Studio Renovations

Hey everyone, it's Phil.

Back when I'd only first started teaching, Krysti had already been teaching for around 5 years already, and we both were taking classes at Bluffton University. We would teach out of one of the practice rooms there in the music building when we weren't in classes/ensembles. Krysti's schedule was pretty full considering her workload at school, and I had only a few students by the time we graduated. Once Krysti graduated from Bluffton and moved into the small house on college avenue we rented from Fred, she could teach out of there and then I could as well once we married.

It was good for a while, and I taught many of my students at their house at that point to save space at the studio.We even started having Kevin do guitar lessons with us and Sarah do voice, so fitting them in was during our break times. We were adding more and more students!


The only issue was space. The old house (the one that used to be a barn and was converted into a house) was all open to itself with only doors for the rooms upstairs. This meant we could only hold one lesson at a time.

 (Left: this picture is from when we were packing to move, but you can see how open everything was. The Everett piano used to cover the fireplace, and the Whitney piano was to the left, as pictured above.)

So during our first year of marraige we spent time during our walks around town looking at houses and fantasizing about which house would be good for having a studio and teaching in.




Our big goal was for it to be easily accessible, close to the school, and already pre-fit for teaching multiple lessons. (We did consider trying to use a storefront studio in the place beside the Dough Hook but ultimately decided against.) We'd looked at a couple houses but didn't feel strongly about one till we found the house on main street that we're at now. Since this house used to be a duplex, it made perfect sense and seemed well-suited to our needs as it had a public bathroom, a waiting room, and two rooms to fit a piano in and teach two lessons at once. Here's the second room (before) where I taught, plus the other teachers. It was perfect!

For a while. Then we kept adding more students.

Having so many students was great!! This was one of our goals because it provides some extra income so eventually once we have kids Krysti can back off from teaching such a heavy student load. But, the additional students posed a logistical problem: where do we put 'em?? Ultimately we could hold four lessons at once - two upstairs and two downstairs, one on a grand piano in the living/front room, and the other in our messy-always-somewhat-disorganized back room where the digital keyboard could fit.

But we did have a plan. We had decided it would be to our benefit to have some remodeling done to split space into more efficient, closed-off rooms. The second room upstairs had plenty of space and we projected it could be split into two, even three rooms; this would allow us to keep the majority of our teaching upstairs and leave the living space downstairs alone as much as possible. So after formally deciding that was our plan of action, it was relatively soon before we had someone who could do it and was available. So we left on vacation (albeit naively) thinking we were going to come home to a brand new upstairs, fully remodeled with its "i"s dotted and its "t"s crossed. Yeah, that was the surprise we mentioned before.

Suffice it to say the project was not nearly along as far as we would have liked. But as is the nature of digging up old history, some issues need time to properly address. There were things like old and moldy insulation that needed removing (and turned to powder when you touched it) and other considerations. We did have a bit of a panic moment upon arriving home and seeing the state of things, with things coated with dust -- though to their credit they did a wonderful job controlling it as best they could, considering the task!

Doug and his crew continued on after we arrived home, and things continued taking shape, from the studs being put in place for framing the walls and doorways to outlets being placed and electricity & heating being run in.

This is getting the ceiling drywalled so light fixtures & heating ducts can be easily installed in each room, and walls can be framed. Then electricity boxes installed.

Here's what the attic looks like; I'd never seen it before this! The other thing Doug and his crew did was prepare for and cooperate with M&R to get heating brought up to the new rooms. When M&R arrived, they did two things, bring up heating through Room 1 so it can be carried and split into the three new rooms, and break into/clean out the chimney stack and run a line through that as well. Dan also spent some time up here working to install new light fixtures into the hallway ceiling.

As our Christmas break progressed, we were able to continue planning for the spring session of lessons and see the continual process of the renovations. There was a lot of drywall upstairs - part of the design is in the soundproofing: a very important aspect of creating a music studio (and adding to one.) The new interior walls are very thick, having insulation and two layers of drywall, glued together with something called "green glue," a soundproofing measure. It expands a little in between to create extra space for sound to die in. One aspect of the whole operation that was time consuming was the drywalling, since mudding & sanding is a needed and lengthy process that just needs time in-between steps.

