Tag Archives: Feis at the Falls

Sunday at the Feis

Auntie Lolo captured some great stills…

 

This dance competition was a ‘shuffle’ where the dancers are grouped with dancers from other schools of dance that they’ve never danced with before. Addy’s group earned a third place for their performance together.

This was the final dance of day.

What a enjoyable Feis. It was great toe be together to cheer for our Addy!

Uncle and Auntie flew in on Saturday morning and flew back home Sunday afternoon.

Some of us gathered for lunch at an Irish Pub just down the street from the convention center before we dropped Josh and Laura off at the airport. It was a appropriate finale to our Irish Dance Weekend!

I had just enough time to recuperate from our busy dancing weekend and now I’m on a plane today to Southern California for a Bridal Shower! It will be another weekend where I’m absent in bloggy world. September has been and will end as the busiest month in a long time for me. I’m leaving the PNW in the Summer and returning on the first day of Fall!

Saturday at the Feis

First there were some soft shoe reels and jigs.

A quick shoe change and it was time for the hard shoe dances.

Here are Addy’s people who came out to watch this time around.

The first day of Feis At the Falls was in the books for our crew. Sunday would be another morning filled with dancing.

We all drove to a great Mexican spot, Birriería El Sazón Spokane on Sprague in Spokane Valley for our lunch. Addy was the most famished of all of us after all her nonstop dancing and shoe changes! We highly recommend this spot but beware…the portions are huge!

Back at the hotel there was an afternoon of swimming before the crew landed in our room for Charcuterie that Dan and Jamie hauled to Spokane in their trusty cooler. It was quite a spread that we all enjoyed including home made pickles, sourdough and summer sausage!

The orange watermelon from a friend’s farm was so delicious!

We had a nice large corner room in the hotel so it was comfortable to gather and enjoy each others company before we called it a night. An early night since our little dancer would be on stage bright and early on Sunday.

Since our hotel room only had 3 chairs available both Josh and Dan rolled the office chairs from their rooms to our room for our gathering. Josh and Laura were 9 floors up from us and Dan and Jamie were 5 floors up from us so they made quite a sight rolling their chairs and the cooler down the elevators and down the hall to our room!

The littles decided they would ride on their way back to their rooms.

Uncle is always ready to accommodate these two.

 

A Dancing Hodgepodge

Our granddaughter dancing through this past weekend at the annual Feis (Irish Dance Festival) in Spokane, Washington.

Another September Hodgepodge is here today thanks to Joyce From This Side of the Pond.

1. How do you define beauty? 

My mind went to 1 Peter 3:3-4: Do not let your adorning be external–the braiding of hair and putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear–but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

2. Have you ever taken a trip by train? If so where did you go and what did you think of the experience? If not do you have any desire to do so? Where would you like to go? (You might find inspiration here-The Best Train Trips in The World)
~
We experienced parts of some trips by train in Scotland and England. York to Edinburgh in 2004 with our daughter and then Edinburgh to London on the same trip. With Josh and Laura we rode the train from Manchester airport to York and back to Manchester airport from York. On another trip we rode the train from Stirling to Edinburgh. In the Spring of this year Greg and I traveled by train from Cambridge to Ely and back to Cambridge again. All these journeys were good and seamless except for our Manchester to York trip in 2023 when the train suspended it’s journey midway to York and we had to scramble off the train to another platform to get on a different train to York. We made it but it was harrowing.
~

3. Shell shocked, bombshell, bandshell, shellacking, in a nutshell, walking on eggshells…choose one and tell us why you chose it, or how it relates to your life in some way currently.
~
I’m going to say in a nutshell since September has afforded a series of short life events that are very different from each other and that I have a short span of time to enjoy. Each nutshell is unique and short and over in 3 days or less.
~
4. Tacos, pistachios, oysters, clams, eggs…your favorite food on the list that comes in/with a shell? 
~
I’m torn between tacos and eggs benedict! Lunch or dinner favorite, tacos! Breakfast out favorite, eggs benedict!~

5. Are birthdays a big deal in your house? Is your own birthday a big deal in some way? Elaborate. 

~Some birthdays are more of a big deal than others for the adults in the family. All birthdays are acknowledged in some way. Sometimes big and sometimes small but a touch of love goes out on the special day. Our ‘Grands’ birthdays are always a big deal. Landmark birthdays like turning 16, 21, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 have been a bigger deal than others. From here on out making it to another birthday for Greg and Me is a big deal.~

A flashback to my 60th birthday that was very special with a great variety of celebrations. The one above is with the Mennonite Girls Can Cook (some of the gals). Some of the girls who live in British Columbia, Canada drove down to Chuckanut drive in Washington State with their husbands for a dinner in honor of my 60th birthday.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

This past weekend we enjoyed watching our granddaughter as she competed with hundreds of Irish dance pupils in Spokane at the annual Feis (festival). I’ll have two full posts coming soon about our time. I’m adding a couple Gifs showing a little of the action. Our granddaughter exudes joy when she dances. I’m unable to post a full video.

