Learning Experiences

David and I went to California for the Christmas Holiday.  We flew there and because you have to pay an extra 25 dollars for luggage that you send through, we try to carry on our luggage. 

It can be a royal pain.  Lets see... ummm... Don't forget the leather coat, but since that may not be warm enough make sure that you have a sweater to wear under the coat.  Then don't forget the camera and the things that you will want to read while traveling and something to read or do during down time at Davids folks house. 

Then of course there is the shoes to wear and the shoes to go to church in.  Plus, Sunday clothes for church and everyday clothes and then there is the "look nice" clothes for the parties etc...  Oh, and every other time I have gone to Livermore I have frozen!!  It must be the humidity in the air.. Even when I lived in Utah and I was more acclimated to cold weather, I still froze.  So there is the extra thick sweat pants and sweaters to wear so I don't freeze!  And of course all of the personal toiletries AND  I always have to take my pillow so my neck won't go out..  Anyways to make a long story short I felt like I was hauling my bedroom my bathroom and coat closet and bed combined in a carry on suitcase and a back pack while wearing a sweater and leather coat which is a bit warm to wear in the airport here in Arizona while I am having hot flashes!!!

So.. I think you get the picture..  I am sitting in the airplane with all my perphinalia around me except for the suitcase because they had to put it in the belly of the plane since the plane was packed and not enough room for everyones carry on..  Mind you, I still have the coat, sweater, packed backpack with a rolled up giclee in its cardboard tube sticking out of the top and my big pillow plus my small purse that I had recently acquired..

While flying home I had tried to stuff the backpack under the seat as best I could.  Not an easy task with a 2 1/2 foot round cardboad tube sticking out of it, with the pillow on my lap plus the coat and sweater and the purse strap flung over my knee.  With adjusting and getting things in and out of the back pack, moving the sweater and coat around etc.. somehow I didn't realize that my purse strap had slipped off of my knee and must have been kicked either behind or in front of me..

As I got off, I grabbed everything I could see.  The backpack with the cardboad tube.  The pillow, the coat, the sweater.  My hands were full and I was carrying the back pack.  David met me in the walkway because his seat was 6 rows up.  As we were walking up the walkway I said to David, I feel like I'm missing something. 

You see, I am not used to carrying a purse. I have had this little gold case that is the size of a credit card and about 1/4 inch thick. I would always put it in my pocket which would leave my hands free.  I bought it about 15 years ago when I was driving a bus for Alpine School District and have used that for my purse for these many years.  I still had it, but since I recently acquired more cards I needed to get a purse to be able to carry them in.  I was using the gold case inside my purse for my drivers license and personal visa.  The rest of the purse was used to carry my credit card for emergencies or car rentals, my temple recommend, my library card, my medical insurance card, my personal visa and my business visa, my business check book and personal checkbook and over 100$ in cash.. In essence everything that was financially and personally important to my identity and financial status.

Needless to say, we took the shuttle to our car and as we were loading the car, I realized that I didn't have my purse.. PANIC!!  David drove me back to the airport and I went to the counter to ask if they could contact the gate to see if anyone saw it...  NO.. I went to baggage claim and they also phoned the gate... NO and the plane had already left for Albequerque...  So...the lady at the baggage claim phone Albequerque to give them a heads up!  We also phoned them around the time the plane came in...  NO PURSE! 

Apparently someone must have found it and thought it was a belated Christmas gift, just for them!!!  Gee I wish that people were honest and would put themselves in the position of the one who lost their purse and just return it to the owner.

So.. We got home after 9:00 PM that night and no self respecting bank is open that late.  We went on line to try to find how to protect ourselves.  We found telephone numbers that stated.  For lost or stolen credit cards dial" , or "For lost or stolen visas dial", or "For Lost or stolen checks dial"....  We phone those numbers...REPEATEDLY...  Do you know how frustrating it is to have your whole life tottering on the brink of the toilet bowl ready to be flushed down the sewer and get the run around.  Even though the numbers said for "Lost or Stolen..."  not once did the automated woman or man on the other end ever say "for lost or stolen... please dial 1 or 2 or 3...  We just got the run around.  Please dial or say your account number that you are calling about. If you want an update on your balance dial 1, if you want to speak english dial 2, if you want to open a new account dial 3...  For all other options dial 4.  We dial 4 and we get the same run around. "Please dial or say your account number that you are calling about.  If you want an update on your balance dial 1, if you want to speak english dial 2, if you want to open a new account dial 3...  For all other options dial 4."  AAAGGGHHHH..

