jaelie | Irish Festival and such... (Reply)

Irish Festival was great fun. My parents came to my house that morning to car-pool down and so we loaded up the hound and headed out. We got there early enough to get a good parking place up close, too. I'll remember every year to get there just after 10am. Parking was perfect.

So the night before we bought our tickets at Tom Thumb, so we just walked right in, no line waiting. I think I'll do that from now on, too. After we picked up a program, then we plotted out some of the bands we wanted to watch, although we never made it for any of the plays. We got distracted by friends. I think next year I'll try for a play.

So, lessee. We spent a majority of the festival with my parents, and my sister and brother-in-law and of course the Lex. Much fun was had and some good quality time was spent with family. I love my family. They're awesome. ^_^ We watched two bands with specific intent - Paracelt for the parents and Gallus for Matt because one of Matt's co-workers is in the band. We also sat on the grass and enjoyed the warm sun while listening to two bands playing on the Shannon stage. I think one of the bands on the Shannon stage was Jiggernaut, and they were quite good.

Dave, Lex and Matt took naps. It was really just that beautiful outside. Clear, clear day with a cool breeze. Simply beautiful. Matt got his picture taken by a Japanese tourist, heh. Matt was using the hound as a pillow and looked quite cute.

During the course of the festival, we saw lots of our friends. It's always fun to see friends at the festival. ^_^ I also saw friend that I hadn't seen in a while, so we visited for a good half-hour, swapping stories and generally catching up on lost time. Hopefully he took my offer of watching his kiddos seriously and I'll see him again soon. ^_^ His kids are awesome.

Two hound tales and one Lex tale:

The hound finally met a dog that was WAY bigger than him. We always go to the dog part and hang out a bit with the greyhound people. I think the two greyhound adoption organizations are not on the best of terms, but I'm not interested in group politics. I'm interested in hounds. We also visited with the Irish Wolfhound people, too. So Taltos met his first Irish Wolfhound. It was a big male wolfhound (over 150 pounds and probably 34 inches at the shoulder), very friendly and just sniffed Taltos, but Taltos was so overwhelmed, he just stood there, very, very still and let the wolfhound greet him. Heh. Taltos is used to being top dog and taller than everyone else. I mean, he's 31 inches at the shoulder and 97 pounds. Not small. Heck, he's even met a few Great Danes and wasn't intimidated. But this wolfhound was big. Gentle, yes. But BIG. Heh. Poor poochy.

Then this other tale just irritates me to think of it. I was at a booth checking out some jewelry or something. I had the hound on a short, tight leash but he wasn't straining against it. He's very good on a leash. But while I was looking, I suddenly felt the leash go taut, so I look over and see some woman with her siamese CAT on a leash very, very close to us. EEK! The hound didn't growl or bark (miraculously), but was very, very interested in the cat, with his ears up and leaning against the pressure of his leash. And that poor cat was puffed up as fuzzy as it could get, but flattened against the floor as if it wanted to sink into the concrete and disappear. It was terrified. The owner of the cat continued on her way nonchalantly, as if nothing happened and her cat was coping with the environment just fine. I watched as she walked away. The cat was so freaked out it hugged the booths and tried to hide from table to table. Ugh. That woman has traumatized her cat for life.

So, on to happier things: the Lex story! Heh. Annie and Dave sold the kid to the homeless. Ok, not really. Mom and Dad took him, so he rode home with us. While at our house, Lex saw a Star Wars RPG book on our coffee table and said, over and over, "Look! Bader!" Heh. Yay, Lex!

Sunday, Dave & Annie came over to check out our heater, which is broken again. /sigh. Good thing the cold season is just about done. I did get to spend more quality time with the sister, though, so I have no complaints.

So, that was my weekend!

In other news, with more information later, we're going to Thailand this year! Whee! So! If any of my sewing friends can give me specific information on what types (weaves?) of silk fabric that are period correct for for either Victorian or Regency, I would be very, very grateful! :D