Friday, Nov. 5:
We were up around 7:30 on this windy-cold, but sunny morning. Around 10 a.m., after breakfast, Hubbie and I toured a couple of wineries. Mother opted to stay at camp.
At one winery, we bought a few bottles of red table wine. As we were browsing the wines, we noticed a "Ten Bucks" sparkling wine listed at $11.99, which we found amusing.
Proving that it's a small world, we discovered that we and a man and his wife at the winery share friendship with a couple who live an hour and a half from our town.
Before we went back to the campground, we stopped to get a camper propane tank filled, and get diesel for the truck.
This afternoon, we attended a 2 p.m. comedy show. Again proving that it's a small world, we met a friend from our town in the lobby. She, her daughter, and son-in-law were also attending the show.
During the performance, the son-in-law "volunteered" to be made a fool of onstage, where he was outfitted in a Swedish girls costume to do the Chicken Dance.
Back at camp, after supper, Hubbie decided he wanted to shop at a home improvement store, so off we went, while Mother relaxed at home.
When we got back, we played Skipbo until bedtime...I won two games, and Hubbie won one.
Before retiring, Hubbie unhooked the water hose to camper, as he did last night, because predictions were for freezing weather, and we didn't want to wake up to a problem. So we used the camper pump, which is very loud when running water or flushing the toilet in the middle of the night.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Camping Trip, Day Two
Thursday, Nov. 4
Today is Granddaughter's birthday. Happy Birthday, Granddaughter!
We awoke to a sunny, but windy-cold morning. After breakfast and getting ready for the day, we went to the Amish store, where we bought cherry and peach jellies, spices, soup mix, and a bag of homemade noodles.
From there, we went to a craft mall. This is a large mall, so Mother rode in her wheelchair. Here, there were several artisans at work, including a candle maker, a stained glass artist, and a guy building a dulcimer. There were lots of beautiful crafts, but we didn't find anything we wanted.
So we returned to camp for lunch and to rest for a while before going to a 2 p.m. performance of Tony Orlando and the Lennon Sisters.
Funny: when I planned this trip, I planned it around this performance, the ticket vouchers to which I understood expired on this day. Well, when I looked at the vouchers, I saw that yes, they expired Nov. 4, but in 2009! These were tickets I bought from our local radio station...obviously, neither we nor they noticed the expiration date.
But we paraded up to the ticket counter, anyway, and explained our dilemma to the clerk. No problem, she said, all I needed was my confirmation number, which I had...in the truck. So Hubbie rushed back to get it, and we were issued tickets.
Mother had stayed in the truck while we got the tickets, because the parking lot was steeply inclined. Once we had things squared away, we went back and got the wheelchair to take Mother into the lobby.
We had good seats in full view of the stage, and there was a place designed to stow wheelchairs, walkers, and the like, nearby.
The performance was very good, of course. The three Lennon Sisters who performed were the younger ones of eleven siblings, and even they were grandmothers. In fact, toward the end of their performance, they brought out two granddaughters, one about ten years old, the other six years old. The girls performed with their grandmothers, and it was obvious that they are going to carry on the family music tradition.
Tony Orlando, my age, is still strong of voice, and still able to command an audience. He looks much the same, except for a generous spare tire around his middle.
We were back at camp around 4:30, following the performance. A neighbor camper called to us that another camper had raised our awning, because a strong wind had come up that the neighbor feared would rip it off.
We thanked him by giving him four certificates to get into the veteran's museum. The neighbor is himself a vet, and vets are admitted free to the museum, but he said he could use the certificates for his family. We toured the museum last year, so we were glad to find someone who could use them.
We relaxed after supper until time to go to an 8 p.m. show. I had one reserved seat to this show, confirmed through the Branson Tourist Center, but I failed to realize that I needed to call the theater directly to be sure we had accompanying seats for the two tickets I bought at the radio station. So I called earlier in the afternoon and managed to get three adjoining aisle seats in another section of the theater.
The show was "Country Jubilee," which is a music and comedy performance. Before the show began, they scanned the audience with a video camera, stopping at this person and that to make comments about who they looked like. When it honed in on us, the host called us "Three's Company." Then the camera focused on Hubbie, whereupon a bare chested body builder torso caricature was superimposed over him. Good for a laugh.
This show, like all of them during the week, was a Christmas performance. On our way out of the theater, we overheard a guy tell his wife, "Halloween was a few days ago, and now here we are celebrating Christmas already."
