Anyone who knows me - well knows we love the Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair, Wine, Music and parties! This past weekend we put them all together and had a blast. The entire family traveled the 4 hour hike to sample the wine and hear Albannach play. Yup, 4 hours.... We were less than a mile away from the entrance and traffic stopped for 45 minutes. We though there may have been an accident and traffic was being diverted. No such luck. This was the largest crowd I have ever witnessed at the Renaissance Faire. It too us 45 minutes to basically get into the parking area. Crazy.

When we entered the Faire we could hear the music of Albannach -

"Albannach - (Jamesie Johnston, Jacquie Holland, Donnie MacNeill, Kyle Gray, Aya Thorne, Davey “Ramone” Morrison) Born and bred in Scotland, Albannach is far, far from just another Scottish Pipes & Drum band. Their style of music is exciting, energetic and driving and promises to leave you begging for more!"

It is nearly impossible to sit still while this band plays live. You may say but its bagpipes and drums... All I can say is that if you enjoy music and have any primal blood in you - you will be moved. This band is high energy on stage - jumping around with a huge base drum strapped to you is very impressive. They are all extremely talented and worth a listen but if you can I would highly recommend seeing them preform live.

Wine was a plenty but long lines and crowds of people kept us sober most of the day. We did enjoy a glass while walking the grounds. Many grape/wine oriented events this year but we found ourselves just enjoying the atmosphere for the most part. It was a beautiful day to be outside and with friends and family.

We stopped several time to see our good friend Albert Alfaro - Master Puppet Maker from www.imaginariumgalleries.com but each time the shop was full to the hilt. We will catch up with him next time I am sure. This was our first time coming home without a new puppet.... we have over 30 so I guess we have reached a limit of sorts. My wife was looking at a few but we left empty handed. We will be back Albert no worries:)

While there I approached the resident walking stick authority and he seemed genuinely impressed with my attempt at a walking stick. He asked me how much I would sell it for and of course I said I would not sell it. The he asked how much I thought it was worth, how many hours I had tied up in the carving, etc. He then suggested that the true value of my time and effort was in the neighborhood of $400. I never stopped to think of the value while I was carving my wine harvest walking stick. I just enjoyed the time with my daughter and solitude. Being able to focus on one thing without any outside expectations. I will probably be doing another sometime soon.

We stayed for the Finale in Song for the first time and might I say.... WOW! We will stay for this from now on. All the characters from the day come together for a show stopping extravaganza. Worth the price of admission by itself.

The final 3 weekends will be "Halloween Daze & Spooky Knights". May I recommend packing up the family and heading to the Shire?

Labels: day trip, family, renaissance fair, vacation, Wine

While cleaning up the yard a few months ago I decided to prune a few tree branches and take them to the kindling pile to let them dry out. We have a small fire pit in the back yard and the kids enjoy roasting marshmallows, making smores and chatting around the fire.

Well a few weeks later I found myself needing a bit of quite time so I went out to start a fire and sip a glass or two of a nice Merlot. After a bit of roasting myself I went back to the kindling pile to build up the fire a little and found one of the larger maple tree branches I had taken down earlier. Now, normally I would have broken this branch down and enjoyed another glass of wine... but there was something about this branch and the way it fit my hand. I started snapping of the little branches and figuring our if the stick was hiking material and found it to be quite solid and free of any cracks or major blemishes. So I went inside and got the trusty old carving knife and went to work. The branch was about 2.5 in. diameter so I knew I had my work cut out for me.

After a few hours I had to call it quits. The blisters had blisters and I could feel the onset of the good ole Tennis Elbow coming on (I work behind a desk:). I had removed all the bark and had whittled the stick down to a good 2 in. diameter. I brought the stick inside to show the family and they didn't seem too impressed. So I started thinking what can I do to make this walking stick better.... My lovely wife asked me if I was feeling any better and if I thought another glass of wine would help... LOL Of course it would. At that exact moment it hit me... We enjoy wine, wine making, grapes, we use the vines in the winter for making ornamental pieces. Why not have a vine carved into the walking stick.

I did a little research to see exactly what type of leaf I could use and drew a couple of preliminary sketches - whoa me with a pencil in hand - That got my families attention. My daughter announcing to the entire house "Dad's drawing!". They tend to get on me about not drawing enough. My oldest daughter says on the computer doesn't count... I tell her I make money with a mouse in a month then I ever did with a pencil. Man how far I have come.... Anyway, it was getting late and after 4 glasses of wine I thought it might be a bad idea for me to use sharp instruments.

The next day I came home from work with a mission. I started whittling and gouging until I realized that having a simple outline of a leaf and grapes was just not good enough I wanted dimension. So needless to say it was a late night. I didn't realize just how hard Maple wood could be. I had the rough shapes started but I couldn't get the depth I was looking for with the tools I had. Ready to throw in the towel and admit defeat I thought about how much time I had already invested and what this simple stick had come to represent to me. There had to be a more effective method. Dremel.

