Halloween 2018: England

I was so fortunate to get some photos of tonight's full moon! It looked like it was going to be too overcast out there to get a shot of it.

I was all prepared to show a pic I took of the nearly full moon last night. But tonight's moon popped out for maybe 30 seconds tops, and then went back under a cloud. I was lucky to have my camera ready.

Going...

Gone!

I took those photos in succession. Click, click, click. So that shows how fast the moon was being covered!

July's full moon is called the "Thunder Moon". If you're wondering, this moon got its name because there are more frequent thunderstorms in July than in other months. For those who'd like to get into the nitty gritty of what else is going on in the sky alongside that moon, space.com has an informative page: July Full Moon 2017: When to See the 'Thunder Moon'

Because I didn't think I was going to get a photo of the moon tonight, I took a number of photos of the neighborhood. That way, I thought I'd have something to share. I'll still include two of my favorites here. I love the look of this yard at night. It's like a happy little campground or festival with those lights. And the silhouette of the fence and trees frames the light so perfectly. There's something so old fashioned about it.

So, onto those ghost stories! I discovered a few new ghost shows on YouTube recently. New to me, anyway. I think they'd been filmed sometime back. I was searching on there for "haunted pubs" because sometimes I'm in the mood for British ghost shows. First I found this one:

Most haunted pubs & Inns in Britain With Richard Felix

It just occurred to me that this is the same Richard Felix who is on the Most Haunted TV series.

After watching that show, I read a conversation in the comment section where people were talking about a man named Chris Halton who made similar videos. So I looked him up and enjoyed this episode of his show very much. Here it is:

England's Most Haunted Villages: A Day and Night Investigation of Pluckley, Kent

For those who get my blog posts in email form, I know the videos don't come through. So here are some links to them:

Most haunted pubs & Inns Britain With Richard Felix

England's Most Haunted Villages: A Day and Night Investigation of Pluckley, Kent

These are like "ghost show comfort food", because you're not going to get scared. It's more like someone is giving you a tour around town, teaching you history, and sharing a few local stories. There are some interviews too. It's pleasant ghost show viewing. It's dare I say, relaxing viewing. So enjoy these ghost stories. It's a perfect night to watch them with that full moon out there!

It's that time of year again! Time to share photos from our annual trip to The Bristol Renaissance Faire! We had great weather this time, so we stayed a long time and got many photos.

Another Mud Show promoter. The Mud Show is what it sounds like - guys wrestling around in the mud. There's a comic element too.

This band was playing some cool, gypsy type music.

This girl was doing some cool hula hoop tricks during the concert.

Some witches and a viking take in the show.

I love this sign:

A man of many cups.

David and his grapes..

The Robin Hood family. Another Robin Hood met them a minute later, but I preferred this picture.

A wizard!

This girl always poses nicely for a photo each year.

Two well dressed gentlemen:

The Bristol Ren Faire has a really nice setting with plenty of trees. There are a series of shops, each with its own painted sign out front. Some of the signs are pretty creative.

This is a really pretty carved woman, like the kind that would be on a ship. It was on a restaurant facade that looked like an old ship.

Here I am in front of a little fairytale cottage. If you look closely at the window, you'll an eye looking back at you. I didn't notice that until seeing the photo on my computer.

There was an entire fairy village complete with live flowers and mini trees. It was so cute. If you look in the background, you'll see that a fairy happened to be walking into my picture.

A Samurai and a Roman soldier?

My mom sitting in front of one of the kids' rides. The ride has little boats that move like swings.

Catapulting Frogs!

One of the Ren Faire highlights is the tempura!

Mmmm...

We caught a little of the first joust. This is the nonviolent one where they do different tricks, like catching that little thing on a pole.

I seem to get a photo of this guy every year. His leather shop has all kinds of cool accessories like those claws. If you look to the left, you'll see a hand reaching out in some.

These two cracked me up. OK, I know he's Dr. Who, but who is she? Is she The Third Doctor? That's the best I can figure with her frilly shirt, bow tie, and hair.

This lady has been a staple at the fair since I can remember. She's a real character. I think she was giving tea time etiquette to a bunch of little girls when I took this picture.

Another character I remember seeing every year is this giant nose puppeteer. The man standing next to him and his "puppet" reminded my mom of Gepetto.

He was one of my favorite characters at the faire.

We visited the regal area of the faire where the woman who represents Queen Elizabeth has sort of a meet and greet with her court. Here you'll see the people who work for the Ren Faire in all their finery.

This is the woman who has played the Queen for the past several years. We've had three different Queens that I can remember.

I liked this picture. Her profile reminds me of an old Renaissance painting.

This is probably my favorite photo from this year. There is such character in his eyes.

She has also been a part of the Queen's court as long as I can remember.

As I recall, this man was presenting the Queen with an ink map he made of the faire grounds.

A sassy pirate wench:

She was with this guy, who bares a resemblance to John Malkovich. I'm comparing their faces now, and wow. I like that hint of an eye behind him. The man behind him was a viking who showed up in a few of my photos.

I'm not sure who this character is. She reminds me of a gnome.

This guy is a dragon, who happens to be wearing athletic shoes and carrying an energy drink. I think those are pajamas...

We saw this guy while waiting for the "Joust to the Death". His hat was super tall and covered in nails. There were nails spiking right out of the top of it.

Time for the Joust to the Death! The woman who introduced the knights was plenty dramatic.

One of their horses:

Each section of the audience is assigned a knight to cheer for. We got the Sicilian knight.

In his helmet:

Another one of the knights:

The Joust to the Death is different because a lot of fake blood is spilled. Knights were dying left and right. I didn't even notice our guy die, but I guess he did. There was a lot going on. As you can tell from the picture below, the audience gets really into it! There were all kinds of insane things being yelled around us.

One of my favorite parts of the day was seeing all the fairies. These ladies glide gracefully around the wooded area like they're in their own little world. I have a feeling that some of them are trained dancers in their regular lives.

This fairy was new to me. I just noticed the little horns on her head. Maybe she's a dragon fairy?

I think of this one as the fire fairy.

There's that viking again!

A pretty fairy up a tree. She had the attention of many kids below.

I've seen this fairy before. Well, maybe she's more of a forest critter. I'm not sure. She darts around, so I was glad to get some clear pictures of her.

Another woodland creature. Maybe a moss fairy?

I loved this costume! I think this is The Queen of Hearts. Look at the tiny legs on the side of the horse. Those look like some tricky stilts to handle. The horse was adorable and blinked.

There is a parade at the end of the day for the Queen and her court.

A royal Beefeater:

There is also a drum circle.

Usually, some of the more unique costumes appear during this time.

Another wizard!

I'm thinking this is Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. I don't watch the show, so I'm giving myself some points for knowing that! I see tons of pictures of her online.