It's over. Another one down in the books. The 20th Hoggetowne Medieval Faire is now over. Whew.
It rained Thursday evening. All night long, and into the early morning. Friday was supposed to be "Kids Day" at the faire, but the weather forced the coordinators to close it down. The kids were upset, but it was probably for the best. It had stopped raining, but the site does not drain all that fast. The roads between the booths were not exactly flooded, but well watered.... and gooshy. Saturday's weather was better and Sunday better than that, so the fairgrounds had a chance to dry out a bit, though it was still fairly muddy.
I am of mixed minds about the faire. I suppose from the part of the public that it is an exciting venture. And, to a point, it is. There are the shows, the merchants, the games, and exhibits and rides... and the people... But I put on funny costumes and armor for a hobby, so I do this sort of thing year round, and the "glamour" is somewhat lost.... And I am working the faire, so it is not such a "fun" time, as it is "busy" time. We have to start planning months in advance, coordinating, scheduling, purchasing supplies, setting up, yada, yada, yada. It is a lot of work for two little weekends... Mind you, I am in no way, shape, or form taking credit for all the work. Not hardly. I have good people in the Barony, and they did the great majority of the footwork. I merely sat back and nudged every now and then. It seems that my biggest task at the faire, self appointed, is wandering about checking on all "my people". I don't tell them I'm checking on them, but just wander up, make a bit of small talk, and make sure they are all doing all right. The biggest worry is making sure that they take care of themselves. A lot of them will work all day long, and skip lunch, and generally not take care of themselves. Like I said, good people. You just have to remind them, sometimes, that they need a break...
The best, and worst, part of the faire is the people. My favorite activity at the faire is people watching. Some people's interpretation of "things medieval" is quite interesting. Granted, the majority of my garb is quite simple, and I like it like that, and have no problem with "best attempt", but these folks.... wow.
There was the "disco knight", though he was last year, and didn't show up this time... A young man had acquired a barrel helm, covered it with little squares of mirrors, and wore it about proudly. He was definitely one of my all time favorites.
Then there is the various and sundry elves, wenches, pirates, vampires and fairies. There is "Animal Pelt Man"... A large gentleman who wears an outfit of dead animals. Lots of 'em. We have "Purple Rayon Wizard". There were "gypsies". And goths. And many combinations therein.
There was the "Viking". This tall gentleman wore a large, plastic Viking hat, complete with long, sweeping, plastic horns. He was also adorned in an African robe, and wore armor. Foam. Armor. The best part was when he was dissed by Jake, our 6 year old authenticity maven. Jake looked up the gentleman, pointed to the hat and said, "They didn't DO that!!"
Oh, and "The Hat". Saw her from behind, and immediately noticed the large, poofy hat. Was quite humorous. Until she turned around. The hat was forgotten! She wore a bustier that was, apparently, designed not by a seamstress, but by an architect... This thing supported her ample bosom, and I do mean ample, rather well. To describe the phenomenon, let's step into the wayback machine and rewind a couple of months to the holidays past. The description of a certain man in red's belly comes to mind, as it shook like a "bowlful of jelly".... I was shocked and appalled. I was informed later that she caught me looking and misinterpretted my "ohmygawd" as a look of interest, and proceded to bend over the counter of the merchant whose wares she was perusing. I missed this, as I was frantically looking absolutely anywhere else....
Then, there was "the Lady in Red". Rabid Attack Sheep and I were walking along when we came up behind this.... outfit. Firstly, she was not a small woman. Let's just get that out of the way. I am hardly svelte, myself, so don't judge, but it is important to get the whole picture. She wore a bright red corsette. One about 8 sizes too small. There was an 8 inch gap in the back, and her flesh was fighting to escape between the lacing. I say flesh, as she wore nothing else in between. Just the corsette. Around her waist was one of those short, gauzy, ragged, fairie type skirts, in an even brighter red. And nothing else. It was frightening. We were aghast. Literally stricken speachless. We were in mid-conversation, and just stopped... When we could articulate more than "gaaaaaah", the topic of the original conversation was lost. Wow. That's the best I can come up with. Wow.
The weekend itself was nice. Sheeps came up to visit, again, which always makes me happy. There was a moment of doubt that she'd be able to make it, as it was raining quite hard in SheepyTowne, and the Sheep Pen was getting close to being flooded, but things worked out and she made it safe and sound.
Just as a side note, a friend's husband made a comment to her. He was working the faire, and I stopped by to say hello. He mentioned to wife later that we'd chatted, and that I was happier than he'd ever seen, and wanted to know who it was that was making me so happy. Knew it was a companion, somehow. I think that's amusing. True, but amusing.
The house was full, again, but not as bad as last weekend. It was a bit uncomfortable at times, but the good company made up for it, and the laughs just coming. There were several "Brokeback Squire" moments, the futon incident, which involved four blondes, me, and a white belt.... No further comment.... Then we got to break in four "virgins" to the Saints. That would be "Boondock Saints". Great movie. Rather violent. Quite bloody. Abusive language flows throughout. But still a great movie.
All told, it was hectic, tiring, wearisome, and body bruising. But fun.
