http://goldcoastfestivals.com/vistapirate/vistapiratefestpg1.html

I am so excited to see Gold Coast adding the Pirate Faire to our neck of the woods and I hope it is a huge success! We've been waiting nearly two years for it to come together and i am really excited! I've been to the Civil War event at the site and it was awesome! I can't wait to see how they use the expansive space of Guajome Park for this faire!

Black Spot will be there, but we'll be missing our captain as she is a retail slave this time of year!

Captain you say? Yes, despite the fact that we planned our group around not having a captain, fall ESCO faire sort of put a kink in that plan... but in the process we had a great time with all the role playing with the court!

You see, it was like this...

We finally decided it was time to have the queen visit our encampment and we planned out all these things we could do to interact with her and her court...knowing full well we'd not get through half of them!*chuckles* However, the last thing we planned on was the way things unfolded.

If you know our group, and I believe I have mentioned it here, our morning "gig" is the drawing of the straws to see which unlucky soul will have to be Captain O'Day. As fate would have it, the day of the queen's visit it was the tavern mistress, Regina Wentworth (my hubby's cousin Jacquie). When the queen arrived, Regina was re-introduced to her as Captain Regina O'Day...and the queen decided that she liked the idea of a woman captain and that Regina should be our captain for a year! Our first thought was... there goes that gig! *laughs* our second was... Ohhhh Noooo! Not Regina! Not for a year!We even tried to get out of it by telling her magesty we had no ship and were land bound pirates! Her answer was to have Sir Walter give us one of the three ships he had been given the previous day... the good ship Dorothy! She also ordered us to set sail for the new world and bring her back Tabac.

We had a blast teasing Regina all day that day and then we all headed to the Privy Council the next day as ordered. We had the men dressed in aprons and serving the ladies of the crew... we even brought our own table and chairs... and the next thing we knew we were on the spot... or rather Regina was and having to defend her right to be captain and prove her ability to control our outspoken crew!

We left the Privy council with Captain Mistress Regina Chastised O'Day and with the grudging approval of the court that we go forth as ordered with Lord Leicester's finacial support to the new world and to prove a female captain could succeed. We were told we must bring back letters from at least one captain showing his supprt of Regina.

The week between faires we were busy and having a blast coming up with a plan. We had high ho[pes to make the year go by in the span of a week and returned to visit the queen with several props and ideas... and as always, only got to a few of them!

We arrived at the royal camp with bags of Tabac for the queen, a rather heavy box of treasure for Lord
Leicester, letters from several Captain's including Captain Morgan, Caveman, Planet, Sparrow, etc... which the queen made Leicester read. We never even got to our play on the name of the ship being the Dorothy, but the lolly pops from the lolly pop guild were tasty! By the time we had divested all our weapons and the queen thinking we might need time filler (not the Black Spot!) had us all re-introduce ourselves... and we had listened to Lord Leicester read the letters it was time for the queen to go to the battle and so we were asked to esscort her there... which left Regina our Captain until  spring faire!

I can't wait to continue the story and see if we can get through all we have planned and to see what new twists her magesty will add to our plan!

What a great faire this was and wow did we have fun!

I seem to only post when it's faire time and forget all about posting in between times too! Granted it has been a rough year and I am only just geting my mind on all things faire!

Beware the Black Spot... All those that bear it seem to have had something dire happen this year!

I'm only just recovering from cancer surgery. They got it all this time around and there will be no lymph removal, radiation or chemo for me! It gives me a lot to be thankful for I can assure you! It's been 6 weeks and I am still healing, which makes geting ready for faire all that much harder. Add to the fact that my husband sees a surgeon the day before Esco set up to schedule his hernia repair... and we just lost his Grandfather last month. We're not the only ones dealing with stuff in the spot though! We have 2 others who have had or are having surgery, another relative who passed, and several health issues and injuries.

I look back at my post at New Years and have to chuckle...

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I have instead of resolutions, my 2008 "bucket" list . You know... a list of things I want to do before 2008 kicks the bucket*giggles* Those items as they apply to the Ren Faire world are as follows...

I want to make more road trips to other faires outside San Diego area. Jacquie and I even pre-ordered our tickets for Southern yesterday!OK... so we only made it to Southern this year... and Ragna, Maera and friends went to Oceanside Harbor Days... We'll make it up next year!

