Friday

It was a difficult day at the job. I had been working on an utterly pointless document for days and I actually got it done. Now I have to worry about the next such task I will be given.

I mention this because by Friday at 2:30, when it was time to head out for colgaffneyis gig at the Des Moines Ren Faire, I was in a really foul mood. I left and picked up another Clann member who needed a ride (mia_mcdavid and James were going down in our other car. The journey down did not start well: A little before the Elko exit my passenger remembered something she really had to do back in Minneapolis. Decidedly annoying, but no help for it. We turned back. On the way I decided I really ought to take care of a problem with the car that I should have done days ago. My screw-up was forgetting to have a slow leak in one of the tires patched; I had just been pumping it up as needed. So we attended to my passenger’s problem, then went to the Mobil station at Washington and 35W to have my tire patched. It was about 5 so we had a cheap dinner while the work was being done. About 5:45 we were back on the road.

Despite the delay I actually felt better by now. Getting the tire fixed was the right thing to do. And since I had delayed us because of the tire, it was difficult to be mad at Ann for her errand. Having dinner also helped. Off to the south…a slow push through Minneapolis and the nearby suburbs on 35W, then making good time through southern Minnesota. My driving perspective has grown: I once thought going to Northfield was a big deal. Now I plan day trips to Albert Lea.

However, Des Moines is a long way off–the Iowa border (just beyond Albert Lea) is still short of the half way point. There was intermittent rain and the sky was just plain dreary until moonrise. Via cell phone I had heard mia_mcdavid‘s account of her adventures and the hassle of starting to set up camp. She also gave me corrected directions to the Fair Site. We got to colgaffneyis camp a little after 10 and joined in the setup work. Mia and I went to bed about 12:30. I think I had the best night’s sleep I had ever had on a camping trip.

Saturday

There was some hassle finding stuff in the morning. The previous evening we had unloaded in the dark, while tired from travel. So we did not always remember where we had put things. But we had a good breakfast and everything eventually turned up.

The day went well. We had been concerned about our location, but we had lots of patrons walking through all day long. There was, as usual, a lot of interest in our weapons and armor, and I did my part in explaining that to the public. mia_mcdavid,rillaspins, and bullettheblue were doing fiber arts (mostly spinning) and usually had a crowd around them.

I set up my portable shaving horse near our tent. I had scrambled to finish it Thursday evening and had given it any kind of test. It worked, but was quite wobbly, and I had to make several adjustments using whatever tools and supplies I had on hand. This was actually fun in and of itself. I soon had it working well and happily making shavings with my drawknife. I rescued an interesting stick from the firewood pile and started to make it into a cane. To my surprise and delight a lot of patrons wandered by and asked about what I was doing. Apparently I now have a successful demo. Next event (Big Island) I will bring more tools–a scorp, gouges, and hopefully a wooden spokeshave.

Sunday

As Mia wrote, it rained through Saturday night and all day Sunday. We did not have many patrons that day, and there was mud everywhere. However, starting the fire gave a great boost to morale, and everybody coped well with the day. We had a great group from colgaffneyis with us for the weekend, including also twolodge, mairi2, and backseatgaffer.

We got the corporate and personal gear packed in the late afternoon and headed out in a convoy. We did not want anybody left beyond and stuck in the mud. Mia and I, with our small cars, really appreciated this. In fact, we got off the site without trouble and once we had pavement under our tires we could breathe easily. There was a lot of rain while we drove north through Iowa, but very little after we crossed the Minnesota border. I dropped Ann off at her apartment in Minneapolis and got home a little after 11. Mia and James were already there.

Monday

I took Monday as a vacation day–we had a lot to unpack and sort out. We had something like 70 square yards of wet tent canvas and about 50 square yards of wet plaid wool. I draped the plaids over furniture in the family room and some of the less busy parts of the upstairs. The canvas is now hanging from the garage rafters. There were a couple loads of other laundry for the washing machine and several pairs of soaked muddy shoes. Mia plans to brush those off after they dry (whenever that may be).

I had tried to protect my tools from the rain and mud, but with only limited success. Everything is now laid out on my workbench. There is a lot of grime and surface rust to remove, but they should be OK. Our rugs, and a couple significant pieces of leather for projects got thoroughly soaked. They are also laid out to dry, and all we can do is wait. Coping with all this took most of the morning and early afternoon. After that I was wiped out and got very lttle done during the rest of the day.

Despite everything, I feel good about the trip. We gave the patrons a good show on Saturday and coped well with adversity on Sunday. Don’t know if colgaffneyis will be doing this show next year. Des Moines is a long road trip for a weekend. A lot will depend on when and how much we get paid (In this respect we really are like mercenaries).