So okay, I didn't make it to Kingdom Crusades. This was part of ballistabob's and mine plans for giving each other a break. By that I mean that most of our weekends are occupied with family matters or SCA events, leaving us little or no time for anything else. And you know? Sometimes you need a little bit of "Me" time, where you can stay home and do laundry, go shopping, work on projects, or simply veg in front of the tv.

The month of October has shapen to be incredibly busy, with no "free" weekends. Therefore, we decided to take turns so the other can do things at home or do something non-SCA related at least for one weekend.

For instance, I am going to University and my sweetie will stay home and take that day as his own. On the other hand, Crusades was my honey's "Boys Day Out" while I made it a "Girls Day Out" with greta_k and reasdream, and headed up to the Waterford Fair.

War of the Wings, we are attending together. After all, the couple who fights together stays together and, what's a little blood among friends?.

Needless to say, we had a blast. I had never attended the Waterford Fair before so everything was new to me. The Civil War reenactors are very cool to watch, and the merchanting was fabulous.

rheabecc and I both brought our cameras, she her Canon Powershot, and I my little Kodak. As things went, I regretted not bringing my Canon myself. Opportunities for cool shots were everywhere and I would have liked to have the better camera handy. However, since I did not know that before leaving home, all I could think of was to bring my little sub-compact, just in case.

Nevertheless, I did manage some very cool shots. Here is my favorite:



I also took some pictures of turned wood implements, since we have a certain someone who has taken an interest in that, as well as some other cool stuff. The rest of the pics can be found here.

But the crowning moment of the day trip was when I discovered the booth of Susan Parris, Dollmaker Extraordinaire. This awesome lady is also a reenactor (non-SCA), and her dolls are absolute works of art. I asked for permission to take a couple of pictures, since I cannot afford her art. She laughed, told me that she can't afford it either, and gave me permision to post the pics to my LJ and my Community Webshots online album.

Here is a sample of what she does:



In the end, I discovered that although I cannot afford her art, I can afford one of her workshops, where she teaches you about the art of making dolls. She has group, private, and semi-private classes. She said that she doesn't have a group workshop planned any time soon, but that I can schedule a private one any time after December.

I think I'll do that.

And if you want to know more about what she does, here is the link to her website.

Enjoy!