The Bellambi Clan Grows

It has been my pleasure for some time now to have as good friends, Lord and Lady Primbroke. While they have their own titles and are already part of the Court of Carntaigh, they do me great honor by joining my Clan. I bring them in, not with new titles for they are not necessary, but as my friends.

Mo Charaid

Lord Edward Pearse, Earl of Primbroke and Lady Christine McAllister-Pearse, Countess of Primbroke with Her Grace, Eva Bellambi, Duchess Loch Avie

I am also pleased to give you your first glance at my gift to Clan Bellambi. Fine kilts and skirts in my family tartan, along with brooches and sashes commissioned by me and designed by Lord Primbroke .

Brilliant work!

The designer and his pleased customer.

Such a bustle!

Lord Primbroke is very attentive to the level of detail and craftsmanship that is required for such a commission. He nearly always exceeds my expectations. As an example, the Chieftainess Brooch texture is much different from the others including my motto and the 3 feathers of the clan chief, and is worn appropriately on the right shoulder.

Mo Charaid, I am most thankful.

Those of my clan who are able to attend the Highland Fling and Cielidh have been requested to wear this as a sign of our fealty to one another at this gathering.

***

Lord Primbroke's clothing stores may be found in Caledon Victoria City, Steelhead, and New Babbage

Caledon Lancers, Loch Avie's Own

Assembled in Port Caledon
(Thanks to Lord Primbroke for use of this photograph.)

It was with great pride that I rode with the Caledon Lancers on Monday, September 10th, through the sims of the Independent State. The troops had not yet been reviewed by me, nor had they yet paraded past the citizens of our fair land until last night.

Colonel Somme and his second in command, Lt Colonel O'Toole chose the route with great care, yet despite the best planning the lag was a difficult obstacle to overcome. But overcome they did! Pride and perseverance moved them onward. There were nice crowds all along the way from Port Caledon to Loch Avie. The Lancers received the cheers and best wishes from all they passed.

The Lancers are:
Colonel Exrex Somme
Lt. Colonel Hotspur O'Toole
Trooper Telemachus Dean
Trooper Edward Pearse
Trooper Diamanda Gustafson

I should like to have a few more pictures from this grand parade. Alas the temperament of SL did not permit such, for I was terribly out of uniform after my first crash of the evening. Let us say that the sponsor of the Lancers does NOT wear a sleeveless uniform jacket, nor does she permit her photograph to be taken with only part of her updo on her head.

However, once we were in Loch Avie and the cheers of the assembled masses died down, I was able to slip over to the distillery to compose myself.

Colonel Somme calls the troopers to attention.

Review and thanks by Loch Avie

Upon my return, the Lancers were called to attention in formation by Colonel Exrex Somme. Riding the ranks, I felt my heart swell with pride for this elite group of horsemen and women, who would - and often have - given their all for Caledon and Loch Avie.

(photo credit: Lord Primbroke)

At the end of the formal segment of the evening's festivities, we retired to the pub, where I served the first round of Uisge Beatha to all present. Many toasts later, the group settled into many discussions, jokes, and dancing. We even gained a new volunteer or two.

The (tasty?) little beastie.

Trooper Pearse (aka Lord Primbroke) even dared to show us the wild haggis he had captured that very day. He and I have been discussing the re-haggification of the Loch. I suspect we will need to ask Lady Kate of the Royal Society and my House, to provide an animal specialist to assist in this endeavor. They MUST have someone knowledgeable in the needs and ways of the wild haggis. (Poor little dear must have been scared half out of his wits as many of us discussed the finer points of cooking a haggis and particular haggis ingredients.)

At any rate - and despite, or perhaps because of - our silliness, I am honored to be the patron of the Caledon Lancers.

Huzzah!

The Harvest Festival of Steelhead and Caledon

September 9 - 15.

Multiple events in multiple sims!

It was not so long ago that Lady Primbroke contacted my cousin, Duchess Carntaigh, and me to inquire whether we might be interested in hearing her idea for a fall event series. Knowing Christine as we do, Gabrielle and I immediately said that we would love to hear her thoughts. That evening, I set out a bottle of my best Perrier Jouët Grand Brut, and some Uisge Beatha Reserve for us as we enjoyed the evening, each others' company, and began to brainstorm about the festival.