Time progressed, and more was accomplished. Here's the middle room as it was still in constuction.











Below is a picture of the guys installing a brand new window into Room 2. They had to take off the existing siding so they could cut in the new window. Apparently another window used to exist in the same area, and you can see the old siding underneath. (It's fun to catch a piece of the house's history!)

The next big thing was getting the woodwork in and then we were also priming the drywall, both walls and ceiling. As the break came to a close, we had a renovation party complete with Gromans, Foulkes & Yoders! We got the second piano moved back into its room (Mark's dolly cart helped a ton... --hah, a pun!) and we got the priming & painting completed in relatively short time.

Q.) How many guys does it take to move a piano??
A.) As many as it takes.

Here is the woodwork installed, plus the floor, leveled and carpeted. Diller's Flooring came and took care of that. They had to place whole plywood sheets on the floor then use a putty mixture to let the liquid find the level. After that they could lay the carpetin place. That alone made a HUGE difference with the soundproofing! Without it, it was still pretty live inside each room, being all solid surfaces.

Here are the rooms as they are now, Rooms 2, 3 & 4 - blue, brown & green!

 

So now we have four rooms upstairs, each usable for teaching! One other improvement which I mentioned also was new lighting.

Dan found these lights at Menards, so with a small roadtrip to Celina to pick up enough, we "saved big money" and got a really sharp & fun-looking deal which improves the visual quality of the studio, making it look more professional. So many cool things! Now that it's complete for the meantime (aside from painting the individual rooms, should we deem them soundproof enough), we can enjoy having less hassle in our schedule for both us and our teachers!

So what's next?? Next will be replacing the hallway carpet (there is still that patch of bare floor in the new hallway for now) which runs down the stairway, then replacing the carpet in Room 1. We've already decided Room 1's carpet will be purple.

If we need to in the future, we've also previously discussed as part of our plan the possibility of adding on to the 2nd floor to create a couple larger rooms. But if we start pushing 200 students, then we can start considering it! (We are currently just above 140, so you never know: The LORD provides.)



Our Princess cruise to the Eastern Caribbean!

Hey everyone!

Phil here to catch up on some recent stories. To preface: the fall session of lessons ended rather well, I'd say, with nine total recitals for our 120+ students!  We like to have recitals at nearby nursing/assisted living homes since the residents enjoy them, and this year we tried something new: having recitals at the coffee shop. That turned out very well, and the owners loved having it! There were many new customers there, and the owner (also named Phil; good name.) remarked how the coffee shop is supposed to be a hub of community, waving his arms at the students and parents and saying "This is community!" So the recitals closed a successful session of lessons - we'll get into more studio detail later in another post!

So right after our last lessons on that Friday, we made sure all our things were packed for our cruise and went to bed early, planning for a VERY early morning drive. We woke up and left around 1:00am, knowing we were planning to be in Florida by the end of the day. Starting that early is a good idea, because if anything straglers are going home for the night, and otherwise the roads are clear for a good 5-6 hours. We made good time and around 10-11pm stopped for the night at a hotel about an hour & a half north of Fort Lauderdale. So Sunday, we took a coastal route to Port Everglades, driving amid a confusing mix of rain & sunshine. We took a little time at the nearby beach before getting to the ship to indulge in a preview of coming attractions: sand, surf, and sun!

We waited (or waded; either seems appropriate) through security burdened with our heavy luggage  - most people had luggage transferred from their flight, it seemed - and boarded the ship around 2pm, found our stateroom, and had some time before the ship departed. Krysti had been on a Princess Cruise before, but this was my first time. They had a scheduled mandatory safety drill complete with life vest and British accents, so that was fun. While trying to get my bearings on my new surroundings, we decided the first thing we would do is get an ice cream cone at the pizza/ice cream parlor! We soon went for dinner at the Horizon Cafe, where they serve buffet style. Lots of variety! If there was only one complaint I had it's that soft drinks cost extra or you can purchase a plan for it. But if that's my only complaint I'd say the cruise was great!

