11 April 2012

Happy Birthday, Betty Faye!
After more than two weeks without a visit to the Rahr Brewery, I decided I didn’t want to miss another event, so I went by myself tonight, for the Wednesday tour and tasting. I poured beer for a little while, and had a great time. It was a good break from mind-numbing computer work and sewing. While I was there, I saw the boxes stacked along a wall and was reminded of a photo I took many weeks ago, while the KRuMB was mostly inactive. I finally figured out how to dig it out of my phone and get it into my computer, and voila!

I also solidified a plan I hatched in my brain earlier this week. We’ve been racking our brain about just how to celebrate my upcoming natal day … it’s a big one … and since it falls on a Wednesday, I’ve decided we’ll celebrate at the Rahr!

So, next Wednesday, from five to seven-thirty, we’ll have a table “reserved” for our friends to visit with us and enjoy some awesome beer while we acknowledge my jump from middle-age to Old Lady! And, yes, the AARP card application came in the mail last week! After beer, I think we’ll drive a couple of blocks to a neat little Italian restaurant we discovered recently, called Mamma Mia’s. Mark it on your calendars … I’m only turning 50 once!

Cheers!
~MB

29 March 2012

As I worked relentlessly to sort, restack, and just generally move stuff around in my workshop to regain enough space to work, I moved a stack of fabric I’d moved just an hour or so earlier, and found this little guy! He startled me at first, but, as most of our readers know, I am a fan of lizards, so he and I co-existed for a while, until I needed him to move again. When that time came, I got him onto a piece of fabric which I moved to a better spot, out of my way, but, as I set it down, he crawled up my arm. I decided he must not have liked that purple fabric, so I put him on a brown table top and that seemed to suit him.

Since I didn’t get this photo up the same day I took it, I can now report, that what I’m pretty sure was the same little lizard, showed up in my kitchen yesterday! This time I decided outside was the best relocation destination, so I put him outside in a little garden zone. Interestingly, he allowed himself to be picked up and was in no big hurry to leave my 98.6 degrees when I opened my hand. Today, we’re pretty sure we watched him scurry out from under Kyle’s car and under my trailer. I don’t really care where he decides to live as long as he eats his share of pesty bugs.

~MB

Trailer Day! Yep, this was our day to haul the trailer to Scarborough Renaissance Festival, finish the cleaning and make-ready, and do the big unloading.  It’s always a day of hard work made easier by wonderful good friends.  Without that sort of help, I am sure Kyle and I would have retired from doing faire long, long ago.  Today, we were joined by so many and they worked so hard that I feel compelled to say thank you to them all again, here.

~Stephanie: I cannot even begin to tell you how much I miss you on a regular basis, and how glad I was to get to spend the day with you. You were a powerhouse of energy, worked with us ’til the very end of day and were such a huge help!
~Maggie: Welcome to the family, girl! I am delighted you will be working with us at Pendragon Costumes this season, and I promise that most work days will not be so grueling!
~Marcus: Once again, East Wind Games heads into another season with you as our manager and we are thrilled about it. You and Jordan both worked hard today to help us get ready and we are so grateful.
~Kat and Jeffrey: Kat …Ten years! We’ve been doing this together for ten years! Can you even believe it? Thank you so much for being who you are and for being such a crucial part of my team. And, Jeffrey … thanks for your patience and for your help in speeding through unpacking those tubbies!
~Beth and Dan: Beth, your comfort and stamina in the heat was admirable … that yoga proficiency came in handy, today! Thanks so much for all your hard work … and Dan … holy cow! I’d have to admit I thought Beth was bragging and a bit biased when she told me you were the most handy guy on the planet … but, I am now a believer!
~Angelica and Scott: You guys rocked! You worked so hard and stayed to the bitter end. Words of thanks are not enough!
~Emily: When you walked into my life wanting a special Elizabethan Wedding dress, I had no idea that years later, I’d have such a great friend! Thanks for understanding and participating in the non-glamourous part of what we do as well as looking so amazing in the outfit I made you!
~Ron: We somehow went a whole season without you last year … so glad we’re not doing that again! Your help was invaluable and your “go with the flow” spirit, an inspiration.
~Chuck: Your smile! I love your smile … and you worked hard, and so did young Brandon. Thank you guys for your help and your happiness! It helped propel the day.
~Curtis and beautiful daughter Rebecca: Not only did you come give us the lion’s share of your day, but you brought Rex and David with you … two additional, muscular teenagers with good manners, great spirits, and massive amounts of energy! Rebecca, we love having you around, and if you want to come to faire when Dad isn’t, you let us know … we’ll help! Curtis, after all these years, I think you finally believe … “I like you!”

