Carol of the Bells

This sequence deserves a post all to itself.

The last thing we did Saturday afternoon before leaving the faire for the day was to catch the end of a performance by Cast In Bronze. Frank DellaPenna, known as the Spirit of the Bells, plays the only travelling carillon in America. It is made of 35 cast bronze bells, and is played similar to the way you would play a piano. Carillons are traditionally played from a "lofty bell tower" and therefore the carillonneur was never seen. Spirit of the Bells continues this tradition of secrecy by wearing a mask. The music is beautiful.

DD2 loved the music, and got up to start dancing.






In this one, you can see the carillon pretty well, although Spirit of the Bells is hard to make out. He's sitting to the left.


We bought a DVD and a CD to enjoy at home. Spirit of the Bells autographed the DVD for DS1.


Will you sign this?


Of course I will, Sweetie.


Can I have a hug first?










And she got the autograph too.



fin.

Got A Photograph, Picture Of

Continuing to enjoy the Scarborough Renaissance Festival on Saturday afternoon. While waiting for one of the performances to start I got some wonderful photos of the family.

Howdy Pardner!    


A Father's Love     I know this isn't DH's favorite picture of himself, but I LOVE it. He is looking down at DD2 in this one.


My Girl     The absolute best photo I've ever taken of anyone anywhere. Simply the best photo I've ever seen of DD1. Thank goodness for rapid fire, I never would have lined this photo up like this on purpose, and look what I would have missed!


Hey, You! What?     DS2 doesn't like to pose for photos, so when I get him it's usually by surprise and this is the look I get.


Zilch, the TorySteller    


Zilch tells stories in "Spoonerisms. He flips the first letter of nearby words around, and tells tales like "Rindercella and the Stoo Tugly Epsisters" and "Rittle Led Hiding Rood."


Jomeo and Ruliet    



Sisters    


Elephant Rides    


Camel Rides    


Cut, Thrust and Run     Comedy, fruit, swords, drinking - what more could you want?


We saw their last show of the day. Everytime they said "Are", like "What ARE you doing?" The audience had to yell "ARRR" and they would drink a shot of rum or whisky. They got very drunk.


I like this sequence of Cut spearing an apple out of Run's hand.










One more post to go, saving the best for last!

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

After lunch, we walked around and saw a few more shows.

Daniel Duke of Danger     This guy is a good acrobat, and very funny. We've seen his show several times, but he always makes it seem so spontaneous.




I couldn't find a website for Daniel, but if you google "Daniel Duke of Danger" there was at least one video of him up on YouTube.


Kids - Don't try this at home.     Now Jousting - that's good family fun. "Onward Fido, to Victory!"


Trying to get the sweat out of his eyes, and the image of a kid riding a beagle out of his mind.


Take the picture! Take the picture!


Water Fountain     I just liked the way this one looked.


Llamas and Ponies on the Carousel


Model ships     This shop was gorgeous. So many wonderful model ships.


Ships in a Bottle Lightbulb!


Motley Players III     These guys and gals do improv comedy while the audience throws water balloons at them. Given it is usually in the 80's and 90's, this is not a bad idea.


Spin


Spin


Spin


Spin


Spin


Taa Daa!


Suit of Armor



I have 2 more posts worth of photos from Saturday. Trust me, the last set will be well worth the wait. I hope you are enjoying these photos half as much as I am.

Are You Going To Scarborough Faire?

The Scarborough Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie, Texas, is one of the biggest and best Renaissance Faires we've attended. It really does take a full two days to enjoy it all, and given that it's a 5 hour drive from our home, we generally go down for the weekend.

As mentioned in my previous post, I took over 2400 photos at the faire this weekend: 600 on Saturday, and 1800 on Sunday. Even taking just the very best photos, and only one or two from each event/performance/ride, I have 64 post worthy photos from Saturday alone. That's a tenth of them that were not just good, but really great and needing to be shared. I have not looked at Sunday yet. I hope you do not get tired of Ren faire photos, as it will probably take several posts to share even just the very best of our weekend excursion.

Let's start with Saturday Morning.

Arriving at the Faire on Saturday Morning. The excitement builds. It's been three years since we made it to Scarborough, and we can't wait to get started.


The oldest three riding in the Barrel ride. The ride twisted as well as swung, so DD2 did not go. DD1 was not impressed, but you can't really see her in this photo.


The Corsairs. This group sings mostly pirate songs, and is quite good. We bought their latest CD, 9 Live, for the car.


The boys and youngest DD getting ready for the pirate ship ride. This one only swung back and forth, so we thought DD2 would be okay. She looks happy here, no?


She's not so happy here. :) This is why DD1 opted out of this ride.


Ok, I'm done. Get me out of this thing!


The misting bridge. A necessity in Texas in May.


A new hat for DS1. Another addition to his pirate costume, though he's not wearing his ren shirt in this photo.


A new hat for DH. The picture is dark, but it has one side snapped up and a feather for the Ren Faire. He can also wear it down as a fedora. It looks to be a versatile and useful hat.


Showing off their new hats. DS1 still doesn't know daddy was doing that to him. Wait 'til he sees this!


Brothers DS2 got his hat two weeks ago at the Muskogee Ren Faire. Now if they can just take care of them!


Ren Food! Fish n Chips


Ren Food! Pork pocket.


Trying on Daddy's hat.


Daddy being goofy in DS2's hat


Ok, enough fun and games.



More to come!