It was after 10 p.m. by the time we got back to camp, and nearly eleven before we were ready for bed. A long but fun day.
Today is Granddaughter's birthday. Happy Birthday, Granddaughter!
We awoke to a sunny, but windy-cold morning. After breakfast and getting ready for the day, we went to the Amish store, where we bought cherry and peach jellies, spices, soup mix, and a bag of homemade noodles.
From there, we went to a craft mall. This is a large mall, so Mother rode in her wheelchair. Here, there were several artisans at work, including a candle maker, a stained glass artist, and a guy building a dulcimer. There were lots of beautiful crafts, but we didn't find anything we wanted.
So we returned to camp for lunch and to rest for a while before going to a 2 p.m. performance of Tony Orlando and the Lennon Sisters.
Funny: when I planned this trip, I planned it around this performance, the ticket vouchers to which I understood expired on this day. Well, when I looked at the vouchers, I saw that yes, they expired Nov. 4, but in 2009! These were tickets I bought from our local radio station...obviously, neither we nor they noticed the expiration date.
But we paraded up to the ticket counter, anyway, and explained our dilemma to the clerk. No problem, she said, all I needed was my confirmation number, which I had...in the truck. So Hubbie rushed back to get it, and we were issued tickets.
Mother had stayed in the truck while we got the tickets, because the parking lot was steeply inclined. Once we had things squared away, we went back and got the wheelchair to take Mother into the lobby.
We had good seats in full view of the stage, and there was a place designed to stow wheelchairs, walkers, and the like, nearby.
The performance was very good, of course. The three Lennon Sisters who performed were the younger ones of eleven siblings, and even they were grandmothers. In fact, toward the end of their performance, they brought out two granddaughters, one about ten years old, the other six years old. The girls performed with their grandmothers, and it was obvious that they are going to carry on the family music tradition.
Tony Orlando, my age, is still strong of voice, and still able to command an audience. He looks much the same, except for a generous spare tire around his middle.
We were back at camp around 4:30, following the performance. A neighbor camper called to us that another camper had raised our awning, because a strong wind had come up that the neighbor feared would rip it off.
We thanked him by giving him four certificates to get into the veteran's museum. The neighbor is himself a vet, and vets are admitted free to the museum, but he said he could use the certificates for his family. We toured the museum last year, so we were glad to find someone who could use them.
We relaxed after supper until time to go to an 8 p.m. show. I had one reserved seat to this show, confirmed through the Branson Tourist Center, but I failed to realize that I needed to call the theater directly to be sure we had accompanying seats for the two tickets I bought at the radio station. So I called earlier in the afternoon and managed to get three adjoining aisle seats in another section of the theater.
The show was "Country Jubilee," which is a music and comedy performance. Before the show began, they scanned the audience with a video camera, stopping at this person and that to make comments about who they looked like. When it honed in on us, the host called us "Three's Company." Then the camera focused on Hubbie, whereupon a bare chested body builder torso caricature was superimposed over him. Good for a laugh.
This show, like all of them during the week, was a Christmas performance. On our way out of the theater, we overheard a guy tell his wife, "Halloween was a few days ago, and now here we are celebrating Christmas already."
It was after 10 p.m. by the time we got back to camp, and nearly eleven before we were ready for bed. A long but fun day.
Camping Trip, Day One
Wednesday, Nov. 3:
We meant to leave home a little earlier, but on this misty-rainy morning, there was a two-car accident near our house. Apparently, one woman stopped to turn left, and another woman, with a child in her car, rear-ended the first woman, sending both vehicles into the ditch across the road. No one was seriously injured, but by the time the wreckage was cleared away, it was 9:30. We set out as soon as we could.
The trees are past their peak, but there are still some muted autumn colors in the hills, which was lovely as we traveled. On the way, we also enjoyed seeing a flock of geese in V-formation fly overhead.
Mother's cat was better behaved on this trip, probably because we boarded the three kittens at the veterinarian's office this time. The cats had comfortable accommodations in a very large cage in a building separate from where the dogs are kept. The building had previously been used by the resident groomer, who has since quit the business, so the kittens had the building all to themselves.
We arrived at the campground, after a brief stop for lunch, around 2 p.m. The rain had stopped, and it was sunny for setting up at the campsite. We were pleasantly surprised to see lots of flaming red maple trees around the campground, so once we were finished setting up, I grabbed my camera and shot lots of images.
