10 September 2008

Second day of cleaning . . . bathrooms . . . eww.  And more laundry.  And, I decadently watched a movie today.  Someone this summer suggested I needed to watch The Holiday, with Kate Winslett and Cameron Diaz and Jude Law (I’ve never really liked him until this movie!).  Today, it was on, and it sucked me in.   And I’m glad!  Whoever that was that recommended it . . . thank you!  What a charming, enjoyable little flick. 

I picked up Kyle at the airport just after five o’clock and we went to Cozymel’s for dinner!  We miss having that restaurant in Arlington, and we don’t get up to the Grapevine area often enough for it to be convenient to eat there.  So, it’s a real treat — heavenly guacamole!  And we shared a meal, and that was perfect!  We’re really trying to be good.  Once home again, we watched the pilot episode of a crazy little show called “Fringe.”  Worth watching . . . we’ll see how it continues to entertain us.

After all the changes of the past few days, I think Artemis has decided that this little pink crate is the one spot she has that never changes.  At bedtime, I went looking for her and couldn’t find her.  Not in the closet, not under the bed, not in the workshop, not on the window sill.  Then I looked down.  There she was in her crate!  She’s rather camouflaged in there, being somewhat pink herself, and the crate having an offwhite “sheepskin” fleece liner.  And I really didn’t expect it, so I had totally overlooked her.  It delights me to see her use this voluntarily as a sleeping spot, even at home. 

Home.  I love that word.

~MB

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9 September  2008

Yep.  I’m home.  Actually, I was home last night, but somehow, it’s waking up in your own bed that really makes you feel “at home.”  So, today is my first day to really be “home.”  Ironically, Kyle is in Miami!  I took him to the airport this morning, and will pick him up again tomorrow.  Just a quick little business trip, squeezed in before Hurricane Ike threatens to make travel more interesting. 

As I worked today, to recover the house from my husband who plays “batchelor” in the summertime, I enjoyed seeing and touching (and dusting!) so much of the unique stuff that makes our house our home.  This photo/painting is one of those items.  Gifted to us years ago, by some of our dearest friends, it combines so many of the things we love in life.  It is both photo and unique original art.  It shows our love of dressing up in historical clothing—specifically Victorian, in this case.  It puts us against a backdrop of a beloved place in Scotland—the beautifully picturesque ruins of Lochmaben Castle.  It reminds us of our love for that land, and of the wonderful times we have had there, and how fortunate we have been to travel there a number of times: on our honeymoon in ’95, on the Kyle and the Babes trip with Ginger and Lisa, on our anniversary trip to see the full solar eclipse in ’99, and then most recently on our Scotland 2005 trip with seventeen of our best friends!  Showcased now, on this wall of our bedroom, positioned above the bed, it now even makes me think of my love for decorating.  And, it reminds us daily of those generous, special people who gifted it.  It is one of our most treasured posessions.

Despite the challenges involved with surrounding ourselves with so much cool stuff that the house isn’t big enough, and the efforts of keeping it all clean are sometimes exhausting . . . we love our stuff.  And it really does help make the house a home. 

And . . . I’m home!

~MB

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9 September  2008

Yep.  I’m home.  Actually, I was home last night, but somehow, it’s waking up in your own bed that really makes you feel “at home.”  So, today is my first day to really be “home.”  Ironically, Kyle is in Miami!  I took him to the airport this morning, and will pick him up again tomorrow.  Just a quick little business trip, squeezed in before Hurricane Ike threatens to make travel more interesting. 

As I worked today, to recover the house from my husband who plays “batchelor” in the summertime, I enjoyed seeing and touching (and dusting!) so much of the unique stuff that makes our house our home.  This photo/painting is one of those items.  Gifted to us years ago, by some of our dearest friends, it combines so many of the things we love in life.  It is both photo and unique original art.  It shows our love of dressing up in historical clothing—specifically Victorian, in this case.  It puts us against a backdrop of a beloved place in Scotland—the beautifully picturesque ruins of Lochmaben Castle.  It reminds us of our love for that land, and of the wonderful times we have had there, and how fortunate we have been to travel there a number of times: on our honeymoon in ’95, on the Kyle and the Babes trip with Ginger and Lisa, on our anniversary trip to see the full solar eclipse in ’99, and then most recently on our Scotland 2005 trip with seventeen of our best friends!  Showcased now, on this wall of our bedroom, positioned above the bed, it now even makes me think of my love for decorating.  And, it reminds us daily of those generous, special people who gifted it.  It is one of our most treasured posessions.

