madshutterbug | Entries tagged with hoggetowne

Stolen from a response to

fatfred because I am a blob of semi-animated goo this morning...

This weekend bigger crowds than last weekend. Yesterday (as expected) the crowd thinned drastically around 16:30 - 17:00 with crowd bailing to get home in time for Superbowl. Herself says the receipts show we made money, not huge, and nearly all of it this w/e rather than 1st.

University payday was Friday.

My friend S who is a blacksmith/knifemaker sold a big-ticket knife. On Sticky Dollar Day! To one of the school group chaperons, not a kid. To put this into perspective for folks that don't know S' work, his big-ticket knives run from the middle to the high end of the three-digit listings.

Tons of the puppets about (as seen on shoulder in icon); I think their sales were fairly good. Crowd was purchasing enough to keep people going, but odd things.

And of course the food venders did brisk business.

Bad news: the falconer lost a bird when it landed/perched on a power transformer by the field.
ETA: In part because so far the comments all reach out to the falconer (which is good, read on), this falconer has been a part of Hoggetowne Medieval Faire for at least 10 years if I recall correctly. She is very active in predator/raptor bird rescue/rehabilitation, and a number of the birds in her 'show' don't fly, but are along because they are in rehab after injuries. These birds change over the years, as they finish rehab and are returned to the wild. None of those birds are handled by anyone other than herself or her group, that is the general public doesn't get to touch, only look.

The falcon was one of hers, and its absence was noted by many of us who take part in the Faire the day it happened. She also takes part in the 'Royal Procession' usually carrying this bird on her wrist as the 'Royal Falconer'. She still took part in the processions (contractual agreements), but with a different bird. Most of us did not witness the event itself; when you are taking part in the Faire, even as independent vendor, you're working and don't often get to watch the different shows, unless they take place at one of the stages set about the grounds and which are opposite your own booth.

When the news came out, we (the Faire participants) did put something together for her to help out.

Firesmith news, yes there are photographs. They will show you what life at a Faire is like when one is working the Faire rather than attending. As in, what happened going past our booth. No, they are not here yet. See Sentence #1, this post.

Current Mood: exanimate
Current Location: Hospital
Current Music: clacking of keyboards

Last weekend first update. Sticky Dollar Day went OK for Herself, a few sales but about as expected. The rain overnight did make things wet, not as wet as we've ever seen the site by a long shot though. During the day on Friday, with both of us gone, one of the goatmommas died. Not sure why. We've snatched her kids and are bottle-feeding.

This meant I needed to get that done as well as the usual round before heading in to Faire. They did OK. Made it to site by 11:00.

meb21 stopped by the booth to meet face-to-face for the first time and visit a bit. Fun visit, always like meeting the folks from LJ when possible. Plus, it proved very interesting to catch a clue about how big a draw this event became over the 22 or 23 years it's been running. I've lost count. It brings people in who are willing to drive 2 - 4 hours for a day.

More feeding to do this morning, then off to Faire. There's a couple other items on the list with feeding, prepping for tomorrow and a forecast of rain and shelter for the goatmommas. It's also Sunday, and our experience with Sundays and Faire is that the crowd won't begin growing until shortly after noon, even though Gate opens at 10:00.

Still, off to work now.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: teh Ranch
Current Music: Old MacDonald Had a Farm

I've lost track of the number. This faire started some time back. Every year except last year, Herself has been involved. Last year there came a major conflict with her involvement in the SCA, so she skipped the Faire because their contract requires attendance at both weekends. This year, she's baaa-aaack. *G*

So I've got Ranch Watch this morning, which includes not only the Herd of 6 (who are being weaned, it's time, but that contributes to the next part) also two brand new kids from yesterday who we are watching to make sure their dame is nursing them. Both kids are doelings, and Herself wants those doelings!

So. Off to Feed the Multitudes, then clean up, then dress in funny clothes (for the 21st Century, at least) and off to Faire.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: Ranch
Current Music: Takin' Care of Business

This weekend is the start of the 22nd Annual Hoggetowne Medieval Faire here in Hoggetowne. For the past six years, I've been going and helping Herself as well as other friends with their booths. So I'm a Rennie, in that sense. Herself participated in all 21 of the previous Hoggetowne Faires, and I can add into them the first 3 Faires as well.

This year, we're not 'doing' the Faire. The City Cultural and Nature Operations won't take contracts from vendors for only one weekend of the Faire. It's do the whole thing, which includes what we vendors like to call Sticky Dollar Friday (where all the local school children come for half-price as field-trips from school, and received its name because they buy all the sugar foods but little else and all their dollars get coated with that sugar), or do not come. Since Herself committed previously to an SCA event which is next weekend, before the dates were finalised, she's not vending at Hoggetowne.

So today, we went and played Tourist. We paid for admission. Well, OK, previous years we paid for the vendor booth space, but we also made that money back so it's always been at least break-even. I've only been a Tourist once before at Hoggetowne, when I went with Herself's father, one brother, his wife, and their daughter our oldest niece (she was still an infant then, so 16 years ago). We waited in the Looooong line to pay for admission, then wandered through the Faire. And had fun.

