Wenches, Hiking Some More and Snowcakes.

Today we have a tale of warring Shires and persons of odd dress.

Last night, my group helped to set up for the Medieval Festival and after selling packets of apple cidar mix, chicken seasoning and 50/50 draw tickets we were able to sit down and eat and participate in the night's goings on. It was so much fun! They had a Town Sheriff who told us that people in the medieval times didn't use knives, or clap with their hands. If we were caught clapping we could be put in the stocks and our table would have to pay a fine to be decided by the king, or if he was very generous, the villagers. They also sold forks for silver coins because the food we were eating had gravy on it...and some people wouldn't want to get their hands dirty. Simon dressed up like an executioner and went around with the Sheriff catching people who had been delinquent. He actually had to chase one woman (Who oddly enough happens to be Jessy's cousin by marriage in some way) who had been charged with selling day old bread to the king. How scandelous!

According to where you are sitting you are part of a different Shire. We were in the Yellow Shire, but there was some fierce allegiance making from the Blue Shire's Lord until we were told that we were part of the Yellow Shire. Well, after dinner there was a town crier competition that Jessy participated in and a best costume competition. Simon won that one for the men and was awarded a knight statuette. It's cool and adds a little je ne sais qua to the house. There was also a jousting competition that John (a friend from work) participated in. It was quite funny actually. The had these hoops with an horse head cutout attached to the front and hanging fabric around the rest of it to hide the fact that you aren't actually riding a horse. The 'knights' had to go running at these little rings hanging from posts and try to spear them on their 'lances'. FUN! We were also treated to a medieval dance lesson called the Toss the Duchess. The girls are supposed to be 'tossed' on the last beat of the eight steps you shuffle to your left, but because half the boys were 10 and the girls they would be tossing are not. After all the competitions were finished, the winners were tallied up and the Blue Shire won, making their lord and lady the king and queen at next years Medieval Fest.

And Princess Pilfer has struck again! I pilfered us a friend. Jessy is very happy about knowing another young person in town (who's a boy!) and the fact that I pilfered him from meeting him once two weeks ago is impressive. While we were working I happened to ask if he was going to the medieval festival and he said he wasn't. The shame! I basically said that he had to come and meet everyone and too bad that he had gone last year because he was GOING AGAIN! Actually I didn't quite phrase it like that. Its more like I said, "Aw, thats too bad. Why don't you just come anyway!" He comes in one or twice a week at lunch time to say hey and a few days ago he dropped by to say that he had decided to come after all! YAY! We are meeting people our own age in Schreiber!

After the festivities were over the Katimavikers helped to clean up and pack up the extra food and decorations to bring to the food bank. Then we went home and slept. It was fun day.

Today we went hiking again but this time with Manitouwadge! It was a lot fun to see everyone again and to talk and hang out with everyone. This time we went to Jackfish to a friend of our neighbour's camp. A camp is actuallya very rugged cottage, but they call it a camp. We hiked up a lot of hills and then went down a lot of hills and while going down all I could think about was "Oh dear lord this is going to hurt going back." But the hike was nice and tiring and got our appetites up. After getting to the camp we sat around for a bit and ate some pizza and cookies and drank hot chocolate. After we were all warmed up we all went for ANOTHER walk. To the ghost town. Did I mention that Jackfish is a ghost town! Because it is. It is so cool seeing the abandoned houses and over grown bush. Nature has very thoroughly reclaimed these houses. The ceilings are collapsed, the walls are covered in green and the light shines in just right for it to look beautiful and just a bit sacrosanct. I got some really beautiful pictures there.

While we were walking back we went to the beach where there is a lot of seaglass. It's actually a neat story. The glass is from the old hotel in the area that used to throw their old bottles and plates and stuff into the water. They eventually broke and the corners rounded off and now they are beautiful! I actually found a piece of porcelain with a blue pattern on it. So cool!

Also, we have to cross some train tracks to get to and from the camp. While we were crossing to go to the ghost towns Maddy put 5 pennies on the tracks. A train just happened to go by while we were walking and squished the pennies flat! So cool! Actually you can still see a slight impression of the leaf and the word Canada on it. Yay...defacing Canadian currency...it's only a penny though. They barely even count as currency anyway.

When we got back we ate moose and pork sausages again. This time they were cooked over the fire and served as a delicious hot dog! Love it! Then we packed up and hiked back. On our way out of the bush we first stopped off at a grave site in the forest. It was really really neat. These graves had wooden markers from 1915. Walking through the forest to the graves was really neat. While the hike to the camp was on a rocky road with rivers and puddles of water running through it, the walk to the graves was through the forest. I've never been in a forest like this one. It is absolutely gorgeous. There is green moss everywhere and little spiky green things blanketing the ground. They almost look like little small pines or something, but aren't at all. For some reason, the whole thing reminded me of Bridge to Terabithia. I've read the book, but never seen the movie so I don't know how they portrayed the forest, but it still brought the book to mind. Everything just seemed so otherworldly and giant.

Anyway, we said goodbye to Manitouwadge and went home after that. We all piled into the living room at 8 pm and watched a movie called Snowcakes. Oh my god. Wow. The movie is so good. It's based in Wawa, Ontario, which is actually a town we passed through when we were driving up here after orientation. I actually reconized the diner we stopped at as the diner in the opening shot. The movie stars Sigouney Weaver, Alan Rickman and Carrie-Anne Moss. Family you will all love it, but Mommy I think you will like it most. It's your kind of movie.

And that is my blog. Dear lord this took a long time. Jessy had these little amuzing comics on his computer next to me and he kept deviously distracting me. And I had a lot to talk about. But it's over now, and not a second to soon!

Sara