A Sadness At The Renaissance Festival

Back in 2012 the  Renaissance Festival had cleared out a new section for exhibits.  In that new section were some unbelievably awesome old trees. The trees were listed as being between 270 – 300 years old.  People were forming lines to take pictures of their kids with these trees, me included.  They were sooo awesome.

This year I noticed that there were many booths right along the tree line and I remembered the trees and went looking for them and their plaques.  What I found was disturbing and sad.

This poor old tree is damaged. Say ‘hi!’ to Saver (5’2″)  Remember this?  Here is what it looks like now –

Just the bottom half of the tree is left.

Oooold tree.  – Only now it looks like this –

Cut down and used as a decoration.

We had to get in line to get this picture and Spider Bait moaned, groaned, and bitched through the whole thing. Mooooommmmm!!!!!  – And now this –

This tree is still alive, but no plaque, large branches are missing, and they have a sign hung on it.

I was so depressed over the fate of these trees.  They were so beautiful back in 2012.  I was told by a tree trimmer that removing all the trees around old trees can cause problems for the old trees because the trees around them offer protection from the elements.  It’s just sad.

Renaissance Festival 2015

No summer is complete without a trip to the Renfest.  We love the atmosphere, the shows, the people and the shops.  With Saver of Bugs back at home, it was a true family event.

This year will have fewer pictures of the shows in order to show you some of the other things that promote the atmosphere. Feel free to search ‘Renfest’ to see pictures from past years. Enjoy!

Look at all those cars. There were a few people there that weekend. And there’s another hill you can’t see in the photo!

This is one of our favorite stops.  There are glass canteens hanging in front there with some ornamental balls to the right. I have purchased one or two of the balls over the years.

Mad Maggie and her Dragon Richard roaming the grounds.  ‘Richard’ performs tricks.  Think of every groaner bone joke you can.  You know, like ‘boning up’ on your tricks? Groan.

A small play and rest area with shops down below.  Like Hedge Witch Apothecary which has a stunning array of organic herbal products and teas.  I could just stand there for hours breathing in the scents.

Skidmark, the Village Beggar, hamming it up for my picture.

Cast In Bronze, “The Carillon” another staple of our trips.

Me on the same convenient tree as last year. No, I’m not pregnant. The dress poofed when I sat down. Soooo attractive! 😀

Saver of Bugs, on the other hand, looks great!

Isabella, Cursed in Stone. I do not know how she can stand all day in that outfit! Not to mention, sweaty pig that I am, all the make-up would just run right off! How does she stay cool!?

Isn’t her costume just awesome!?

We, of course, had to try some medieval skills. See that arrow hanging off the side on the upper left? Yep, that’s me! 🙂

Zinnia, the Bubble Fairy. She wanders around making bubbles, large and small for the kids.  There is bubble juice in the metal cone.  She interacts without ever saying a word.  Her face is sooo expressive!

And while we were there, we had to shop!

Spider Bait added to his shot glass collection. The dragon’s head is the base when you stand it up to use the glass.

My flip phone is in there for perspective. Saver of Bugs got (clockwise) a tealight lantern which is red not orange (we couldn’t get the colors to photograph correctly), a bird whistle that works by putting water in it and then blowing, an agate geode that is thin enough on the back to let light in and make the insides glow reddish-brown, some pretty metal necklaces, a dumoriterite crystal, an emerald crystal with other things mixed in (she forgot to ask), and two polished agate necklaces. Quite a haul!

Clockwise – A fanny pack with multiple pockets (two zippered), a pewter fairy with crystals, a lepidolite crystal (it’s purple), a dumoriterite crystal above (blue), and to the left a sunstone crystal (orange and white), and a septarian sphere.  I didn’t do so bad myself. (I save up for this weekend every year 🙂 )

I can’t wait for next year!

The Renaissance Festival 2014

We hit the Renaissance Festival a couple of weekends ago.  Right after I spent a couple of days fighting a stomach bug.  So I wasn’t exactly running around like lightning.  Nor was I eating all kinds of stuff.  But I did eat some good things, drank a lot of liquids to keep hydrated (it was hot), and still had a wonderful time.  It took me this long to get through all the pictures.  Yes, you read that correctly.  This year I was not responsible for picture-taking.  See, I always forget something when I go on trips.  This year it was the camera.  I was sooo sad.  So my wonderful son gritted his teeth and offered to take pictures with his new fancy schmancy phone that Grandma got him.  And took pictures he did!  203 pictures to be exact.  Yikes!  I eventually whittled them down to 59.  No I won’t make you look at all of them!  I also had problems taking pictures of this year’s loot.  But that is going to be the next post.  Enjoy our trip to this year’s Renfest!

The upper level and some shops. It was early and not too crowded. But a couple of hours later it was packed!

That is a real married couple! They are now doing weddings at the Renfest!

The Klass Klowne! He is one of our favorite acts. That’s real fire and he’s standing on a board on a barrel!

That’s a pogo stick falling out of the picture. Do you see how high he is? And going over backwards!

Blowing fire! Can you imagine how bad that tastes?

The lower eating area. Popcorn on a stick and a couple of the locals!

The parade!

Belly dancer!

The Owlchemist Queen. Look at all those feathers! I wish he had gotten a picture of her face.  It was wonderful.  (She had to be roasting!)