Then I called our friend, who lives in Springfield, to try to schedule a lunch date with her and her husband. Unfortunately, she and her husband had been in an accident on Monday. Fortunately, though, neither was seriously injured, but both were very stiff and sore. The car was totaled, and they were issued a loaner car until they can get one of their own, but neither felt like driving. We were disappointed not to get to see them, but glad they are okay.
After I'd talked with our friend, I left my cell phone with Mother, and Hubbie and I went to the Branson Tourism Center to pick up reserved tickets for several shows.
Later, after supper, we all dressed in warm clothes, coats, hats, and gloves to go to Branson Landing. It was windy cold at this time of the night, and we were glad to be snugly warm in our winter gear.
We got to the Landing just in time to enjoy the water show that features colorful 120 foot water geysers, and booming fire cannons, dancing to light and music. We spent a couple of hours at the mall, where Hubbie bought me a very pretty multi-colored and fringed shawl scarf. We also visited a hunting/fishing store and enjoyed the large aquarium and mounted animal displays.
By the time we got back to camp, we were plenty ready to go to bed.
We meant to leave home a little earlier, but on this misty-rainy morning, there was a two-car accident near our house. Apparently, one woman stopped to turn left, and another woman, with a child in her car, rear-ended the first woman, sending both vehicles into the ditch across the road. No one was seriously injured, but by the time the wreckage was cleared away, it was 9:30. We set out as soon as we could.
The trees are past their peak, but there are still some muted autumn colors in the hills, which was lovely as we traveled. On the way, we also enjoyed seeing a flock of geese in V-formation fly overhead.
Mother's cat was better behaved on this trip, probably because we boarded the three kittens at the veterinarian's office this time. The cats had comfortable accommodations in a very large cage in a building separate from where the dogs are kept. The building had previously been used by the resident groomer, who has since quit the business, so the kittens had the building all to themselves.
We arrived at the campground, after a brief stop for lunch, around 2 p.m. The rain had stopped, and it was sunny for setting up at the campsite. We were pleasantly surprised to see lots of flaming red maple trees around the campground, so once we were finished setting up, I grabbed my camera and shot lots of images.
Then I called our friend, who lives in Springfield, to try to schedule a lunch date with her and her husband. Unfortunately, she and her husband had been in an accident on Monday. Fortunately, though, neither was seriously injured, but both were very stiff and sore. The car was totaled, and they were issued a loaner car until they can get one of their own, but neither felt like driving. We were disappointed not to get to see them, but glad they are okay.
After I'd talked with our friend, I left my cell phone with Mother, and Hubbie and I went to the Branson Tourism Center to pick up reserved tickets for several shows.
Later, after supper, we all dressed in warm clothes, coats, hats, and gloves to go to Branson Landing. It was windy cold at this time of the night, and we were glad to be snugly warm in our winter gear.
We got to the Landing just in time to enjoy the water show that features colorful 120 foot water geysers, and booming fire cannons, dancing to light and music. We spent a couple of hours at the mall, where Hubbie bought me a very pretty multi-colored and fringed shawl scarf. We also visited a hunting/fishing store and enjoyed the large aquarium and mounted animal displays.
By the time we got back to camp, we were plenty ready to go to bed.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Mid-Term Election Day
We were up around 7:30 on this very cool, drizzly morning , and I did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie hung the flag on the well house in recognition of Election Day.
As soon as I was ready for the day, we went to our polling place to cast our votes in this very important election.
At 11:30, I went to my beauty shop for a haircut. When I got back home, Hubbie informed me that Mother was having problems with her plumbing, so he called a plumber, who arrived around noon to take care of the problem.
It was well after 12:30 before Hubbie and I had lunch. As soon as we'd eaten, we ran errands...first to the pharmacy, and then to one of the stores that has a sale every weekend. I had a $10 coupon to spend, and I found a fleece shirt for under $12.
From there, we went to another pharmacy, where I had a coupon for buy-one-get-one-half-price packages of hair color. I also had a $2 coupon for these.
Then we went to the health store, where I bought multi-vitamins. After that, it was on to the WDCS for groceries and incidentals.
We were back home around 4 p.m. Later, we had leftover chicken and dumplings, with a small amount of mashed potatoes. Since there wasn't enough mashed potatoes, we baked a few very small sweet potatoes to go with the meal.
