Treasure Box Thursday: Renaissance Plunder

Just a few baubles in the Treasure Box this week! Two items of which were plunder from the Greater Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival I told you about on Sunday.

Their marketplace is filled with everything from replicas of medieval weaponry to jewelry to soaps and candles. Not being in the market for a dagger at the moment, I selected a couple of necklaces, like this one bearing the image of one of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's red-haired maidens...
I also got this shimmering purple pendant made from lab-adjusted minerals...
And beyond the walls of the Renaissance Faire's "Shire," I picked up a curio wall cabinet I'd been looking for for a while to hold some tiny treasures based on Victorian artist John Tenniel's illustrations...
Complete with a dust-resistant glass door, this was more than I had even expected. It was a find from the Salvation Army Superstore in West Mifflin.

And that's it for our teeny Treasure Box this week. I should be back on schedule again this coming week. The Labor Day holiday just threw me a bit off with my posts. Can you believe it's September already?

How does it happen?

Oh, and because I thought it was funny, I'm going to try to start remembering to include my weekly BlueBoy count on my travels (you can read about the running Blue Boy joke here).

This week's Blue Boy Tally?: Two.

Have a great week!

A Trip to the Faire: Greater Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival

"I took a trip down to look at the fair
When I arrived, there was nobody there..."
--Renaissance

I've had the song from the 70s prog-rock band Renaissance running through my head since yesterday. And like that song, my quiet morning in rural West Newton, PA, suddenly transformed into a busy, bustling, magical afternoon of jesters and joking and majestic color.

Welcome to the Shire, where anachronism, entertainment, games, and swordplay abound-- along with food, crafts, and heavy textiles swelter under sunny skies.

You could start with some games. Tell me, how are you with Ye Olde Archery? Can you split your foe's arrow in twain? ...

(No, me neither.)

How about lob produce for fun at some poor dude in the stocks, in "Vegetable Justice"? (I had to take a pic of that, it just made me laugh...)Maybe some grog is more to your liking?

Or you'd like to sit in a wooded glen and enjoy a musical performance...
A parade signals a joust will begin soon...

Here comes da Queen...
And here a rather oversized version of His Royal Majesty. Just look at that papier mache turkey leg behind him... It must be four foot tall. (It's good to be the King!)...

Sir Mitri, of Spain, seems to be eyeing up this girl's lunch...
He gets so busy jousting, pillaging and wenching there really isn't a lot of time for a sensible meal these days .

We all gather for the upcoming tournament. A local Faerie has a minor wardobe malfunction, but doesn't seem to mind.
The crowd gathers, and it's ready to see some energetic combat!...
I notice my favorite knight from last year, Sir Roderick, has made his debut once more. This time, he's on the side of good. I guess he learned his lesson from last year's "cheat to win" mantra...

He wears the colors of black-and-gold... Always popular in Steelers territory.He takes on Sir Mitri, though Spanish-English relations don't seem to improve for the exercise.

Having won a test of skill, Sir Roderick bestows upon a shy spectacled princess, his "Queen of Love and Beauty" favor for the day, giving her a garland of flowers. She didn't know quite what to do with all the attention.

Along the way, I picked up a couple of pieces of handcrafted jewelry, a fine lunch of fish and chips, and a rather remarkable case of sunburn-- the latter souvenir was completely free.

I am a girl who always enjoys a bargain. :)

Hope you all have a terrific rest of your Labor Day weekend. I'll see you again later in the week.

Treasure Box Wednesday: Pittsburgh Renaissance Faire Fun

This Treasure Box Wednesday-- as based on an action-packed weekend, where houseguests took center stage instead of Ye Olde Thrifting-- I thought I'd share with you a few pics of the Greater Pittsburgh Renaissance Faire.

Here we have the pre-joust parade...
...Gosh, I knew kings tended to have swelled heads, but this is ridiculous!

The theme this year took a distinctly Tudor track, and so you see the procession of courtly ladies in 15th/16th century gowns...

And this was our fine leader for the first joust... It appears she's been hitting the mead a bit early...Of course, you can hardly blame her. With just five whole peasants to help her cheer on Sir Ian, she didn't have a whole lot to work with.

Here we see the King's court in Ye Royale Pavillion looking merry in pre-joust anticipation...


And here we have our knights for this day: Sir William, Sir Ian and Sir Roderick...

I found myself surprisingly close to where Sir Roderick was hanging out in the arena, and he kindly posed for a few, um, paintings via Mine Canon Powershot...

Thank ye, good sir....


This is Sir Ian. He was supposed to be my region's knight for the day, but he went evil into the second joust and so I ficklely switched my allegiances...
Sorry, dude.

Here we see him in an action shot, tilting...

After the festivities, who wouldn't enjoy some fish, chips and a pint o' mead? (Or, well, Guinness in a plastic cup...)And after a bit of Royal foolishness...

We went on our way.

• A story which is equally silly, and you also might enjoy. Find out what happened once I hit the Ren Faire parking lot. You might just get a chuckle here on my humor blog! Click here.
  