We tried several of their numbers for over an hour.  I have this really mellow guy for a husband but I could see that even he was sweating from frustration...  So how did we reach a living breathing person, not some cyber Cindy? I believe the spirit reminded me of a previous time when I was trying to get some live person on the phone and was stuck in the proverbial Cyber Cindy loop.  I phoned the number again and when I was asked for my account number I didn't say anything.. She then said, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said, would you repeat that"  I still didn't say anything.  Again she would ask me for my information...  No sound coming from my lips... Again she would ask...  Again, I wouldn't answer.  After 5 times, I had frustrated Cyber Cindy and she finally said, I'm sorry, but I will have to send you to an operator!!  YEAH!!!!  A living breathing person!!!     So after he helped us with some of our problems, I told him how frustrating it was to have your identity and financial life ebbing away with no way to staunch the bleeding!  Oh thats easy, just phone the number and when she asks you for which option you want just dial  (star)*7.  So where does it say (star)*7 on any of the information that we read about how to contact them.. NO WHERE!!!  I guess we are just suppossed to read minds?

Why the long tirade you ask?  Well, I learned a few things these last two days.  First, don't lose your purse. Sew it to the inside of your armpit if you have to.. but if that isn't an option and you lose it, here are a few things you could do before the fact.

Make a copy of all of your credit cards, visa cards, drivers license, medical cards etc.. Any card that has account numbers and or identity numbers.

Don't keep that in your purse, but do keep it in a safe place at your home or possibly send it to yourself in an email so if you need to access it away from home you can.

If you have this experience happen to you, IMMEDIATELY Have your accounts frozen and get new accounts.   You can go and get a copy of your drivers license, but I opted for a new one with a different number.  I was trying to stop someone from using my drivers license and me getting blamed for it.

Our bank was wonderful to work with.  Wells Fargo in Arizona.  All of the purchases that we had made that day were able to go through so we didn't have to pay an insufficient funds fee back to the places that we bought things at.  They gave us new accounts with checks for free.  All of our new cards will be coming in the mail in about 5 days.  

It took a complete day to get everyting squared away, but that is better than having your savings and checking accounts disappear.  Your identity lost and your good name and credit destroyed!

I guess you could say that we had an experience that I NEVER want to repeat again.  So if you happen to see this black leather thing sewed to the inside of my armpit... Don't ask, just smile. 

Do you know where your purse is?

New Hummers!

It has been exactly one year since our hummingbird built a nest for her eggs.  I posted all about it for the month long experience.  Well, about a month ago, I believe, that one of the babies that hatched from last year of 2009, came back and built a nest of her own.  Why do I believe that?  Because it was on the same bush, about 1 foot away from the original nest.  The nest was smaller than the previous year and this hummingbird  was such a nervous nelly!  Anytime we would walk out of our front door the poor little thing would zoom off her nest and hit her head several times on the porch ceiling and then on the wall.  It reminded me of a mosquito that kept hitting walls until it could find its way out.  This wouldn't happen just once, but everytime we left the house..  I felt so bad for the little bird.  We wouldn't even go near the nest for concern for her nerves. That is why I never got any pictures of her sitting on the nest. Besides, I think I have about 300 pictures of last years cycle.  I mean, just how many hummingbird pictures should one take?

 I told David that  this new bird must have been "Speedy" from the previous year.  I had given both humming birds names last year.  "Speedy" because the egg was hatched about 6 days before the 2nd one hatched and because Speedy left the nest about 6 days before "Patience". (That was the name for the other bird)    We watched the process again of the birth of this years babies and their growth and then they left the nest.  It was fun to watch.     After the babies were gone I waited a week and decided to cut out the little nest.  I wanted to save it to show others just how small it was.  Besides, some other birds were getting to it and starting to rip it apart.

Well, last week David walked out of our front door and saw another humming bird flitting around the porch.  Maybe it was one of the babies that had just hatched we thought.. 

Well, last night which was Sunday Davids home teaching companion came to pick David up and commented about our hummingbird nest.  We don't have one I said, "Yes you do, its right there."  and lo and behold, another nest has showed up!!  In the exact spot that last years nest was, even on the same branch.  I know this because I had cut off the previous years nest and the cut part was still there and the new nest is just about 6 inches from the old nest.  How fun is that?  So... I  have decided that this 3rd nest, must be "Patiences" nest.  She has come home also to have her babies...  So here we go again..  For the third time!

