Thank God, November 4th is Over!

November 12th, 2008

Vickie

What an exciting year this has been! I’ve been painting and unpacking at the new place in Arizona. I’m still going back and forth between California and Arizona. We still need to sell the CA place and I’ve been painting it, while moving as much out to AZ as I can on each trip.

Halloween night, I drove to Las Vegas to work on the Obama Campaign. I got to see Barack on Saturday before canvassing and Michelle held my hand for the longest time on Monday. What a wonderful lady. We succeeded in turning Nevada blue and I went from a size 12 to size 6 jeans. Wahoo! Now, if I can just keep it off.

Apologies for being out of reach

October 24th, 2008

Front of the House

The house is more or less ready other than glitches – like the water heater and oven not working. They’re brand new, so hopefully we’ll get things working this week while I’m in Arizona. I’m getting dial-up out there on Tuesday, so hopefully I’ll be able to communicate more often. The back of the property really makes me happy. Check it out.

back of property

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

June 14th, 2008

This weekend (Father’s Day Weekend) is the last of this Faire season. Come out and experience it for yourself. The comments we’ve heard about our festival have been very positive. It actually is a village of very friendly people and quite unique buildings. It has been compared quite favorably to the corporate faire held in Irwindale. There is more activity and fun at our festival as opposed to a “medieval flavored marketplace,” which is how we’ve heard the corporate faire described. The town criers from that faire are now at Koroneburg, along with a number of vendors. Come and see us. Words cannot adequately describe our little village which has expended this year and will be growing even more before next year. It’s nice having a permanent site.

The picture below is a view from inside the cookie cutter cottage.
insidekk.jpg

Fire Pictures

June 6th, 2008

incaseoffire1.JPG

plane.JPG

My husband went to show a friend the fire fighting pictures from our recent Pirate Faire, and they were gone. I didn’t think I had deleted that post, but they were gone. So, I’m putting some of them back up. As a lot of you know, 2 fires were started upwind of our village (with suspicious origins) when we opened our festival at the end of April.

copter.JPG

kevinfire.JPG

Only 2 Weekends Left to Enjoy Our Village

June 4th, 2008

Hookah, Weebul and Salty Splinter Eye
Hookah, Weebul and Salty Splinter Eye in front of Fairapy. They are your “fairapists” and will help you feel better through dish smashing. Can you think of a better occupation for displaced pirates? Since the ship ran aground here in Koroneburg, the pirates have been waiting for the tide to come back in.

Last weekend, the weather was really nice – low 80’s. (same this coming weekend) The number of guests was not big, but the people who did come to visit us in our little village were fun. Everyone, villagers and visitors alike had a great time “playing faire”. We have only two weekends left – it is so beautiful out there, I wish it could go on longer. But, alas, Father’s Day weekend will be our last for this year. For more information on the site and what happens out there the rest of the year, check out: http://renaissanceinfo.com

neighborlady.jpg

Neighbor lady gets a ride back from the archery competition where she competes every week. The “smiths” have adopted her and take good care of her. Real name Nancy, our neighbor lady makes the finest wooden toys in the Village (and elsewhere). She is being transported by Robert and Damien from the blacksmith/sword booth.

Three Days of Renaissance Fun on Memorial Weekend in Corona, CA

May 20th, 2008

fairapycrowd.jpg

Even though we had triple digit temperatures, visitors enjoyed the Village of Koroneburg last weekend. The picture above is a crowd of dish breakers at the “Fairapy” booth. Group member Hookah stayed at home with his wife Amanda and brand new baby boy, Jake Elwood. Congratulations to the proud parents.

We will be open all three days of the Memorial weekend coming up. And, thankfully the temperatures are supposed to be a lot cooler than last weekend. Hope to see you there.

Koroneburg Has Begun

May 4th, 2008

ridingpig

The beautiful village of Koroneburg opened its gates to visitors, Mother’s Day Weekend and will be open every weekend thru Father’s Day. We will also be open all 3 days of Memorial Weekend. This is our 11th year at the permanent site in Corona, CA and the village has evolved into wonderful and distinctive neighborhoods. Our street is called the Way of the Bells – you can find out why whenever our parades come by. The cottage has grown up too, with a new canopy and new snail vines planted to replace the ones that froze in 2006.