Despite the challenges involved with surrounding ourselves with so much cool stuff that the house isn’t big enough, and the efforts of keeping it all clean are sometimes exhausting . . . we love our stuff.  And it really does help make the house a home. 

And . . . I’m home!

~MB

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8 September 2008

When I hit a huge wall of rain driving through the hills of southern Oklahoma, and then again from Sanger, south . . . I was sure tonight’s soccer game would be cancelled.  But, no.  I got home just in time to turn around and go out with Kyle to watch his team (and him!) play on a very soggy field.  It was good to be there, and the weather was rather delightful—not too hot, and toward the end, a light drizzle.  And afterwards—a quick trip to No Frills Grill with Brett and Jill, where our waiter apparently missed me so much, he bought my beer! (Actually, I think he felt bad, ’cause I didn’t like the red thing that Kyle suggested he bring for me.  Still not sure what it was . . . kinda like a mai tai, only not as good.  I know they told me what it was called, but I was too tired to remember it.  Kyle drank it—I guess it has become his favourite summertime refresher . . .)

Home Sweet Home.

~MB

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7 September 2008

Sundays that I don’t have to be at a faire are a rare and beautiful thing.  When they happen the day after lots of activity, they’re even better!  My body didn’t let me sleep in, but I sure took my time repacking the trailer and doing some email catch-up.  I worked on a beading  project for a while, and enjoyed spending some quality time with my beautiful niece.  (She’s learning to do a headstand, and her daddy and I are both still pretty good at that, so we are good teachers!)  I accompanied the family to church in the evening, and we all went out to “border” Mexican food afterwards—not too bad, for Kansas, I might add!

It’s been a good little visit, here.  Tomorrow, I’m homeward bound.

I managed to get out of the house tonight without my camera.  Should have photos of the beautiful church, the memorial garden where Heather is remembered, the enormous hawk that swooped down next to us as we ran through an ATM, and enchiladas from a new place.  But, no.  Just the cute cat.  She’s not accustomed to wide expanses of carpeting since we have tile at home, so, this seemed to be a treat for her.

~MB

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6 September 2008

For the first time ever, my featured photo today is one that I did not actually shoot myself.  Of course, that’s evident since I’m in the photo, and the camera is obviously a few feet away.  It is my camera, hence my posession of the image, but the photo was taken by Kelly.  She surprised me with a phone call while we were driving to faire, telling me her aunt wanted to go to the faire, and that they would see us there!  So, I got to meet her charming aunt, and even got to see Kelly answer to her nickname!  And, I got this fun photo of myself with my family!

You can see in the photo that it was a damp, cool day.  The rain began to fall lightly just as we were leaving home to head to faire.  I was annoyed at first, but it only took a couple of minutes for me to decide that if I was less than positive about the whole day, the other three would certainly take cues from me.  And I wanted everyone to have fun, so I thumbed my nose at the drizzle, and adjusted my attitude.  After all, I have always loved attending faire in the rain, and if I could convince them that this was fun, they’d be okay with it, too!  And, in their defense, never once did anyone mention that the rain might change their willingness to go and do and play.  My brother had gone to the trouble to take the day off from work, so we could all do this together.  He and Melanie had decided they wanted to dress up to go, since McKenna and I would be dressed up.  We’d been talking all morning about having ham and cheese crepes for breakfast.  A little rain would not squelch our fun!

William had rounded up five cans of food, to donate to the food drive at the gate.  The special deal this weekend was two-for-one tickets with the donation of five cans!  So, he paid for one ticket, and I got McKenna and myself in through the media gate, and we were off for crepes!

We made it a point to watch most of a Queen’s Gambit show, as they are dear friends, and I remembered that McKenna had enjoyed their show last year.  From there, we began our walk-about, in and out of shoppes, and stopping to see another show McKenna enjoys:  Bob, the Juggler.  Not sure, really, if his act has another name, but I don’t think so.  We shared a baked potato for lunch—it was huge!  We introduced Melanie to the wonders of hard cider!  We found a beautiful booth full of hanging “stained glass” globe-shaped ornaments and made a purchase, there.  We had our photos made at the photo booth.  I got to visit with a number of friends, introducing them to my family, and that was super cool.  We saw Trina and John, Kathel, Yolanda—but somehow never found Karen’s henna booth.  I get so turned around and confused at the Kansas City Faire—all the lanes are winding, and hilly, and I know there are zones I totally missed. 

