Well I figured before the forward momentum of this new weekend took over, that I would post about last weekend, so as to try and keep current. Between Facebook and Myspace and Tribe and Deviant Art and blogging, I feel like I own too much online realestate and need a management company to keep up with it all while I am out having fun ;-) Actually I hadn't been on Myspace before, or had only really lurked, and now that I am on there I have been sucked into that vortex.... but I digress, last weekends tales are waiting patiently to be told... Well Kaileigh and I spent a quiet evening home on the friday night, as we both were going to have to get up fairly early in the morning. Originally, the plan was that Kaileigh would come with me to work, and go out with her dad later, but it turns out that his car was in the shop so we needed to coordinate with her grandmother instead (called Memere), and earlier on Saturday was easier for her to pick her up, so Kaileigh escaped from having to go to work with me. Though on this particular Saturday, it probably would have been a fun event, I work as an activities coordinator at an assisted living facility, and also work in the marketing department, and for our outing on this particular weekend I was taking my residents to a Native American Pow Wow that is held every year in Bedford on the grounds of hte Bedford VA hospital. The only glitch, this happen to be the one day that my friend Lisa, who co-owns Seams Like a Dream at King Richard's Faire would have comp tickets for me, so while I was happy to take the residents to the pow wow, I was kind of distracted while there as I was anxious to get on the road to Carver for the Faire and meet up with my friends there. But the pow wow was wonderful, some of the residents even went into the circle during a time to honor veterans, one of the women was "Rosie the Riveter", another woman was one of the WAVES, and a third resident was also a veteran, but not sure what branch of service he was in. There was some wonderful dancing in the circle, and some amazing vendors, including one named Patsy whom I would love to try and locate.. I was going to go back early on Sunday morning to pick up some hair braid lacings from her, as I didn't have cash on me and she didn't accept cards, but by Sunday morning I was running late to get to Andover for the Eastern MA Pagan Pride Project, so I never did make it back, if anyone happens to know how to get in touch with Patsy, please contact me at katie@lennonstudio.com :-) So it really was a nice time, and in ordinary circumstances I would have been happy to stay longer, but the residents had a wonderful time, and had the chance to enjoy the circle, eat some food and check out the vendors... Next was King Richard's Faire, I drove straight from work to there, and it took about an hour, my friend Michael (Reuladair) and his son Noah were there when I arrived, and shortly afterwards we were joined by Sadie, Andy and Dan.... but more will be revealed a little later on...

Well, I figured I better finish up writing about that weekend, as I have another whole week and a half to catch up on since then! So where did I leave you, faithful reader? Well Joseph and I were set dancing to the whimsical tunes of Lunasa.. after which Joseph decided to go back to his booth to relieve Athonwy, whom I promptly kidnapped to come with me to see Solas, after getting some free coffee, as I was starting to need some caffeine boostage... Well Solas was incredible, new singer and all, and I danced my heart out the entire time... what an enchanting evening it was dancing in the light of the full moon with kindred spirits.. amazing! Well eventually Nancy and Joseph both made their way over and we were all dancing and having a lovely time until the very last strains of the last Solas song. After which we all journeyed back to the hotel where all the musicians and such were staying, and there were sessions in the lounge and the lobby and the hallway... and just about everywhere. I had the opportunity to do a bit more dancing, though it turns out I must have danced a little bit too much, as one of the soles of my boots developed a crack across the entire sole, and this is rubber that was about an inch and a half thick! If anyone knows of a good cobbler, let me know, as I am loath to let these boots go, I originally purchased them to keep my feet toasty for Samhain a few years ago, and I have worn them faithfully ever since. So the evening wore on into the morning, and I knew I should be heading home, I had to sell my art at the South Eastern MA Pagan Pride Day the following morning in Lakeville, and I was supposed to get there for 8am, and here is was 2 am and I was no where near home and my car wasn't even packed yet! But my feeling was I would rather be up having wonderful experiences and pay for it the next day than to miss out and be home sleeping. And what experiences there were to be had, I had the great fortune to meet Aoife Clancy, and Luka Bloom, and even Brian O'Donovan himself, from a Celtic Sojourn noticed and commented on my dancing. But eventually I really couldn't fight off the sleep any longer, and I made my way home around 3:30 AM, and had to awaken the later that same morning in only a few scant hours to shower and pack up my car and head off to Lakeville for the South Eastern MA Pagan Pride Day So there I am driving to Lakeville, and it is down-pouring, and I am thinking that I am really tired and that if it is pouring like this when I get there I am calling it quits, as I would be setting up my tent for the first time ever, and it would be pouring rain, and all my artwork would get totally soaked and destroyed. So I was on the phone back and forth with my friend Debi who was vending as well, and my tribe-mate Reuladair, to see what their status was, and they were on the road a little bit ahead of me, so I kept checking in to see what weather was doing. It was a little bit lighter rain when I got there, but not by much. So I went over to the check in booth and was pleasantly surprised to find that the vendor coordinator had decided to put me and another artist inside so we wouldn't get our artwork ruined. So I drove around and started to load in all my stuff inside. Also setting up inside were Kevin and Heather from Pentacle Press, who also put together the event Celebrate Samhain in New Hampshire, this was my first time meeting them, and they were lovely to share the space with, and had a great booth. Next to them was the author Trish Telesco so I was fortunate to get to see some of her workshops. Two of the musical acts came inside to avoid the weather The Harper and the Minstrel that was very soothing, and then of course I loved dancing to the lovely sound of the Gypsy Nomads while being the Pied Piper for little girls, though I wasn't piping, just dancing, so I guess I would be the Pied Dancer, but it doesn't sound quite right ;-) The other artist arrived and his name was Golden True, and it was interesting talking art with him, he is learning to use his art for clairvoyance... I think I will have to hear more about that...