Using my Dremel Drill to sand down the rough edges would take some time but the end result would be pretty good I though. I had no idea how long it would take but it was better than giving up. Every night after work I would come home and spend an hour or two sanding and carving and sanding... to the point I would have to take a shower before sitting on the furniture. Fat man carving = wet saw dust and matted body hair (think you have the visual? You have no idea). Each night Krysta would come outside and sit with me carving he very own walking stick - a nice piece of White Oak from another tree in the yard. We spent the entire week together in the back yard talking, joking, carving and coughing up saw dust. It was great!

Just when I though it was done... A friend at work suggested I carve a vine down the walking stick below the area I had designated for the handle. After looking at it a few moments I agreed and that night - the stick went back under the knife. After a few more days of carving, gouging and sanding I had deemed the "Walking Stick" complete.

The funny thing about doing a work of art for yourself... you never stop to think about the perceived value. When I got all done with the carving I used some watered down acrylic paints to add a wash of color to the leaves and grapes. The I used a light Maple stain and linseed oil to protect it from oils and elements. All-in-all it was a great creative exercise and gave me a good creative kick in the butt not to mention the alone time to empty my thoughts and focus on just getting that one grape to look just right.

Thank you to my family for letting me just carve for a couple of weeks. I love you all.

Labels: artwork, family, walking stick, wood carving

Here we go again! Hershey, PA has got to be our favorite family vacation location. We go every years sometimes twice a year. we usually make a long weekend out of the trip and this year was no exception. Hershey is only 3 hours away (no matter what Anita says we can't make it in 2 hour) and there are lots of shoppes and antiques along the way. We take to scenic route to Hershey - seems to be a theme of ours to take the less beaten path. We try really hard to not have a schedule while on vacation. Sometimes this means we turn off just to stop and walk around. Its really great to not be in a hurry.

This year Hershey opened up the Boardwalk at Hershey. Kind of a throw back to what Hershey Park started out to be. When we entered the Boardwalk area I was surprised to se a Nathan's Hot Dog stand and Billboards for Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Lots of water rides for the kids and some really cool slides for the adults as well. Of course the new rides and slides had some long lines but hey its and amusement park, right? Anita and the kids stood in line for an hour to ride a 45 second slide... eh.

I am more of a coaster fan. Wild Cat, Lightning Racer, Great Bear, Comet, Super D Looper, Sidewinder, Trailblazer and of course Storm Runner. We always enjoy Canyon River Rapids, Tidal Force and Roller Soaker when it gets hot in the afternoon. We usually split the day - In the morning we do all the water rides then change our clothes and do as many coasters as we can.

This year we skipped the Zoo of America so we could squeeze in a couple more rides. We rode the monorail over the zoo just to make sure all the animals knew we were there.

There is so many things to see and do in and out of the park at Hershey you will never be board.

Labels: amusement park, family, Hershey, Hershey Park, rides, vacation, water

Another great day trip with the family. We like to go hiking in the local parks but every once in a while you just need to see some pretty flowers. This is a relatively inexpensive trip that we do quite often. Partially to get ideas but mostly just to be with one another in a beautiful setting.

This time we walked the nature trails that go around the back side of the gardens. You can take in all the beauty of the gardens and learn the history of the park in a single day but each time you turn around there is something you didn't see or know before. With Shayna entering into the Environmental Sciences in school we like to show our support by venturing to the orchid section.

 
The artist in me finds the textures and colors overwhelming. I could spend the entire day shooting photos of the gardens and finding the little know paths and textures that present themselves throughout Longwood Gardens.

Labels: day trip, family, flowers, Longwood Gardens, outdoors, vacation

It was a long ride but we made it. We wanted to check out the local night life and see what we had been missing by living in good old Delaware. You know Myrtle Beach is a lot like Rehoboth a night. We walked the strip and quickly found ourselves engulfed by spring breakers - must say that was interesting. We walked the beach and stores on the avenue. Again a lot like our beaches in Delaware. We called it a night and went to our condo to get some rest and eat some dinner. It was nice to go back to our condo and have a working kitchen and supplies to actually make real food. Any one who knows us knows how we love to cook and we had been on the road now for 3 days - fast food, take out and snacks were just getting old.

 
 

The place was really nice with 2 bedrooms and a large living area, kitchen and balcony looking out on pond with a lit fountain in the center that changed colors as the water sprayed high in the air. Finally we could relax and feel at home on the road. This place was really nice.



The next day the girls got to meet up with their biological father Wayne. He had not seen them for several years. We decided to make an event out of it and go to the Ripley's Aquarium. This place is really awesome but really expensive. There were people inside freaking out about the horseshoe crabs just inside the entrance. Coming from Delaware on a 600 mile road trip the last thing we wanted to see is more horseshoe crabs! Just kidding. The outer part of the aquarium was full of wildlife from all parts of the world. We walked around and watched documentaries on several species. The we entered the underwater aquarium... this was really cool. Huge sharks and rays coming right up to us. Trey was looking for his fishing pole by the end of the journey.



 
That night we ventured back out to the strip and took a chance on the Ripley's Haunted House. That we may do again. This was well planned out and scary as hell. You go through 4 floors of darkness with chain-saw wielding maniacs chasing you and dark figures just making their presence known. There are points were you can see absolutely nothing and other time you wish you couldn't. This was fun for all... made me scream like a little girl... well made me jump a few times.

Labels: beach, family, haunted house, Myrtle Beach, Ripleys, South Carolina, vacation