Belle Grove Rendezvous with Shenandoah Long Rifles

Ah, it is Memorial Day Weekend & time to do the History thing.

Memorial Day weekend found Jane & I at Belle Grove Plantation with the Shenandoah Long Rifles at their spring event. Except that it was really summer because there were fire flies. The weather was most accommodating with no rain to speak of and very delightful company. This is my camp with the dining fly rig Jane & I put together during out Back Yard Rendezvous. Plenty of shade during the day and room for a song circle of an evening.

This is the trade blanket area Jane & I put out. I sold a bunch of my spare history stuff, my trade blanket was nearly empty when I left Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, my body decided to ache like I'd been used as a tackling dummy all Friday & Saturday but I still had a very good time. Nothing like going some when as well as some where on vacation !

Back Yard Rendezvous

From time to time my friend Jane & I get together & work on our historic camping gear for Rendezvous/Living History events. So this last weekend we spent time working on her monster wedge setup plus worked on my canvas gear. Along the way I fixed my 1st Civil War wedge, cut poles and made lines for a square dining fly, made lines for my 10x16 dining fly, cleaned all my Civil War dog tent pieces, worked on an F&I French haversack, and installed the fender flares and mudflaps on my pickup.

Here's everything laid out & setup in the yard. That's Jane's lodge on the right.

I also helped Jane sort through her rendezvous gear and get the stove pipe to set up properly in the new-to-her bell back wedge. The room inside is great ! And of course we played a bit of music and cooked yummy things to eat. Sunday came way too soon !

Here's my Canyon freshly washed with the flares and mudflaps on. Isn't she pretty ?

Carly's Party

It's Carly's Party !!!!!

This is Carly with the cheese pascha I've made for her party the last 5 years. For 23 years Carly, her husband Dean and a wide assortment of folk music loving friends have gathered at Prince William Forest Park in April or May to sing and play a weekend away. Friday night meal is potluck - and it tends to be very lucky indeed - and Sat thru Sunday meals are done by Debby McClatchey with the help of all the attending adults. The kids over 10 but under 16 keep the dining area picked up.

This year's pascha had a cross, quarter note, Star of David and medicine wheel on its 4 sides.

Its hard to believe that the Friends of Traditional Music have been doing this for 23 YEARS. Kids have grown up and now have kids of their own, some of FOTM have passed on, others have grayer hair and slower steps - but the music is the same, just growing as younger folks join the ranks.

This is my friend Jane at her 3rd FOTM Carly's Party.

More singers in one of the lodges - it rained a lot so we mostly sung inside.

And of course it isn't a FOTM party without the Piper. Plus George's D&D Treasure Hunt. Only a good ballad sing seemed to get pasted over this year. Maybe next year . . . Carly & Dean are retiring as organizers but some younger folks are stepping up to keep the FOTM song going.