So, last weekend was absolutely amazing and incredible, it took me a while to take it all in enough to be able to process all of what happened! Saturday had a wonderful start as I had the great pleasure to meet my friend Barbara's littlest new wonder named Madeline, who has the best disposition and a wonderful warm smile and sparkly spirit... such a joy, and her little Tommy was such a charmer. Next up on the festivities, after a wonderful visit with my sister, whom I had not caught up with in far too long, and then off to the ICONs Irish fest where I met up with another Madeleine, a woman that I work with. I was enjoying some Irish Step dance demos and loving these amazing Irish Wolf Hounds when she called to say she had arrived at the festival. I asked her what she liked to do, and she said shop, so off we went to explore the vendors. We passed by many booths, and the first one I said I want to go in and check out, wouldn't you know that my good friend Athonwy, whom I met it Eugene, Oregon at Faerieworlds, was helping out the vendor there. What a treat to get to see this amazing soul again, and wonderful to meet his booth mates, Joseph Keane of Celtic Revival and Nancy who was also there helping out. Well a pleasure it was to meet this merry band, and what times we had later on that evening... But, the shopping continued, and I ended up spending all of my cash on books about Irish Folklore and Mythology, which I was very excited to find, except for the fact that now I had these books to lug around (though they did let me keep them at the booth for a time) and now all my cash was gone, and if I had one complaint, it would be those f*#$ing ATM machines at the site were awful and never could read my card, I ended up leaving the festival later just to get some cash! Well Madeleine and I went and had an amazing time listening to the Clancy Legacy, with Robbie O'Connell. Madeleine was particularly pleased as she had gone on a tour of Ireland with Robbie, and he played one of the songs she had been hoping to hear. A wonderful set indeed. After that, I bid Madeleine goodbye, as she was done for the evening, and heading home. I took my leave to be able to put the books in my car and head out to get some food and some cash... So I quickly returned to the Festival and met up with Athonwy, and Joseph Keane took me to see his amazing Ancient Landscapes exhibit while he looked through to see what "tree" I was, because much like the every birthday has an astrological sign, every one has a tree it is associated with in the Irish tradition. Turns out my tree was the reed, and it seemed very fitting, what it said, but I will have to do more research on that as it is something I know nothing about just yet, I do know that right now we are in the time of the Vine, and I have vines trained to climb up my spiral stairs out my door... but that is neither here nor there. So Joseph and I wandered off in the moonlight sampling bits of music here and there, and what a wonderful and intoxicating time it was. I did set dancing for the very first time, and we danced our hearts out in the field by the Compass Point Stage while Lunasa played their set. I must say, I thought I was in fairly decent shape, but man, that set dancing is fast and I found myself getting very winded, I will need to practice more... well the evenings festivities will continue in my next installment, I am still recovering from the late nights this past week and right now I am exhausted!!!

well this one is going to be short and sweet as I am totally exhausted and need to get some sleep! so I listed some artist trading cards on ebay, they are the size of baseball cards and are both original, one of a kind pieces, one is Halloween Pumpkins done in ink and colored pencils and the other is called Dew Drop Faery Bath and is an original oil painting and if you just want to check on what I am selling from time to time you can follow this link http://myworld.ebay.com/katiekat74/ I hope to get more up and running soon, but of course there are only so many hours in the day!

The Faeries The faeries, they won't let me sleep They rouse me from my world of dreams To dance and frolic, dart and leap In worlds where nothing is as it seems In the wee hours of the night While all the world is sleeping They share with me their heart's delight To guard it for safekeeping It is in honor that they share With me things best kept hidden and dance through nights without a care and do what I have bidden But there is a price for what they do Long gone my nights of slumber The visit me the long night through In glazes of burnt umber Sometimes they bid me paint their faces Sometimes to scribe their tales Capturing their subtle graces and their lamenting wails I do cherish our convocation Grateful for muses spark and the subsequent conflagration Illuminating the dark -Katie Lennon September 17, 2008 3:37 am