In God and guns we trust

This month in Middle Georgia sees a number of spring festivals, namely the "Peaches to the Beaches" - a giant yard sale with "treasures, antiques, and collectibles" along a 200 mile highway from the middle of the state to the coast, and Macon's "International Cherry Blossom Festival" - kind of like Moomba and the Royal Melbourne Show rolled into one, but pinker!!

One of the English ladies, Kathi, had a stall selling her handmade glass creations in Perry, during the Peaches to the Beaches weekend, so we visited her there, while taking in the local sights, including a stall selling "self defence weapons" amongst others selling cupcakes and quilts! So bizarre to see a young couple with two small children in a pram browsing the mace and other zap-happy toys. 

It's not unusual to see people walking around with handguns hanging off their hips - it still freaks us out, and I've heard horror stories from other Aussies re playdates where there have been unlocked guns in the house ... too scary and so cultually removed from what we consider normal, but interestingly, the locals believe they're "safe" because they have weapons!! Go figure!

Keeping the kids safe!?

I also managed to get to a quilt show with a couple of the other expat spouses, which was interesting. The quilters themselves were as fascinating as their creations, with one little white-haired lady taking me by the arm and whispering in conspiratorial tones that most of the quilts these days are done by machine, and "you can tell because they're stiff as a board - only good as 'dust catchers', unlike the hand-quilted variety, which obviously, she was into, which could be used and enjoyed.

Notwithstanding the factions amongst the 'Middle Georgia Quiltiing Guild' ladies, I saw a lot of beautiful and quirky work - some by hand and some by machine.

"Flock of Floozies" - love the name!

One of the Guild ladies, showing off a particular technique - machine-sewn

An appliquéd quilt - Isabella's favourite

Colourful machine-quilted creation

Note the gorgeous little quilted rosette indicating a prize awarded for this hand-quilted creation

On a 1947 Singer machine with a toe pedal - for barefoot quilting!

Family tree quilt

The Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon was a sea of pink and comprised a diverse array of mostly family-friendly activities, including frisbee-catching dog displays, a bed race, fairground type rides and accompanying junk food(!), face painting, sandsculptures and ikebana displays. We decided to stay where the rides and more kid-friendly activities were, so we missed the bed races and firefighter strength displays, which from all reports were a lot of fun.

It was a pretty warm day, around 27 degrees, so we stayed a little while and headed home for some r'n'r. (We'd learnt our lesson last weekend, after taking the kids out for the Peaches to the Beaches in the heat: hot weather + small children + crowds = titanic tantrums and parental humiliation.)

We were intrigued by the "funnel cake" but not brave enough to try one

Sussing out how many tokens we need for each ride!

Helping her little brother up the inflatable slide's ladder

Funnily enough, Daniel seemed to enjoy this ride - unlike the caterpillar roller coaster which had to be stopped so we could extricate Daniel before he leapt out of the carriage in a panic.

Helping Daniel appreciate which side of the barrier is meant for spectators

$5 for face painting, $2 for "sword" - the face lasted longer so clearly a better investment, though Daniel did enjoy it while it lasted! 

Cherry blossoms were everywhere!

Frisbee-catching wonder dogs ... Even the portaloos were pink!

Not sure he wanted to pose under the blossoms

These guys and their signs assured festival goers that we're all going to hell ... at least those of us who don't "fear God"!!

Some free literature from the friendly disciples of the Fellowship Tract League; main messages include "you're a sinner!", "you're going to hell if you do nothing", "recognize you're a sinner and pray with all your heart". Mm, I guess I'm going to hell - hope they have Bombay Sapphire, tonic and a little ice ... I don't cope well in the heat!

I do, however, enjoy a little sugar, and St Patrick's Day was a good excuse to get some of the Aussie ladies together for some morning tea. I attempted to bake some chocolate cookies with peppermint icing, and a cheesecake with coloured coconut in the shape of a shamrock. We also enjoyed a lovely cinnamon loaf and suitably decorated cupcakes! Any excuse ...

   

This week, I joined Kathi (English glass artist) for a lesson in making my own glass creation. It was a lot of fun and I'm yet to see the finished creation - we spent the session thinking about our design, selecting our glass, cutting it, and arranging it before firing - all in her garage, which is really her studio and includes her kiln, workbench, etc.

Kathi ("English Working Glass" - look her up!) with some of her other work: birch painting, bird houses, and glass platters

Canadian Maggie, another class-mate, and also my yoga teacher, with her creation pre-kiln

Another attendee, Cindy, in the midst of glass cutting

My creation, before firing

... And after!

To conclude a pretty busy couple of weeks, we attended Kym and Steve's housewarming party. It was lovely to organize a babysitter, enjoy some cocktails and canapés, and indulge in uninterrupted adult conversation! Dave and I took the invitation literally and dressed formally - any excuse!

Kym and Steve cooked some amazing southern fare, including pulled BBQ pork buns with coleslaw, and "dirty rice" with spicy salsa - it was the best food we'd had since leaving home!!! To add to the fun, they'd organized a photo booth in the garage, along with costumes ... Imagine, if you will, how the poses degenerated over the course of the evening!!