Renaissance Reminiscing

These are a few images that I meant to post from the Michigan Renaissance Festival. I hope to get out in the next day or two and take some snow images if the snowfall we just received today sticks around. I know I have complained about the cold and I don't like to be cold but I really do love the beauty of the snow. I love that fresh snowfall glistening in the sun look. It is once the snowplows take over and give that gray cast that I hate. But the beauty of the snow is a sight all its own. In my opinion, there is nothing quite like it.

Flowers - finishing up

Here are some of the flower images that were overlooked over the last few months of posting. I really am pushing this warm thoughts thing. So far, it is not working. Some of these images have similar ones posted already but these are other pictures that I like just as well.

Daisy Fleabane

Daisy Fleabane

Okay I am trying to convince myself it is not really cold outside. I am not ready for the cold. My hormones have returned to normal, I am now freezing and it isn't even near to being the coldest weather that we will see in my neck of the woods. The last two winters haven't been to bad. I haven't been to cold. But they also came just after giving birth to my children. I was hoping that I wouldn't go back to the freezing feeling that I have always had. My house is set at 74 degrees and I am still cold. The only reason my temperature is set this high is because of my boys. Their room is the farthest from the furnace and hence it stays colder than the rest of the house. Since neither of the sleeps with covers yet the only way to ensure they are warm is to keep the heat a little higher than I would like. I definitely am not looking forward to my heating bills this winter. Have a pleasant Wednesday.

Flowers at the Renaissance

I have done my best to identify the flowers. Some are not wildflowers. If I have wrongly identified anything please let me know I appreciate any help that I might receive with identification. Also if you happen to know what they are and would like to help please leave a comment with the flower name and which one of the pictures (1-5 from top to bottom) it is. Thanks.

Have a great weekend. I know I will. I get to see some covered bridges that I have not seen yet. Yeah!

Calico Aster

Petunia


Chrysanthemums



Hardy Hibiscus

Faces at the Renaissance

Being out at the Renaissance there are friendly faces everywhere. Here are a few of my favorites that I captured that day.


Here is my favorite dancer in the Middle Eastern Dance Ensemble. There is something about her that draws me in. I think that she is a very beautiful lady and on the few occasions that I have talked to her that beauty is on the inside as well.


Her majesty, Queen Elizabeth.

Tartanic

Another reason I enjoy the Renaissance Festival is because of the music. I enjoy listening to the celtic sounds especially. One of the new acts this year was Tartanic.

This drum was literally two rows in front of us. The poor guy holding it up couldn't get over how numb his arms felt after being volunteered to hold it. The funny thing about the drum being so close is that my Eli fell asleep with this going on right in front of us.

Here they did a parody of an angel painting, I believe it was a painting. Anyway I was focused on something else as they were doing this and I didn't get the picture quite fast enough but I think the effect is still there just not as strong as it was with the drum over his head as a halo.

I included this last picture to show where we were sitting in relation to the stage. The empty space behind my oldest's head is where they were playing the drum from the previous photo. That and I just think my baby is adorable no matter what he is doing.

"It's Time for Danger Theater"

My favorite show at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. The Zucchini Brothers have become just that, my favorite. I used to have another favorite but they have not been back, due to politics with management, for several years. I truly enjoy watching the juggling and I love their corniness. I have to admit that I have their performance close to memorized so I definitely know when they have added new material and that is always a thrill. I look forward to when my boys get a real kick out of watching the show. I thought Asa would enjoy it this year but by the time we got to go to the show he had completely zonked out and slept through the whole show. I'll have to try and plan next year so that the boys will be awake. Eli was awake but being a few months shy of one year old he really wasn't all that interested with what was going on around him well at least not on stage.

The Enchanted Statue

The above pictures are of one of my favorite displays at the faire. I guess you would call her a display although she is listed under entertainment on the Michigan Renaissance Festival website. I had to include the last picture because my son Asa was so leery of the statue. He did take the little scroll that she was handing out. He held onto until time for lunch. The thing I haven't been able to figure out is how she actually sees. I can not find where the eye hole feature would be. My all time favorite display/performance was the Green Man. This was a man on stilts disguised as a tree. I loved this guy but sadly he has not been around the last couple of years.

Dragon Scales and Faerie Tales

Dragon Scales and Faerie Tales is a very cute show for the kids and the adults as well. Both of my boys seemed to like it very much. We watched last year as well as this year. It was nice though because it was on the stage in the children's dell this year. Not that my boys were really old enough to do much of the other kid oriented things this year. I love that they have a space designated for the kids. Now if only they would have a designated drinking area for the alcohol... I won't jump on that soapbox. I just have a hard time dealing with the alcohol being carried around all over the place out there. I liked how at the Silver Leaf Ren Fest it was contained to a particular area at least it was the year that I went to that particular festival.

The Animals out at the Renaissance

Here is a Lorikeet. They are beautiful birds. There was a display set up, in which you could pay a small fee (I think a dollar or two) you could go in and feed the birds. We went by while they were on a break. I learned that the reason they take a break is to allow the birds to digest the food that they have already been fed before they feed more. Why I didn't think of this on my own, I'll never know. I just thought it odd in years past that they would take a break. The nice thing about going by on the break was that I could take pictures of the birds without people I did not know being in the pictures.


Here is a beautiful donkey. I honestly think they are one of my favorite animals. I heard this story once that all donkeys bare a cross on their backs. So since hearing this I have always paid close attention to the back of the donkey and sure enough every donkey that I have seen since hearing this has had a cross on its back. I can't say one hundred percent that all donkeys I have seen have this because it has only been in the past ten years or so that I was told this and so I don't know that all donkeys before this time hold true. But I am amazed that thus far it has held true.


Next we have a baby goat. He was so cute and acted a bit shy. He was just to adorable not to take a picture of him.


Last we have a pony. Now this fellow (I assume fellow) was rather feisty. He was chasing the others around in the petting area. He was definitely the dominant one of the pen. It was fun to watch him frolic around and play with the others in the pen.

To see more wonderful critters please click the camera critters link on my side bar.

Outlined in Pink - A Watercolor

Here is another flower picture that I took while out at the Renaissance. I was so frustrated once the pictures were developed because I had forgotten to adjust the shutter speed and aperture. The wind was blowing as well which didn't help. However on a hunch I decided to play with the artistic devices in photoshop. I really like the way the watercolor filter looks on the flower. It gives it a soft appearance that looks intentional and not just out of focus. It's great to salvage these otherwise unusable images.

Romance at the Renaissance

I took this image a few years ago out at the Michigan Renaissance Festival grounds. I'll admit I was being snap happy and was a bit frustrated when I realized that I had forgotten to reset my camera from the previous setting but lucky for me as sometimes happens even mistakes can result in beautiful images. I personally really enjoy the softness that has been created in the image. I believe that it lends itself really well to the subject matter. And honestly if I didn't actually tell you it was a lucky accident would you have even known?