I did take photos, and here are some of them:  McKenna, William and Melanie as we were leaving the house; my brother being goofy; McKenna being amused at her daddy; the three of them watching a show.  If it hadn’t been raining, I know I would have taken a bunch more photos, but as it was, the camera needed to stay under cover most of the time.  (Sadly, I did not get a really wonderful photo of McKenna in her new dress I just made for her.  I am confident that she loved it, though.  I wanted her to feel like a princess, and I think I succeeded in that!)  Fortunately, the KC faire site is quite wooded, and that kept the soggy factor to a minimum.  There were times when we really didn’t get wet, even though we could hear the rain.  By about five-thirty or so, we were getting tired, and actually . . . getting a bit cold.  So, we made our way back to the crepe booth for a fruity dessert, and then called it a day.  Tired, chilly, and . . . happy!

We went home and changed clothes and went back out to dinner—Asian food.  Back home again, we watched part of a movie, and were all tired long before we expected to be!  Walking around a Renaissance Faire as a patron is hard work!  But, it was work I wouldn’t have traded for the world.  I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and I’m pretty sure William and Melanie were mostly humouring me, but I think they had some fun.  And the day was more special for me, than they could ever really know. 

So, Kiddo . . . just in case you actually read this (now that I know you sometimes do that!) . . . thank you.

~MB

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6 September 2008
The front yard after an exceptionally crunchy summer.

There has been no measurable precipitation at my house since mid-July, and that was perhaps a quarter of an inch in a 10 minute period.
Dry, dusty, hot & crunchy are the words that come to mind.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 8 September 2008 )

Listening to:
Shake It by Ian Matthews
from Super Hits of the Seventies

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 10 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode
Software: picnik.com

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5 September 2008
With my previous ramblings about chains and the real or imaginary constrictions they place on people, I thought a follow-up might be appropriate.

Is this me? Or is it just a mask I don for society? Do you know? Hell, do I know? I’d appreciate the telling of the truth.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 8 September 2008 )

Listening to:
Run Like Hell by Pink Floyd
from Is There Anybody Out There?

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS Windows

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5 September 2008

I know that the autumnal equinox doesn’t actually happen until the 22nd of September.  But, for me, when I drive away from the Bristol Renaissance Faire, the summer is over.  I did that today.

After being thrown behind my own schedule by the rain, I aimed for a 10 a.m. departure, hoping I’d be gone by noon.  I took my time, and pulled away at about 12:30 p.m.  Then, I ran a couple of errands (including taking this photo) and actually was on the highway by about 1:45.  A little over ten hours later, I arrived safely, at William’s house.

Artemis travelled like the old pro she is, the truck and trailer did fine, and the only issue was my own boredom.  Fortunately, since it was a Friday night, I had my favourite radio programming to keep me company—XM’s Folk Village Channel broadcasts five wonderful hours every Friday night (5 to 10 p.m.) of Celtic music.  They call it Celtic Twilight, and I love it.  Between the radio and the telephone (I had a wonderful conversation with my mama!), I managed to stay relatively sane, and awake! 

~MB

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4 September 2008

Remember the old party game where the host or hostess brings out a tray containing twenty or thirty little items, lets you look at it all for about one minute, then takes away the tray and asks you to write down as many of the items as you can recall?  And remember how the paper clips and spoons and haircombs and screwdrivers all run together in your head and you end up remembering very little of what you see?

That’s the way this photo makes me feel.  Overwhelmed and a little disappointed I didn’t do better.

This is my booth after a disjointed day of packing in the rain. 

It was late, late Thursday night before I remembered to take a photo.  I cannot believe I never snapped even one photo of the rain-soaked packing process, but c’est la vie!    The rain began at four a.m.  I know, because I was up using the privy at about three, and could not get back to sleep.  It was the rain that was my lullaby and I was grateful for it.  Of course, I didn’t know then that it was going to rain with no respite for an entire twenty-hour period. 

Departure couldn’t be delayed more than a few hours—Friday would see us leave one way or the other.  So, pack in the rain we must, so pack in the rain we did.

But, finally,  it was too dark, and we were too cold and wet, and we called it a night around eight o’clock and went and enjoyed some pizza and Pepsi wth friends.

~MB

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