Viking Village

I have been a real slacker about posting. Summer laziness. That's my excuse for not writing.

Earlier on this summer Jess had asked me if I was interested in going with her to the Viking Village fest at the Hjemkost Center in Moorhead. I have always wanted to go see it but normally when I think about it, I am on my way to or from an event. Not the best time to stop. So when she asked I said yeah that sounds fun.

In the meantime, a pin on one of my viking brooches broke and that just a good excuse to order a new set from Raymond's, right?

We drove to Fargo early Saturday morning and made it to the center by noon. They have booths set up doing all sorts of viking crafts and selling things. Danr had his forge set up and of course there is fighting, people were dyeing, weaving, you name it. Jess and I settled in with Kol and Arbon at the welcome/show and tell table. We had a nice sewing circle in between visitors. It was a lovely day to be outside. Wandered around a bit and took pictures of the church. It makes me want to re-visit the one in Rapid.

The fair wrapped up at 6pm Saturday night. Volunteers were treated to salad, pizza and ice cream. Some people went to see Harry Potter and some were hanging out around the fire at site. I opted to stay at site but my energy crashed after sunset. Was only interested in going to sleep. Watched people play after dark boccie ball. Arbon has two sets that light up. A bit mind blowing if you are tipsy. Finally it was declared time to go to sleep and we headed off to Toramassa's for bed. We pretty much hit pillows shortly after getting in the door.

Sunday the village was open Noon to 4. Bayard had arranged to have a church service for the volunteers in the stavekirk. Bayard's brother ran the service and he talked about what it was like for the early Christians. Very nice.

Sunday afternoon was a little hotter than Saturday and I don't think they got as many people as they hoped. It was still nice to sit out and enjoy the weather. Things wrapped up at 4. Jess and I got our gear packed and headed off. All and all it was fun and a good time.

More pictures are on my flickr page.

Moorish Tavern

Go away for 4 days and everyone becomes Russian novelists! Sheeshh. Took forever to catch up on facebook and email but I think I am through it all. Still need to catch up on recorded tv.

I had a good trip with Tom and Heidi. We left Vermillion around 8 am on Thursday. Picked up Heidi in SF and didn't stop until Fargo for gas and lunch. The trip past Grand Forks was interesting. I had never been up that way before. We counted graineries. We made good time and got to site around 7. Checked in, dumped off stuff and went to Bottineau for supper. We stopped at the Pizza Inn for Mexican food. Its pretty good. I had a quesadilla that was about the size of a small pizza! It was at the restaurant where Heidi got two texts that Micheal Jackson was dead. Crazy that. We ate and headed back to site. We bummed around a bit, got our beds made and such. Sat around in the dorms. They have big cabin doors kind of like the ones at Gimli but no stairs and more beds. I found a bed that wasn't a bunk. Yay no bonking of heads. The bed was softer than I am used to so that was an adjustment and I am always concerned I am going to roll over and out of bed since i am used to my full size bed. We went to bed early since it had been a long old day and we had two days to visit with everyone.

Friday morning we got up and went into town for breakfast at the Family bakery. Its a nice homey place. I like it because they have fried potatoes!! I purchased some donuts on the way out. So miss the donut shop that used to be in Vermillion. Then we stopped the grocery and walmart for a few things. Headed back to site and I got in a shower and got garb on. Spent most of the day in the dining hall hanging out with people and knitting a bit. Trying to think what else I did but mostly sit around. Late afternoon got talking to Tiff about Seneschal stuff. She is our regional seneschal. She was thinking of convincing the Bismark group to put in a bid to host spring crown. She asked if I would come along for support. Sure why not and besides nice to go visit. Anyway after the discussion was over, I hung out and got delicious brownies and ice cream that they made with dry ice. During this it started to rain. Hung out there for a bit and then when it finally stopped went back up to the dining hall and Kol arrived. By then, Heidi and Tom wanted to go to dinner so we all went down the road a bit to one of the lake restaurants. It was okay. No great shakes but food good. Went back and hung about in the dining hall.

Saturday was super lazy and laid in bed for a long time. Ate donuts that never got around to eating. Still good so you know the bakery is kick ass. Got dressed and up. Hung out more in the feast hall with peeps. Handed over one of my hats for the silent auction. Figured it was for a good cause. Saturday we basically hung out, watched it rain, and hung out some more. Got to see Robin's staples. Wow ouchies. Feast was very tasty. Much good food. After feast we hung out, drinking and telling of old stories.

Sunday drive home was uneventful. We had breakfast at the Family Bakery and then stopped in Grand Forks for a bit of a rest. Dropped Heidi off and got back to Verm about 8.

This week should be short. Today I have off to recover from my trip and I have Friday off due to the fourth. Yay for 3 day weeks!