A Visit from a Long Lost Friend

Okay--she wasn't actually lost. We knew right where she was. But it wasn't here. My friend Kathy, who inspired the fire tower watcher in Wickedly Powerful (and did an amazing job of answering questions about how the whole thing worked, so Sam was as realistic as I could make him) lived here 8-9 years ago. She was a beloved member of Blue Moon Circle, and we all pined when she left to return to Arizona to help out her daughters and grandchildren (and spend some summers up in the fire tower in Wyoming). The last trip she took out here was five years ago, which was WAY too long a time.

Recently, she came back for a two-week visit, staying with me and hanging out with me and a bunch of other Blue Moon Circle peeps. She spent a lot of time bird watching (adding 9 new birds to her lifetime list, some of whom I STILL haven't seen), and we talking (er...ranted) politics, and watched movies, and had BBQs. We even did a Lammas ritual that got some of the gang together again. It was lovely. I couldn't have asked for a nicer house guest or a better two weeks. Even if I didn't get nearly as much work done while she was here, of course. Here are a few pictures from our time together:

Meet Kathy!

She helped out in the garden, since she missed having one, and my knee still doesn't kneel.

Chris and Kathy chatting on the back deck in the evening.

BBQ at Chris's house. She made ribs in the smoker. OMG

Bobbie, Kathy, Chris, and Robin

I have no idea what was wrong with my face in this picture! Maybe I was thinking about her leaving again, since this was her last day.

I hope she doesn't wait another five years for her next visit. The guest bedroom awaits you, Kathy!

A Day at the Faerie Fest

One of my favorite days of the year is the day I spend at the NY Faerie Festival in Ouaquaga, NY (right outside of Binghamton in the middle of some beautiful countryside). The Faerie Fest was started by some local folks from the Binghamton Pagan and musical community five years ago, and I've made it there for 4 years out of 5. I always have a blast. Of course, part of that is because the Faerie Fest is located just down the road from where my wonderful friends Robin and George live, along with my goddess-children Sophie (now 7) and Nate (6). So every year, my pal Ellen and I make a pilgrimage to the Festival, accompanied by Robin and the kids.

These are a few of the things we saw, experienced, and enjoyed:
All sorts of entertainment, including a parade with the Queen of Faerie and her court, a dragon, and lots of great music...

One of the highlights for me was getting to see one of my favorite New York State bands, Frenchy and the Punk

 Lots of hard work and imagination meant that everywhere you looked, you saw something clever and magical in the woods.

This guy was actually overhead, up in a tree!

 We bumped into Patsy, one of the Blue Moon Circle ladies. She and Karen are involved in the event, and Karen's guy Glen actually owns the beautiful piece of land the event takes place on.

The kids had a blast wading in the creek (there were mermaids in the creek too, but they were on break while we were down there).

 Can you tell we were having a good time?

Another bonus was getting to meet Dawn Hunt, the author of a great little magical cook book and creator of her own yummy line of magical cooking oils and other goodies. (Yes, of course I brought some home with me!)

 

And LOOK! I found a little Chudo-Yudo! 

(The white pit bull/dragon in disguise from WICKEDLY DANGEROUS)

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, the company was great, and I really enjoyed having a rare day to just relax and have fun. If you ever get the chance, you should go. It's magical!

Ellen, me, Nate, and Sophie at the end of the day--tired but happy.

Faerie Festival Time!

Despite the lingering effects of my cold and the less-than-perfect weather (it had been raining for days, and rain was predicted again in the afternoon), my pal Ellen and I set out for the Faerie Festival last Sunday.

The Faerie Queen and King lead the processional.

The New York Faerie Festival, put on for three days in lovely Ouaquaga, NY (near Binghamton) just celebrated its fifth year, and it gets better every time.

As always, we met up with my friend Robin, who lives with her hubby and my goddess-children Sophie and Nate a convenient 5 minutes from where the festival is held. It was hot, and there was a LOT of mud, but as always, we had a great time. (And the rain very kindly held off until we were on the way home.)