I want to make Spring Esco Faire a huge success just like Fall was. Even better by getting a chance to do all the great things we have thought up to do in camp to entertain the crowds.We had a great Faire! There was still a little settling in as we tried new things, but I feel confident it will all come together nicely for Fall!

I want to give more attention to the Black Spot web page and renspace .*just hangs her head in shame*

I'd like to see Black Spot at San Diego Faire as well as Esco.Not my fault! *Laughs* San Diego was postponed this year, but I can't wait for the new faire in Vista in December!

I want to keep the feel of Black Spot going... both at the faires we attend and with our gatherings. I love getting together just because we miss each other and having all the good food and conversation we do... oh and taking care of any business we need to while we're at it! I love getting the calls and emails from the other members saying "I need a pirate fix!!" Wow... We really have nailed this one! We were only missing 3 adult members at our last Gathering, and 2 live in Vegas!

I want to concentrate on the meals at faire I am responsible for and sit back and relax again as the other awesome cooks in the group do their thing. It was such a great feeling last faire to be "taken care of" and fed the yummy spaghetti that the crew made for me! I'm so so glad we have made it so everyone takes on a meal for faire! I'm still not 100%, but I am done with most of my pre-faire shopping already! I'm making 1 breakfast and a dessert, and geting the drinks and supplies for the camp... that's it! I can't wait to try one eye'd Jack's Carribean Shrimp and Secret's best chocolate caramel cake ever!

I want to add to Blaze's costuming with the help of my awesome seamstresses. Thanks to them I have two new chemises, I can't wait to update the rest of my costume! Weeell... I have another new chemise thanks to Maera!*beams* The rest will have to be for next faire.

I want to see us work on bringing music into the Black Spot encampment... we have several talented musicians...I want to see them show off their talents! We'll see if we can get them playing this time around!

I want to spend more time getting to know the Ladies of the Spot better and growing those friendships. Love my Ladies of the Spot! They all took such good care of me whith the Cancer surgery!! Thank you ladies!

I want to road trip to Vegas Faire and take over Mac and Gaston's place for the weekend!! *Whines* OK... so I was recovering still and couldn't go... Next year boys, watch out!

OK, so the list is simple... but it is only the one aspect of my life after all :) Mostly I just want to have fun and for those around me to do so as well... and for us all to be happy and healthy while we do it!" This is the part that made me chuckle! Happy yes, despite the financial climate and health issues... we've all been prett happy. We have had fun in all we do, so it's all good!

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SO... Less than two weeks to faire and I can hardly wait! I love the time with the Spot and geting to see all our faire friends! I can't wait to see Tsurara's(can't spell it but i can finally say it!) new encampment set up as they too go through changes! Tink rocks at puting together a little pavillion! I'm so glad Teddy was able to help since that was the day Lance's grandpa died, so he was gone... and I sure wasn't much help!

See you all at Esco!

Blaze

Wow! I've been so busy concentrating on all things family that suddenly I find myself less than a month from Esco Faire! My bucket list is going well so far! :)

It's been a busy year so far with my oldest starting his second semester of college, my 12 year old making Life Scout in Boy Scouts( next step is Eagle!) and getting ready to help his troop defend their Camporee Championship from last year (Chuck Wagon Stew? Good thing I have friends with antelope and venison meat to spare!*grins*), and keeping up with my youngest as he becomes an avid reader and busy Cub Scout, as well as my aging mother! Eldercare, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, PTA, work.... oh wait! It's already March?? Arrrrghhhhh*Laughs*

Not to worry, I've realized there is very little the crew of the Black Spot needs to do to prepare for this faire!

The seamstresses in the group are busy sewing new togs for half the crew, including our newest addition Gina creating some more piratey attire for her family.

When it comes to cooking I am a lady of leisure this time around! Everyone is taking over a meal and I am only responsible for the drinks, lunch buffet and doing chicken skewers over the fire pit one lunch! Maybe I’ll do some desserts too! I can’t wait to try everyone else’s dishes! They’ve all proven to be such good cooks at our Gatherings that I’m surprised I’ve been able to lose the weight I have! We will have no problems with eating well… that’s for sure!

The encampment tent is set up in my back yard airing out as we speak. Needless to say the rain when we stowed it away made things a bit damp.

Jacquie and I have two weeks off from school and she has the first one off from her night job so we can get things all ship shape and ready to go.