Amongst things we did that we've not done as Rennies:

Watch the horse show; the 'Knights on Horseback' doing their thing. They keep announcing it as jousting, but the joust is foot combat.

Even more fun for me, I got the chance to visit with

dedoc at the SCA Fencer's exhibit. Got to play with a couple of his toys and with him. Oh, my, yes,

betnoir, he is indeed one eeeevil fellow *G* who reminded me that while my brain remembers much, my body is lagging behind and squeeking loudly of rusty joints. However, much fun still.

Then we headed home, fed the bottle kids, and the horses, and the Bros, and now it's time to feed us.

Nighty night.

Current Mood: happy

There is so little joy in Leezardville this morning...

I've been nice, not rubbing it in. Much. Truly, not much. But there is so little joy in Leezardville. It is helping make the first day back at work rather... pleasant.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: Teh Hospital

I'm talking about Sticky Dollar Day at Hoggetowne Medieval Faire, actually, though we also survived the heavy weather. Most of the worst of that passed further south and east of us. Some of the tent/pavilions at the Fairgrounds didn't fare so well, including the one belonging to our friends S & K. They had a backup, though.

As for Sticky Dollar Day, That's not what the City's Cultural and Nature Operations department calls it. They call it Kid's Day or some such, and nearly all the schools in the North Central Baja Jorja area, definitely those in the county's surrounding Alachua County, send their kids on Field Trips to the Faire. Since the City charges admission even for them, it's a big day for the City.

However, despite the contract clause that requires Merchants to be present on Sticky Dollar Day, most of us don't sell a lot. Skippy did 'the usual' as far as sales go; a few small ones and one big one. The jewelery booth did not sell so much, but did a couple. Herself made some sales, more than she'd expected which surprised her a bit.

One more measure of this year differing from previous years, though, is how many of the children came by the Midsummer Knight's Dream booth to look at the puppets. Even without sales, and stipulating that during the big shows most of the people will be down there so the booths experience lulls, the puppets usually stack them in three-deep in ranks surrounding the display.

Not so much this year. One rank surrounding, yes. Once, even two deep. No more than that.

So. Up early again. Out to feed the Ranch soon, then off to the Faire.

With the rain on Thursday, continuing on Friday, and heavy again early on Saturday morning... ( In Which Your Intrepid Narrator Reprises Some Scene's From Monty Python's Holy Grail )

Skippy brought Mini-Fred with her, and says she left Fred at home. Neither of us are convinced Fred didn't stow away though. That site provided a wonderful wet and squishy environment for otters, and both of us swear we heard Fred around and about. Like, on one of my trips out to Skippy's vehicle for her coat, passing a vendor who sold some ‘interesting' toys, I heard one of the booth workers saying something about manacles. The reply included "...have string for cats and duct tape for squirrels..." I looked, but didn't see Fred; sure did sound like him, though.

Current Mood: wet and muddy
Current Music: Mudslide Sam

It's the weekend, and it is also the first day of Hoggetowne Medieval Faire. Well, second day from the viewpoint of the Rennies, since yesterday was set-up. Either way, being Hoggetowne means Herself is on off down the road already, and I have the Ranch Watch. So shortly, I'll be off and out to feed the critters and take census.

The census is necessary because Solly, the two-year-old bull, has taken to crossing fences. What this means is, he's likely to become beef in short order, and even possibly short-order beef. We don't need an animal that large that's disregarding boundaries. I wouldn't mind so much if he were coming over into the house compound exclusively, but at least twice he's been out on the road. This is bad enough, but it's aggravated by the fact that there is a fairly good sized group of people who've moved into the 'neighborhood' further up the road (and it's essentially a dead-end road, so access is past our place) who came out of the city and seem to think that's still where they are as far as driving is concerned. Which means if they exceed the posted speed limit (designated by the County because of both children and livestock that live along the road) and still hit a cow that's out on the road because they didn't see it in time, they're not at fault.

Once feeding and census is done, I'll need to pack up the shopping list and head into town for household supplies. I may well be able to swing by the Faire on that trip, and I'll be able to get in through the Participant's Gate. On the other hand, I'm debating whether or not I care to bring along garb.

Current Mood: Just here

Profile

madshutterbug

Mad Shutter-bug's Deviant Art

May 2020

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

Syndicate

Style Credit

Base style: Nouveau Oleanders by branchandroot
Theme: Ultraviolet by dancing_serpent
Resources: OpenClipart

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated May. 24th, 2025 01:31 pm

Close Meditations of a Visual Kind

Refractions of a Photographer

Entries tagged with hoggetowne

Faire Report

Hoggetowne Faire

Hoggetowne Faire

(no subject)

Oh...

Survived

It Ain't Hoggetowne without Anniequen!

Hoggetowne