We always got an itinerary for the following day the night before, so we could plan out our day, plus they always gave us the option of having breakfast delivered to our stateroom. But it was always confusing for us in setting the alarm on the iPad because half the time we were on a different time zone. So when we left our order for room service outside, they often got to us before the alarm went off! So I had to scramble to get the door. (if we were smart, we would have brought a watch so we could reset it. We had our phones off so as not to incur roaming charges.) The first port of call was the Princess Cays. It's a nice little island, but it seemed pretty contained to us. They had a nice large beach with plenty of chairs to lounge on, with a volleyball court, a building for getting lunch, a rockier part of shore for fishing, a series of bungalows which I suppose could be rented for the day, and a few folks selling flea-market items, including necklaces, bracelets, knick-knacks, scarves, hats, dresses and charms. And the water -- the water is SOOO BLUUUEEE. It was a nice first day to get used to relaxing!

We came back to the ship to (continue to) relax and get ready for dinner. The dress code for the evenings was usually "smart casual," with a couple special "formal" nights. Decks 5 and 6 housed the dining rooms, and you could choose to sit as a couple or share a table with a group. We tended to share, but a couple nights we ate dinner by ourselves. We found quite a few interesting folks on different nights, ranging from pleasant folk to arrogant liberals. (we chose to avoid that confrontational trap. No point in making unnecessary enemies.) One night we even sat with a couple who was honored as this cruise's most travelled passengers! I don't remember how many days/trips they've logged, but it was A LOT. The menus were wonderful, with many fancy options! I was able to pick unique options every night that I normally wouldn't have the option to choose otherwise - and it's a three or four course meal, including desert/after-dinner drinks. One of the decks we enjoyed the most was Deck Seven, the Promenade. We liked it the most because wrapping around the ship is a walkway with chairs that you could sit on and read, rest and watch the ocean roll by you as you sailed. The constant sound of the ocean was soothing and calming, and the warm breeze and sun kept massaging you as you relax. Krysti and I spent a lot of time reading and relaxing out there.

One thing we spotted in the itinerary was that Princess provided anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour for Bible study in the morning, complete with Bibles furnished by the Gideons. We didn't make it to the first day's meeting but we were there every other day. We met several couples, some married, some engaged. The turnout was always a little different every day. A few notable people were Pam & Chris who tended to lead the study and were a joy to have. Another one was an older gentleman who's name escapes us (Edwin or Eugene. something like that.) but looked remarkably young for his age! He said he was 70-something, but only looked 50-something! Then of course, there was Nancy. Nancy--... *sigh*... Nancy was one of those overbearing, kinda obnoxious type of golden girls who was very pushy and rather dominating. Krysti does a good job imperonating her, and she goes something like (and you have to do this like you've just drink 2 pots of coffee.) "Have you read this Scripture passage? Isn't it such a wonderful passage of Scripture!? Oh I just love it! I pray this passage every day! Do you pray it every day?? You need to pray it every day! Isn't there a song about it??  OH I LOVE THAT SONG!! Do you think we can sing it?? Well let's just get it started and we'll go from there-- Oh don't be afraid, the old Devil wants you to be afraid!--" and so on and so forth. She doesn't seem to have mastered social grace and meekness, but it's hard to miss that she loves the Lord with all her heart. (she might scare other people away from Him, but I'm content to let Him handle the situation.) They did have a white Yamaha console upright in the room, so I would play a couple pieces, like a Christmas song and a hymn, and Krysti would lead the singing.

After a day at sea, we arrived in Sint Maarten/St. Martin. This island is split Dutch & French, south & north. We saved lost of money and burned many calories by taking the walkway from the port to the downtown area of the capital of Dutch Sint Maarten, Philipsburg, which has many streets of shops, and we even stumbled on the United Methodist Church! We went inside to check it out and got to listen to the organist practicing. They were doing a good job, too! We hopped a bus (for $2 per person) and rode to Marigot, the French side's capital. There was a small mall there that we went inside (complete with air conditioning) and wandered around some other streets looking around in the shops. We stopped and had lunch at a French cafe. I ordered en Francais a chicken wrap, and Krysti got a grilled lemon salmon panini, and we both shared a can of orange Fanta. After some more wandering and looking, we tried to find a bus going back and we really hoped to avoid using a taxi because they were more expensive. (We waited in a particular spot for the greater part of 20 minutes because it seemed like a good spot for getting busses, but apparently wasn't.)
After managing to find a bus heading back to Philipsburg, we discovered more shops and streets we hadn't seen the first time around. A couple curious things we found - one was a man called "the Yoda guy," who it seemed by old photographs was on the production team of the Star Wars films for making Yoda's & Chewie's face! He had other film memorabilia which he was apparently involved in as well. The other curious thing: we had to pay a dollar for both of us to use a public restroom. I guess that works... when you gotta go, you gotta go.