The Arizona move is still going on schedule. It looks like we really will be moving out there by August of this year. But, rest assured, we will still be coming out to the festivals in Corona. It’s a wonderful place to relax and play.

Hope to see you all there. You can get more info at renaissanceinfo.com

CCCC Convention

March 20th, 2008

This is a really difficult post to write. I’ve tried to find a way to make it to the CCCC Convention held this June in Wisconsin. But, we’ve got our septic through on our Arizona property and we’re now trying to get a home on it and deal with financing. We’ve also got our Renaissance Festival in Corona happening at the same time. Too many conflicts in scheduling just makes it impractical for me to attend this year.
The next CCCC Convention will be held in San Francisco in 2010. I am putting it on my schedule now and I am planning to attend. The move will be over and we should be settled in Arizona by then.
There is a website at http://www.frankencutters.com where you can get information and phone numbers to for the CCCC and the convention in June. It is being held in La Crosse, Wisconsin June 12, 13, 14, PLUS June 11 when the vendor room will be open to the public. There are some nifty package deals for the convention. The Mississippi river boat ride sounds like so much fun.
I really wish there was a way to pull it off this year, but I look forward to seeing any cookie cutter fans in the southern California area during the Golden Age of Piracy Festival held April 26-27 and the Koroneburg Renaissance Festival which begins May 10 and runs through June 15, including Memorial Day.
I’ll be going out to the site today to drop off building supplies and Saturday we’ll begin putting new roofs on the cookie cutter cottage and the Fairapy booth. Hope to see you there.

Cookie Cutter Collectors Club

February 3rd, 2008

cookie swan

January 26, 2008 was the date for the most recent Cookie Cutter Collectors Club meeting. The cookies were phenomenal, as usual. What is even more amazing is that the cookies were as delicious as they were beautiful. The California chapter met to plan for the upcoming National Convention in La Crosse, Wisconsin in June. I’m excited about it, never having been to Wisconsin. And, I’ll get to meet the other tinsmiths who actually still make cookie cutters. According to CCCC members, there are about 20 in the country. I’ve also heard that I’m the only one who makes cutters with pliers, rather than a jig. It will certainly be interesting to see how others practice the craft.

The weather was amazing all the way up the coast for the meeting. I took the 101 instead of the 5 from Orange County to Northern California. The 5 was actually shut down due to snow. A lot of water fell on the 101 and 60 mph winds had trees down on the road between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara on the way back.

We’ve been taking elderberry extract (available at health food stores), and it really makes a difference with colds and flu. Especially if you start taking it the moment you suspect you might be catching something. I’ve given bottles of it to friends and relatives this year and it is getting raves.

We are still moving forward with the move to Arizona. The goal is to be living in Camp Verde, AZ by August of this year. I will have my own office in the new place and my husband will be relieved NOT to have cutter clutter in the rest of the house. I just love soldering and flattening cutters on the kitchen counter and my office will have the counters I need. Please know that I am working on building up my depleted ebay stock. The CCCC members were quite enthusiastic about my unique cutters, and I thank them. Thank you also for the delicious cookies, the art of cookie making and decorating displayed, was truly amazing.

Hello 2008

January 13th, 2008

Best wishes for everyone out there. May you have everything you need in your lives.I don’t know about you, but I’m really glad 2007 is gone. 2008 is shaping up to be an exciting year. The DooDah Parade (normally held in November), will be held in Pasadena, CA on January 20th. Ric and I will be in the street with Caesar’s Circus. Catapults, gladiators, Caesar in his chariot, at least one Christ to revive the dead gladiators, slave girls, swords, lots of blood (fruit punch syrup), and lots of togas…that’s just our group. I’ll put some pics of it up.

January 26 I’ll be attending the next CCCCC meeting, which will be in Pleasanton, CA. All those C’s stand for the Cookie Cutter Collectors Club (California Chapter). There is a web page, but it’s no substitute for the fun and amazing people at the meetings. There are state chapters and a national Cookie Cutter Collectors Club which has it’s meeting in LaCrosse, WI in June 2008.

The theme for the CA state meeting is fairy tales. It ought to be a blast. Here’s hoping the sand castle cookies I have planned work out better than the (chocolate) flying monkeys I made for the Wizard of Oz meeting I attended in Monterey last year. I’ll put up pics and recipes the end of this month.