Fare thee well, good people!

A Knight- er, Day- at the Greater Pittsburgh Renaissance Faire

Today we're going back in time. Back... back... way back... no, a little more...

Okay, stop! Stop! Stop here! (screeeeeeech!!!!)

Here. To the middle ages. When kings were kings, and chivalry was alive, and cell phone technology was large and clunky and...

Okay, well. So a little anachronism creeps in now and then.

Yes, folks, today we are going to the Greater Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival! For those who love pageantry, fantasy, romance-- and a certain amount of silliness-- this might just be the place for
you.

If decorating your home, you can actually find some very unique (and even tasteful) handmade items to integrate into your decor. And if decorating your own person, there's no shortage of jewelry and clothing to choose from there, either. This, in addition to exciting jousts, handsome knights, medieval nibblies, and wandering minstrels-- well, it makes a pleasant day out.

So let's enter through the guarded castle walls on this beautiful September day, and see what's in store!...


Welcome to "The Shire," a village of shops, restaurants and performance stages integrated into the landscape of West Newton, PA.


We're grateful today we wore shoes with a little bit of traction on them, because we'll be walking over fields, down glens, and into dappled forests. Starting off, we think a little bit of shopping might be in order. We'll peruse wares today from intricate pewter goblets, light switches, and necklaces, to delicate Celtic-inspired earrings, heavy brocade cloaks, incense, leather-works, forged weaponry, hand-blown glass and more.

Like here at Delight's Fantasy Art tent, we pause and are struck by the artwork's bright colors...


You examine some original tapestries and clever mousepads, while I set my sights on a print that would work well in my William Morris red-and-green livingroom...


We head down the forest path and encounter the Duck Lady. Ah, there are some strange and unusual characters in these dark times! This particular one has a serious duck fetish and a repertoire of about a million duck-inspired puns...

Here she chats with a teeny little princess who is wary of any person with a strong duck fixation.

But as the rest of us quack up, the toll of bells calls to us-- and we find ourselves mystified by a truly remarkable performance...


The instrument is the Carillon, and the artist is "Cast in Bronze." The carillon consists of 35 bells, played by a modified keyboard which uses the hands and feet-- and from what we read, this is the only musical act in the world to feature this four-ton medieval instrument.

The musician, Frank DellaPenna, performs his haunting compositions to the accompaniment of recorded vocals and other supplementary melodies. One of the pieces is an intriguing medley of "Tubular Bells" and the "Phantom of the Opera" theme. We end up mesmerized.


We also end up with some CDs to play in the car. For folks who'd like to learn more about this performance and see Cast in Bronze in action, click here and go to the Media section, to check out the videos.

Appetites whetted with shopping and music, we stop for a bite to eat. Should it be soup in a bread bowl, a giant turkey leg, or...? Ah, there it is! Fish and chips and an ice cold beer-- lovely! Then a bit more wandering before the jousting begins.

This fellow in blue tells us he'll be our wizard for this evening. He basically gives us the run-down of what we can expect from the jousting today, and who our resident Knight of the Realm will be...


And this is our knight-- Sir Roderick. He's pretty dishy, which is probably why we, his people, put up with his less-than-sportsmanly "Cheat to Win" motto. He's also a bloodthirsty sort... but he wears black and gold. Always fashionable here in Pittsburgh. (Er, The Shire.)


These are Sir Roderick's challengers, Sir William in the red, and Sir IDon'tRememberHisName in green and black.


Based on his shield emblem, he may be Sir Drinksalot-- what do you think?...


Here we see the Royal Court...


The king and queen speak, to open today's jousting festivities...


And then on to the main event!


Sir Drinksalot ends up wounded due to dirty dealings by our Sir Roderick. Sir William challenges Sir Roderick to a fight to the death and... Oh wait. The exciting conclusion ends up being the 5pm show. Gosh, this is more complex and dramatic than WWF wrestling!

Well, let's do a bit more wandering.


Need any pence from Ye Olde Money Store?...


We encounter some unexpected pirates...


And in order to be fair to my male readers, we have for you this buxom wench... See, I think of you guys, too!


And in M. Sotherden Art Glass, I become entranced by some beautiful hand-crafted glass and sterling silver necklaces. These two pendants will come home with me! I love the irridecent sparkle!


I notice the owner has a web site (msotherdenartglass.com) as well as an Etsy shop where she sells her work (msotherdenartglass.etsy.com ). Gosh, these Renaissance folks are awfully forward-thinking, in some respects, aren't they? Why, Etsy won't even exist for them for several hundred years!

Well, we take in one last musical act, and then we consider calling it a day.


Need to make a pitstop first?...


Comfy? Then we get back in our time machine and set the dials for 2008. Thanks so much for coming along with me today!

• If you missed last Wednesday's Treasure Box post, click here to see the Fruits of Thrifting.

• And did you seen last Sunday's "Fleaing Lambertville and Discovering New Hope"? If not, click here.

Otherwise, perhaps I'll see you this Wednesday for our next Treasure Box feature.

As they say in Medieval times, "Huzzah!"