Knights and Dragons and Teacups, Oh My!

It’s finally autumn. The thermometer doesn’t show it, but at least the blasting Satan’s ass heat is behind us. What better time to head down to the roasting hell pit of Florida?

Back in April, I got a Facebook Messenger note from Rya, telling me that her local Lion’s Club is having an afternoon tea with themed tables. There would also be a vending hour before teatime, so she was setting up her standard booth to sell our books. She also reminded me that I was now retired, that the venue was indoors with air conditioning, and there were actual bathrooms, so my excuses were WORN. THIN. I started to ponder how I could get out of this, but then my creative half actually got in the way of my introvert half, and convinced it that hey, this may actually be fun. So I agreed. That probably explains why Florida’s weather is cooler than Maryland’s. I’m surprised a blizzard didn’t whip itself up immediately, to be honest. But who cares! Rebecca is participating! IN PUBLIC! How about that! (Please contain your astonishment, I exuded enough for the planet.)

So, all summer long, Rya and I spent lots and lots of cash and imagination on whipping up themed tables. Her theme was Knights, and mine was Dragons. I gotta say, we had a frickin’ ball with this. We compared notes, bought decorations, created place settings, thought up a game for place cards, purchased raffle prizes, and stuffed gift bags full of FCP and themed goodies for our guests. On Thursday, September 25, my husband and I stuffed all of the goods into the back of our van and took off for Zephyrhills. There was no way I could fly down with all these things, especially my centerpiece, a huge Dragon garden statue that consists of 3 body pieces and is carved within an inch of its life. Southwest would have busted the hell out of it, so it was wrapped in 500 blankets and carried in the largest suitcase we owned.

When it was all over, she and I were both winners of the best decorated tables of the day. Here’s some pictures. 

Rya stuffing the Knight gift bags

Me stuffing the Dragon gift bags

Decked out in our Knight and Dragon gear

The Knight table

The Dragon table

Winners!

Tea cakes. You can see my Dragon name card in the back. "Growling Wing The Crooner, The Tongue of Forked Lightning." Yep, that's me, the Michael Bublé of the Dragon world.

Teabags courtesy of Cliché Tea. Now you know if there's a tea called "Oxford Comma," you can safely bet that'll be for me.

So maybe it IS a good thing to leave the house once in a while and rub elbows with other people. (And now that Rya's seen this, she's gonna be on my ass for the next few years!) At any rate, autumn is starting out well. Hope yours is, too.

Cheers to all! (raises tea cup in salute)

- Rebecca