Royal Ale Festival

I left for the faire midday Friday. I was a little concerned that it might rain, not that I don’t love rain, but my truck freaks out if it is even damp. Fortunately, it didn’t and I made it to my little shed/home safe and sound.

The evening was fairly uneventful until one of the other mermaids stopped by and brought a friend. We hung out and talked and skimmed through my “funny pictures” folder on my computer. After a little while, another one of their friends joined us. Jeneva (mermaid) had a curfew, so she and Nemer (friend one) left. Dakoda (friend two) decided to stay and talk. That was fine, except it got really late and then he very suddenly fell asleep /on my bed/.

I couldn’t bring myself to wake him up, so I ended up not sleeping that night. It isn’t that I thought he was going to try anything; I just couldn’t get my brain to shut off with someone I don’t know well in the room. There were a few times when I was not really awake, but I was not asleep either. It was not restful at all.

Finally, at about 6:30 a.m. I jiggled to bed enough that he woke up and got him to leave. I ended up sleeping for a solid hour and a half before I was woken up by the security lady and just stayed up after that.

(I was told by multiple people afterwards that if I am “too nice” or timid to ask someone to leave my house, to give them a call and they would do anything ranging from telling them to leave to actively throwing them out. Also, these are intimidating people that could follow through, so that gives me great piece of mind ^^ )

While getting ready that morning, I did the best makeup I have done so far. It was blended really well and was pretty even.

It was a nice morning. Not quite as cold as they had been the previous weekends.
We also got a new pond! It is quite small and is the farthest removed from people, but it makes for a great picture.

I was in the coffin for the first go and was chattier than I have ever been. It is fun. I was having trouble with straight gibberish, so I looked in a elven phrase book for some inspiration and now I speak a blend of mermish and elf.

I also saw an old classmate from college. He did not recognize me until I said his name (which is funny, because we had a lot of classes together) Anyway, it was nice to see him doing well (and being nice to me. He had gotten snippy and unkind before I stopped talking to him)

During the break I walked with Jeneva to the backstage of the “mini keep” (?) I believe she called it and I had a delicious fajita. I caught the very tail end of the rapier/dagger lesson and then ran back to the tent.

For the second time slot I was in the shell. Nathaniel (the first mate) was very nice and held my parasol for me when the sun was peaking between the trees for 30 minutes or so. We had a lot of really excitable adults this time around and I had one woman tell me that I photographed “exquisitely”. I thought that was very kind of her to say, though I cannot say I agree with her all the time

The second break was mostly spent wandering, though I did make a stop by the toy booth to buy a toroflux. It was a great purchase. It is fun for me and children as well as adults love watching it.

I was in the shell again for the last show. I was mobbed by a large group a Brownie and Junior age Girl Scouts as I was handing out shells. There was also another great interaction involving Nathaniel and a patron. The patron commented on my “bracelet” (the toroflux) and Nathaniel said how great it was and that he had not heard a peep out if me since I got it. The patron then “peeped” and I peeped back. Nathaniel glared at me and the patron burst out laughing.

That evening I had dinner with the Stonhenj group and it was so very yummy. I also got to talk to Allie (sp) for the first time since I picked mermaiding over being a lane performer.
That night reminded me how fortunate I am to be surrounded by such kind, loving, amazing people. Especially after Sir Marcus insisted that he walk me back to my home

I slept very well that night.

(Also, we had been told by one of the owners that the lagoon has a 95% approval rating !!!)

The next morning I woke up about an hour before the other girls were supposed to arrive. I went ahead and opened the door, then crawled back into bed. I was woken up by two of the girls crawling into bed with me “because it was cold” :c

Anyway, I was finished with my costume and makeup early, so I helped Kelci with hers, then she and I went to the morning meeting.

Afterwards, we headed back to the shed, finished prepping, and all met up at the tent.
For the first set of the day, I was in the shell. I tried standing on the “meat” of the oyster to attempt to get better footing and a more comfortable “tail putting on” position, but that did not turn out well when the person helping me into my costume tugged when I was not paying attention and I fell.

Apparently, being in the lagoon and hearing a *splash/thud* is really disconcerting. Everyone freaked out a little, but my only concern was that I may have broken my rings. (oh the joy of stone rings) For the record, I was told that I fall well. (something I have heard before, and it makes me oddly happy. Perhaps it will keep me from being injured in the future)

The gate opens, people start funneling towards me, and kids have the funniest things to say.

One group of little girls round the bend and shouted, “Look! She must be the queen mermaid! SHE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!”

(with as naively cruel and brutally honest as kids can be, you know when they gush about your appearance, they are telling the truth)

Another little girl provided one of the most adorable and magical moments I have been blessed to witness.