My goodness! I hope I haven’t left anyone off the list, but the point of all this is we have amazingly awesome friends who came out to the faire site, knowing full well that they were in for a day of dirty, sweaty, hard work. They did whatever we asked them to do, never once complaining or avoiding. They endured allergies, layers of dust, too many stairs, and even vehicle towing! They waited patiently when vehicle towing meant lunch was delayed. And, they all said goodbye with a hug, somehow loving us even after all the work. I am humbled and feel so blessed.

Kyle and I pulled away from faire before sundown … another surprise bonus to the day. As we made the little switch from I-35 to Hwy. 287, I asked Kyle to pull over and let me get a couple of shots of the lovely Texas Bluebonnets on the hillside. It took me a while, because the lighting was best when my little field was in shadow … the shadow only happening when an 18-wheeled rig drove by! The photo above is the result of my waiting and getting the timing down right.

It wasn’t until I thought I was done, that I looked down and saw this:

Those who know me well, will know why I smiled.

Hi Steve.

~MB

22 March 2012

It was a full day of paperwork and emailing and workshop recovery (the process of cleaning up after a big project) and errands. And, then, I went to faire and worked another five or six hours!

As the sun was setting and I was saying goodbye to Kat, I wished for a fancy camera to be able to properly filter the light and capture the glorious colors we were seeing. But, I love the little camera I have, and this photo is about the best I could do. So, enjoy this one, but use your imagination a little, too!

There will be many more sunsets at Scarborough in 2012, but since last Sunday’s workday got cut short, this was my first.

~MB

21 March 2012

Inspired in a dream, I added this swirly trim design to the front side of Delaenya’s black top skirt for her can-can outfit. It was both fun and infuriating, but I love it. I may have to do something similar to my own, I like it so much.

In other news, my crockpot cooking adventures continue! For those who are surprised to see me use the word “cooking” in a sentence, I feel secure in telling the world … I love my crockpot! It is a new found love … and one that is still in the romance stage. We are still taking it slow. Every experience is new and fresh … and we have only flirted with the idea of permanent commitment. But, so far, we are very happy together. Tonight, I used a recipe from a book only as inspiration, changing ingredients and making it my own. And, the results were a delicious, five layer, ground beef enchilada pie! Yummo!

~MB

I desperately wanted to get outside today and take some springtime photos … but alas, I spent the day in my workshop … sewing, and that didn’t happen. At least I worked with some pretty colors as I finished Delaenya’s ruffly can-can skirt.

Happy Spring, my friends.

~MB

19 March 2012

I had an appointment this afternoon with my current acupuncturist, arriving only a few minutes early, I jumped out of my truck and quickly went into the building. An hour or so later, having been pricked, zapped and massaged, I paid my copay (insurance that covers acupuncture rocks!) and headed out the door. I move a little slower after lying still for an hour, so I had time to look down as I stepped off the curb. And, there, on the ground between the curb and my truck, was this bottle cap from the Rahr Brewery! I was completely caught off guard by it—what was the likelihood? I suppose it’s possible that it actually came out of my truck … perhaps my skirt swept it from the floor under my feet, to the ground … but I certainly wasn’t aware of it. It made me smile, anyway. And I took the photo. I actually prefer to think that the love of Rahr beer is so widespread that it wasn’t my bottle cap at all.

~MB

16 March 2012

My love affair with the Can Can probably started way back when I was a child in the sixties, being raised well on American Musical Theatre.  I pretty much wanted to be Shirley MacLaine.  Then, in the eighties when I was teaching dance at the Carol Shannon Dance Studio, I got to live my little Can Can fantasy.  Carol was a well known cabaret-style belly dancer in Fort Worth, and although she hired me to teach jazz classes, it didn’t take long for me to get swept into the wave of charisma that was her and her dancers.  Soon I was belly dancing, as well as hula dancing and … doing the Can Can!   A few years later, when we were looking to add new acts to those available through the Eastern Onion Singing Telegram franchise where I worked, I added a Can Can dancer, and my telegram came complete with not only me dancing, but me teaching some poor unsuspecting man, wearing a silly hat to do some high kicks as well.

