Inn of the Wandering Dragon

It has been years since I have been out to Calaway Park! I think I was still in junior high to be honest, maybe grade 10? By that age it's losing it's charm as a fun or cool place to hang out. And I have to admit that as a kid I was pretty upset when the park sold off the original carousel, it was a beautiful work of art but at that time carousel animals had become a hot collectors item so I guess it was only a matter of time.

Easter has come and gone again for another year and as per my family's tradition, we went camping out in the foothills. We enjoyed warm sun, good food and good company for the three days in Maclean Creek. Yes, there is still a fair amount snow laying around but I also noticed some green starting to peak through.

Yes, that lovely much stressed about day is fast approaching, Valentines Day.

and I am pretty sure what Chalk's holiday wish list will include: toy mice, lots of petting and catnip. I took this as he was being an inquisitive goof while I was getting decorations up. He is always so helpful with the Christmas tree, attempting to run off with an ornament or two to stuff into some corner or crevice. Once the tree is done and sitting on the bookshelf he knows it's off limits so he has to get his mischief in while he can.

My girlfriend and I made our yearly trip out to BC for the Renaissance Faire again. The weather was excellent and other than a few hiccups (flat tire, some unexpected work in setting up etc) the trip went quite well. We were not sure what to expect given that it was at a new location (Thunderbird Show Park) but overall I think the crowd turnout was decent. From a vendor perspective we both did exceptionally well, and I heard some other vendors comment the same.

It seems the sleepy town of Stellers Grove will have pressence of royalty to liven things up. King James of Scotland and Queen Margaret are making a brief stay and durring that time any who wish may present themselves to the King and Queen to be made a Knight or a Dame. Of course, you must make a declaration of the good deeds you have done to be worthy of this honour. These declarations ranged from "I promise to be nice to my cat." to "I fought the HST" (this caused a huge cheer) to "I made breakfast this morning" (the King was rather dubious about that one).

While this shot was taken during the pub sing, it is easy to imagine the pirates - err sorry - the Privateers to be plotting some mischief...

A week has passed since I returned from the Spring Fling and it already feels like another world away.

I enjoyed myself thoroughly and amassed a small pile of notes, handouts and photos that I am now starting to go through, well not the photos just yet. I left my camera behind by mistake so I am patiently waiting for it to arrive in the mail. You see, sleep at this kind of event is minimal at best so some things had to wait until the brain is less fuzzy in order to really sink in! But with rest I can now go through and start to apply these tips and ideas to my own practice.

Practice is exactly what I need! I have been both humbled and inspired by the artists at this event. So I will work in my sketchbook, and on whatever bare skin I can. I have ideas for cards, gift boxes, candles and other paraphernalia. I can copy what I see well enough but I now have hopes of developing a style of body art I can confidently call my own. I know that I can do better with this medium and that is what I aim to do.

I am starting to get excited about this, in two days I will be flying to California to meet amazing henna artists and have the chance to learn a thing or two from them. I have as much 'blank canvas' as I can offer since I have refrained from decorating myself. I have figured out what to pack - in my head anyway, I still need to complete the physical packing. Of course I will be taking my camera and extra batteries along with my sketchbook. Everything else (henna wise)will be provided. :)
This will be the first time in a long time that I have taken a trip by myself and I really hope that it will be as refreshing and invigorating as I have imagined... After the craziness of the past year I truly feel I need it!

After a crazy three weeks of holiday festivities and entertaining the dust is finally starting to settle. The tree has been taken down, the decorations are put away for another year and Chalk has his food dish returned to it's rightful place. As he is presently reminding me that it is dinner time I can safely say that things are getting back to normal.

We had a lovely visit with our friends from overseas as well as local friends who we do not see very often. For a brief run down of events...

Tape is a wonderful thing! From wrapping presents to preventing toddlers from making long distance calls to making the microwave easier to use, tape has played a larger role than usual this year. It's a good thing I stock lots of it!

Chalk is still working out the delicate balance needed with toddlers. When is it good to stand your fuzzy ground vs. when is it good to keep your ears, tail and toes free from harm? Overall he did well and I'm happy to say there was no claws involved. Teeth? Yes, in a gentle way that did not leave a physical mark but allowed clear and definite communication.

Christmas gatherings with friends and family made up the bulk of the visit when the boyfriend and I were not working. Of course a stroll through Zoolights was in order and despite the cold the numerous fire pits and interesting people resulted in a good time had by all. We even managed to spend some time at Heritage Park for "Once Upon a Christmas".

I enjoyed a lovely production of the Nutcracker with one of my friends on Boxing Day, which I think is a much better way to spend the day then to fight the crowds at the malls. Thanks dear!

Yes that crazy time is fast approaching! (as if you really need me to point that out?)

The tree is up and decorated, sitting (for now) safely on the cleared off bookshelf. With much luck neither the cat nor any pint sized visitors will send it crashing to the floor. For me the season simply would not be the same without a tree, it could be real or not so long as I have some semblance of one. I can say "some semblance of" because one Christmas found me down under working on an ostrich farm. Since we had no tree or decorations I invented one out of tissue paper and balloon pieces and stuck it to the wall! Interestingly enough all of the Canadian backpackers wanted Christmas festivities while the rest of the travelers were a lot less fussed over it. If I can get the picture of my made up tree scanned before the end of the season I will post it here.

The house is cleaned and somewhat ready for my friends who will be visiting for the next few weeks. The Christmas cards are finished and sent. I still have some shopping to complete and some gifts to send off in the mail and I'm just wishing we could figure out something for those "impossible-to-buy-for" people on the list. After the snarking that occurred over the group gift to the parents last year I think the other parties are sticking to their promise of not letting my other half be involved in any group gifts again!

So the plan for tomorrow is some baking, I have only had the ingredients ready for the past two weeks but no worries. It is better to have yummy treats lying around when there are more people around to help eat them...

I am slowly trying to shake this cold that has nested in me for the past week. The weekend was too busy to really help in this but I have tomorrow off so with luck a quiet day (of sorts) will be just the thing for me.

I say (of sorts) because there is always the housework which our busy lives has put off until now, plus I will be stepping out to grab the last few things for my costume. The other half will be working late so we probably will not work out his costume until Saturday (sigh...). But regardless, I will have some quiet time to relax and revitalize myself for the comming week.


Chalk was definately happy to have me home again. When he wasn't chasing the string he was getting into everything I was doing, which included trying to "hide" in my drawers when I was trying to put stuff away! I admit, he's so cute that I just have to play along...

I'm just itching to carve my pumpkin but that will probably have to wait until friday. I really don't have much else in the way of Halloween decorations other than a few candles. We shall see if I find myself with the time and energy to create something.

Yes, one of my favorite holidays is fast approaching! Halloween night there is the Green Fools Halloween Howl. A few friends and I will be going to this event and I am really looking forward to it.

Of course, where there is a Halloween party there must be - costumes! I have a pretty good idea for my own costume which should result in only a minimum amount of spending to complete it. All I need to complete the look is a hat and a sword, I have everything else.

As for the other half, who knows? He has no interest in Halloween at all and has declared that I need to come up with a costume for him. How typical is that? I figure we are going to hit the thrift stores to see what we can find.

One of my friends has the opinion that the costume you wear reflects what you want for the coming year. I had never thought of it that way before (I wonder what qualities a flaming hell cat would represent?). But for this year I think my costume reflects a search for adventure, fun and a touch of glamour. I can live with that!