We were also able to find an internet cafe where we paid $4 for 30 minutes, which is a MUCH better deal than it was on the ship. Krysti was able to check some emails to keep the workload from getting too overcrowded. We finally came back toward beachside Philipsburg and waded a little in the water. That felt good after all the walking we did! When we came back to the boat, we went to the Sun Deck - Deck 15, to watch the sunset and take some pictures. (I took LOTS of sunset pictures.) We saw a couple other ships with us, Royal Caribbean and Carnival. We watched them pull out first before our ship got underway. The next port of call was St. Thomas.

December 19: Happy 3rd Anniversary! St. Thomas was probably the most fulfilling day of the cruise as far as excursions on the island. The cruise offers guided excursions which goes and comes back to the boat at predetermined times, but not only are they expensive, but often we found ourselves doing more in one day than doing one or two excursions' worth anyway! We took a taxi to Magen's Bay, which was rated by National Geographic as one of the top 10 beaches in the world.

The beach was georgeous, with silky soft sand that melted in the water. We met the older gentleman from Bible Study there for a little bit, actually. There were birds there that would hover over the water, then divebomb to catch fish! More often than not, they were successful too. Props to the birds. We stayed at the beach for not quite an hour before heading back to the downtown area. Riding in public or commercial transport is pretty typical of what you'd expect on an island: crazy traffic, very loud vehicles, not quite sure who has the right of way (if that even exists) but no one yelling at each other, oddly enough. Maybe we as Americans could learn a lesson from them in that respect. When we came back to downtown, we searched out Blackbeard's Tower and surrounding attractions. (much easier to find once we found someone handing out tourist maps.) The whole complex of buildings included the Hotel 1820 where we purchased the walking tour, and the Caribbean World Amber Waterfall & Museum, which was a gorgeous, golden conglomeration of amber stones from different regions in the islands.

Different colors of amber were honey-gold like we're used to, milky-gold, greenish, and blood-red; the amber's environment determined what color it was (i.e. volcanic/oceanic activity). You could purchase some amber if you wanted to, as stone or set jewel form. The whole place even had a little Jurrasic Park bit to it complete with sap-bleeding trees and Blackbeard's Tyrannosaurus Rex. The rest of the walking tour has several old Pirates-style island homes which were quite lovely. Working our way up around the courtyard, we encoutered various life-size pirate busts, including the REAL Captain Jack Sparrow. I'm not sure if the film came out first or the statue, but either way Sparrow looks pretty much like his pictures. There was also a "Rum Factory," which had many bottles of rum and rum-related merchandise (t-shirts, flasks, etc.), there were one or two places to get some food, there were a couple garden spots, and three swimming pools which were indeed open for swimming although we saw no one in them at the time. Finally at the top, we came to Blackbeard's Tower, where Blackbeard's Statue kept guard at all times.

The tower was probably about 3 or 4 stories high, built in the same idea as a lighthouse (so fix your eyes on a spot when you climb the stairs so you don't get dizzy!), and from the top you can see quite a distance. It makes sense why the tower is in that spot -- you can see any approaching ships from the south very easily and the surrounding islands in the immediate area as well. And if nature calls, you can always visit the aptly-named "poop deck" to use the facilities. Upon leaving, we descended the "99 steps" to head out into the streets where we began. We scoured the local flea-market in the area, finding it had a lot handicrafts similar to what we were finding on other islands. After wading at the shore we returned home after a successful day of adventuring!

