Mother's Day

Living over here we get two Mother's Days - the British one in April and the American one in May. American Mother's Day was yesterday. Bob had forgotten about it until Friday, and to be honest I wasn't sure about it either until all my Facebook buddies talked about getting stuff for their mothers.

Saturday after the craft fair (which was fun, but we didn't make any money) we went over to Mildenhall and Bob got me a present. We also looked for bike tires (since we finally checked the size on Naysha's bike) - they were out - and got some sunscreen.

Sunday morning Bob gave me my present, which I will take a picture of for Flickr - a pendant watch (can be clipped to something - in my case the inner zipper of the diaper bag, or hung on a chain like a necklace) in pewter, with a Celtic knot on the front. Very cool.
Then we went to church, which was good as ever. William slept most of the service on my lap, and Cedwryck fell asleep in his chair next to me, and then Ella dozed off on the other side of me. I had a HARD time keeping my eyes open in the midst of all that.

After church we skipped the pot blessing and headed home to change clothes and grab the picnic lunch I'd packed earlier. It was the Medieval Fair in Snailwell! We went last year on Saturday morning, and ended up so hot and dehydrated that we went home before the joust. But we'd enjoyed it and wanted to go again.
It was 1:30 when we arrived, so we sat down out of the way and had our picnic. Before we'd finished eating we saw two families that we knew. After lunch (peanut butter sandwiches, pears, drinks and sweets) we walked around to the various tents and displays. Bob chatted with the blacksmith for awhile, the boys tried on every piece of armor and lifted every weapon at the armory, and we met another family that we knew.
Then it was time for the joust. It wasn't actually a joust, as in two horses riding at each other full speed while the riders try to knock each other off, but rather a skill display/competition. While lots of the reenactments advertise a "Henry VIII" jousting tournament, this one featured a rather more favorite king of mine, Richard I. His opponent was a Templer. They went through several tests of skill, spearing 5" diameter rings at full speed, running down the announcer, and hand-to-hand combat on horseback. The sun was out the whole time, so the horses (and riders, I'm sure) were getting a bit warm. They paraded around a bit for pictures and interviews, and we went on around the grounds.
Bob stopped (without any prodding from me) at the fudge stand, and bought some caramel/chocolate fudge. It was VERY good. I shared a little bit. Next stop was the costume tent. We got a dress for Taryn and for Naysha, an archery kit for Riah (since Bob broke his bow from last year), and a "diablo" toy for Cedwryck. We looked at the adult clothing, but anything that was worth wearing was quite expensive. Then the announcer announced the children's tournament. Ours missed out last year, so this year they were eager to go. A hundred children were armed with foam sticks and sent out to battle a half-dozen knights in armor, but with no weapons. The knights were beat down by force of numbers and the children were victorious. :-D
One last purchase, at the fabric merchant. Bob got two sheepskins for 20GBP, and I got some interesting material at 1GBP per meter. I'm going to try to make a medieval peasant dress. The snag is that I'm trying to figure how to make it a nursing dress without making it complicated.

The fair closed at 5, and we were hungry again (of course). Having smelled all the good food at church that morning, I wanted "real" food as opposed to burgers or sandwiches. We settled on a Chinese takeaway in Mildenhall. It was the best Chinese we've had locally, so we will be calling on them again, I'm sure. The chicken with pineapple was a little bland, but the chicken with ginger and spring onions was awesome. Riah and Bob both bit into a slice of ginger, which was a bit much, but the chicken was very good.

The children played outside a while, and then we tidied up and went to bed. So it was a good, full day.