I brought that first can can skirt out of retirement a number of years ago, when Robert Ray came to me one day at Bristol Renaissance Faire and said the theme for the Funky Formal was going to be western, and he was hoping I’d be willing to pull together something fun … like maybe a Can Can routine to perform during one of the breaks in the group dancing.  He had picked the can can music from the movie Moulin Rouge, and I choreographed a fun little number to it, for five of us crazy women to dance.  If I do say so myself, I think we were a hit.  I used that old skirt, because I was too busy making new ones for the other four girls, to have time to make myself one!

So, a couple of years later, when a bunch of us had a Judy and Mickey moment and said, “I know!  Let’s put on a show!”  —I drafted mostly the same girls to do a new Can Can number.  This time we used the traditional Can Can music, and since I only had two new dancers to make skirts for, and one to improve, I squeezed making one for me into the mix.  The new one is purple and white and I absolutely adore it.  It has come in handy for everything from Steampunk to Moulin Rouge parties. Long time readers of The Daily KRuMB  might remember photos of some of those past projects’ ruffles, as well as one rather infamous photo of the red ruffly panties I made to wear under it!

So, these skirts are really adorable, and as such, I’ve now taken a small handful of orders for more.  I made one for Allyson last fall, and now this one for Delaenya.  The next one is in “Rainbow Brite” colors!  That ought to be entertaining.

This fun thing for Delaenya will be done by Monday and on its way to her.  I hope she enjoys wearing hers half as much as I love mine … and I hope she knows it’s made with love.

~MB

15 March 2012

Since I went a year without posting, but still taking at least some photos, I spent a good portion of my day today finally getting those pictures out of my camera and onto Flickr and into my computer files. And, since our Daily KRuMB readers missed my version of most of 2011, I am choosing today to share one of those photos I would have used, had I been doing daily postings. This photo of Kyle and Kelly in Ohio at Christmas time, is one of my new favorite images of two of the most special people in my world. We were visiting the lovely Stan Hywet Hall, a Victorian Tudor Revival Manor House, and both Kyle and I got some very nice shots that day. In fact, Kyle posted, here on the KRuMB, a similar photo, although beautifully altered, of me walking with John down this same arch-covered path.

It seems fitting to me, to use this photo of ones so dear, as today we celebrated the birthday of our dear Stephen Bishop who died in October. Indeed part of why I lost track of time last spring and stopped posting here at The Daily KRuMB for so long was that I was very involved in all of Steve’s medical adventures—driving many of the trips to and from doctors’ offices and hospital emergency rooms, wheel-chair-juggling, oxygen-tank-toting, pharmaceutical-fetching, and just general friend-loving. His health declined steadily throughout 2011, and his struggles finally ended in the fall. I still regularly visit his Facebook wall, sometimes leaving a comment. I still haven’t been able to face the Dallas fabric stores without him. And, tonight, over Mexican Inn food and a margarita, we celebrated his life again, with a bunch of his good friends, and I would like to think that somewhere, somehow, he is smiling, knowing how loved he is.

~MB

14 March 2012

I cannot begin to truly explain why I'm still up after the other three people in my house have been in bed for hours, but, I am.  I could blame it on the stupid games I play on Facebook, but that only took me a little while, tonight.  I could easily blame it on my newest obsession: Pinterest.  But, even that is only half true.  Tonight, I discovered ... albeit, through Pinterest ... a neat little site called Polyvore.  I don't begin to understand how these wonderfully interactive sites work, but I love that somebody out there dreams up these ideas and gives wings to my creativity.

So, this style board is my first attempt at a fashion layout on Polyvore.  I really kinda like it.  It was fun, and I wanted to share!  It's not truly a photo, of course, but after a year's hiatus from my daily commitment to the KRuMB, I'm slowly climbing back on this wonderful old horse. I have missed it, and all of our readers and their comments, more than I would have thought, so my goal is to reintroduce the habit to my daily schedule. Wish me luck!

Now, since I will be up with Kyle in a very few hours (sleeping in is not an option), I must get to bed. By eight-thirty in the morning I will not only be seeing him off to work, but saying goodbye also to Roxy and Damaris who have been with us for the past day and a half on their way home from Florida.  We like to think of our home as their home away from home, and their visits never seem to last long enough.  We crammed a lot of fun into this one, though ... beer and trivia at No Frills last night, followed by far too much fun with Dr. Ambrosius Feyverd's dangerous intoxicology! (That's a whole 'nuther story!)  Then a relaxed and wonderful, if not a little hungover, day including the tour and tasting at the Rahr and a delightful dinner afterward at the T & P Tavern.  So, I'm tired.  Happy ... and tired.

And glad to be back.

~MB