Whew! St. Thomas was a big day. We had one more port of call left: Grand Turk. This island was much more low-key and relaxed than the other islands. The port itself had lots of shopping  for souvenirs and things, including clothing, alcohol (tax & duty free), jewelry, accessories, etc. (oh yeah-- I probably saw more jewelry stores out there on all the islands than I have in my whole life!) The part of the island we were on seemed very flat, almost like being back in Ohio. We didn't see any mountain ranges or anything like that from our viewpoint. We took a bus drive up north a ways to see a few things in Cockburn Town, the capital, including the National Museum. The island's great claim to fame is John Glenn's splashdown, so we saw a few exhibits relating to space exploration there.

 We also spotted a Free Masons Lodge on the street we were strolling. As we walked farther we came across more little shops of things run by local townspeople and purchased a few items. (Of course Krysti bought a doll from each of the islands we visited so as to add to her doll collection.) We passed by a man who sat on a milk crate, played his guitar and sang "Majesty, worship His Majesty." He alternated with another song which I think was a Christmas song, then he went back to "Majesty."

All throughout we noticed an odd mixture of regionally fancy houses and poor houses. The fancy houses were 2-stories, had glass screen doors, porches, and probably air-conditioning I imagine, but was still built with that plaster-style exterior in the pastel orange-yellow color. Otherwise the poorer houses were the tin-roofed shacks and smaller residences like that. After walking the street and doing some final island shopping we bussed back to the port area and visited the beach. The beach was rather rocky, with lots of smooth rocks and large seashells hiding in the sand. Not many people ventured too far south of the beach because of all the rocks I imagine, but once you got past the most of it you were treated to a rather secluded area with not many people and lots of open beach. It was fascinating to watch the water melt away the sand and tiny shells to reveal large lumps in the sand which were rocks and conch shells. We even brought home a couple of them! I felt it a good and fitting way to end the cruise; everything winded down and we had that peaceful moment on the shore looking out at the ocean. I don't recall ever seeing the horizon look so clear and precise before being out in the ocean! Krysti says that all she remembers about that beach was that the arches of her feet started aching from all the heavy sandwalking.

Whenever we weren't ashore, most often we were either on the outside of the Promenade Deck reading (we did that also to give the room stewards time to clean our room), or we would lay out above decks and soak up some sun, or we were in our staterooms watching TV, reading or playing something. (Or we were in the dining rooms.) They had FOX News on one channel so we were able to keep track of things at home in light of the Sandy Hook incident which happened right before we'd left Ohio. They would also have movies on certain channels and orientation videos or other Princess-filmed shows which highlighted various aspects of the cruise and gave other timely information, like our GPS coordinates, ETA to our next destination, and things like that. A couple films we watched were The Santa Clause (Tim Allen), parts of White Christmas, and Krysti's personal favorite, the whale movie Big Miracle. That's the great thing about a cruise -- there's no wrong way to relax! We did wander the ship a lot to see what was there. We found an art gallery which had pretty and colorful artworks close to the Christmas-decorated Piazza which is decks 5, 6 & 7, midship. Krysti's favorite was an abstract work of a woman in a peacock-patterned gown! On the ship there was a large LED screen above the pool midship where they would show movies or other programs throughout the day and into the evening. You could watch from in the pool to the nearby hot tubs to any number of lounge chairs. There was also towards the front of the ship a spa and fitness center, which I did visit one day and run for a bit on the treadmill for fun. Our Bible study was in the same area close to that in a room called "Mind & Soul." There were a couple times that we went to the theater in the front of the ship. They had a cast & crew which performed a variety of shows. We caught the tail end of one of them, but the show we saw in entirety was interesting. It was similar to a mix of Alice in Wonderland and The Nutcracker, where a girl falls asleep and finds herself wandering through various landscapes with different music accompanying it (including a Beatles piece for one of them). Basically there's always something to do somewhere at any time, so you could go ashore or stay on the boat and enjoy the activities there.

We had one last day at sea during the return leg to Fort Lauderdale. So far everything had been warm and sunny, clear skies, but this day was a little cooler and cloudy and the waves were a bit rougher. Not that it bothered us. I found that I had gained my sea legs rather quickly and that by the first evening I was used to it. (Getting my land legs back took a little doing, however.) Towards the end of the cruise, at Bible study a newly married couple joined in and the wife shared her testimony. Kaiyin grew up in China where she said people think that God is just a myth. She came to America and found Christ, and when we had met them, we found out they were married the day before the cruise! So while we celebrated our 3rd anniversary, they celebrated their honeymoon. We spent a lot of time talking with them after Bible study, then we met up with them again to talk and walk around, then met again for dinner. It was great to get to know them and listen to them - God has already granted them so much wisdom and insight into spiritual matters and their own relationship, and we wish them many years of Christ-honoring marraige!

