Meeting Merida and other Scottish Activities

My husband and I both had Friday off. So after a morning appointment, dear hubby dropped me off at Disneyland while he went to a dr. appointment. I grabbed a muffin, some coffee and headed back towards "It's a Small World" to the area set up for "Brave" and Merida the heroine of the story.

I found a comfy spot across from the entrance and pulled out my Visual Journal, to sketch. I love people watching and sketching at Disneyland. Loved the little boy, about 7 who was sitting about 10 feet from me who kept wandering a bit closer each time he walked around while his parents dealt with a sibling...I know he was trying to get a peek at what I was doing without getting too close for me to notice, but I noticed.


I left room for Merida's signature.

 A few hours after I started my hubby came to meet me, wearing his Utilikilt, ready to meet Merida. We spun the wheel to find our clan - Dingwall. Then off to meet Merida, the bear cubs

 and some archery practice.

While waiting our turn with Merida, the Monorail came by sporting it's "Cars" paint scheme. So cute.



This was a 3D display at the ScotFest. Brave was one of the sponsors this year, quite fitting don't you think? They even had a wig (hanging on Dingwald's hand) for you to put on so you could pose as Merida with the backdrop.


Keeping in the Scots frame of mind, we were off the next morning to the ScotsFest in Orange County. We love attending this event each Memorial Day. It is our chance to immerse ourselves in our ancestral history/culture. Great music, good food, lots of red heads and kilts.



Highland Dancing competition.



One of many great bands competing at the Festival.

 

"Bad Haggis" performing on the Alex Beaton Stage. The lead musician and piper can be heard on many familiar soundtracks including Titanic.



Hard to see but the Caber is center, right in front of the man with the dark red and black kilt.


Our favorite activity is the Caber Toss and other athletic events as part of the Highland Games.  Though the Caber Toss looks like an activity of strength, but it really is a game of strength and skill. Participants lift a pole, balancing it on their shoulder until they are upright. Then the goal is to lift and toss the pole so that the end in their hands flips over and lands as near to 12 o'clock as possible.


My journal page, sans the journaling, from yesterdays events.



Mother's Day Scrapbooking, Food, and Fun

I had the most wonderful time with friends this past weekend. We all traveled up to the mountain town of Big Bear, Ca for a 4-day scrapbooking retreat. The whole event is hosted and organized by my friend Melissa Papke, owner of the Scrapbook Garden and avid scrapbook teacher. The event is held at Apples Bed and Breakfast each year.  There is room for 40+ croppers to sleep, and 3 large, well lit workrooms for us in which to spread out our projects. Everyone has ample room to work, while sitting in big, comfy office chairs.

Apples from the front.

Backyard. Main house in center, one crop room and guest rooms off to the left.



Our room, Pippin 1.



My friend, Jill, and our work area.

It always takes me weeks to just figure out what to work on in order to pack. Of course I pack WAY too much stuff. But I would rather have extra things to work on and supplies to use or swap, than getting stuff up there with nothing to do. ...On second thought, "stuck" in the mountains, surrounded by pine trees, birds and warm sunshine and nothing to do sounds kind of nice. (Maybe next year I should forget to pack something...)

I arrived Thursday afternoon and after unpacking and settling in, I managed to get 20+ pages done, minus the journaling, that night. I have a hard time journaling on the spot. I wanted to consult my journal from the trip I was scapping and have time to think about it.

The folks at Apple's are the best! We were spoiled with more GREAT food than one could possibly eat, created and served by our wonderful hosts. Here are just a few of the yummy breakfasts, snacks and desserts we were served each day.



Apples' famous Apple shaped cheese balls. Yummy!



Breakfasts are always extraordinary. Homemade biscuits, muffins, granola...along with great egg dishes, yogurt, apple sausage, and maple brown sugar glazed bacon, aka "Bacon Crack" as Jill would say, are just a few of the wonderful treats greeting us in the morning.

We had the pleasure of the company of a sweet little cat who had taken up residence at the B & B a few weeks earlier. He was a friendly little guy, who loved to come see what we were doing.



Not sure why he won't stay rotated the right way....hmmmm.

 The first morning, I got up early to enjoy the trees, birds, and quiet...only to find it wasn't as quiet as I had hoped for. Why? It seems a pair of Stellar's Jays and the cat have a ritual of playing tag through the backyard. The jays were squawking away, to the angst of many of the other scrapbookers trying to sleep in. But they were funny.

All in all, I finished 89 pages, almost the whole 15 day cruise through the Panama Canal. Yeah! Now I am ready to take the next cruise we have booked. I cannot wait until next May. For our next adventure. In the meantime, I will keep working on the journaling. I promise to share finished pages as I get them done.