Weekend Family Time...

Guiltily, I admit that I have spent very little dedicated family time with my family over the past few weeks. I've allowed my free time to be eaten up the "advertising and social connections" monster. Yes...Twitter, Facebook, Etsy forums, and my blogs (sorry, but it's true) have been given the reins...terrible, I know.

One of my sons favorite events was happening this past Saturday, outdoors. It was a given that we would go. Thank goodness we had good weather. The past several weeks have been rainy and nasty here in NC.

Welcome to the Celtic Festival -

It's held annually here in Winston-Salem at a local historic park, Bethabara. Bethabara was established in 1753 as the first Moravian settlement in NC. The park is home to several restored buildings, an old Palisade Fort (pre-French and Indian war), and beautiful grounds. It is also home to some more "modern" houses.

This festival is fairly small in comparison to the Highland games in Grandfather Mountain, but we like that. Smaller crowds = ease of movement for us, fewer lines, and better views of activities.

This year we attended the Men's Highland games activities, which included a Clachneart (small boulder toss), 22lb Hammer Throw, 28 & 56 lb weight throw, Caber toss (limbless tree), and Sheaf tossing. My son didn't find this as entertaining as I did, so we didn't stay for the entire display. What can I say?? Men playing games in skirts is entertaining!

Additionally, they had Highland games for Children and Lassies (Women)! I briefly debated in joining in on the Haggis toss, but didn't want to take away from the family time... (I'll do this one for you... Yeah, right!)

The palisade is home to the music for the day. Lilting harps, fiddles, and haunting voices floated across the valley. There were also tents for various clans where you could trace your ancestral name, herding demonstrations, clogging and country dance demonstrations, food, and other vendors.

My favorite vendors are the sweet lady that demonstrates tatting and bobbin weaving. I found out that she has a series of classes at two local libraries that I fully intend to join...hmmm, something else to put on my list of things to learn! (When we walked up she was giving a teen girl a hands-on demonstration. How nice!)

The second is a vendor of handmade iron works. They have hanging baskets, hooks, ornamental fencing, etc... Lovely items, with lovely price tags!

Of course, there was a drum and bagpipe corp...

There was plenty of warm sunshine that day. It was hot and humid. After a few hours we searched for a shady spot to take a break. Shaved Ice in hand, we found one under a grand old tree, close to the action.

It was the perfect spot to wiggle my toes...

After a few minutes, we were treated to a sighting of the costumed park staff on there way to an event behind us. This form of dress was traditional in the 17 & 1800's and the park uses them for large events to add to the ambiance. Aren't they cute??

Cost for the day -

$4.00, spent on the two Shaved Ice treats

(the event and parking were FREE!)

Time spent with family - Priceless...

Next weekend - the Greek Festival. Opa!