And so the ship made its way back to port in Florida and our cruise came to an end. We packed the night before and had already opted earlier in the week to debark early. Since we carried our luggage on anyway, we could carry our luggage off and leave early (others options which usually lead to an airport would have the crew take your luggage ahead of you). We had one last breakfast in the Horizon Cafe before heading out to the mainland. Of course we had to go through customs, and the dog (good doggie.) came up to me a couple times and jumped to sniff my satchel, which carried fruit which we had gotten before to hang on to as snacks if we needed. I thought I had cleared that out, but it wasn't a big deal - the customs officer let me go with an "OK." We got outside and into the car (level 2, section E) and were ready to start driving home at 7:45am.

We decided to try and make it all the way in one go. This would allow us to get home in the morning on Monday and sleep for a while and still be available for the day. It didn't exactly work out that way but pretty much worked. The whole trip would normally take about 21 hours or so, but count in food stops, rest stops and a couple shopping stops, it was pretty much 24 hours by the time we got home and had some surprises waiting for us.

The cruise was wonderful -- it was the perfect way to "Escape Completely," as is their motto. I can see why it's so popular and I'd be happy to go again someday, especially now that I have a Gold Card like Krysti!

 

Well that long break was really unintentional :) We have just been sooo busy busy busy!! Phil's been working hard with tuning pianos, working at WIS, lessons, etc. etc, and I have been busy getting recitals ready and organizing the house and such. hah! We are ready for our 3 week break here after next week!! AHhhh!!! yay.

About a month ago we did a mass-cooking day where we prepared 12 meals ahead of time. Here is what one of the meals looked like:

 

We freezed them all and then on busy lesson days I just throw one in the crock pot. That way it's ready whenever, since we often have our breaks at different times. I have been leaving the crock-pot on in the laundry room.......because then the smell isn't so strong for the students in the rest of the house!! haha. But this has really saved us a lot of time lately and it's good because then we still have something yummy and nutritious we can eat for supper. We will probably do the mass cooking thing again over Christmas break.
This was a favorite moment of mine in November:

PUMPKIN PIE AT KEWPEE!!!!!!!!!!!

And this was an emotionally straining day (Blaze of lights day):

But it turned out GREAT for Kaylah I think. It just felt like pulling teeth trying to make it happen.

We had a super amazing Thanksgiving with lots of yummy food and awesome family! Got to eat 3 yummy meals this year!! hehehee!!

Welp, gotta get back to making the Christmas goodie-bags for the music students. The goodie-bags look like this:

Each bag probably cost us .30! LOL. They will get 3 packs of gum, some starbursts, a Christmas pencil, and a gummy thing. And a "joy" ornament. Hopefully they like it!!!!!!!!

YEEOCH, coupon experiment, and gifts!

Today the big heavy window upstairs SMASHED my wrist on its way down as we were trying to get the AC unit out. YEEEOCH. Then Phil made me move my wrist to see if it was broken. I guess it's not because it moves when I had to move it. It is still sore and all cut up but OH WELL :)

Well last week I tried a little experiment at Meijer (Because appaently I have nothing better to do than to coupon) ((Phil was away last week remember?)) Before coupons the total was $108 (ish) and after coupons, $54. This is what I got:

2 Digiorno pizzas, 2 ice creams, 10 yogurts, 8 microwave meals,a cat toy, 2 things of cat treats, 2 scalloped potatoes, frozen lemon ice stuff, rice, 4 caisters of pillsbury rolls, 11 things of shampoo/hair stuff, 2 always, 6 air freshner things.

SO WAS IT WORTH IT????? I don't really know but I do know it was a lot of fun at the cash register watching my total go down, down, down. haha! So I will probably try it again sometime. So I made myself this awesome coupon binder:

*Disclaimer to family members* I am not in dire need financially to use coupons, just kind of did this as a personal challenge :) *

Here's what one of our awesome piano families gave me last week since they knew I was going to be home all by myself (well and the cats to keep me company):

Yes that is a giant tub of Edy's ice cream. THEY ARE AWESOME!!! And must know me pretty well :)

Some improvements from this week

I am so happy...Phil put up a 2nd rod for our curtains!!