Million dollar view

I went to Utah the last part of September and the first of October.  I needed to go and get our house ready for new renters.  There were problems created from the previous and I needed to resolve them.  Also, our pump to our well had problems and so I needed to find someone who could fix and/or replace the old one and give us a new one.  We found the man and he was wonderful.  His customer service was awesome and I was so happy with his service.  We had to hire an electrician to fix all of the problems that were created. We had to bring in a framer to fix problems created and we will be having my nephew finish the downstairs drywall in a while.  It was not the vacation I was hoping for but I am glad that many things got done.I love my view from my home in Lehi.  Look at how beautiful the mountains are from my kitchen window.

How I miss home and my family and grandchildren.  My beautiful million dollar view.  My fruit trees my garden, my sister, my daughters, my ...

I think you get the idea.

New Posts with videos

I have added new posts at the bottom of my humming bird post. If you are interested in following the journey of these two little humming bird babies, then you will need to scroll down to see the new posts and videos.

I hope you are enjoying this journey as much as I am. So to follow in sequential order just keep following the post of the Hummingbirds journey.

Humming Bird Nest

Today I was out in my front yard cleaning things up and was going to trim some bushes. As I put my trimmers up close to one of the bushes I saw something strange on the bush. Since I didn't have my glasses on , I thought that maybe it was some sort of strange insect cocoon. When I put my glasses on, here is what I found instead.














A tiny hummingbird nest with two little white eggs.

It had these tiny little eggs no bigger than my little fingernail. The nest was all woven with tiny furry feathers. I could have easily held the nest in the palm of my hand.

What did she use to hold all of the feathers in her nest. Some birds weave sticks for nests. Some use mud and their feathers to make nests, but this nest looks so soft and downy. I emailed Davids dad and asked him to research about hummingbirds. He sent me back a link and in this link it explained how they make their nests. Somehow the momma humming bird apparently finds spider nests and rubs them upon her chest. Then she flys to where she is making her nest and rubs her chest onto the nest and the spider web becomes the glue that sticks the feathers together and this is how she starts to form her nest.

I placed my left index finger right next to the nest (without touching it) so you could see the size of nest compared to my finger. I know that it is blurry, but you can still see the size and see how I could mistake it for a spider or bug type of coccoon or nest.




For those bird lovers, I never once touched the nest or anything of the like. I didn't want the mother to abandon her babies.





Blog update: This morning I peeked out my front door and the momma was sitting on her nest. She is so tiny and precious! I will try to get a better picture of her tonight because the sun was just rising and so the lighting wasn't very good but you can see her sitting here on her nest.

I am a bit worried though. This tiny limb can sway very easily with the wind. I would like to watch the progress as the eggs hatch and the baby birds grow feathers and fly away. I am worried that with a big wind the eggs will be flipped out of the nest and crash onto the sidewalk. I am tempted to put something soft there so that if they flip they will be safe and we can gently get them back in their nest, (without touching them of course). Any ideas?

UPDATE FRIDAY JUNE 5th

After brainstorming many different ideas, I still didn't know which would be the best. Do I tie some kind of a sheet up by the porch railings? If I did that and the eggs did fall out of the nest, would the wind whip the sheet and catapult them off of the sheet anyways?

What if I used some kind of a netting or webbing so the wind could pass through the material? Where did I have something like that? Could I just put my big queen sized air mattress out there? What if cockroaches and all kinds of wierd bugs infested my air mattress though? I really didn't want that. And then I thought about the wind issue. If I did put out the big air mattress would the wind just whip it away in a big gust and possibly hit the nest and destroy it? What to do, what to do?

With all my wondering and worrying which was taking up time, mother nature had a different idea and while I still hadn't figured out what to do the wind started blowing and I was worried that the eggs would be tossed out of their nest. I went into the garage and got 3 blankets and laid them down on the cement. I figured that even if one of the eggs did fall, because of their tiny size they would at least have a good chance of not breaking if there was something soft to break their fall. No these blankets aren't Better Homes and Gardens fashionable, but they have seen better homes and they have been outside in my garden many times when the frost was threatening to take my vegetables.