We were shortly joined by Sheriff Fuzzball Ortega and Lord Primbroke.

Sitting on the deck of the pub planning the festival.

As the Festival developed in our minds, we new that we wanted both Steelhead and Caledon to be involved. We also new that we wanted as many of the Caledon sims as possible to host the events - little did we know just how many sims would actually be on the grid by the time the festival would take place. Des has certainly gone full steam ahead. We also had a strong desire to involve as many of the citizens of Caledon and Steelhead as possible. By the end of the evening we had quite a list of suggestions for activities as well as a plan for getting more thoughts from others throughout both lands. We also decided which of us would contact the Imperial Navy, the Early Birds, the Librarians, the management of Steelhead, and so on.

Now it is my pleasure to present calendar for your review. I hope you will plan to attend and participate in many of these excellent events.

Thanks to all the volunteers and citizens who have made this all possible!

Steelhead & Caledon Harvest Festival Events

* All Week *

• Harvest Festival Art Fair - Caledon Tamrannoch, Gallery Tamrannoch – Caledon-on-Sea, Sea Song Gallery

• Steelhead Art Walk: located in Taiyou House

• Pumpkin treasure hunt : Look for pumpkins containing treasures around Steelhead.

• Corn maze: next to the Steelhead Town Hall

• Scarecrow Building Competition, Entries in by Monday and on display throughout the week. Winner to be announced at Friday's dance. See details at the bottom.

* Sunday, September 9 *

• 9:00am – 6:00pm SLT - Tree Felling - Caledon Murdann. Trees (suitable for transplanting) may be felled by buying for L$0. Limit of two trees each, please. The Murdann Thorn tree grows nowhere else.

• 2:00pm SLT – Niko Donburi Concert – SL’s “Weird Al” - Caledon Tamrannoch, Gallery Tamrannoch

• 3:00pm SLT Horse race around Steelhead. Starts at 3 pm SLT, meet at west end of Town Square. Horse and rider combination only.

• 6:00 pm SLT Edward Lowell performs Live Music at Kokopelli Stage: Steelhead
  

* Monday, September 10 *

• 2:00 - 4:00 pm SLT Harvest Festival Tea: Steelhead City Gardens

• 6:00pm SLT - Scarecrow Building Contest Submission Deadline - Steelhead See rules at the bottom of this post.
  

• 7:00pm SLT - Loch Avie Lancers Parade and Review - Caledon. The parade route will wind through several of the Caledon sims, ending on Loch Avie, where the public may mingle with the Lancers and their Patron, Her Grace Eva Bellambi, Duchess Loch Avie upon conclusion of the review.
  

• 7:00pm SLT – Kelvinblue Oh Concert, Blues - Caledon Tamrannoch, Gallery Tamrannoch

* Tuesday, September 11 *

• All day - Treasure Hunt - Caledon Cay

• 6:00pm SLT - Story Telling at the Anvil - Caledon Tamrannoch

• 8:00pm SLT - Opening of the Caledon Races by Otenth Paderborn, Duke of Murdann & Caledon Sail & Steam Society. Caledon Murdann
  

• 8:30pm SLT - Tako Races, Firth of Caledon (from Caledon Murdann to Caledon Sound and back)
  

• 9:30pm SLT - Steamboat 3 Lap Races 'Caledon Cup'
  

* Wednesday, September 12 *

• 12:00pm SLT Naval Battles, Caledon Sound

• 7:00pm SLT - Butterfly Hunt (Jewelry Hunt) - Caledon Loch Avie

• 7:00pm SLT - Tako Races, Firth of Caledon (from Caledon Murdann to Caledon Sound and back)
  

• 8:00pm SLT -Steamboat 3 Lap Races 'Caledon Cup'
  

• 9:00pm SLT - Naval Battles, Caledon Sound
  

* Thursday, September 13 *

• 7:00pm – 9:00pm SLT - SeptemberFest Dance, music by Radio Riel, Gabrielle Riel - Caledon SteamSky City

* Friday, September 14 *

• 6:00pm - 7:00pm SLT Kissing Booth: come get in a liplock with the Fair Maidens and Dashing men of Steelhead. All proceeds go to Steelhead.