So now you can move the curtains in front separately from the one in the back...Phew! much easier.

 

He also put up a nice little hook-thing for my purses. That's much better now (they were just on the floor of the closet)

 

He also got the bathroom drain fixed. WOW!

And I organized drawers.

 

WOW exciting huh??!? 

 

Be Merry! Merry, I say! Aye, anon, and alas (and all that good stuff)!

Dost thou comprehend mien ancient discourse? Art thou agog towards my conversation? How beist it so, that to render the conscience unravelled, doth it?

(whew.... I think they have to keep phrasebooks with them to keep that up.)

It's Phil this tme. We went to the Renaissance Festival which was not too far from Cedarville, and that was quite the enjoyable experience!

There were many people dressed in costume for the occasion, and sometimes we got to hear people talk in Ye Olde Englishe as they would have. The picture there only gives a small glimpe of what the whole thing looked like -- It was remarkably larger than I expected! Many castle or cottage- themed buildings all around with vendors of all types, including a plethora of clothing-- er, "vestments," jewelry, accessories, staffs and other magical walking sticks, and (of course) armories. Yes, swords, battle axes, knives, etc. (pretty sure I saw a mace there as well.)

There were some live shows that we saw, one of them being a comedy/stunt pair which did tricks like standing on stacked chairs, whips, hula hoops, and fire. lots of fire. Also included audience participation, and it wasn't just "here hold this" but it made you a little nervous! I think a good show like that should make you a little nervous - keeps it exciting.


They had some good eats there too. One we tried was a caramel apple with a green apple bathed -- nay, drenched-- in caramel. She claims it to be the absolute best caramel in her experience! Then, there was the famous turkey leg. This thing was as big as it looks.

MMMMMMMm, love that red meat!

The village has been doing severl different themes from week to week, and the theme when we went was Irish-Scottish themed, complete with bagpipes and kilts. Aye ye lads and lasses, ne'er was there such a manly sight as a pair of strengthly legs in that noblest of garments, the kilt!

 
Behind her (I didn't get a good shot of it) is an old fashioned thrill ride; a manually powered dragon swing in the fashion of Cedar Point's pirate ship thingie that swings back and forth really high. Except without powered aceleration, good ol' fashioned elbow grease is what powers that ride.







After chowing our turkey leg and wandering through the rest of the village, we declared it a successful and enjoyable visit, coming full circle towards the entrance. The parking kinda was like Cedar Point - lots and lots of cars. (But no Snoopy characters on light poles to help you out.)

We enjoyed a scenic drive both to and from the fair, taking in the fall colors of early October. We drove to Cedarville to hang out and have dinner with Joel! He's so famous. Everyone says hi to him.

Cedarville dining was very nice - I'm sure I could enjoy having it for four years! We asked each other if we had the chance to get another degree, what would we get. Joel answered that he would get a teaching degree. I said I'd enjoy getting a degree in composition & music technolgy. (we can't remember what Krysti wanted to do because she has too many interests to narrow them down to just 4 years!)

The last thing we did before coming home was going to a nature trail which led to an ancient Native American mound. It was rather tall, most of the way up th surrounding trees. Joel said he's played really intense King of the Hill in winter there, which would be incredibly difficult with snow and that steep uphill climb. It was fun, but the sun likes to go to sleep so we decided we should go home and do the same.

A good day. And good night! (or rather, "Good Eve', sirs and madams!")

Dig it up!

This week we decided to try tackling the weed jungle in back of the garage. We already lopped off some big trees that were growing up and now we're just trying to get everything else out of there. We've been burning up some of it in our campfire and just trashing the rest. We have a long way to go but here's a little clear patch of hope!

Now what should we do with it once it's all just dirt?? 

In the process of digging, so far Phil has found a couple flagstone pieces, a broken plastic toy gun, and some sort of pottery/ceramic 'thingy'. What else will we find?!??!

Awwwwweee...isn't my kitty CUTE....

Good-nite!!!!purrrrr