Steelhead's Harvest Festival Wraps Up

After the farewell party at Ice Castle Xero in Caledon Morgaine, I arrived back in Steelhead to find the Harvest Moon Dance--the culmination of the Steelhead Days Harvest Festival activities--in full swing. Afterwards, I went to see the steampunk livestock in the building contest...
There were some rather fantastic (and hilarious) ones...To see these wonderful animals for yourself, do visit the barn in Steelhead City!

Loch Avie Academy of Arms Tournament!

Finally the day had arrived for the 1st Loch Avie Academy of Arts tournament. There were great fights the whole time, which included Miss Babii vs. her father, His Grace Cymru, Viderian Vollmar, in their fantastic Egyptian looks...The other matches were Col. O'Toole vs. Sir Zen, Duke Regent E. Margulis vs. Miss Poppy, and Lady Dia vs. me. As luck would have it, ours was the first match. I don't have any shots of it. If one of you does, could you please send it to me? I was running on purpose, as my health renewal wasn't kicking in due to a glitchy down button. Thank you O'Toole for the "Move! Move! Move!" advice. As Dia has a relentless style, it was better for me to stick and keep moving. I got her down to 41% by the time Sir Tele called it. She went on to defeat Margulis and fight Miss Babii...
...to win the whole thing. Here she is with Sir Tele...
...who opened the arena up to melee fighting free-for-all, which was a LOT of fun. Dia caught me first-off and I was the first to drop, dash it! But in the second melee, Mr Goodliffe and I pulled out our swords in unison and proceeded to take down everyone who stood in our way until it was just the two of us left. I lost to him after a hard fought fight, but felt a bit redeemed. What great fights I saw and what fun I had!!!!!!
We all returned later for the big ceilidh dance with Celtic music and fun. Cabers were being tossed about, the chicken was rezzed, the daleks came later...All in all, a typical Caledonian Saturday!
I had sooooo much fun today!

Got Wood?

The Caber Tossing during the Highland Fling activities in Loch Avie inspired a lot of comments about large poles, big wood, and how to handle it. You know how I feel about men in kilts, so I headed over from the Early Bird's 1950s party to see for myself:
The Baron, Mr. Smashcan, Mr. Writer, Col. O'Toole, and organizer Prof. Avalanche were the main competitors in their tartany goodness...and we ladies watched and swooned over them from the sidelines...
However, when asked if we'd like to try, I was the first to say yes and scored very well! Mind you, I did it in a fancy dress and high heels. Oof! Take that gents!
Col. O'Toole ended up winning it all, showing us that he really knew his way around a large pole...Oh my, I couldn't resist...

Tea Parties, Lancers, and Giant Bunnehs

Sir Tele got off of the ferry in Mayfair with Boanerges (love the Lancers uniform) and convinced me to go to the Steelhead Harvest Tea Party with him... It was quite good company...Miss Elvehjem, Mr. Eclipse, Lady Dia, Lady Darkling, Mr. Smashcan and Lady Amber...
Whose "Harvey" made an appearance...
Later, I stood at the Guvnah's Mansion and watched the parade of the Lancers go by. Yes, those gray persons normally look rather resplendent in their uniforms. Sir Hotspur saluted to Her Grace, Gloire Thibaud, Duchess of Caledon Middlesea--who was to my left--before they all proceeded to revelry in Loch Avie...
Ahh...Harvey on my Regency pier...I couldn't resist...

So Much to See...So Much to Do!

One of the first events of the Caledon & Steelhead Harvest Festival was the Duke's invitation to come and fell trees at Caledon Murdann to help clear the land a bit. I decided to come away with a Murdann thorn tree (on the left), which grows nowhere else, and an aspen in full golden autumn foliage...Horsewoman that I am, I headed over to Steelhead for their horse race around town. I got hit by a lag spike and *gasp* lost control of Flashy--both of us careening into the water off of the first turn. I was appalled, but finished anyway. It was a lot of fun though and I hope they do it again. Afterwards, I decided to get lost in the corn maze...
Lady Edwina and I found this disgusting monstrosity floating above the road in Regency between her brownstone and the hospital. Thankfully, the Vicereine was able to come by and remove it. Ugh...
I've heard so much about Straylight that I had to explore and see it for myself...Gorgeous...I bought some sculpted water...
How do they do the sunbeams? Beautiful!!!

Steelhead Harvest Festival Kickoff Party

How could I have forgotten the Steelhead Harvest Festival kickoff party? Much silliness abounded...stilts and juggling, drunken rolling sheep, huge pumpkins, comedian music/funny songs...and then the daleks...