• Steelhead Dance 7-9 pm SLT, Kokopelli Stage. Wizard of Oz theme. DJ Fuzzball Ortega rocks the House. Steelhead
  

* Saturday, September 15 *

• 6:00AM – 8:00 AM SLT - Buggy Race - Caledon Murdann. The races will take place on an elevated track. A teleporter to the track will be on the dock. Any model of buggy, carriage, or wagon welcome.

• All Day - Highland Fling - Caledon Loch Avie

• Trebuchets available to fling your friends into the next sim.
• Loch Avie Academy of Arms practice green and free weapons open to all.
  
• Celtic Music playing all day

• 1:00pm - 2:00pm SLT - Caber Toss Contest. Join Professor Avalanche near the Loch Avie Public House and test your skills with the caber as you drink Uisge Beatha and enjoy the company of your friends.

• 5:00pm - 6:30pm SLT - The Loch Avie Academy of Arms invites you to the first Academy Arms Tournament. Eight contestants will vie for championship of the Harvest Festival Academy Arms Tournament. ALL are welcome to watch the warriors in the sand as the clashing steel of axes and Claymores rings through the air. The event will take place high over the Loch in the new Academy Arena. Sir Telemachus Dean will be referee of the event, and is accepting applications for entry into the contest. Please IM him with your interest. (Should there be more entries than we have time to host during this tournament, we will plan another tournament for the following week to accommodate the numbers.)
  

• 7:00pm – 10:30pm SLT - Ceilidh - Caledon Loch Avie. The formal ending of the Harvest Festival will be on Loch Avie with Celtic Music of all kinds provided by Lord Primbroke. Come join the musical celebration. Dance. Sing. Enjoy!
  

About our Events:

Scarecrow building contest:

RULES:

1. Must be your own design
2. 30 prim or less
3. No mega prims allowed
4. PG rating for idea

If you'd like to participate, please give a no mod/no copy scarecrow to Christine McAllister by Monday, September 10th. Scarecrows will be displayed in Steelhead and you can vote for your favorite scarecrow! Winner to be announced at the dance on Friday.

Pumpkin hunt:
Look for pumpkins containing treasures around Steelhead, ongoing all week.

Butterfly hunt:
The Loch will be filled with Butterflies by Random Calliope from 7pm SLT until they are all captured. More information about Mr. Calliope's work may be found here



More information including Landmarks may be found at every Caledon telehub, and in Steelhead locations as well.

See you all next week!!

Poetry Selections from the Library of The Red Rose

I was given a lovely gift the other day from a dear friend of mine: a reading from William B. Yeats. It was merely a small quotation from a poem that mentioned a rose. But the sentiment was lovely and the selection so beautiful, that I went to my library and pulled down the leather bound first edition of poems by Mr. Yeats and began to thumb through the delicate pages.

This morning as I opened the curtains in my suite, the beauty of the day inspired me to dress and stroll down to the deck of the Loch Avie Public House for my coffee and parritch. I carried the small book along with me to read as I sat in the sunshine sipping the Turkish coffee. The notebook, which was also with me would have to wait. The final touches for the Harvest Festival and the Highland Fling could delayed a few minutes longer.





Three of my favorite poems from that collection are presented here for your pleasure.

The Song of Wandering Aengus

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

The Secret Rose

Far-off, most secret, and inviolate Rose,
Enfold me in my hour of hours; where those
Who sought thee in the Holy Sepulchre,
Or in the wine-vat, dwell beyond the stir
And tumult of defeated dreams; and deep
Among pale eyelids, heavy with the sleep
Men have named beauty. Thy great leaves enfold
The ancient beards, the helms of ruby and gold
Of the crowned Magi; and the king whose eyes
Saw the Pierced Hands and Rood of elder rise
In Druid vapour and make the torches dim;
Till vain frenzy woke and he died; and him
Who met Fand walking among flaming dew
By a grey shore where the wind never blew,
And lost the world and Emer for a kiss;
And him who drove the gods out of their liss,
And till a hundred morns had flowered red
Feasted, and wept the barrows of his dead;
And the proud dreaming king who flung the crown
And sorrow away, and calling bard and clown
Dwelt among wine-stained wanderers in deep woods;
And him who sold tillage, and house, and goods,
And sought through lands and islands numberless years,
Until he found, with laughter and with tears,
A woman of so shining loveliness
That men threshed corn at midnight by a tress,
A little stolen tress. I, too, await
The hour of thy great wind of love and hate.
When shall the stars be blown about the sky,
Like the sparks blown out of a smithy, and die?
Surely thine hour has come, thy great wind blows,
Far-off, most secret, and inviolate Rose?

