the medieval faire in washington heights

 i hadn't heard any thoughts from m and c about going to the medieval faire at the cloisters this year so i figured we weren't going . . and then at midnight on saturday morgana comes in after visiting with her friend and asks a sleeping me if i can wake her at 8:30 am to go to the afore mentioned festival . .

?!

alright, this would all be very fine if they just woke at 8:30 am and got dressed in normal clothes, had an egg or a piece of toast and go off . . but no . . on sunday morning the living room is suddenly filled with plastic bags of old costumes that haven't been washed in two years and the two of them are trying to decide what looks best to wear . . so this year takes the cake for last minute medieval faire costume decisions and for the latest we ever got out: 10:37 am. the late morning hour made it a bit difficult finding a parking spot, but find a spot i eventually did and i happily strolled about lovely washington heights, taking pictures and visiting one of my favorite coffee shops (cafe buunni).

 hudson view gardens . . one of my favorite apartment complexes. it was designed in 1923 by architect george f. pelham. the buildings have beautiful casement windows and imported holland brick. 

 only forty percent of the lot is used for the buildings; the rest is comprised of gardens and lawns.

 they must have a good gardening committee.

 japanese windflower, or "honorine jobert" anemone.

 behind the benches is a small and quaint playground.

 i startled a fellow garden lover! she or he was happily dozing in the sunshine when i walked by and did not look pleased at being disturbed.

i finally reached fort tryon park and looked northeast out over the city towards inwood and the bronx.

the day had started out grey and cold, but everything warmed up when the sun came out from behind the clouds.

 finally met up with the girls to watch some scottish highland dancing at the pageant wagon . . 

at the dungeon gates?

maybe!

 abelard and heloise?

vince conaway, hammered dulcimer player extraordinare . . he played a piece written by vincenzo galilei, father of galileo, who lived during the late renaissance and helped usher in the baroque era.

 on the way home we walked back through the hudson view gardens and i was excited to see a sweet chestnut tree. usually we only find the european horse chestnut or conker tree. i suppose this is the european sweet chestnut, castanea sativa, as the american sweet chestnut, castanea dentata,  succumbed to a fungal blight in the early 1900's. 

 five to eight inch long leaves!

 the bark of the european chestnut tree normally has deep fissures in a spiral . . maybe this is an american chestnut after all.  the american chestnut foundation has a lot of information about trying to restore these trees (they grow to a certain height and then succumb to the fungus) and discuss how to identify a true dentata by the points on its leaves. my picture isn't clear enough for this id (the teeth on the edge of the leaves curve inward and the stem has a reddish tint).

anyway . . it definitely is some kind of sweet chestnut which is nice to see.

 heading to the car but sad that the day is over . . 

 at home morgana made a delicious dinner of tzatziki with cucumber and hummus on pita bread. chanda made an arugula salad.

 this time korrina was at work.

we also had dessert this evening! morgana made toasted walnuts in maple syrup and butter. it tasted as good as it smelled.

medieval faire and michaelmas

we celebrated the medieval faire today, but missed out on our michaelmas cake as our oven is still broken.

 however, we did get to see a few dragons!

i drove uptown in the car with morgana and chanda along with their friends camille and yves, and their cousin alyssa.

checking out the . . swords and daggers!

camille's costume is from the metropolitan opera! i can't remember how they managed to get that one. the dress alyssa is wearing is a dress camille made for the faire a few years ago.

i think the music at the faire is always what i enjoy most. these days, for morgana and chanda, i think it's the jousting. it was always that for korrina too. she used to stage sword fights with friends, which you can see here.

a parade of medieval people . .


it's the bagpipes that got my attention . .

one of the cloister turrets . .

21st century lighting and 13th century style flags . .

fort tryon park has spectacular views of the hudson river and the new jersey palisades . .

at the pageant wagon . .

two sweet butterflies listening to medieval music . .

14th century damsels with lutes . . 

21st century knights!

 . . horses of any century? would these horses have been found in europe in the middle ages? thoroughbred, quarter horse, draft horse, morgan? draft horses and thoroughbreds were from the 16th and 17th centuries i think . . you can read about medieval horses here.

i couldn't resist a trip to one of my favorite cafes . . cafe buunni . . i sat outside on the bench and talked to a few residents. the woman who owned the restaurant next door had her two children handing out flyers . . two people tied their dogs up on the bench next to me . . both dogs were very friendly and struck up conversations with passersby. well, i suppose it was more that the passersby stopped and after saying a few words to the dogs, ended up talking to the dogs' owners . .

it was just a pleasant and warm afternoon. i walked through one of my favorite apartment complexes: the hudson view gardens on pinehurst avenue. it's a complex of tudor buildings with their own garden and children's playground. it's very quaint.

i sat in the garden and knitted for a little while before heading back into the park. janet was there with her parents, sisters, brother and children . . she has everyone visiting her as they are leaving tomorrow for a special family cruise to the bahamas. should be fun! morgana, chanda and i wished them bon voyage and happy trails and drove to a nutcracker rehearsal.

the medieval faire at fort tryon park

 today was the medieval festival at fort tryon park, up by the cloisters.

our friend camille came with us. i thought the three of them looked wonderful in their costumes. of course, there are STILL little details to be completed on them, but you or i wouldn't have known that. actually, each of them have a least one section of their costume that is held together by safety pins, though camille's is definitely the more completed of the three (the cloak is so rich in color, and the print of the dress is beautiful).

we drove up in the car and were lucky to find a parking spot right on cabrini blvd. while they started into the park, i wandered around the neighborhood and found a new organic coffee shop, and a beautiful apartment complex called "hudson view village" with a private drive that had a secret garden and playground (!). it was a very pretty walk, after which i met morgana and drove her to a nutcracker rehearsal on the east side. and then i drove back again to the faire!

 one of my favorite faire events are the different musicians one sees while traipsing about.

i've seen this couple here in prior years. they're very nice and chanda and i like how he plays the violin without a chin rest. very authentic and medieval! do you see the harp on her back?

korrina was home and made tandoori chicken for us from the around the world cookbook. it was sooooo good!! we were sooooo hungry! there were turkey legs at the faire for $9.00. we did not succumb, even though our cheese sandwiches hadn't sufficed. (morgana made the beans and cucumber raiita while i walked the dog, put in a load of laundry and fed the animals . . !)

it was so delicious that even korrina had to take a picture.

----

now i'm getting ready to go to montauk tomorrow. i'll help my mom and dad get settled back into their house after it had been rented for two months, and i'll take my dad to the doctor tuesday, and come home wednesday.

just a few more detailed pictures of the costumes:

note morgana's bag. it was made by her friend tessa to match the cloak, but it was made before the cloak material was even bought. morgana has been planning this cloak for a year now, and her friend gave her the bag in may.

chanda borrowed korrina's leather bag and belt, and tied on her tin mug from sturbridge. the costume is a copy of the costume the character lucy wears in the narnia movie prince caspian.

taking pictures before we left for the day.

it always amazes me how the costumes finally come together. believe me, the whole process is not without it's drama. (chanda tore her bodice fifteen minutes before we were supposed to leave and morgana had to wave her magic wand).