Around 6:30, we went to the college that is near our home to attend a 7 p.m. hypnotist program. This was the second in a series of programs for which I bought season tickets.
This was one of those evenings when we had to choose among several entertainments...the hypnotist program, a football game on TV, and the elimination episode of "Dancing With the Star," on TV. I recorded the two TV programs, though I don't know when we'll be able to watch them.
The hypnotist's program was hilarious, of course. He hypnotized a large group on stage...mainly college students...who did the foolish things asked of them. Three guys were told they were girls competing in a hula contest for a million dollar prize. They were to go into the audience and perform for various men, whom they thought were judges. Donning grass skirts and flowered cup things on their chests, they swayed and flirted up and down the aisles.
One guy was told that every time he heard the words Rip Van Winkle, he would stand up and announce he had wet his pants, and he was proud of it. The women onstage were told that upon hearing spy music, they would go out in the audience and look for clues, and then on command return to the stage and start fighting imaginary enemies.
The guys were told that their butts were on fire, and the only way they could put it out was to scoot along the stage. One guy was told that when he counted to ten, he would skip the number three. He became very puzzled when he counted his fingers and kept coming up with eleven, or when he counted backward and ended with zero. When asked how he came up with eleven fingers, he said he never was very good at math.
A girl was told that when asked, she would know her last name, but would forget her first name. She was told that when she recited the alphabet, however, and came to the correct letter of her first name, she would suddenly remember it.
At one point, they were all told they were naked, which caused some hilarious squirming to cover themselves. But then they were told they were proud of their naked bodies and wanted to show them off, whereupon they went into sexy poses.
He also hypnotized receptive audience members, two of whom were women who were told that they were his number one fan, and when he said his name, they would job up and clap and cheer, which they did.
The last thing he told them was that they would not be able to leave the auditorium until someone said their name. We were behind one of the women, and each time she tried to go out the door, she was unable to. Her friends tried to coax her through the door, but she would pull back, saying she'd wait until later. Finally, one of them said her name, and she was released from the command.
We were back home around 9 p.m., when we watched the football game I'd recorded on DVR.
As soon as I was ready for the day, we went to our polling place to cast our votes in this very important election.
At 11:30, I went to my beauty shop for a haircut. When I got back home, Hubbie informed me that Mother was having problems with her plumbing, so he called a plumber, who arrived around noon to take care of the problem.
It was well after 12:30 before Hubbie and I had lunch. As soon as we'd eaten, we ran errands...first to the pharmacy, and then to one of the stores that has a sale every weekend. I had a $10 coupon to spend, and I found a fleece shirt for under $12.
From there, we went to another pharmacy, where I had a coupon for buy-one-get-one-half-price packages of hair color. I also had a $2 coupon for these.
Then we went to the health store, where I bought multi-vitamins. After that, it was on to the WDCS for groceries and incidentals.
We were back home around 4 p.m. Later, we had leftover chicken and dumplings, with a small amount of mashed potatoes. Since there wasn't enough mashed potatoes, we baked a few very small sweet potatoes to go with the meal.
Around 6:30, we went to the college that is near our home to attend a 7 p.m. hypnotist program. This was the second in a series of programs for which I bought season tickets.
This was one of those evenings when we had to choose among several entertainments...the hypnotist program, a football game on TV, and the elimination episode of "Dancing With the Star," on TV. I recorded the two TV programs, though I don't know when we'll be able to watch them.
The hypnotist's program was hilarious, of course. He hypnotized a large group on stage...mainly college students...who did the foolish things asked of them. Three guys were told they were girls competing in a hula contest for a million dollar prize. They were to go into the audience and perform for various men, whom they thought were judges. Donning grass skirts and flowered cup things on their chests, they swayed and flirted up and down the aisles.
One guy was told that every time he heard the words Rip Van Winkle, he would stand up and announce he had wet his pants, and he was proud of it. The women onstage were told that upon hearing spy music, they would go out in the audience and look for clues, and then on command return to the stage and start fighting imaginary enemies.
The guys were told that their butts were on fire, and the only way they could put it out was to scoot along the stage. One guy was told that when he counted to ten, he would skip the number three. He became very puzzled when he counted his fingers and kept coming up with eleven, or when he counted backward and ended with zero. When asked how he came up with eleven fingers, he said he never was very good at math.