If you ever get a chance to go to this event, I highly recommend it. Fabulous music, lovely handmade crafts, and lots of crazy folks dressed up as faeries, trolls, goblins, and more. There was even a dragon...and a light green faerie dog.

Here's me and my two favorite kids (who were incredibly well-behaved this year)

Nate wearing the little horns I bought him, and looking devilishly handsome as usual.

Ellen walking the labyrinth

 

Nate and Sophie with some friends...

 Robin and the kids

Me and Sophie at the end of a long, hot, but FUN day. That's it until next year!

My Holiday Weekend

How was your holiday weekend? Did you do anything fun?

Saturday was mostly spent doing gardening and housework, but Sunday was a relax and have fun day (although it was, in part, research for my current series, which features a hero who is a Seneca Indian). My best pal Ellen and I went to the Fenimore Museum in Cooperstown, NY--they have a fabulous collection of Native American art, including, at the moment, the Thaw Collection, which has been traveling the country. If you live anywhere near there, I highly recommend it.

Ellen and I went for the day's event, an Iroquois Festival. (The Seneca are one of a number of tribes who are collectively known as Iroquois, in case you didn't know.) There was amazing Native singing and dancing

And the folks doing it were lovely and friendly, besides being talented. In case you can't tell, I'm the one second from the right, with my arm around the cute guy :-)

I got to see a genuine bark longhouse, one of which I used in my book, SEEDS OF CHANGE. And was happy to see I got all my facts right :-)

And there were a lot of Native American vendors selling truly beautiful crafts and art--including this barrette, which I couldn't resist. (Because I have long hair, I tend to collect cool hair doodads...and this not only was my colors, but it had stars!)

Not only did I get to enjoy the museum, the Festival, and do research at the same time, and spend the day with one of my oldest friends, it was one of those rare *perfect* upstate NY days...low 80's, not too humid, sunny, and hardly any bugs. All in all, a wonderful day.

Then on Monday, I came back to reality, and spent some time in the hot & muggy morning, pulling massive amounts of weeds to reclaim the sort-of flower beds at the front of the house. I should have taken a "before" picture--but it would just have looked like a mess of overgrown unidentifiable greenery. This is what it looked like "after."

As you can see, once the heaping wheelbarrow full of weeds was removed, there wasn't much left...guess I need to buy some perennials to plant there. It gets full sun, and of course, it is Zone 4, so not much survives the winter. Any suggestions?

I hope you had a lovely weekend too. Anything you want to share about what you did?

How I spent my Memorial Day or The Cutest Kids on the Planet

I had planned to spend Memorial Day weekend doing the usual--writing, working in the garden, making jewelry...in other words, working. But a last-minute invite from my pal Robin and her hubby George prompted me to say, "The heck with it!" and drive (well, get in the car with Ellen, who drove) the 45 minutes to their house for in impromptu BBQ with friends instead. As a bonus, I got to spend time with two of my favorite kids in the world.

Okay--it's not like I am prejudiced or biased in any way...but I believe that my goddess-children, Nate and Sophie, are possibly the cutest children on the planet.

Seriously; you be the judge.

At the New York Faerie Festival

Last Sunday, I spent the day at the new York Faerie Festival, near Binghamton, with pal Ellen and her guy, and Robin and her kids Sophia and Nat. It was hotter 'n hell, but we had a blast anyway.

This was the second year of the festival, and the folks putting it on had made some serious improvements from the first year. There was some amazing music, lots of fun performances, and plenty of wandering faeries, trolls, and goblins. (And I'm not just talking about me and my friends.) The vendors were many and varied, and the land on which the festival takes place is one of my favorite places on earth. [The local Pagan community uses it for gatherings throughout the year; that is where Blue Moon Circle usually goes for Beltane celebrations.]

This is the kind of event that is the most fun to do if you have young kids with you (although it is great for adults, too), since there is so much for them to get excited about. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea:
Teribus performs (love the kilts!)

Nat and a tall friend

Sophie walking the stone labyrinth

Nate meets a goblin

Just one example of how beautiful this place is

It is too late to get to the New York Faerie Fest this year, but I hope you'll consider going when they do it again next year. Check out the website for more information http://www.nyfaeriefest.com/