ramius_rathorne came to visit me and lostsatyr last weekend. I had a wonderful time - especially since we also got to see roisnoir, who was in town as well, on Friday. It was so nice to be able to all reminisce and catch up together, especially since we haven't all been together in years. It was just like old times - my only regret is that it didn't last longer.

...to tokonomo!

And a belated happy birthday to im_a_woman!

We have a new hot water tank and a new dryer. Life is good.

Today, I was able to take a shower and do my laundry here for the first time in almost a week. What a relief! I'm very grateful to my parents for letting me use their shower and laundry facilities, but I'm also very happy not to have to go anywhere just to take a shower or wash clothes.

We are in Pennsylvania, staying about 1/2 hour from the PA Faire. We passed by the Faire site on the way to having dinner and saw a great many RVs. Must have been the performers, we think.

It was quite evident on the way here that the local farmers are using natural fertilizer in their corn fields - we could smell it!

Fifteen minutes to Dollhouse.

Tomorrow, Renn Faire!

lostsatyr and I are off to the PA Renn Faire tomorrow. We're currently in the midst of last-minute trip prep.

Will catch up on LJ after we get back.

...the bonusparts!

Hope it's a great one!

(With apologies to Colin Clive)

So, the Thinkpad A21M I thought was dead?

It turns out that it was just the memory that was bad. So now I have a working laptop (with a big display) again. This is most welcome!

...to lostsatyr! Lots of love from me and the furbabies, sweetie!

Sunday, we packed up the car, checked out of the hotel, and got to Faire in time to see the Royals arrive - yay!

We followed the Royal Agenda (basically, caught all the appearances of the royal court) that day, and I had a great time watching the day's story unfold. I got a number of good pictures of the Human Chess Match (Princess Mary versus Princess Elizabeth), and enjoyed the double entendres in the dialogue (Princess Mary's advisor: "Perhaps you should rely on the clergy." Princess Mary: "I always do." :)

We also got to see The Interpreters - a singing/comedy act. Great fun, especially for a great deal of more double-enterdre lines. *giggles* They sang quite nicely, too.

We saw "The Tudor Top Five" (top five diseases, that is). The midwife and simplest (i.e., dispenser of herbal medicines - or "simples," hence the name) of the village gave a presentation about the top five diseases of Tudor times and how they were treated. lostsatyr got picked to be the plague victim. :)

I *did* pick up another lightweight Faire skirt, as well as a tunic like lostsatyr's. They weren't cheap, but since I reasoned that I'd probably pay about as much in a regular, mundane clothing store for similar stuff (or for fabric, etc., if I decided to make it myself), it works out. Besides, this way I will have clean garb for both days at Maryland Faire, and need not fear heat exhaustion or having to find a place to do laundry wherever we happen to be staying during our visit to the Faire.

That evening, we returned to bonusparts's and S's, where we gave them our "host gifts" - some pretty potholders I found, and some pirate-themed mugs. They were very well-received - S even had tea in one of the mugs that evening! We also got some catnip for bonusparts's kitties. After last year, bonusparts made certain to put the kitties' present away right away - apparently a good idea, as they started playing with the paper from the bag I'd put it in for the trip back! :)

Monday morning, we bid goodbye to bonusparts and S, packed up the car, and headed back to Buffalo. We made good time, so lostsatyr and I got to stop and browse the Borders in Rochester before we had dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant in Henrietta and then wended our way home, where the kitties were very glad to see us. :)

We didn't get to the Faire early enough to see the Royal Arrival (poop) but we did get to see Shakespeare's Skum (always a delight) doing "Leave It To Hamlet" (Hamlet crossed with a certain 1950s sitcom) and a really nice performance of Don Quixote, Book 1.

We also did quite a bit of browsing the various merchants at the Faire. I now have a leather cel phone carrier like lostsatyr's (only mine has a unicorn instead of a wolf); another shoulder puppet (a sitting faerie cat with magnets in its feet so it can ride on the metal strip I put on my shoulder); a leather mug with ravens (to replace the unicorn one I lost today *pouts*); some honey and a book on mead-making from The Bee Folks; and some lighter-weight Faire garb after I nearly suffocated from the heat & humidity in my "normal" Faire clothes (which were designed more for cooler climes; this was also the first year we've done Maryland Faire this early in the season). There are also a number of things I'm thinking of going back and getting tomorrow (like the forest green lightweight Faire skirt I saw at the same place I picked up the aforementioned lighter-weight garb).

I took a number of nice pictures of the performance of Don Quixote - the actors were very good and did a wonderful job.

Tomorrow, I want to get there early enough to be able to follow the royal court around - especially since both Princess Mary Tudor and Princess Elizabeth are putting in an appearance. I think this is the first time since lostsatyr and I started coming to the Faire that we've seen Princess Elizabeth make an appearance....

We are in Maryland now, and will head for the Faire tomorrow.