A girl was told that when asked, she would know her last name, but would forget her first name. She was told that when she recited the alphabet, however, and came to the correct letter of her first name, she would suddenly remember it.
At one point, they were all told they were naked, which caused some hilarious squirming to cover themselves. But then they were told they were proud of their naked bodies and wanted to show them off, whereupon they went into sexy poses.
He also hypnotized receptive audience members, two of whom were women who were told that they were his number one fan, and when he said his name, they would job up and clap and cheer, which they did.
The last thing he told them was that they would not be able to leave the auditorium until someone said their name. We were behind one of the women, and each time she tried to go out the door, she was unable to. Her friends tried to coax her through the door, but she would pull back, saying she'd wait until later. Finally, one of them said her name, and she was released from the command.
We were back home around 9 p.m., when we watched the football game I'd recorded on DVR.
Sad News
We were saddened to learn this morning on our social network page that a sister-in-law, who suffered a massive stroke last week, passed away last night. Thoughts and prayers from our southern family go out to our brother and his family, who live in a northern state.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Monday, Nov. 1
November, already! The months are rolling past way too fast.
October ended on both joyous and sad notes: happily, two great-grandchildren and a grandson-in-law had birthdays, a granddaughter and her husband celebrated an anniversary, a great-granddaughter was crowned queen of her second grade class, and most family enjoyed various Halloween events. But due to downsizing, a nephew-in-law has lost his job. Hubbie's son has had rotator cuff surgery and is very uncomfortable right now. And sadly, a sister-in-law has suffered a massive stroke, with dim prognosis. A lot can happen in just a few days.
We were up just before 8 a.m. this morning, and I did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. After that, Mother came over and put color in my hair in anticipation of a beauty shop appointment tomorrow. After that I did this and that around the house.
While I was busy in household chores, Mother put a pot of chicken on to stew...a combination of leg quarters and breasts. The leg quarters are for Shih Tzu, to stimulate her appetite, which has recently declined. Along with a medicine stimulant from the vet, Shih Tzu has been eating much better the past few days.
The chicken breasts were for our supper. We used a can of low-fat, low-sodium biscuits as dumplings with the broth and chicken breasts, and had this with mashed potatoes, English peas, and canned cranberry sauce. Very holiday-ish.
After lunch, I took Mother to a 2 p.m. medical appointment with her urologist. This was just a follow-up appointment to make sure the infection was completely clear. It is. Mother still doesn't drink nearly enough fluids (beyond coffee), so today she had difficulty giving a specimen. The specimen was so small that the nurse couldn't test it. So she had to do a catheter test, something Mother really, really doesn't like.
I often wonder if folks check themselves in their mirror before leaving home. Today, an obese young woman corraling two children under age three was forced from time-to-time to chase after a toddler and bend over to pick him up. Whenever she bent over, her jeans and shirt parted to reveal about twelves inches of buttock cleavage. Very unappealing. There is no shame these days.
After we got back home, I booted the laptop computer to show Mother snapshots of the great-grandkids in Halloween costumes, and Great-Granddaughter in her pageant outfit.
Hubbie was busy all day, too, running errands and washing the truck.
We spent the evening after supper doing the usual...watching TV, particularly an episode of "Dancing With the Stars."
October ended on both joyous and sad notes: happily, two great-grandchildren and a grandson-in-law had birthdays, a granddaughter and her husband celebrated an anniversary, a great-granddaughter was crowned queen of her second grade class, and most family enjoyed various Halloween events. But due to downsizing, a nephew-in-law has lost his job. Hubbie's son has had rotator cuff surgery and is very uncomfortable right now. And sadly, a sister-in-law has suffered a massive stroke, with dim prognosis. A lot can happen in just a few days.
We were up just before 8 a.m. this morning, and I did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. After that, Mother came over and put color in my hair in anticipation of a beauty shop appointment tomorrow. After that I did this and that around the house.
While I was busy in household chores, Mother put a pot of chicken on to stew...a combination of leg quarters and breasts. The leg quarters are for Shih Tzu, to stimulate her appetite, which has recently declined. Along with a medicine stimulant from the vet, Shih Tzu has been eating much better the past few days.
The chicken breasts were for our supper. We used a can of low-fat, low-sodium biscuits as dumplings with the broth and chicken breasts, and had this with mashed potatoes, English peas, and canned cranberry sauce. Very holiday-ish.
