[Duncan]

Meg wrinkling her nose at me for taking the picture







This next one is for Laureen. (men in kilts)
Meg and I had a discussion about these so called "kilts" which may have ticked these folks off when they walked by.
Meg kept saying it was their version of a dress kilt and I said if they wanted to be wearing a skirt that was ok .... but donna be calling it a KILT!

[Duncan]

Non firing, the arm was sectioned into 4 pieces for easy transport I guess

[Duncan]

[Duncan]

[Duncan]

[AJR]

What exactly is a Ren Fair? Is it an American thing?

[Laureen]

Its a Renaissance Fair...people dress up in costume and revel in "history"...I use that term loosely as its mostly fantasy notions...usually there is a theme being played out by actors and the patrons become part of the play...there is also lots of vendor booths and food....one gets the sense of being in a medieval/ren market....the historical lines are usually very blurred...they have them in europe too, I think....or at least I thought I read that there were some when I was doing research...

[AJR]

Thanks for the enlightenment. It certainly looks a lot of fun.

[Duncan]

Most times it is fun.
A Ren Fair is also a place where the old crafts are displayed or it was here any way. This year it was a fizzle for crafts.
Many people wear costumes who are not players or volunteers and add pieces to them from the shops. You can rent costumes or order from the shops that too.

Meg found a pair of hair pins, think delicate needles with beads.
We walked into his pavilion and he said no he didn't have a matching pair of that color and description.
He looked through his entire stock which took a few minutes and he said again he didn't have a pair, she said please look again, he looked and found a pair. He was very shocked over the whole deal since he makes every thing he sells and swore up and down he didn't make a pair.

Theres the normal stuff like face painting and kids games.
They had stopped using the older children's game of the child riding a hobby horse on a rail pointed down hill carrying a broom handle to pluck a ring from a post.
Theres the adult games as well and its fun to watch them throw extremely dull knifes or use the bent bows and arrows.

Theres usually jousting but I suspect the heat kept them from it that day and the birds of pray were even sluggish in the hot and muggy air.
All incoming weapons no matter how dull were peace bonded which I think is a good idea.

The beer was kept to a respectable level this year and no drunks were to be found but one serous heat stroke victim went to hospital via ambulance and there was one fire near by which gave Meg a bad head ache.

I was surprised we were recognized by so many of the players and volunteers after not attending for several years. We tend to stay away from people as much as possible and I took the images after several hours of walking and after the crowds had started to thin.

[Gordon]

There was a medieval weekend in the Dalt Villa, or old town of Ibiza while we were there. It's the 15thc / 16thc fortified capital.
Saw wool spinning, weaving on looms, 'fancy dress', but most of it was unconvincingly medieval, for example a bicycle made from tree branches, complete with modern wheels, pedals & chain , pneumatic tyres and ghetto blaster in a bit of tree trunk!