Been a long time, been a long time
Jeebus, the counter tells me it's been five (5) weeks since I posted. And life continues to blow past like a semi on the Beltway.
...So, what has been going on? Well, faire ended, and graced us with one of the most spectacular final weekends we've had in a long time. There was drama, questions, issues, tears and laughter ....faire, all over again! Looking back, I can tell you that (on the face of things) I like the new owner - he asks for opinions and listens to them, and appears to be working to make our summer home a better place to be. I've also heard -via the Rennie Rumor Mill(tm) that there are plans for much deeper pockets to convince acts to come back next year and beyond. *crosses fingers and hopes*
The booth could've had a better season - although Her Majesty certainly did everything in her power to keep things interesting. We started a 'bell war' three seasons ago - when every time you turn around the Queen is standing behind you, somebody is bound to compare her stealth to a cat and remark that ‘She oughta have to wear a bell’ …unfortunately, you guessed it, she was standing there. So she began leaving bells for us, or catching us unawares and leaning in to whisper in peoples’ ears “ding, ding” …and watching the chaos as we dove into a bow. So we belled her. With a 4’ long string of sleigh bells. That we pinned to one of her picadills on the back of her gown, while a handy courtier distracted her. Watching her confusion as the jingling followed her was wonderful, as was the giggle and grin when she figured it out. The bellings continued at random intervals over the next two years, but this summer they stepped up, and included repeated attempts to filch the original string (which we keep in the booth as a trophy of sorts) that usually involved Her Majesty coming in to the booth to challenge a courtier. Then we came in to open 4th weekend, and found both entrances to the booth spider-webbed with brown yarn …with small brass bells tied on to every intersection of string with little purple ribbons. The war was on again, and our retaliation was planned. Final weekend we made our preparations and prior to opening on the last day we struck …and Her Majesty’s Carriage rang with every bump in the road. Bells in the suspension, bells under the seat, and bells on the wheel spokes - we had our revenge. I can’t even imagine what’s in store for next summer!
Immediately following tear-down the Monday after close, we went home, unloaded faire stuph, reloaded vacation stuph, and fell into a coma for a few hours. (lies. Actually I lay in bed for 90 minutes, decided that I wasn’t going to sleep regardless, and loaded my wife into the car.) We were officially on our way to the first vacation since our honeymoon at 10:45 pm Monday. Who makes that kind of decision?
So how was the vacation? It was superlative. We spent 5 days in the Outer Banks, in a massive house with 20 other people. We were (and I am not kidding here) 150 yards from the Atlantic, and about the same distance from Pamlico Sound. There was boogie boarding, kayaking, snorkeling, and much, much lazing on the beach (along with side trips to light houses and ice cream stands). The locals told us that it was the best weather they had seen all summer - mid 80’s with low humidity and clear azure skies. Pictures are here: http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/stonehenge1121/Vacation%2008/.
We ate fresh seafood, and faboo Carolina BBQ from a roadside diner. And most of all, we unwound. Even with an 11 hour drive to get there, it was relaxing (ok, the fact that my best friend Steve greeted me with a cold beer before I even got the car into park helped). Even with the drive home taking almost 17 hours (we made a few stops …Roanoke was pretty cool) it was relaxing. And Kate & I got Steve to sing again. Mingulay, Blackbird, Long Black Veil, Moss Covered Logs …faire songs, Sinatra, Stray Cats - it was a blast to sing with him again, and to share in entertaining our group with him.
Work, since coming back has been work-ish. My orientee is ok, but seems to regress every week she spends with her other preceptor (my day-shift counterpart who is a friend, but a lousy teacher apparently). I dunno, maybe I’m expecting too much, but when I show you how to do something, and ask you (two weeks later) to demonstrate the task, I expect that you can. Apparently, day-shift is doing things for her rather than teaching her. Grrrr.
...So, what has been going on? Well, faire ended, and graced us with one of the most spectacular final weekends we've had in a long time. There was drama, questions, issues, tears and laughter ....faire, all over again! Looking back, I can tell you that (on the face of things) I like the new owner - he asks for opinions and listens to them, and appears to be working to make our summer home a better place to be. I've also heard -via the Rennie Rumor Mill(tm) that there are plans for much deeper pockets to convince acts to come back next year and beyond. *crosses fingers and hopes*
The booth could've had a better season - although Her Majesty certainly did everything in her power to keep things interesting. We started a 'bell war' three seasons ago - when every time you turn around the Queen is standing behind you, somebody is bound to compare her stealth to a cat and remark that ‘She oughta have to wear a bell’ …unfortunately, you guessed it, she was standing there. So she began leaving bells for us, or catching us unawares and leaning in to whisper in peoples’ ears “ding, ding” …and watching the chaos as we dove into a bow. So we belled her. With a 4’ long string of sleigh bells. That we pinned to one of her picadills on the back of her gown, while a handy courtier distracted her. Watching her confusion as the jingling followed her was wonderful, as was the giggle and grin when she figured it out. The bellings continued at random intervals over the next two years, but this summer they stepped up, and included repeated attempts to filch the original string (which we keep in the booth as a trophy of sorts) that usually involved Her Majesty coming in to the booth to challenge a courtier. Then we came in to open 4th weekend, and found both entrances to the booth spider-webbed with brown yarn …with small brass bells tied on to every intersection of string with little purple ribbons. The war was on again, and our retaliation was planned. Final weekend we made our preparations and prior to opening on the last day we struck …and Her Majesty’s Carriage rang with every bump in the road. Bells in the suspension, bells under the seat, and bells on the wheel spokes - we had our revenge. I can’t even imagine what’s in store for next summer!
Immediately following tear-down the Monday after close, we went home, unloaded faire stuph, reloaded vacation stuph, and fell into a coma for a few hours. (lies. Actually I lay in bed for 90 minutes, decided that I wasn’t going to sleep regardless, and loaded my wife into the car.) We were officially on our way to the first vacation since our honeymoon at 10:45 pm Monday. Who makes that kind of decision?
So how was the vacation? It was superlative. We spent 5 days in the Outer Banks, in a massive house with 20 other people. We were (and I am not kidding here) 150 yards from the Atlantic, and about the same distance from Pamlico Sound. There was boogie boarding, kayaking, snorkeling, and much, much lazing on the beach (along with side trips to light houses and ice cream stands). The locals told us that it was the best weather they had seen all summer - mid 80’s with low humidity and clear azure skies. Pictures are here: http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/stonehenge1121/Vacation%2008/.
We ate fresh seafood, and faboo Carolina BBQ from a roadside diner. And most of all, we unwound. Even with an 11 hour drive to get there, it was relaxing (ok, the fact that my best friend Steve greeted me with a cold beer before I even got the car into park helped). Even with the drive home taking almost 17 hours (we made a few stops …Roanoke was pretty cool) it was relaxing. And Kate & I got Steve to sing again. Mingulay, Blackbird, Long Black Veil, Moss Covered Logs …faire songs, Sinatra, Stray Cats - it was a blast to sing with him again, and to share in entertaining our group with him.
Work, since coming back has been work-ish. My orientee is ok, but seems to regress every week she spends with her other preceptor (my day-shift counterpart who is a friend, but a lousy teacher apparently). I dunno, maybe I’m expecting too much, but when I show you how to do something, and ask you (two weeks later) to demonstrate the task, I expect that you can. Apparently, day-shift is doing things for her rather than teaching her. Grrrr.