Wednesday, September 05, 2007

A bheil sibh 'g iarraidh a dhanns?

(Would you like to dance with me?)

I am sufficiently recovered from all the revelry of this past weekend; it wasn’t the most relaxing games event on record, but everyone agreed that it was plenty of fun.

This year, the weather was not particularly cooperative- the temperatures remained over 100°F, with a fairly high humidity for this area, for all three days- but of course, being rugged Scots, we didn’t let that small inconvenience hold us back. Chris had four days off, so he went in to set up the stage & snag us a parking pass for the weekend. The rest of the group met up at the fairgrounds around 5:30 Friday evening for dress rehearsal (sans the “dress” portion- it was just too blinking hot) & were mercifully done by 7:30, with only one minor casualty- a teenage girl doing double-duty with both adjudication sets, who didn’t heed hydration warnings; but after a couple of dunkings into the ice chest & a banana, she was set back to rights. Afterwards, we went to dinner at a local pub with our friends Sam, Tracy, & their two daughters; it was warm & noisy, but we always have a good time with them, plus I had the best parmesan-garlic fries! There must have been 12 cloves of chopped garlic in the one basket; fortunately, Chris, Sam, & I shared them, so no one was gassed out on the ride home (though the cats were conspicuous in their absence from the bed that night & Poppy gave me pained look when I kissed the top of her head)

We were there from open to close Saturday & Sunday. Most of our time was spent between the clan tents, the shopping buildings (air conditioned, thank the Good Lord), & at the dance venue. Adjudications were held on Saturday- Sam’s group in the morning, & my group in the afternoon- & the prime-time demo performance & audience participation on Sunday. The youth set was invited again to dance in the closing ceremonies- third year in a row! I did manage to slide in to listen to my favorite group, the Browne Sisters & George Cavanaugh, twice over the two days & Chris even had them dedicate a song to me on Sunday, in honor of our anniversary (all together now…Awww) I would highly recommend picking up one of their albums since they only play on the West Coast; they sing Irish, Scots, & modern folk songs, with sweet, lovely harmonies, & George is not only easy on the eyes, he has the kind of deep baritone voice that makes my insides turn to butter & toes curl. (Hey- Chris is a prince among men & the love of my life, but the man can’t carry a tune in a bucket with two handles & a shoulder strap!)

One victim of the extreme heat was my bank account- OMG, I did some serious spending this year! Here is what went home with us:


Two kilts (not the full 8 yd wool- rather the 5 yd poly-viscose, much more sensible for this area)

Two white polo shirts with chest embroidery (on sale $10 each)

A sporran for Sam (the pouch worn on the front of the kilt)

Two sets of sporran clips (kind of like suspenders, but hanging down from the belt)

A set of flashes (the little flags worn on at the top on kilt hose- purchased 10 minutes before Sam’s adjudication set, as he couldn’t find his)

A Forbes clan tie for Sam (it was the closest to our family tartan on the 50% off rack)

Two yards of 21st Century Tartan (Mama is finally getting a plaid skirt)

A cinnamon brown/camel paisley ruana


Of course, this didn’t include food, my seat for closing ceremonies, or "donations" to the multitude of pubs; it’s a good thing Chris had 45 hours of overtime on this upcoming check & it was time for my semi-annual “extra” paycheck (we are paid bi-weekly, so I budget for 24 pay periods, when I actually have 26).

We had dinner in the camping area with the Fraser/MacLachlan clans both evenings (good folks & great food), sampling everyone’s homebrew, tall tales, & food offerings- we were the lightweights, heading home by 9:00 pm for cool showers & comfortable beds. No injuries, no heatstroke, and no sunburn- I think we can call the weekend a success.

Monday was satisfactorily quiet & uneventful; we all slept in past 8:30, had a leisurely breakfast, & then did a little housekeeping- mostly laundry & vacuuming that couldn’t be ignored any longer. The boys watched some movies & the John Wayne marathon, while I did some shopping for necessities, like hair conditioner& cat food (buy two, get one free- score!), before stopping off at the fabric store for the Labor Day sale. I’m quite proud of myself- I purchased only project-completing items, 2 way cheap patterns, & got out of there for under $25. The evening was spent knitting (Sam asked me to make him some fingerless mitts, but with specific caveats: “No fuzz, no shine, no sparkle- must be black” *sigh*) & watching a wicked funny new-to-us Brit comedy on PBS called “The Vicar of Dibley”; I have a feeling this will be a new Monday evening regular.

Oh, yes- my second new camera this summer arrived on Thursday, just in time for the Games; I bought the same model as before (& paid $60 less *hmmph*) & even figured out how to take video clips. I did one of the kids dancing in the closing ceremonies; if I can reason out how to upload clips, I’ll post it for a while.

And Guinevere- I haven’t forgotten your instructions on posting the completed WIP’s; unfortunately, the shawl is turning out to be a long-term project (6 weeks in & I have only 8 of the 70 inches needed done, I’m almost out of yarn & the one I need is on back order until the middle of October) so you’ll have to wait for that one, but the mitts should work up pretty quickly.

BTW: I just missed it (as I was a little busy this weekend) but Sunday was my one Blogger Birthday; I've enjoyed my time here & have met some wonderful new folks, in addition to my old Space friends I followed over.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Meg! I saw your comment on Tani's blogger and thought I'd pop on over to say hello! :) I didn't realize you had a blogger site as well. How did you change your comments link to say "Sprouts Popped Up"? Cute cute!

Anonymous said...

Thank you!! Now I just need to think of something cute for mine to say...hmmmmm

Fairlightday said...

Hi Meg! Yes, It's me. Not too many other Fairlight's floating around the web I imagine. :) How on earth did you find me? Sounds like you had a wonderful fun weekend. I would love to see you dance some time. Sounds like loads of fun. Some day I will take dancing lessons again, this time I will persuade Mike to join me. :) Have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you had a nice weekend! How fun to celebrate your heritage. Once a year we have a scandinavian festival in the town that I live in. If I'm not mistaken it is the biggest in the US and I love going every year. We always have such a good time. Thanks for the birthday wishes and if you could manage, maybe send some of your heat this way. We have been staying in maybe the 60's and are in need of some warmer weather!

tea time and roses said...

Hello, thank you so much for your visit and sweet comment to my blog today... Sounds like a wonderful fun filled weekend...

Smiles...

Beverly :o)

Anonymous said...

Those games sound like so much fun! I want to start getting to some of the civil war reenactments they do aorund here and the balls they have to accompany them! Though, I wouldn't have ANYTHING to wear!