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October 13 | October 20 

October 13, 2007   Another beautiful day at the fair. Lord Garrett has been working so hard for the past several months that he has scarcely had a chance to breath. We made an extra effort to get out of the house on this weekend and enjoy the day.   We had planned on arriving to see the King open the gates. But alas with a tired bunch from the night before we barely managed getting up on time to get to the fair at all. One of these days we're going to mark the opening day festivities and record them for our memories in years to come.   On this day we managed to arrive at what seems to be our usual time. Lunch! This time we decided to take our meal near Boar's Head Tavern. Which just happens to be Lord Garrett's favorite place to fill up his beer horn. What was special about this visit was the stage show we were blessed to see. A band of merry making men with strings in hand and songs in their heart. They coaxed many in the crowd to dance and sing along as they waited in line for a pint of beer, ale or stout.   Sir Aidan enjoyed bobbing his head to the beat and laughing at the crowd as they tried to follow directions given by the motley crew of musicians. Of course I think the main reason Lord Garrett favors this pub is the wenchly maiden who enjoy's filling his horn to the brim. Good thing he's loyal and trustworthy. ;-) It was soon time to begin our walk around the village. And as usual we paid our respects to the Wood Butchery and our friends Alice and Alan. Across the way Sir Aidan saw the perfect place to acquire his brand of tattoo. It seems he's given up on the Henna tattoos and has moved on to face painting now. He carefully scanned the board of optional pictures until he discovered the right one for him on this day.   Something about the dolphin caught the little pirate's eye and that was that. He is so good about sitting still and letting them work their magic. As she pushed his head this way and that to get a better angle on his face, he merely complied and waited to see the result. The gentle lady artist put in a few extra touches to make the dolphin blend in with his black and gold attire. And what a wonderful job she did too.   We made our way around the village and came upon a stage of comedy at the Royal Stage. "Puke and Snot" (seriously, that's the name of their act) as it turns out is one of the longest running and most successful acts in the history of renaissance festivals. Intense wit, flashy sword fights, and organic vegetables all play in their repartee'. Their comedy owes as much to Abbott and Costello as it does to Avon’s Bard. They are hilarious and even though their act is a little over the top for a young pirate, Sir Aidan still found a lot to laugh at during their performance.   It wonderfully amusing to see people watch him, especially when he moves. Most little kids just want to pet him. But a few just want to look at him up close. It's even more amusing when adults try to figure out if the wooden creature on your shoulder is alive or not. Egads! October 20, 2007   The last weekend of the faire and what a beautiful day it is. The drought has created a lot of stress and strife in our part of the country, but one thing it has also brought with it; some very gorgeous days of summer and fall.   We took in a show or two today. Unfortunately we can't remember the name of the first musicians we saw. But they were very good and quite funny. It's somewhat humorous to hear a modern day rock song played on ancient German and Celtic instruments. And that's why they don't take requests from the audience. Heehee.   We made our way to the Wood Butchery to see our friends Lady Alice and Lord Alan. Upon our arrival Sir Aidan quickly jumped into the beautiful 'tree' chair that sits in the corner of the shop. It's a great place to capture a picture of our little ham. And yes, he is still a big ham when it comes to pictures! And yes there was an elderly lady who also had to have a shot of him in his pirate regalia. ..again..the little ham obliged.   We ended up at the Pirate pub. The musicians playing at the pub were exceptionally talented. The Rogues it seems have a rather large following that appears to be made up entirely of women. I'm sure it's primarily because the Rogues play in kilts and there's nothing like a man in a kilt! As evident by my own Scot in his kilt. Oolala.   Course it could be because their lead singer is a rather handsome creature too. Isn't always the drummer who gets the girls? Don't get too excited girls, he's engaged. Then again it could just be that at the pirate pub everyone seems a little raucous, rowdy and very friendly. As any pirate pub should be!   Oh and what a crowd of pirates there be in this pub. Skulls and cross bones, eye patches and steel hooks, Pirates and wenches galore! Arg matey it's sea of black and red dancing to the drums and drinking in festive merriment.   Now where else would any respected Scot get a refill for his handsome beer horn, I ask you? There's a skill to drinking from a horn ya know. Really there is. Drink from it the wrong way and you'll be wearing your drink!   We were off again touring a few lanes we haven't visited this year. We were actually on a mission to discover a few tiny bottles that we could fill with muster seeds and hang on the bikes. Yes mixing Harley's and Renfaires is possible. ;-) Ancient wives tales tell us that mustard seed can be used for protection. So Sir Garrett got the idea of hanging a small talisman of seed from the handles on the bikes to protect us as we ride. Thus we're on a mission.   As luck would have it, we came upon anothe stage of merriment and once again The Rogues were gracing the stage. It was kind of amusing to see the same throng of females that followed them from the Pirate Pub to this theater stage.   This time several young children jumped upon the small patio to the right of the stage and began to dance. It took very little encouragement to get Sir Aidan up there to join them. Nor did it take long for him to find a girl, or two to dance with. I missed the shot of him taking the hand of the blonde and dancing in circles with her. But we were able to get a little video of dancing moves on stage.   But alas it was soon time to depart and head down the road back to our humble abode. The day and the season came to an end. But there's always next year to grace this festive little village. Well, of course there's still the Carolina Renfaire to attend this year.   Be The well until the morrow when we meet again.