Thank you, my friend, and thank you Mr. Yeats. Now I am ready to begin my day.

On Second Thought - Tis a Silly Place

You know it is a good night, when at the end of a long, hot Gen X Rave at Carntaigh, you receive an IM that says Desmond Shang would like you to join him in an undisclosed location for a discussion. Now mind you that in and of itself is generally pretty cool, but the real fun begins when you realize that you have arrived to find that you are there with the Viceriene, Kamilah Hauptmann, and Sir Hotspur O'Toole.

Much funny ensues....along with the serious.

And then at the end of it all, Desmond hops up on stage and begins doing the Can Can.




Well that simply cannot go unanswered! The three of us then climb up on stage and perform the synchonized Caledon Can Can.

"Like this, Des?" Kamilah and I rehearse for a few moments before my costume change.

"5, 6, 7, 8....." calls the choreographer.

"Oh yes you can Can Can!"

Brilliant! This IS a silly place. And I love it!

Journey to....Mysterious Island: Cream of Duchess Soup?!?

Well now! What a revolting development this is! Sitting in a very large iron cooking pot with Gabrielle. Beady-eyed natives staring at us and licking their chops. Mind you, we have been in hot water together before with people staring at us and licking their lips, but not with this particular look in their eyes. Good Lord! What now??

Thankfully the water was not yet boiling, nevertheless, my head was pounding and spinning. Gabrielle seemed to have fainted dead away. My hands were bound and I could not check her pulse or look for obvious injuries, but I could see the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, her head laid back over the edge of the cauldron.

Shaking my head in an effort to clear it and remember how we got here, I suddenly had the strangest sense of deja vu. Wait! I felt this way earlier in the day, too. What in the world happened?

*cue the cheesy dream music. No. NO! Not the penguin NIGHTMARE music! Just put on the "hey, I'm having a flashback moment music" would you?*

Oh yes! Now I remember.

I was standing on the beach watching Lady Darkling as she struggled to "help" one of the sailors. Previously I been resting in the sun, but quickly changed into some adventure gear as the day progressed. I witnessed Dr. Sputnik and Miss Lightfoot as they circled around Darkling repeating the same Latin phrase in excited tones. It was not anything to do with the dying man laying under Lady Darkling....something about a... giant bunny.

Odd.

Suddenly I noticed the very large imprint in the sand. I ran to my little hut on the beach, grabbed my sketchbook, and began to make some notes for the Royal Society. Professors Krogstad and Nicholas would need to have a look at this. Dr. Sputnik was good enough to take the measurements; I jotted them down on the drawing as he shouted them out.

Then I heard my cousin calling for me:
"Eva? I have some important Duchy business that I would like to discuss with you!"

Bless her, she had brought the Dom Perignon out for our discussion.

Yes. Now I remember.....

We dashed-off into the foresty-jungley area surrounding Phillip trying to follow Gnarlihotep. My eyes were blurry, I admit it. But the figure standing in the bushes just did not look like Gnarli - even from this distance. Who on earth could it be?


"Gabrielle? Can you tell who that is? Could it be....a SAVAGE!?!"


Suddenly this feeling was upon me for the first time today....a flicker of a memory...

As the gentleman laid his coconut shell scooter to the side, I heard Gabrielle exclaim, "...A fine specimen of a savage too. Quite…well grown. Look, his name tag says 'Hi, my name is Templeton'. How friendly!"

Even as I suggested that the only way to secure our freedom might be a Duchess Sandwich, I was still attempting to make sense of what my mind was trying to tell me.

"You know this savage from somewhere other than here. You have dealt with him before."


Mentioning something about the Liberace Deli - "Is that in the Bronx?" I wondered - his voice trickled down to a low pitched "woof" as Gabi and I stripped down to our corsets.

The effects of the Duchess Sandwich soon became obviously known, and I thought that we were going to win the freedom of Gnarlihotep, if he had in fact been captured by this man and his tribe. His tribe? Yes. I could sense the eyes hiding behind the bushes and trees. They were out there. He kept calling for things from the Liberace Deli. Mustard. Mayo. Large dill pickles. Boiling water. Double-sized pot. Really. I did not think this was the time to bring the ceremonial herb out, but.....

