In Which there is Breakfast, Bengals, and Kittens

The main Fiend weekend draws to a close

Jess, Paul (Mr Jess) and I checked out and met up at 9, saying our farewells to Siri, whom we met in the parking lot, as we left, and then headed to Chateau Quiche for breakfast - Chantrelle, Ralph & Nathalie were chief chefs - an excellent arrangement!

We were in introduced to the kittens, and to Mim and Venus, who were remarkably un-fazed by the sudden invasion of their home. Even Magic came to look at us from the Screamed Porch. He really is utterly beautiful, and it was wonderful to see him being curious, and confident enough to come out of hiding to watch us, albeit from the other side of a window and from a safe distance!

Chantrelle makes a great frittata (including herbs and such chopped with the Famous Exploding Knife, no less) and Nathalie had made some strawberry preserve, which was also excellent.

Venus & Mim used the extra staff to get some feather-stick action and some outside exercise, and we admired the purple flowers planted and nurtured by Beez. The Royals came to to their window to watch us in walking the cats, and Mim tried very hard to climb things. Magic came out onto the porch to watch, too.

Spooky House is a lovely place, although some would say it needs more skeletons.


After delivering Jess & Paul to the airport I managed, after several failed attempts, to get into the Sofitel car park - I spotted the hotel without difficulty, but the spent some time circling it, as I tried to home in on it in the hope I might actually make it into to the entrance.

Once I made it, however, it was most impressive. The foyer of the hotel is a giant atrium, there is a footbridge across it to get to the lifts (and a grand piano lurking below) and some funky lights - it is all very impressive to someone such as myself, who is unaccustomed to fancy hotel. Actually, I am not very customed to hotels in general.

The room is large, and very nice - as well as a vast bed, I also get a chaise-longue, desk and more full-length mirrors thn I can shake a stick at. Also, L’Occitane shampoos and such in the bathroom. I begin to see the appeal of having money. Although not having free wi-fi in the rooms at these prices is Just Plain Wrong. Why, I have to go all the way down stair to the lobby to check mail and Twitter, and that means I can’t blog in bathrobe and slippers (which, by the way, are white and fluffy and feel highly decadent)

After I had finished checking in and swooning at the room El picked me up and we met Gayle & M, One Sock Short, Vampi, Ticia and Beez at the Park (Minnehaha) where there is a waterfall. It seems that while I was gone, Vampi has been taught to knit, which is most Impressive.

Then we went to hunt down an independent feminist bookstore, which sadly was closed, so after browsing a little, and meeting up with Aleta, we went for dinner - soup, quiche (well honestly, what else could I chose?) and many desserts shared between us . The Rhubarb and Strawberry Pie remains my first love, but the vanilla bean cheesecake the pumpkin bar and the Very Chocolatey chocolate cake thing also deserve honourable mentions.

It was another good day. I did hear that the others had a late and alcohol-fuelled evening, but of course I would never repeat gossip. .

In which there is Birding, and more Rock, and a Knife

Despite having been up partying ‘til late, and being woken by a thunderstorm at 4 a.m. a selection of us were up and breakfasted in order to go birding with The Birdchick at the Richardson Nature Center.
This time, it was Jess, Mr Jess and Phiala who braved my driving. A swarm of around 15 fiends met the Birdchick in the parking lot, and were immediately shown a yellow bird (a warbler, I believe) we hen headed to the visitor center where we spent some time in the observation rooms, watching the bird feeders - there were some wild turkeys wandering around, and on the feeders themselves we saw ruby throated hummingbirds, woodpeckers and nuthatches, as well as squirrels, chipmunks and sparrows.
Sharon took us out on a short walk to try to spot more birds, which we duly did! We did not see the indigo buntings but we did see a pilated woodpecker, bluebirds, goldfinches (which really are gold, unlike the kind we get in the UK) cardinals, which are red and shiny, and which I fund exciting as we don’t have them, but which are a very common here. We came t a small lake where we were able to see and egret and a pair of eagles, as well as sundry frogs and dragonflies.
The Birdchick was a perfect guide - it was fascinating. a great experience. When we got back to the center we met Na, who had accidentally been left behind L and Aleta, who ad gone back to collect her, and then the entire group, including the Birdchick, decamped to Burger Jones’, where on her guidance we tried the Poutine and the fried cheese curds. Neither of which I would have tried on my own, but both of which were very tasty.
In the afternoon we visited Uncle Hugo‘s (whose profits will no doubt show a small but significant Fiend-related blip) and I believe that a large contingent of fiends also went to Dreamhaven, but we headed back to Stillwater instead, in order to nap ahead of the second Paul & Lorraine gig.
Which rocked once again. The Unicorn song was played . There was audience participation. Need I say more?
In addition to all the visiting and local fiends who were also there last night, Chris “Mr Billy Bones” Lincoln and his wife Mary came, so there was an impromptu signing, and there was, once again, enthusastic audience participation... At the end of the evening, after the music was over, here was the ceremonial opening of the Mystery Box brought by Phiala. This marked the return of the Famous Exploding Knife, repaired, sharpened and etched with it’s name… FabLo was happy as only a girl who has just been given a new and very sharp exploding knife can be.