Since we got in to MD much too early to check into the hotel, we drove to New Carrollton and took the Metrorail into Washington D.C. We had lunch in Chinatown, then went to the Smithsonian to visit the Museum of the American Indian and the National Air and Space Museum. Both of them were very interesting, and lostsatyr got some cool pictures.

By the time we got done with the museums, we were more than ready to have supper, so we took the Metro back to New Carrollton and then drove to Annapolis to check into the hotel and have supper at California Tortilla. The counterperson at the restaurant was very nice.

Tomorrow, it's off to Maryland Renn Faire!

lostsatyr and I are off to the Maryland Renn Faire tomorrow (with a stop in PA to visit bonusparts and S on the way there and back).

I'll catch up with LJ after I get back.

As I was leaving the library this afternoon, I got hit on by a drunk who wanted to know if I spoke Chinese. Or Korean.

While I was walking away, he was, like, "Aw, c'mon! You know what I want!"

Ewwww....

Can I has brain bleach now?

I had a great weekend.

On Saturday, lostsatyr and I spent the day at the Sterling Renaissance Festival with im_a_woman, tarbis, and ambrose_rinaldo.

I had a lovely time - we saw a neat show (Johnny Fox, the sword swallower), looked at many pretty and interesting things (some of which came home with us), and ate some very good food. I also got to wear the leather corset I got at I-Con, and discovered that it looks very nice with my Faire outfit. :)

I found a new bag for my netbook - it's green, with a design of one of the medieval Unicorn Tapestries on the front flap. It has enough room for the netbook plus all its accessories, and it looks so pretty.

I also got some rose-scented soap (handmade!) and body lotion. It smelled so lovely that I couldn't resist.

I got to make something pretty, too - there was a booth where you could hammer designs into thin sheets of copper or aluminum with a rubber mallet. I had fun making mine - it's a unicorn on the left, and a design of oak leaves and acorns on the right.

The day was even more fun because we got to spend it with friends - I only wish we'd all been able to travel together, because it wasn't quite as much fun having just lostsatyr to talk to on the way there and back. Don't get me wrong - he's great, but I don't get the chance to talk to im_a_woman as much anymore, and I miss that. Maybe next time we can get together and think about all pitching in to rent something bigger for the day...:)

On Sunday, lostsatyr and I went out to see Star Trek at the second-run theatre. It was actually pretty entertaining - I enjoyed it. The day was topped off by going out to the buffet at Moti Mahal (always a winner with us).

What a wonderful weekend - I only wish it could have lasted a little longer.

...to Kerrigan!

Mommy loves you very much, little girl!

This evening, as lostsatyr and I were coming home from work, we turned onto our street to see two fire trucks right in front of the house next door. As we approached our house, a firefighter directed us away from the house - "We're just finishing up a house fire."

It turns out the house next door to us had had a fire. By the time we got here, the excitement was pretty much over, but we did see the firefighters knocking out part of the attic. Right now, the neighbors' deck is covered with debris.

What's going to happen to the house remains to be seen, I guess. I wonder if another rent-to-own outfit will take it over and remodel it, like they did this one. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see....

ETA: Apparently another fire just broke out in the attic next door. lostsatyr took a peek and says someone wentr up with a fire extinguisher.

So, this morning the husband went downstairs to feed the kitties and found this.

My boy is a clever little dickens, especially where food is concerned. I'm wondering if he may have had help this time, though - Ms. Kerrigan was the first of our fuzzy-butts to figure out how to get the lids off of things (containers of Pounce, as I recall), so either she helped get the lid off or Mr. Ari's since picked up her trick.

lostsatyr is less than pleased about losing snacks to the cats, but part of me does find this amusing nonetheless.

At least they don't like chocolate - which keeps my preferred goodies safe. :)

...to both meridius and rokkandy!

Feeling better - I can actually hear out of the left ear again. Still on antibiotics, though.

Decongestant and antibiotics are my friends. :)

I am very much looking forward to having the day off tomorrow.

In other random news, I turned another year older on the 21st. lostsatyr took me out for ice cream that evening and some very tasty Japanese on the 22nd to celebrate.

Thanks to lostsatyr and bonusparts and S for the lovely birthday gifts, and to everyone, online and off, who wished me a happy b'day. It really made my day.

Since Mr. Ari and I share a birthday (at least, as near as we can figure), lostsatyr and I got him a present today - it's a heated kitty blanket (fake fur on the outside, lined with a material that reflects his body heat on the inside). He seems to like it - he took a nap on it this afternoon.

On a totally unrelated subject, while I love my Netbook a great deal, I sometimes miss having a laptop with a full-size keyboard and display to post to LJ on. Oh, well....

I seem to have not gotten over whatever it was that hit me a little over a week ago (and that I thought I was over). I've got a sore throat, I'm really congested, and I had some really nasty ear pain over the weekend.

So I'm staying home today and going to the doctor in the afternoon. Hopefully, they should be able to figure out what this is and get me back up to par.