She walked up to me and softly said, “My sister told me that mermaids were not real. *pause* But I knew you were.”
(right in the feels)

I nearly squealed out loud and when I gave her a shell her eyes just lit up

The same little girl came back later with the aforementioned sister to show her the real mermaids.

I walked around with my sister on my break and introduced her to Oskar Hasselhoff. We got pictures and he told us stories and it was really nice.

I was in the shell for the second time slot.

It was a busy day, but good busy, not overwhelming busy.

Another group of children came through and I heard a little boy exclaim, “Okay, now /this one/ is the prettiest!” (I know that different people favor different mermaids, and I am certain the other girls get comments like this as well, but it is always nice to hear)

On a previous day, I had been introduced to a scribe and found that he made messages in bottles that look amazing for a good price. (which I do believe I mentioned before) Anyway, he came through the lagoon because he had hit upon an idea that he just had to make, and gave me a bottled message that says, “Don’t save me. Leave me with the mermaids.”

I also heard a lady comment to her companion, after taking a picture of me, that I look very “Victorian”.

On the second break I walked around with my sister again. We passed by the leprechaun and he called out to me and said I reminded him of someone, “Someone more wet”. (It is so strange, other performers recognize me like that *finger snap* even though my garb colors are so far removed from my mermaid colors.)

The third set was slow, as usual.

The 30 minutes we have to walk around before cannon was amusing and eventful. I ran in to Oskar and he told me about a great Harry Potter shirt he saw that said, “Yo’ momma is so fat, her patronus is a cake.”

Unfortunately, since we were all off getting our “thank you notes” we were not at the tent to prevent the tails from being taken to the shed before they were washed. It was a little tense and stressful, but we figured it out and cleaned them before Jen and I went to dinner with Jeneva and her family. The conversation and company was great.

We went to Chili’s. It was delicious.

Jen and I returned to the faire and I decided to stay another night. My plan was to sleep in and then wander around bizarre bazaar.

5:20 a.m. rolls around and I receive a phone call from Jen asking if I could please do her a favor and drive her to the airport.

I could not say no. I could not be the person that kept her from seeing her family. So I drove her to DFW.

I figured getting back would not be so bad, and even when I got a little lost, I knew generally where I was and I believed I would figure it out.

Then I realized that I was very, very lost and texted Rex in the hope that she could guide me back. She did, and I went to bizarre bazaar with Kelci. I was wearing my red mustache shirt and I got some compliments on it That was also when Kelci introduced me to Cody, a new acquaintance of hers.

The three of us went down to the falls, but Kelci had to split off, so she and I met up later to go swimming in our tails. (on the way to the falls, we stumbled upon a beautiful dog. It is chocolate colored and looks husky like, thought I am not sure if it is one. The intriguing thing about this particular dog, besides the fact that it is very beautiful and sweet, is that it is blind. It has no eyes. At all. But whenever you walk up, it looks directly at your face. It's ears and nose must be boosted by the lack of eyes. We also saw a snake swimming down the river and sliding over the falls. I also heard that if you are irritated at someone, plant a tree for Jesus. No one looks under a tree. >:3 ) Good times. Then the swimming. It was pretty awful, because (after the fact) we realized that the drain in my tail was over sealed turning my tail into a bucket of water dragging me to the depths. It was very difficult to keep my head above water. It was also very cold. Then I lost one of my stone rings :c I am extremely bummed that I lost it. It was strangely fun though, and I wouldn’t go back and change things, even if I could.

Tuesday, I slept in until Kelci got there and we went to lunch. I got some very good lasagna and the garlic bread at that place is fantastic. I believe it was “The Tuscan Slice”. (though I could be mistaken)

She and I returned to the faire and hung out at the falls for a while before she had to return to town for errands.

I spent the rest of the evening nerding out with my new friend Cody. (nerding is totally a word, I don’t care what my autocorrect says)

I ended up staying one more night, fully intending to pack of and leave early-ish Wednesday.

Well, I ended up lounging around for a while, and right before I was about to leave, Mel (the amazing security lady) stopped by and asked if I wanted to go to lunch with her. It was delicious.

We hung out for quite a while, and I rode with her when she took care of some stuff/people. It was an enjoyable visit.

Afterwards I stopped by the shop where Cody works/lives to pick up something he picked up for me when he went to Walmart and ended up sticking around for a while and going to get food with him.

Upon our return, we looked over most of the swords in the shop (most of which I knew how to hold properly) and found one that would look great with my garb (but that I shouldn’t get because I am broke and I don’t /need/ it)

Even though it was getting late, I made myself drive home because I wanted to see my family, I needed to replenish my food stores, and I refused to be “The French mermaid”.

Even though I stayed much longer than I had planned, it was a great week and I am excited to drive out again!