After placing these blankets on the ground I was thinking that all was well, I went and picked up David at work and did errands and all the while the wind blew.

Imagine my disappointment and sadness when I looked out this morning and discovered this on the blanket. An egg shell. We looked for other parts and only found one half of the egg shell.

"David I called, one of our baby birds is gone, the egg fell out of the nest in the storm" I couldn't believe that it had broken, it was so tiny, it couldn't have weighed hardly anything. ( Later on I placed a quarter by the shell so that you could see just how tiny it was in comparison.)
"Where is the rest of the shell, or for that matter, the egg yolk or something!" I asked? " Maybe a lizard or cat got the egg." David said,. I felt kind of sad for that tiny little bird. I had so wanted to take a photographic journey of these babies birth to fledglings and out of the nest to experience their new life, for myself, my children and most of all my grandchildren. Birth is such a sacred and awesome experience and it is so fun to share with little ones.

I decided to look into the nest to see if the other egg was there since we only saw evidence of one egg on the ground. I peeked inside and one egg was left and beside it was something dark.

I wondered if some large mouse had gotten to the nest and pushed the egg out or ate it and left its droppings. To my eyes it looked like 3 mouse droppings stuck together or bird droppings, or something dark and strange. We went back to picking up the egg shell and wondering at the delicateness of the shell. Not hard or crunchy but soft and pliable. I decide to take a second look into the nest...and lo and behold it was a wet brand new baby hummingbird no bigger than a watermelon seed. In the photo below this baby hummer is a couple of days old.
Wahoo!! We are hummingbird grandparents, or whatever you want to call it.. So there you have the start of the hummingbird family on our front porch. I will try to update different pictures etc. as they grow and the other one hatches.

UPDATE MONDAY JUNE 8,

This morning I wanted to see if the second egg had hatched. Yesterday, Sunday, it had not. I peeked outside this morning and momma was sitting on the nest. Usually when I peek out she flys away, but today she stayed. She looks so cute there sitting on her nest, that I thought I would attempt another photo with decent lighting, I left my door open and went to look for my camera. I stepped outside and she was still in her nest. "Snap" I took a picture with one of my lenses and decided that I wanted a different lens. Went inside and changed the lens and walked out again, she was still there, and I snapped another picture of her. She didn't move... So.. I went to get my big bertha lens. My telephoto lens. I step outside and she is still there. I got some really good close-ups of her. She doesn't move, doesn't fly away. just sits there so prim and proper. Why does she not move? Is the other egg hatching and she knows she needs to be there? Or... Does she realize that we won't hurt her or her babies and has given up on running away each time? I don't know. I am not a hummingbird whisperer, or is it hummerer? All I know is that it tickles me inside that I can get this close to such a beautiful delicate creature of our Fathers creation and she not fly away. That I can be so priviliedged to see the miracle of birth in so tiny of a creature as a baby hummingbird... I have watched other animals and their process of birth and each one leaves me in awe of the miracle of birth, but with a creature so diminuitive and delicate, it just touches my heart and makes me grateful that God cares for even the tiniest of creatures..

Pictures to be posted later.. I am painting right now..

UPDATE: Friday June 12. 2009

Yes! Momma was sitting on the nest in anticipation of the other baby to be born or I guess the proper term is hatch.

Below are some pictures of both of the babie humming birds. If you can see the yellow orange color in the nest, that is the newest ones beak opening up for momma to feed it. Their sizes are amazing. The older one who was born several days earlier is twice the size as the new born.

Today the older one looks the size of a large bumblebee and the younger one the size of a honey bee. So amazing.
I am going to try to get a video of the babies searching for food when I can. Hope it works and then I hope I can figure out how to post it on here. Wish me luck

I was able to get some videos on different days of our baby hummers. I hope you can see them and enjoy the process. I had fun trying to get them.





Well, its been a few days since last I posted. Today is June 25. Yesterday when I went out to see the baby humming birds, the older one (lets call it Speedy) because I don't know if it is a female or male. Was sitting on the branch in front of the nest. I phoned David and told him that one of our babies was walking. Here are some pictures of that momentous feat.

Then this morning my neighbor Diane phoned and David answered. She told him that she had seen "Speedy" take his first solo flight yesterday and land in the flower bush about 20 feet away and get stuck. She said that Speedy was crying for mama and mama bird was all upset.

