To Ly. Erin McKee for her incredibe kindness and generosity.  Axel is very proud of the gift you gave him...it will always have a treasured place in our home (and in our hearts). 

Midwest Renassance Festival is over for this year; and while Axel and I do have a wet, muddy pavillion to clean this weekend, we are non-the-less grateful that it was spared worse.

Despite the vagaries of weather, it was a wonderful weekend.  For us, it was a chance to share the experience with two of our *favorite* Court members:  Mehtare and Anjin-Sama, as well as the chance to travel with Tedrick and Raven (the "Puppet-people') who were the wonderful King and Queen in Wichita long before us. 

Allen and I would like to take a moment to express our appreciation to everyone at MRF for making our sojourn there wonderful:

To Sir John ("LittleBeard') and the Scallywags:  Once again, you have proven yourselves to be our "good and gentle knights."  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts...

To:  "Sir Robin of Locksley"  We truly wish we could entice you into Our Realm.  You are, in every particular, the image of the dashing Robin Hood.  Watching *you* work with the children was a delight !

To:  "Friar Tuck":  As I told you once before:  many may wear the Monk's robe...but no one embodies the role better than you. 

To:  Don St. Hilaire (and the French Army):  It is Our dearest wish that you should journey to Our Kingdom and introduce Our Beloved Realm to the Church of the Rubber Duck.   Mayhaps we shall see Thee and Thine when comes the Fall.

And Last (but Certainly Not Least!)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

To:  "The Forking Queen":  If we could only entice Your Majesty to come to Our Realm.  You have a Magic all of your own; waching you with the children (and witnessing the joy you bring them) is an example of everything a good queen should be!  Thank you for including Her Highness and I in your "Royal Family!"

Vivat!  

First of all, I want to take a moment to say "THANK YOU" to everyone who has taken the time to share with me their comments, ideas and suggestions.  Let me get through the next couple of Chivalry Program presentations, and I'll see what I can do to implement some of them...

...In the meanwhile, however, we have one other critical concern about the Castle/Tower situation:  Sharon herself.  When last I spoke to Sharon she was discouraged, dispirited, and down.  She truly feels that her Dream has gone as far as it can, and seeing it completed is in the realm of the impossible...

I know that there are people who will (and who do!) care what happens to the Castle/Tower...but she doesn't believe me.  Since she's not online like I am, she never gets to hear from her allies and supporters.  So, please...if you have a moment, drop her a note and let her know that you also feel that her dream is worth fighting for. A few words of encouragement would mean a great deal to her.   If you like, you can send her a note to her home address: 

S. Lawrence
436 S Vassar
Wichita, KS 

or you can send me an email addressed to her, and I'll forward it to her.   Either way, let's let her hear that there are people out there who care what happens...

CLL

Addendum:  And, yes, for those people who just can't wait to send a donation (and you know who you are) I do have a Pay Pal account you can use:  cleddon@cox.net.  This account is used for Chivalry Program expenses and purchases, so you won't have to worry that your donation will get lost in the shuffle of our household account.

It was beautiful last night.

After spending a couple of hours sweeping floors, mending windows, and airing textiles, Kelly and I lit the candles in the chapel and tower and spent some time just "be-ing."

There truly *is* magick in the place. The chapel was calm and serene; the breeze through the massive doorway made the candles on the altar wall flicker and dance. Several times during the evening both Kelly and I remarked on the faint aroma of incense that lingered there (even though it has been several weeks since we had reason to burn any)

In the tower, the light from the streetlamp nearby streamed through the branches of an overhanging tree and cast dappled shadows on the tower's curved walls. The guardian knights, now clean, dry and back in their niches cast looming, mysterious shadows in the diffuse light.

Outside, yet another Kansas thunderstorm appeared on the horizon, and while we weren't crazy enough to stand at the summit of the tower to watch...from the chapel second-floor windows we could watch it approach in all it's impressive majesty. Were it not for the fact that the castle roof now leaks in heavy rain, I would have stayed to watch the storm from within it's walls. I've been in the castle through more than one such storm; I can tell you that it's an exhilerating experience...

If you have never seen this place, you really should take the time to visit. In creating the Hermitage, Sharon Lawrence has created a place of unique majesty and beauty. As Sharon told me last night...she didn't just create it for herself, she created it for others to enjoy as well.

This may be one woman's dream, her life's work, but she wants to share it with others...

I hope you will take her up on her invitation.

QUESTION: What has three floors, is made of native limestone, has crinalations, and both an indoor *and* an outdoor swimming pool?

ANSWER: Stargate Hermitage!

No, I'm afraid this isn't really a joke...the tower *is* flooded, big time. With the torrential downpours we've been having, and with a drain that was too packed to drain, there was nowhere for the water to go (except through the limestone in the roof to the stairway and down to the first floor). If I wasn't so sure...I would have sworn I saw Robert Ballard at the bottom of the pool looking for buried treasure. At least I got the roof drain to *finally* open, however; after kneeling in 3" of water in the pouring rain, with my trusty plunger and coat hanger!

Ah ha! Who says Templars don't have the best tools?

Seriously, there has GOT to be a way to get this poor woman some reliable, reputable help! I say reliable because it seems that Sharon doesn't have the best record when it comes to hiring handymen...just like Ferengi in Star Trek they "take her money, and never give it back." Most recently, she hired someone to work on the tower, and both he (and the $400.00 that was donated to her) are nowhere to be found.

I'm open to comments, suggestions and/or ideas. I gave my Word that I would be there to help Sharon with this, but I'm running out of ideas. A couple of people have suggested putting castle tower items in my Cafe Press store...but then the question becomes: how do I market them? I've considered a garage sale (or in this case a "castle sale), but where do I get the stuff? I've even considered selling some of my jewelry on ebay (but Allen would KILL me if I did that).

Ideas anyone?