Wait!

Suddenly it dawned on me! I know this savage. I met him years before. Where? When?

I was on assignment with the Royal Society in Lauk....yes...in Lauk. I had been sent there as a novice scientist/explorer along with Professor Krogstad because of my adventuresome streak and my interest in other cultures. I was to study the yet undocumented nutritional habits of the Itchysporkchowchow tribe.

Having come into Lauk with high ambitions and lot and lots of tchotchkes to give as gifts to the tribal elders, we were fairly successful in our quest initially. They allowed us to study them from just outside the village seeming to enjoy the opportunity to have their pictures sketched for publication; even allowing the odd photograph to be taken with Professor Krogstad's new-fangled camera.

I suppose in my youth and inexperience I became too bold. I went into the village a number of times on my own, feeling completely safe in the presence of the young members of the Itchysporkchowchow tribe. The last time I ventured in...this man...this Templeton captured me. He bound my feet and hands and tossed me into a cook pot. This man!! I was lucky to get away that time....but that is another story.

What is he doing here on a mysterious island just off the coast of Caledon?

At the moment of this realization, I heard more than felt Gabrielle fall against Templeton's back. This pushed him into me. Gabi fell softly to the sand beneath our feet. She seemed OK. Just a little green about the gills.

Now what would I do? I confess my anger was barely held in check. I turned around to face Templeton and made some comment about an open-faced sandwich as I tried to keep him...erm...engaged needing to plot my escape and how to get Gabi out along with me.

I let my hand slide down my thigh and felt the comforting steel of the dirk held in place by my garter. Sir Telemachus and Sir Hotspur had advised that I should keep weapons by my side at all times. My father would have agreed, and this was the dirk he had given me so long ago before sending me on my way for Intelligence Service training. Bless him. But since none of them were around to keep me safe and out of trouble now, I would need to act quickly if Gabi and I were to get away. I hoped that my MI-5 training, and all the recent weapons work in the Loch would serve me well.

"Well you wanted adventure, Duchess." I could hear Lady Kate saying.

As Templeton was occupied with the rest of me, I slid my hand under the lace corset skirt. Rapidly pulling the dirk out of my garter, I tried to simply injure the man enough to get away. We would need to question him about his involvement in the appearance of the volcano. I struck him once on his thigh near his groin. He yelled out in pain, drawing several of the tribe from the bushes. Grabbing my wrist, he tried to make me drop the knife. I held fast and wriggled my way around to his back. He still had my wrist, but I was able to find the fleshy, exposed arse (never wear assless chaps in the jungle...good lord, who is this man's fashion consultant?). I lunged at it repeatedly. One hit. Two. Three. Four. Finally the wretched man released me as he grabbed his bum in pain.

Yelling Gabrielle's name and shaking her did nothing to rouse her. My poor Gabrielle. We had to get away. As I was bending to lift her, I was grabbed from behind. This time by several rather smelly men in matching bowling shirts. My dirk was now knocked from my hand, and despite my efforts to free myself - I did get several swift kicks to hit "home" on a few of the lads - there were too many. They had me. That wretch Templeton, yelled something about teaching me to sign my name to the check before dinner is over, and then hit me over the head with his coconut shell scooter.

Searing pain.

Then darkness.

Now here I sit in this pot of water. God! I hope some of the others miss us soon.

What did Templeton mean? Sign the check? Hmmm.

Eugenia Burton is Tartan For A Day

As has been reported elsewhere, after the formal portion of my ball to celebrate Taigh Ròis, we transitioned to a traditional Caledonian rave. That night, though, we also completed what I believe was the last outstanding Relay for Life event. Miss Eugenia Burton had bid for the opportunity to join Little Eva and the Tartans for one night as we donned the tartan of our State and danced the night away at one of the last RFL auctions of the season.

As the music blared and the Tartans and I gathered....getting our choreography worked out, Miss Burton arrived.



It was Miss Burton, wasn't it? Well that is what her HUD said, but she had changed form for the occasion. Suddenly she was Mr. JJ Drinkwater's evil twin.....but suspiciously she did not have the required goatee that evil twins must have.

At any rate we all had a grand time.

Little Eva and the Tartans work the floor

We'll see you again soon at a rave near you.