 

Feis Day Two

Day Two of the Feis was Deirdre Haran Abeid Day.

The Haran School of Irish Dance was founded in Kettle Falls by Deirdre Abeid over 45 years ago. Her daughters Caitlin Trusler and Claire Worley have continued in her footsteps, running the Kettle Falls and Spokane branches of Haran for the past 25 years.

All signed in and ready to dance

 

There are breaks between the soft shoe dances and hard shoe dances.

Both Addy and JJ appreciated Uncle and Auntie being at the Feis on Sunday. I appreciated it, too, as Laura could get up close and take photos and videos that I was not able to.

Soft shoe, hard shoe and then it was time for another soft shoe competition.

There is a trick to lacing the soft shoes!

When all the traditional jigs and reels and treble and Hornpipe were completed it was time for the creative water/sea dance. The dancers who wanted to participate in this dance had to come up with their own costume and dance.

This is the outfit conception that Addy came up with thinking about water, ‘under the sea’. Here was the completed outfit Addy and her Mom created.

It is so good to have the support team of mom and dad in the dancers corner.

Waiting for their solo performances. I wish I could share the video Auntie Lolo took of Addy’s dance but I’m unable to on my blog. It was a wonderful performance and we found out while we were out to lunch that Addy had received a 1st place for her outfit and dance!

We gathered for lunch before taking Uncle and Auntie back to the airport for their flight home.

After lunch on their way home Dan and Jamie stopped by the convention center to pick up Addy’s prize for her creative under the sea dance and costume.

Her 1st place trophy!

After getting home Addy donned all her awards from her first Feis!

Well done, Addy. Your hard work was rewarded. Hmmm, I wonder if she’ll want to sign up for another Feis?

Thanks for coming along and for all your kind comments.

The First Feis

A Feis (pronounced ‘fesh’) is an Irish dancing competition. The Word “Feis” is Irish Gaelic for “Festival.” Throughout the year there are many feiseanna (plural of feis) that dancers can compete in. Dancers are always encouraged to feis, but are never required to. Feising will help dancers set goals and gain confidence. They will learn how to win and lose gracefully while meeting new friends and cheering on other dancers.

This experience was a first for all of us, Addy, her parents, grandparents and Auntie and Uncle. None of us knew exactly what to expect. The event was at the convention center in Spokane conveniently located on the same property as our hotel. We walked over on Saturday morning wondering what the morning would be like.

We found some seats together and soon realized that if we wanted to see we’d have to be standing on the edges of the room. The judges table along with their water bottles placed strategically to block (just kidding) your view. Other hazards for good views and photos included the speakers podium and people. Parents and dancers hopping up out of their seats to check-in for their competition and parents moving about the cabin to watch their loved ones dance.

The dance music live! That was amazing to me. Four hours of continuous playing with short breaks in between each age grouping and type of dance, Slip Jig, Light Jig, Reel, Single Jig, Treble, Hurnpipe, etc. Yep…I have no clue what all those are but maybe in a few years, if Addy continues dancing, I will learn.

Each dancer ready for their time to dance.

First day complete and Addy placed in several of her dances, a first, third and fourth and then to cap things off an overall win with a plate to commemorate.

Addy, you performed well. Your cool and calm readiness and alertness was a pleasure to watch.

Addy’s first day of competition was done by noon and she and all her cheerleaders were ready for a nice lunch.

This years Feis had some heart tugs attached to it.

All of the Haran School of Irish Dance participants had this patch attached to their dance outfits.

Lucas was a gifted dancer and competitor with the Haran School of Dance in Kettle Falls. He had won many competitions. He passed away in a swimming accident this summer and it hit the whole dance and Stevens County community very hard. Not only was he a gifted dancer but an amazing piano player, too. He was deaf with cochlear implants. He loved His Lord and Savior and represented Jesus well with a wonderful attitude. We draw comfort knowing Lucas is with his Savior.

With Saturday’s competition complete we looked forward to Josh and Laura flying into Spokane to be with us for the Sunday morning competition line-up. I’ll save Sunday’s photos and commentary for another day this week.

Hummingbird Cake

As the British say, I’m knackered and it will take me a day to gather my thoughts and photos from a fun busy weekend in Spokane attending our first ever Feis.

For this Monday, I’ll leave you with this recipe for Hummingbird Cake while I gather my thoughts.

Hummingbird Cake

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple with juice
2 cups diced bananas
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.
2. Measure flour, sugar, soda, salt, cinnamon, oil, eggs, vanilla into mixing bowl. Beat until smooth*. Stir in pineapple with juice, bananas, and pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in oven for about 70 minutes. (I checked it after 60 minutes) Turn cake out onto rack or plate after cooling for 20 minutes. Cool, and ice with cream cheese icing.

*My mixture never got smooth until I added the pineapple and banana and nuts. Then it got smooth quickly and I put it into the greased and floured pan.

Cream Cheese Icing

1-8 oz. cream cheese softened
1/4 cup butter softened
2 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. package powdered sugar

Beat cheese and butter till smooth. Blend in Vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar.