Event Overview: July 2009

Santa Cruz: Santa Cruz Renaissance Festival, June 20, 2009

Santa Cruz Faire was great. At first I thought we were going to be bored. It was so tiny...when I realized how cool it was (temperature wise) and that we were free to dance dance dance, then I realized that it shows considerable promise. :)

I think there may have been a total of 15 vendors (I think I’m being generous), and four guilds. We were placed in the ‘over flow area’ and were pretty much by ourselves (with the auction booth across from us, and the barbeque pit to the side of us). We fired the treb about 12 times over the day (possibly more) and we were able to dance five separate occasions. We learned some ‘new’ dances and practiced a few older ones. We even had Wil join us for two of them. Yay!

Robin and Gavin joined us for the day, which was nice. I think everyone had a good time. I really enjoyed getting Kieran to snarf beer out of his nose. That was hecka funny!

If you weren’t able to join us, you were missed, if you were there, thank you!

Here are some photos graciously provided by Wil: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildabeast71/sets/72157620605919282/

School: Alder Creek Middle School, June 5, 2009

Once again we were fortunate enough to participate in the Alder Creek Middle School Event in Truckee, with our lovely host, Dame Charlotte (aka Sandy Horn, aka Lady Jean).

The school was fantastic. We did get a surprise morning of, however...the choir person was a no show and we needed to teach a couple of 1/2 hour dance classes instead. Okay, no big deal...we thought. We didn't have any music but figured we could make due. It wouldn't be the first time. Turns out it was 4 dance classes of 40+ students each...a bit more daunting that we had supposed. By the end of the day Don Juan and I had it worked out and things were running fairly smooth. I've vowed to put discs of the music in both vehicles so we won't be caught unawares again. :)

Livermore: May 18 & 19, 2009

Like Grace, I couldn't resist... :)

Okay, now that I'm looking at the photos I remember a bit more. We had a huge open field behind us, so were able to fire as often as we liked...and we liked a lot!

Grace, thanks for the photos, by the way!

All I remember of Livermore is that it was hot. Reports range from 102 degrees to 106 degrees. I don't care...all I remember is that it was hot! We had a breeze part of the time, but no shade, except what we provided ourselves. We were also 'lucky' enough (said tongue in cheek...it was a mixed blessing, actually...we love Mike & Christy, but the forge was rather warm) to be set up next to the Village Blacksmith [http://www.poundiron.com/]. One of our stakes broke, and Mike was nice enough to fix it for us, even though he's not doing that sort of stuff any more. It was definitely convenient to have the blacksmith next door. :)

School: San Lorenzo Middle School, May 8, 2009

Don Juan attended the school event as the sole representing member. Here are some photos that he took while he was there...the children are amazing!

Tulare: April 25 & 26, 2009

For some reason my notes are lacking on this one. It was nice, the weather wasn't too hot, we were set up across from the Dauntless (remotely), and we had people. :) If you have something to share, please post it in the comments. :) Thanks!

Here's a link to some photos that Wil was so gracious as to share with us:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildabeast71/sets/72157617494130868/

Sonora: March 14 & 15, 2009

Sonora went really well. Once again we didn’t get to dance as much as we’d like. Saturday we had a lack of bodies. Sunday was just so busy. Where the heck did all the time go? We’ve got a great new gig with the Dauntless. We were shooting cabbage at them and they returned fire (with black powder). I really liked the effect the cabbage had when it would ‘unravel’ itself in the air and shower in the trajectory. The queen thoroughly enjoyed firing at the Dauntless twice. The bomb they sent over on Saturday was quite fun, too.

We had Castlewood guest with us. They got themselves in with the faire board, but needed a place to ‘crash’. I don’t know what I think about the experience, honestly. It was nice to have a full encampment, as there were only five of us present, but having them there was a bit stressful for me. I didn’t feel like I could ask them do things, because they aren’t part of our guild. We need to come up with guidelines for future guests.

Once again Killian’s armor display filled out the encampment and really added to our overall presentation, as did his chainmail work. Thank you, Killian!

Saturday evening we had a ‘taco feed’ at our trailer. Jim & Tina of New Sterling Arms and my friends Grace and Brian joined us. Jim & Tina thanked us for being the only guild that didn’t vent to them on Saturday. ;) They said politics are running high in all of the guilds, so we were refreshing.

Saturday during the day Dame Brittah came by and sat with us while the guard were playing games in the field. We had a few St. A’s folks stop by to chat briefly. Sunday the queen & her entourage stopped in, fired upon the pirates across the way and then traveled on their way. We had Liam MacLaidlaw stop in for a brief respite as well. We were well visited and constantly in motion. I truly do not know where all the time went!