barn party

I had a busy weekend, so I'm going to do this in stages. ;)

Saturday was Lakshmi's annual Barn Party, and it was an interesting day for me. There were two guys there with whom I've been flirting for a while, and when I was talking with one of them, who walks up but my old boyfriend (you know who, leenah!) I haven't seen him in a few years, so it was quite a surprise to say the least. Lakshmi had told me that he'd gotten divorced and was living in NH, so it shouldn't have been too surprising, but the circumstance was funny in an ironic sort of way. It was actually nice to see him & catch up. He even walked me out to my car when I left. He is a nice guy, we just didn't have the chemistry & life plan thang.

So. The other guy with whom I've been flirting had the gall to show up with a date! Hmph. I dunno about that one. But he is awfully cute. Sigh...

There was lots of good food and good company, so I really enjoyed myself despite the oppressive heat. At one point, Brooke & I hosed each other down (to the delight of the mostly male onlookers) and felt much better. I usually stay overnight at their parties, but since I had to be up early Sunday for the Ren Faire I left relatively early. Which got a pout from guy #2, so maybe there's hope yet. I invited him to the Faire but he didn't show up. Whatever.

More later on the Faire!

barn party

I had a busy weekend, so I'm going to do this in stages. ;)

Saturday was Lakshmi's annual Barn Party, and it was an interesting day for me. There were two guys there with whom I've been flirting for a while, and when I was talking with one of them, who walks up but my old boyfriend (you know who, leenah!) I haven't seen him in a few years, so it was quite a surprise to say the least. Lakshmi had told me that he'd gotten divorced and was living in NH, so it shouldn't have been too surprising, but the circumstance was funny in an ironic sort of way. It was actually nice to see him & catch up. He even walked me out to my car when I left. He is a nice guy, we just didn't have the chemistry & life plan thang.

So. The other guy with whom I've been flirting had the gall to show up with a date! Hmph. I dunno about that one. But he is awfully cute. Sigh...

There was lots of good food and good company, so I really enjoyed myself despite the oppressive heat. At one point, Brooke & I hosed each other down (to the delight of the mostly male onlookers) and felt much better. I usually stay overnight at their parties, but since I had to be up early Sunday for the Ren Faire I left relatively early. Which got a pout from guy #2, so maybe there's hope yet. I invited him to the Faire but he didn't show up. Whatever.

More later on the Faire!

Ren Faire

The Ren Faire was a success! I'm not sure how many people came, and I don't know if anyone attempted a count. But we had lots of people, and everyone who said they'd show up did.

Folks actually showed up at 8:00 to set up. There were only a couple of merchants that we had to remind to take their vehicles off the field because it was getting close to 10:00. A miracle! We had lots of fun merchandise, and everyone was in good spirits.

We got started just a little after 10, with the announcement of the candidates for Wench Queen. I had them assign me to a team; I didn't want anyone mad at me! I ended up on the "yellow" team, supporting Jen, who was going by the wench name of Veronica. I had to go around and get people to vote for her & wear yellow ribbons to show their support. It was great fun; we had several catfights & skirmishes, and even an all-out wench fight complete with a kidnapping. I have to say the opposition was better at promoting herself, but I think I got quite a few voters to go over to our side. I even got to hurl insults at a mercenary. Hee!

All of our entertainers were excellent. The fighters were really great, and their shows were quite popular. We had a herald that went around to announce the shows, which was a good thing to have. The jugglers were so funny, I really liked them a lot. Will the Wizard even brought some home-made benches for folks to sit on. Everyone really pitched in to make this work.

Around 1:00 or so I snuck over to Subway to get a bite to eat. I wasn't really all that hungry because it was bloody hot, but I thought I'd better eat something to prevent passing out. Soon after, Lisa & Mike strolled in, so we all sat in the air-conditioned comfort to eat. Then it started raining. No, pouring. We had a full-blown thunderstorm, and I'd left my car windows wide open. D'oh! So we finished eating and headed back across the street in the rain. One very thoughtful fellow had closed my car windows for me! Bless him. Some people were looking unhappy, especially a couple of the merchants, but on the whole people were making the best of it, even dancing and playing duck-duck-goose in the rain. Eventually the storm passed, and we were much cooler (being soaking wet) so it wasn't all bad. Some of the shows got on a bit late, but we soldiered on. My 2:00 group had arrived in the middle of the storm and waited in the car until it stopped. They were delightful; a traditional Irish group called "Shay's Rebellion;" if you ever see them playing near you, go! They're great. Just as their show was wrapping, it started to rain again, so they packed up and scooted. Phoenix Swords got in their fire show before the second storm hit. Stone Riley also got in his show. Which is a good thing, because soon after the second storm was over, we had a third. So we decided to call it a day. A lot of the vendors were tired of having to bring in all their stuff, and most of the fairegoers had fled. Plus we didn't want our fighters swinging swords around on wet grass. So it was over around 4:30 instead of the planned 8:00. But we had lots of positive comments and feedback, met a few folks from the e-list, made some new friends, and generally had a good time. It was a ton of work, but we had lots of great helpers, and everyone got into the spirit of the day. Huzzah! Unfortunately, we never got to crown the wench queen. I'm not even sure who won, although it looked like there were more yellow ballots than blue. And we didn't get to do the drawing for the raffle. I may have won something!