Diane said that she went over to the flower bush and gently picked up Speedy and placed him back on the branch by his nest. I guess that is when I saw him. I thought he had walked onto the branch but apparently Diane had placed him there. What a neat thing to see the first solo flight of a baby hummer. Way to go Diane!!

It has been such a treat to watch these baby birds this month. I suppose I might get a week or so left if I am lucky to watch. Babies grow up and leave the nest... Sigh.. That is certainly my story.

On one of the videos below you will hear the baby hummers voices. It sounds somewhat like an airy whistle. I was so surprised when I heard it. I mean really, how many people get to hear the first words of a baby hummer. I have posted it here for you to enjoy.

Actually I tried to post it. It took about an hour to upload and when I told it to publish, it disappeared so I will try again. It takes a lot of time to upload these videos (darn).

After several hours of trying to post two of my precious videos, I realized that this blog will only accept 100 mgs of video at a time. One of them is just over 100 mgs, and the other is around 265 mgs. (I found that after trying to publish it for 6 hours!) I will try to do a utube video, which I haven't the faintest idea how to do... It is just so precious that I hate to have you miss it. But anyways.

On Friday, Speedy left the nest for good. I was kind of sad to see him go and not be able to see the momentous occasion. But Patience, (that is what I named the other humming bird) is still here. Patience has a few more days before taking off.

Today is Monday June 29th.

I started this blog on my hummingbirds about 27 days ago. Here are some more pictures of just Patience by herself missing her sibling and looking lonely.

Angie and Austin

So We went to Angies and Austins this last Thanksgiving . We had a great time and I got to take some adorable pictures of Angie and Ausitn. I sure miss my kids. Wish I could be with them more often.

Kiddy Pool Gardens

So we are starting to prepare our gardens for the spring. We are trying a new experiment. Our other garden worked really well, but just isn't enough space for all that we want to plant and so we are trying something new. We call it our "Kiddie Pool" experiment. We bought four kiddie pools and filled them with mulch and compost, old chopped tree bark, leaves etc.. Here you see David is preparing the beds. We will be planting in the next couple of days and see what comes. I will be sprinkling it with cayenne because we have neighborhood cats that love to use our garden areas for their glorified litter box... I DON"T THINK SO!!!!!! So we give them a hot foot and bottom to think about. Stops them from using our gardens!

Monster Swiss Chard

Our swiss chard was so amazing this year! Here are some pictures to show how big and healthy they got this fall. I actually planted them in the spring last year and they did ok. They kind of died back in the summer when it got really hot and I thought that I would pull them up, but didn't get around to it. Boy am I glad that I didn't because when it got cool again they took off and grew humongous!! The picture that is in the lower right hand corner was with the sun shining through the leaves.

So I have been bragging about our swiss chard in our garden. Here is a couple of pictures to show how big they got this year.

Christmas Tag

Many of my answers are probably going to be like Mindy's but some will be different.

Christmas Tag

1.Do you like Hot Chocolate or Egg Nog? I LOVE both! They just don't love me!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree? Since I was Santa for the last 30 years, I tried to wrap all of them unless they were too big and then a bow. (Oh, I hope I didn't just disillusion you girls!) Mom was Santa, not old Saint Nick!

3. Colored or white lights on tree/house? I love colored!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No -don't need to. Mother nature does that for us. For the last few years we have gone to California and big bunches of mistletoe hangs down from the trees, so when we drive under them I get kissed!

5. When do you put up your decorations? I used to like to do it after Thanksgiving, but since living here I haven't really put any up. When we moved I threw away my old dilapitated tree and decorations. Last year I tried to put up a few lights. Christmas is for children and it just seems like a lot of work when I wasn't going to be here for Christmas. This year may be different though, maybe Davids daughter will come and visit us for Christmas and so I will put up some decorations

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Aunt Maries Frog eye salad and her apple crisp.

7. What is your favorite holiday memory from your childhood? I loved to make homemade gifts for all of my family and my neices and nephews. I got such a wonderful feeling as I was making doll blankets or some other gift for them. When I was grown with my own children I felt the same way. I loved to make things for them that I thought they would be excited about. It brought me such joy to think of how excited and surprised they would be when they got my gift. I miss my frame shop though, because I did alot of nice gifts with the tools.

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas eve? Growing up no, because there wasn't very many, and no now.
9. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? What tree?

.10. Snow! Love it or dread it? Love the look, hate the cold and driving in it, so Arizona is great for that reason.