Skidmark, the Village Beggar. You should see the ‘stuff’ in his little cart!

Yep, that’s me! The branch over my left shoulder is also the branch I’m sitting on! It made a nice seat!

It was raining while this was being played and the pictures didn’t come out. It makes wonderful music!

More awesome music! My son went and grabbed their CD so we could listen to them at home!

Flourish, an acrobat! Look at those muscles!

I loved this picture by one of the artists. Whose name I have forgotten. I should have written it down. *sigh*

At the end of the day on our way out we were treated to ‘Zinnia the Fairy’. Her outfit was wonderful. And, oh!, her wings!

And, of course, we had to treat ourselves to Cinnamon Almonds before we left!  In the next post I’ll show you all our loot! (Mostly mine! 😀 )

The Renaissance Festival 2013

Yep, my picture-taking skills are abysmal.  Again, I was having too much fun.  Just like last year, pictures were an after thought.  Even though I told the woman who does my hair (an absolute angel) that I would get some ’cause she wants to take her husband there!  And I didn’t get a single photo of my kids!!!  Or Saver’s S.O.!  Not that they cared. *sigh*  We also had my BFF with us and she’s very anti-photo.  Ah, well.  Here’s what I got:

Enter!

The top-level and shops.

Our favorite juggling guy. This kid is awesome!

Part of the lower level. Shopping central!

Have to have my turkey leg!

Music!

My favorite crystal shop.

And the wonderful man who has been selling them to me for years.

He has the most wonderful face!

My son, of course, HAD to buy another pointy thing.

It looks like this pulled apart.

And, of course, I must have my crystals. Top row, left to right, Dumoriterite, Rhyolite, and Serpentine. Next row, left to right, Amazonite, a Barite Desert Rose, and a crystal ‘Floater’ from a Geode. The long bottom crystal is Smokey Quartz.

This year I decided to try my luck with Geodes. This is one side of the Geode.

And this is the other side. The ‘Floater’ you saw above came from this Geode.

We did some more wandering and…

… of course, before we leave we have to treat ourselves to those seriously expensive, but wonderfully yummy, cinnamon almonds.

Another year at Renfest over with.  I’m planning for next year already!  (And I should make a list of pictures to take for a much better memory collection. *shakes head*)

Saaaaaaver…you should put in a picture of what you and your S.O. got as well!

Night All!

The Renaissance Festival 2012

I wish I could say I was this awesome photographer that gets all the right shots.  However…

I get distracted.  Taking pictures in the middle of having fun is an after thought.  So there are few pictures of the acts we watched.  And I didn’t get all the good shops either.  Like the crystal shop, and the weaponry shop, and the glass blower guy and…  Well, you get the idea.  And then, of course, there was all the moaning and groaning from the boys about mom stopping to take pictures for the ‘damn blog’.  Sigh.

There is never enough time to get everything done or see all the acts we want to see.  But we always have a really good time.  So here is a taste of the day at Renfest.

Enter! Usually there are more of the court on top calling out to the crowds below.

You have no idea how much time was spent in this shop when my son was younger. I have a container of wooden swords, daggers, an axe…

A lot of people like to dress up for Renfest. They have shops where you can buy or rent costumes.

This is the ‘upper’ portion of the grounds

Also an ‘upper’ portion. Think two sides of a square. We usually eat way in the back on this side.

We were extremely disappointed to get ripped off on this miniscule teriyaki chicken sandwich which cost as much as my turkey leg.

Have to have my turkey leg!

And, of course, before we leave we have to treat ourselves to those seriously expensive, but wonderfully yummy, cinnamon almonds.

This is down in the little valley in the middle of the grounds. Lots n lots of shops and nice shady trees. Parade time!

King and Queen representatives. *snort*

When we got down into the valley, we discovered that they had cleared more land and expanded.  When they started clearing, they found some big, big trees.  So they brought someone in to take a look at them.  They are estimated to be between 270 –  300 year old oak trees.  Wow!

Oooold tree.

This poor old tree is damaged. Say ‘hi!’ to Saver (5’2″)

We had to get in line to get this picture and Spider Bait moaned, groaned, and bitched through the whole thing. Mooooommmmm!!!!!

Entertainment! This kid was amazing. He is only 18 years old!

Saver got pulled into this act. An escape artist with seriously politically incorrect patter. We laughed our butts off. (Heeey, babyyyy!)

And, of course, we had to shop!

My son has gone from pointed wooden things…

to pointy metal things! Sword cane! Actually, I say dagger cane.  It now sits with his sword and knives.  We’re going to be able to start our own armory soon!

Mom got into the act this year. I have no idea why this knife appealed to me. I have a nice sturdy buck knife that has served me well, but this design caught my eye. And it was small and cheap!

A feather motif and Indian with feather headdress.

Now to get my stone out and sharpen it!

And no trip the Renfest is complete without a stop at the crystal shop. This year I felt the need for a fist size chunk of Sodalite.

Another view. The picture doesn’t show it well, but there are shiny grey metallic stripes. Could be pyrite or aluminum. I’ll write about its properties in my next post. Such a beautiful stone.

Saver, you should pile your goodies together and stick a picture of them in here.  She got some really pretty necklaces!

And that was our day at Renfest!  I can’t wait for next year to come around!