Thanks to friends & coven mates who made the trek, including justjanus and his lovely wife! It was fabulous to see old friends mixing with new.

I was just exhausted at the end of the day, and actually not unhappy that it ended early. I was soaked to the skin, and tired from walking around all day. I think next year we should only schedule it until 6:00. We're having a meeting on Wednesday to go over it and get suggestions/feedback for next year.

Thank the gods that we don't have another event until PPD in October! And that one's already pretty much set; we have our guests, and who's doing the ritual, already arranged. So it's just the little details that need to be ironed out.

Today I am dragging, of course. I am very thankful that this isn't the week I had to go to the weekly sales meeting! It went until 10:30. Poor Tom! It's kind of chilly in here, but that's what's keeping me awake so I guess it's not all bad. I'm planning on being in bed extra early tonight!

The weatherman says cooler, dryer weather is on the way. Yay!

Ren Faire

The Ren Faire was a success! I'm not sure how many people came, and I don't know if anyone attempted a count. But we had lots of people, and everyone who said they'd show up did.

Folks actually showed up at 8:00 to set up. There were only a couple of merchants that we had to remind to take their vehicles off the field because it was getting close to 10:00. A miracle! We had lots of fun merchandise, and everyone was in good spirits.

We got started just a little after 10, with the announcement of the candidates for Wench Queen. I had them assign me to a team; I didn't want anyone mad at me! I ended up on the "yellow" team, supporting Jen, who was going by the wench name of Veronica. I had to go around and get people to vote for her & wear yellow ribbons to show their support. It was great fun; we had several catfights & skirmishes, and even an all-out wench fight complete with a kidnapping. I have to say the opposition was better at promoting herself, but I think I got quite a few voters to go over to our side. I even got to hurl insults at a mercenary. Hee!

All of our entertainers were excellent. The fighters were really great, and their shows were quite popular. We had a herald that went around to announce the shows, which was a good thing to have. The jugglers were so funny, I really liked them a lot. Will the Wizard even brought some home-made benches for folks to sit on. Everyone really pitched in to make this work.

Around 1:00 or so I snuck over to Subway to get a bite to eat. I wasn't really all that hungry because it was bloody hot, but I thought I'd better eat something to prevent passing out. Soon after, Lisa & Mike strolled in, so we all sat in the air-conditioned comfort to eat. Then it started raining. No, pouring. We had a full-blown thunderstorm, and I'd left my car windows wide open. D'oh! So we finished eating and headed back across the street in the rain. One very thoughtful fellow had closed my car windows for me! Bless him. Some people were looking unhappy, especially a couple of the merchants, but on the whole people were making the best of it, even dancing and playing duck-duck-goose in the rain. Eventually the storm passed, and we were much cooler (being soaking wet) so it wasn't all bad. Some of the shows got on a bit late, but we soldiered on. My 2:00 group had arrived in the middle of the storm and waited in the car until it stopped. They were delightful; a traditional Irish group called "Shay's Rebellion;" if you ever see them playing near you, go! They're great. Just as their show was wrapping, it started to rain again, so they packed up and scooted. Phoenix Swords got in their fire show before the second storm hit. Stone Riley also got in his show. Which is a good thing, because soon after the second storm was over, we had a third. So we decided to call it a day. A lot of the vendors were tired of having to bring in all their stuff, and most of the fairegoers had fled. Plus we didn't want our fighters swinging swords around on wet grass. So it was over around 4:30 instead of the planned 8:00. But we had lots of positive comments and feedback, met a few folks from the e-list, made some new friends, and generally had a good time. It was a ton of work, but we had lots of great helpers, and everyone got into the spirit of the day. Huzzah! Unfortunately, we never got to crown the wench queen. I'm not even sure who won, although it looked like there were more yellow ballots than blue. And we didn't get to do the drawing for the raffle. I may have won something!

Thanks to friends & coven mates who made the trek, including justjanus and his lovely wife! It was fabulous to see old friends mixing with new.

I was just exhausted at the end of the day, and actually not unhappy that it ended early. I was soaked to the skin, and tired from walking around all day. I think next year we should only schedule it until 6:00. We're having a meeting on Wednesday to go over it and get suggestions/feedback for next year.

Thank the gods that we don't have another event until PPD in October! And that one's already pretty much set; we have our guests, and who's doing the ritual, already arranged. So it's just the little details that need to be ironed out.

Today I am dragging, of course. I am very thankful that this isn't the week I had to go to the weekly sales meeting! It went until 10:30. Poor Tom! It's kind of chilly in here, but that's what's keeping me awake so I guess it's not all bad. I'm planning on being in bed extra early tonight!

The weatherman says cooler, dryer weather is on the way. Yay!