11. Do you remember your favorite gift? My dad would buy us girls some sort of piece of jewelry. I looked forward to that the most. Most of the gifts growing up were bras and underpants and socks. I do remember when I was a teenager my mom bought me a hair blow dryer, I thought it was so neat because it wasn't a bra or undies. I was pretty excited about the zoom lens that David bought for me for Christmas a couple of years ago!

12. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you? My family. Making gifts for my children and grandchildren also for my parents. The music. I love Christmas music. I miss being around my family at Christmas. Not only my children and grandchildren, but my own mom and dad and family.

13. What is your favorite hoilday dessert? I love pomagrantes for Christmas and mandarin organes. When I was little the only time my parents could get these really wonderful mandarin oranges, (They would call them jap oranges) was at christmas time. That was a real treat.

14. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Just being with my family.

15. What tops your tree? When I have one, it is an angel

16. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? I like to see the joy in someones eyes when I have given them a gift that they love. But I like to recieve because it feels like someone loves me when I am given a gift that was given with love.

17. What is your favorite Christmas song? Cantabell carols? It that the name?

18. Candy canes? I like the spearmint ones. .

19. Do you feel Christmas is too commercialized? Yes.

20. Favorite Christmas movie? Do I have to pick? There are so many fun ones!

21. Can you ice skate? When I was four I could, but now no! I wouldn't even want to try, I would probably kill myself!

I have no idea who to tag because I figure just my daughters read this. If Marie or Heather my niece or Kareena or Andrea read this, then I guess that I tag them.

My birthday present

I went to Utah for my birthday. I wanted to spend my birthday taking pictures of my daughters and my grand children. Holly took me to the mountains with all of their beautiful colors and I took lots of pictures of Jackson and Annie... I couldn't think of a better place to be or where I would want to be more than in my beautiful Utah mountains taking pictures of my beautiful family.. unless it was the lunch afterwards with all of my grandchildren and two of my four daughters. Here we have Holly. WOW! Many more pictures to come of Hollys family and Mindys. But it is 11:30 pm and I am tired so I will post later.. Be patient!!

New Posts

I just posted a lot of new photography and my ideas for another painting. Check out my other blog. Art from my heart, or go to siouxzbellesart.blogspot.com


Let me know what you think! I had fun photographing these.

Mom, Susie, me

Petrified Forest

Nothing like a vacation to the Petrified Forest in Arizona to put a little balance back in one's life.

We went deer hunting . . . found three.

Famous newspaper rock. Click it to get a closeup and find all the news fit to print.



Some rocks erode less easily than others and create overhangs.

A furry friend for Jackson, Alex, Kayla and Annie to see.

Once giant trees, covered by sediment and later replaced by silica, now rest in the Petrified Forest. Here, Susie stands near the roots of a fallen giant.

The colors can be quite amazing.

Buried in sediment for millennia with its wood replaced by multicolored minerals, a petrified tree, ultimately unearthed by the forces of erosion, lies just as it had been laid down anciently.

More amazing colors.

It's against the law for people to take any petrified wood out of the forest . . . a good thing for us, as otherwise we wouldn't have seen much, if any.

Large segments of logs on a hill.

The agate bridge, a petrified tree spanning a ravine, lies near a lone and dreary tree overlooking the great expanse of grassy valley below.

.

.

.

These photos give just a sampling of what we saw.

Angie and Austins Vacation to Arizona

Check out the Biker Babe!

We took Angie and Austin to the Renaissance Fair here in Arizona when they came for their vacation in March.


Beautiful lady



It was fun to see all of the architecture that looked like in Shakespeares day.




Check out the other beautiful lady?

Austin is quite the thespian.





We loved watching the pottery maker throw pots on a wheel.






Here princess Angela is posing for the camera.






We also watched a glass blower.








Jousting was also on the program.

Check out the costumes

Here is a really mean Ghangis Kahn! But wait...
the fair maiden will soften his heart with a kiss!


Like putty in her hands!


Check out all of these magnificent costumes! It was quite spectacular to see so many incredible costumes. We felt like we had gone back to the days of the 3 musketeers!

Wearing this outfit in the Arizona sunshine. That is what I call Brave Heart.

One of the musketeers! Or a good replica of one.

Here we are in our finest regalia. The king and queen of the festival!

Angie just flipped over the Festival! I think this was the most fun for her, I know it was for me.