The R and D gang has a new carpenter added to their midst and for this faire really only has the gallows to work on and reinforce.

This will be the group’s faire to really work on the in camp entertainment and characterization. Last faire we reached our goal of getting to know everyone better and becoming a family (boy, oh boy did we!). We all get along so well that I now realize the wisdom in the decision to have gatherings just to have fun and do most of our business in email! I tried to do business at a Gathering and couldn’t get a word in edgewise*chuckles*

We’ve added a few new friends into the mix since fall faire and our “little, new” group is suddenly busting at the seams. We gate-listed nearly 40 people for this faire! Granted we have a lot of kids, but wow! We even had the honor of being asked to do a large private party up north! We had to decline, but it was really nice to be asked!

I can’t wait for faire! I can’t wait to see everyone and to just have fun with the guild and all our friends!

Happy New Year to one and all!

Last year was a year of new beginnings and changes for so many people around me... including myself. It began with the realization that the pirate group we had been with for 6 years was no longer a good fit, with my husband making a huge positive step when it came to his health, with both of us realizing we needed to make some changes in our life and we needed to focus more on our kids and family. Due to the changes we made, including the unexpected birth of Black Spot Pyracy, we are far happier with the coming of this New Year than we were with the last.

No more worrying about the past, we spent a wonderful New Year with all our friends both old and new around us. That was the hardest part of leaving behind the old group, we felt like we were losing the friendships we still had within it. New Years showed me that everything will be ok, and that those friendships can bridge the gap between the old group and the new.

So now we have a wonderful new year to look forward to! What will it hold for us all? I have instead of resolutions, my 2008 "bucket" list . You know... a list of things I want to do before 2008 kicks the bucket*giggles* Those items as they apply to the Ren Faire world are as follows...

 I want to make more road trips to other faires outside San Diego area. Jacquie and I even pre-ordered our tickets for Southern yesterday!

I want to make Spring Esco Faire a huge success just like Fall was. Even better by getting a chance to do all the great things we have thought up to do in camp to entertain the crowds.

I want to give more attention to the Black Spot web page and renspace .

 I'd like to see Black Spot at San Diego Faire as well as Esco.

I want to keep the feel of Black Spot going... both at the faires we attend and with our gatherings. I love getting together just because we miss each other and having all the good food and conversation we do... oh and taking care of any business we need to while we're at it! I love getting the calls and emails from the other members saying "I need a pirate fix!!"

I want to concentrate on the meals at faire I am responsible for and sit back and relax again as the other awesome cooks in the group do their thing. It was such a great feeling last faire to be "taken care of" and fed the yummy spaghetti that the crew made for me!

I want to add to Blaze's costuming with the help of my awesome seamstresses. Thanks to them I have two new chemises, I can't wait to update the rest of my costume!

Hmmm... what else?

I want to see us work on bringing music into the Black Spot encampment... we have several talented musicians...I want to see them show off their talents!

I want to spend more time getting to know the Ladies of the Spot better and growing those friendships 

I want to road trip to Vegas Faire and take over Mac and Gaston's place for the weekend!!

OK, so the list is simple... but it is only the one aspect of my life after all :) Mostly I just want to have fun and for those around me to do so as well... and for us all to be happy and healthy while we do it!

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that things could come together so nicely for the Black Spot's first faire! No, we weren't perfect... we never got to a few of the activities we had hoped to do... we forgot to put out a few things and maybe had too many of other things... but what we did do was to build a group and an encampment where people felt at home.

There were no issues, no drama, we all worked well together and it showed. Because of that, we drew others to us for friendship, for comfort, and for fun. More than once we were approached and asked about joining our little group, more than once we were told how awesome the encampment looked and how great all our members looked, more than once friends came to us for the "feeling" our camp held.

Kids played our games, our own kids proudly taught them how to play, parents and other visitors asked us questions and took pictures inside our encampment. All this is what it is all about for me... this is what we have all worked so hard for for the last 6 months. I didn't think we could possibly be ready in time for this faire... I had really hoped for a bit more time off to gather my life together... but I see now that there was no better place to do so than with the Black Spot.

We are family... it shows in all we do, in how we help one another with no agenda other than the excitement roused by what we have created together. Thank you to the crew and to all the friends new and old who shared the warm comfort of our camp. I cannot wait for Spring!