Yes, it's true, I would finally consider myself a 'real' adult. I never thought that I would so dread turning 30, but it has now happened, and even though I don't really feel older, I do think of myself as older, some of you might know what I mean...anyway, I decided to celebrate this momentous occassion with lots of dress up and mystery, and so opted for a medieval murder mystery evening.

We all had a great time, and everyone who attended made a real effort to get dressed in their medieval best, and get into their characters. The girls, even though they didn't have a character assigned to them to play the game, enjoyed dressing up and watching the game!

Glen and I were the Lord and Lady of the Fernwood Manor...don't we just look stately! The backdrop you see was painted very diligently by the young squire Steve - excellent job!

Here we have Maid Marilyn (Rachelle) and Sir Cameron (Jacques), two corners of the love rectangle (in the game of course)!

Lady Victoria (Lisa) and William the Watchman (Emiel).

Maid Medusa (Stacey), you might not recognize her as a brunette, and Sir Rufus (Michael), who seemed to have been disliked by many characters and so everyone had a reason to want him dead - as you've figured he was murdered - stabbed in fact, through the heart!

And here, Lady Diana of Dunnsbury, who was getting married that day to our son Baron Bartholomew (Jacque M) - although as it turned out, she was not a lady at all, but a brutal murderer! Well played Sonja! Nobody would have guessed!!!

Steve also painted and created our two fireplaces and painted all the shields which I had up to set the scene.

This was the special seating for King Kyle and Queen Genevieve, which was wonderfully performed by Liliana and Peter.

Yanina, a good friend of mine, arrived early to help with the decor, and did a fabulous job of our entrance, the ivy really just set the scene...although the candles by the front door proved to be a hazard as Amanda caught alight - thankfully I was standing nearby and bravely put out the flames with my bare hands....(haha, just kidding, the flames were still very little - no harm done)...well except the dress of course! Thankfully Amanda was unharmed, and the candles were moved to the table.

My mom spent the whole day before cooking for the evening, and the menu was as follows:

Starters: Beef, beef & barley, and vegetable soups, served with a variety of breads.

Main course: Pork, Lamb and chicken with potato bake and fresh veggies

Dessert: Shortbread and Apple cake and a selection of cheeses with bread

The table was also loaded with nuts and dried fruit...so even the food was traditionally medieval

Thanks again Mom, for all your hard work, you made the evening really special and particularly scrumptious!

My sister Claudia and her boyfriend Barry played the sneaky Sherrif couple - I really didn't trust them the whole night - don't they just look the treaturous part?

My little sister Geraldine and her boyfriend Greg made a lovely couple, although her name was Charlamagne and for some reason she was seen with many other characters earlier that day...hmmm...was she having a thing with Sir Cameron???

As you can see the queen really played her part well, and had everyone bow before her, and subsequently robbed everyone of their money...ending up picking up the money bags award with a whopping 109 coins - I actaully voted her as the murder - she was really crafty!

Here we have Poor Pearl and Gallant Gary (also known as Ainsley and Tyrell). He was accused most out of everyone...I don't know why...look at that innocent face!

Then we have Chris - I must say I really think that he deserved the best dressed award - he even went as far as to wear tights - something most guys wouldn't do - thanks Chris for really getting into character!

Here we have my mom and dad (Wyatt Worker and Elizabeth the Elaborate) trying to make sense of the clues - but without success, as no one actually guessed who the true murderer was...

I am not sure if Joking Jerry supposedly had an affair with the chambermaid, but they sure do make a cute couple!

There were many other characters - 34 in total, and each one played an important role in making this a wonderful evening for me - thanks everyone for coming and a special thanks also to Stacey for taking all the pics!!!

Bless you all!