After lunch, I took Mother to a 2 p.m. medical appointment with her urologist. This was just a follow-up appointment to make sure the infection was completely clear. It is. Mother still doesn't drink nearly enough fluids (beyond coffee), so today she had difficulty giving a specimen. The specimen was so small that the nurse couldn't test it. So she had to do a catheter test, something Mother really, really doesn't like.
I often wonder if folks check themselves in their mirror before leaving home. Today, an obese young woman corraling two children under age three was forced from time-to-time to chase after a toddler and bend over to pick him up. Whenever she bent over, her jeans and shirt parted to reveal about twelves inches of buttock cleavage. Very unappealing. There is no shame these days.
After we got back home, I booted the laptop computer to show Mother snapshots of the great-grandkids in Halloween costumes, and Great-Granddaughter in her pageant outfit.
Hubbie was busy all day, too, running errands and washing the truck.
We spent the evening after supper doing the usual...watching TV, particularly an episode of "Dancing With the Stars."
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Halloween Day
Happy Halloween to everyone. Hope you had a fun day, with only the scares that you wanted.
We were up around 7:30 this morning, but I skipped my exercises to get ready to go to a town about an hour and a half away, where we joined Hubbie's daughter, son-in-law, great-grandson, and a friend of the great grandson for lunch and a performance of "Dracula," at a dinner theater.
We opted out of having lunch at the theater, and went to a local buffet restaurant instead. Mother chose pork roast, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, and coleslaw. I also chose pork roast, but with mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, and coleslaw. Then Mother had strawberry shortcake with angel food cake, and I decided on the peach cobbler with ice cream. The ice cream reminded us of snow ice cream.
The play was not as good as past performances we've seen in that theater, but it was entertaining enough. The most striking thing about the play was the awesome set....the inside of a huge castle, with realistic looking oil lamps mounted all around the "stone" walls.
The walls of the castle opened outward on tracks built into the stage floor, and the upper portions lifted up to reveal two rooms...a bedroom on one side, and the cell of a madman on the other. Round mini-stages were built onto the lower portions of the open-out walls. Various scenes were played on these stages.
A large window that opened inward was built into one wall. Stage smoke blew onto the stage from this window when Dracula entered the bedroom of the lead actress.
There were some well-choreographed fight scenes in the play, and the madman threw himself into his character, but there were a few glitches, too...early on, swords clattered noisily to the floor backstage, the sound system squealed a couple of times, and a large rolling set piece representing a seaside cliff missed the exit space when being pushed offstage in the dark and banged loudly into a wall.
Mother commented that these oopses "took the magic out of the performance."
The play ended about 4 p.m., and we all lost no time heading to our respective towns. We were home about 5:30.
Had a light supper later, and then did the usual...watched TV.
We were up around 7:30 this morning, but I skipped my exercises to get ready to go to a town about an hour and a half away, where we joined Hubbie's daughter, son-in-law, great-grandson, and a friend of the great grandson for lunch and a performance of "Dracula," at a dinner theater.
We opted out of having lunch at the theater, and went to a local buffet restaurant instead. Mother chose pork roast, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, and coleslaw. I also chose pork roast, but with mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, and coleslaw. Then Mother had strawberry shortcake with angel food cake, and I decided on the peach cobbler with ice cream. The ice cream reminded us of snow ice cream.
The play was not as good as past performances we've seen in that theater, but it was entertaining enough. The most striking thing about the play was the awesome set....the inside of a huge castle, with realistic looking oil lamps mounted all around the "stone" walls.
The walls of the castle opened outward on tracks built into the stage floor, and the upper portions lifted up to reveal two rooms...a bedroom on one side, and the cell of a madman on the other. Round mini-stages were built onto the lower portions of the open-out walls. Various scenes were played on these stages.
A large window that opened inward was built into one wall. Stage smoke blew onto the stage from this window when Dracula entered the bedroom of the lead actress.
There were some well-choreographed fight scenes in the play, and the madman threw himself into his character, but there were a few glitches, too...early on, swords clattered noisily to the floor backstage, the sound system squealed a couple of times, and a large rolling set piece representing a seaside cliff missed the exit space when being pushed offstage in the dark and banged loudly into a wall.
Mother commented that these oopses "took the magic out of the performance."
The play ended about 4 p.m., and we all lost no time heading to our respective towns. We were home about 5:30.
Had a light supper later, and then did the usual...watched TV.
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