Progress!

I bet you can see her now!

This mast is amazing.
We cut down a large pine tree and added a flag pole, and hoisted her up.
(That was WAYYY scary!)
She now stands 28 feet tall!

Silly little details but I made two of these guys.

The dug out part in front is all safety.
That ground is bone dry out there.
I've been watering this area for days!

Ok, so not a parrot but if you hold your head just so...

Can you see her antlers?

Back side of the "helm"
(I swiped Joshy's clock for this part!)

Night view

Thank you Robyn and Angelica for the beautiful rigging
and Dear Jon for the most beautiful rope we could ever hope for!

It takes alot of people to pull something like this off.
Many thanks to my wonderful family!

Still some painting to do on the mast supports today!

Love the "Aft Castle",
gives us room out of the sun to sit and enjoy her!

I've been painting the "fiddly bits for a few days now

Scarecrow pirate!

Um yeah, this is my doing too.
The ship is named for me and I was enlisted to make a figurehead.
They said it should resemble me. I said not if I'm making it, it doesn't!
The Rover's have a boar's head flag, representing hospitality and generosity.
So, I did my level best... But I am a cartoonist.
Can't help but make Miss Piggy's Uncle!

There's still stuff to paint and alot of small details to get finished but she's definitely taking shape!

(Boy I sure hope so, considering that tomorrow begins the big weekend!)

Stay tuned for tall tales from The Rover's Fleet.
The Mary Angeline "sets sail" on her maiden voyage tomorrow.
There will be belly dancing, yoga workshops, a pirate hat making adventure for the little ones,
an adult treasure hunt, a kiddie treasure hunt,
a bardic contest (poetry, stories and songs of the past),
a period cooking competition,
Fire dancing,
Play time in the creek (If you dare, that's snow melt off Mount Shasta!)
A pirate pooh sticks adventure
(you each make your own boat as fast and "sea worthy" as you can from natural materials and drift her downstream.)
Whom-ever's boat makes it to the dock, wins!

And all will be done in outlandish costumes.

What a birthday celebration, huh?

Sounds more like a fantasy for my 7th birthday than my 47th, but I'm delighted!

Come Revel with us!

(Should be easy enough to locate!
We're the only ones near Mount Shasta with a ship!)

It's true I must be going but I swear it won't be long,
There isn't that much ocean between Boston and St. John's;
And I'm a rover and I'm bound to sail away,
I'm a rover. Can you love me anyway?

(Alan Doyle, Great Big Sea)