favorite bands, Seven Nations, was playing again and we dragged Callee with us, since she missed seeing them at the Woodland Games. The Games were small, and with such a spread out site, the crowds felt small as well. The house and grounds were charming and beautiful, in a lovely state of shabby elegance that continued to prompt all of us to wish aloud that we had the money to buy it all and restore everything to  its former glory. Inside the house was incredible and my fingers twitched to document every little nook & cranny, but no photography was allowed. My favorite part was an incredible stained glass dome set as a skylight in the center of the house. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it literally took my breath away.

The main stage was set on the lawn directly across from the main house and was surrounded by trees. The Seven Nations boys got lost and stuck in bad traffic on the way down from their gig the night before and almost didn't make it in time for their first show. They had to borrow another band's set-up in order to play their sets for the day. They were also missing their regular piper and had someone else filling in. They sounded just as good as ever, though,  and we loved it! We got to stretch out in the grass and listen to good music on a beautiful, sunny day. What more could girl ask for? Of course, it didn't help that the stage was chock full of eye candy of the most delectable sort! :) I was so glad that Callee was there with me to fully appreciate the bounty that was on display. There just might have been a few longing sighs and school girl giggles. I'm not saying for sure that there were, but there might have been. And trust me, if you could see Kirk McCleod and Struby singing and playing their hearts out, you would, too.

We wandered about the vendors, watched some games and ran into some old faces from days of yore. (Eddie - I was dying to call you about that one!) Aiden and Keenan were simply happy to be out and about in the sunshine. Of course, it did take near superhuman powers to drag them away from the weapons vendor.

Doesn't every little boy need medieval headgear? (Photo courtesy of the lovely Ms. Calista).