Niagra Celtic Festival 2010

CJ and I went with my parents and some friends to the Niagra Celtic Festival today. I'd never gone before. I saw signs for it last year, but kept forgetting about it and never ended up going. So when I first saw signs for it this year, I made a point to put it on our calander. Plus I ended up becoming a fan of it on Facebook, so that helped me to remember as well!

CJ and I both have some Celtic blood (Scottish, Irish, English, and I have some Welsh)...and we love pretty much all things Celtic (music, art, etc). CJ wore a kilt for our wedding, and wears it every year to the Renaissance Faire (which you may already know if you've been reading my blog for awhile).

He wore his kilt today as well, but in a more casual, modern style with a long sleeved T-shirt and sneakers. We've never been to the festival before, so I didn't know what would be appropriate to wear...whether wearing our Ren Faire outfits would be over the top. I found out that it would have been entirely appropriate. There were people in full costume everywhere, not just the vendors and re-enactment people. I'm definitely wearing my dress & corset next year! (I only live 20 minutes from the Festival, so I could have driven home and changed if I had REALLY wanted to).

CJ's clan, Clan Sinclair, was represented at the "Clan Row". It was one of 14 clans represented there today. The people at the booth seemed very excited to meet another member of the Sinclairs and were telling us all sorts of history and stuff about the clan. They seemed like big heritage and family history buffs. They took our picture and said we may be in their next newsletter.

This T-shirt shows the family crest and motto: "Commit Thy Work To God". A very good motto, I think. The only way it could be better is if you substituted "work" with "life".

CJ and Mom shared a Guiness (which Mom describes as "the cappuchino of beers"). I must have more English in my blood... because I prefer tea. I think beer is yucky, but don't judge those who enjoy it in moderation. They wanted me to try some, so I dipped my finger in the foam and tried a tiny drop...blech. The only way I'll drink beer is if the words "birch" or "root" precede it! Mmmmm...birch beer. ;)

We spent some time at a Chainmail Demo, where the vendor let people actually try their hand at making chainmail. CJ figured out how to do this "rope" chain pattern and made this keychain. The guy let him keep it! (wasn't that nice?) Now CJ wants to order some chainmail rings to make himself a necklace.

We saw these gorgeous Irish Wolfhounds! They are HUGE dogs! And even though I have a little dog...I have a special soft spot for big dogs! There were lots of dogs around, and we would run into the same dogs more than once. There was this pair of Mastiffs that we ran into a few times (sorry, I don't have any pictures of the Mastiffs!) One of them was one year old and had a brindle colored coat. He was only a year old but he was HUGE and had a head bigger than King's was! I really wish I'd thought to take pictures of them.

This Irish Wolfhound was only 5 months old! Luna seemed okay with it. The funny thing is that she would bark at little dogs (we saw a Corgie, a Skye Terrier, and a lot of other little breeds) but she was usually okay with the big ones like the Mastiffs and the Irish Wolfhounds. We think it's because she was used to being around King (Awwww...I miss King! :'( ~sniffle~ )

While we were at dinner, Mom and I were wondering when the Remsen Barn Days Festival is (since it's usually in mid-September) and then about 15 minutes later, my Grandma called Mom to tell us that it is next weekend! (Wow...Grandma must be psychic!) So guess where I'll be next Saturday!