Monday, May 9, 2011

Five For the Fair

Friday was a big day. Some months ago we learned that a new set of friends enjoyed going to Renaissance Fairs, whereupon my husband and I admitted that we, too, attended when we could. So we made plans to load up together and drive to the local Ren Fair this month. Unfortunately, the house and yard projects started stacking up -- like they do most years when we plan on going to the fair. So we approached our friends and asked if they would rather help us save the pennies. They agreed, and so my husband and I hosted our own Ren Faire at our house. We didn't get to watch the falconry shows or the jousts, but we also missed the muddy, smelly bathrooms and the ill-fitting costumes that some women insist on wearing.

We did not miss out on the food. The point of the fair is the food, after all. We managed to find those enormous turkey legs, wrapped them in foil and baked them until the juices dripped. Aaaah... Chili cheese fries, bratwurst with sauerkraut steamed for hours in bacon grease completed the main feast. Then we changed out of o
ur hot and very uncomfortable costumes (amazing how they shrink as one eats), and hiked down to our creek, where we had a beach set up. Our friends have an adorable little girl named Piper. She worked up her courage and splashed in that creek for hours, ice cold though that water is. In the meantime, her parents and we broke out the bottle of chilled, spiced mead. Aaaah (again) ...

Then dessert started calling us. So we eventually returned to the house and made chocolate fried pies and funnel cakes piled with powdered sugar. Ah, gluttony!

Henna tattoos (yes, I love to give henna tattoos) and an evening by a fire pit finished off the day. Nothing went wrong. It was a perfect day. One of those rare memories that will warm the heart for a long time to come.

Other high points:
* Catching a tadpole and feeling its skin
* Piper's Kool-aid moustache
* Petting bunnies with long black ears
* My husband in a kilt
* Photographs to commemorate. Piper's mother happens to be a professional photographer who has an eye for capturing the moment:


4 comments:

Stephanie Thornton said...

Wow! It sounds like a great time--the food sounds uber tasty!

It's been a long time since I've felt tadpoles--I honestly don't remember what they feel like. Rubbery?

Great photo!

Court Ellyn said...

LOL - well, I likened the feel of the tadpole to a wiggly lump of slime. I believe "loogie" was my exact term. Not that I've ever held a loogie, but there you go. Wiggly slime. Delightful. :D

Cara said...

Sounds like a great time had by all! I think you could somehow weave that photo into a cover for a book!!! hehehe I love it!!!

B.T. Hoskins said...

I love Henna tattoos. I can remember sitting around in class back in high school letting people draw on my hands just because I liked them so much.