Remsen Barn Festival 2010

My weekends seem so busy lately! Last Saturday was the Niagra Celtic Festival. If you read the post about the Celtic Festival, you read my story about we were at a local bar & grill for dinner and Mom and I were pondering about when the Remsen Barn Festival was this year. It's usually in mid-late September and we usually go to it with my Grandma (she lives near Remsen). Not 10 minutes later, my Grandma calls my Mom's cell phone and told her that the Remsen Festival was the next weekend! So guess where Mom and I went this past weekend!...

We take a picture at this guy's booth every year. Mom bought a rustic, wooden trellis from him about 15 years ago. It was in her garden for years and we used it in my wedding. His prices are very decent and he always does very good business at the festival. His trellis archways are priced at only $100. Mom talked to him and he said that he prices his work asking the question "how low can I price this?" instead of "how much can I get for it?"

There was a photographer that Mom bought a photo from a few years ago. The photo is of "our spot" on Moose River. This year, Mom wanted to buy one for me to have in my house. She was going to buy a copy of the one she has (which was taken in the fall), but then we found one that was taken in the summer, so she bought me that one.

This picture is from a booth that was selling rag rugs, placemats, potholders, and coasters. (I loved their booth setup. They had a lot of vintage trunks and suitcases to display their products. I wish I'd taken a picture of the booth itself!)

I love the colors in this placemat!

One of the ladies was sitting there making a potholder. They also sold the looms so you could make your placemats/potholders/coasters yourself.

Grandma bought a small potholder/coaster sized loom and a package of Christmassy pre-cut fabric. She was frustrated at first, but she eventually figured it out.

Mom bought a placemat-sized loom...

Here's Mom's finished placemat. She finished it during her lunch break at work and photographed it on the hood of her car! I love the reflection of the clouds! Mom said the picture makes it look like the placemat is a magic carpet. :)

The crazy part of me is considering trying to have a booth at Remsen next year. I go there every year anyway...I might as well try to sell some of my work there!

Fall in the Adirondacks

Yep...it's fall.

Fall is my favorite season. When I was a kid it was a toss-up between Summer and Winter because I loved swimming in Summer, and playing in the snow/sledding in Winter. Actually, I think Summer won out as my favorite because there was no school, and my birthday is on the first day of Summer. Of course Winter has Christmas...hmmm... I do love Christmas.

But as an adult, my favorite season has changed. I still like swimming, but Summer gets SO HOT and I'm ready for it to be over by mid-August. And I still enjoy snow (and Christmas!), but Winter is SO COLD for SO LONG!

Fall is perfect. It's got pretty, changing leaves and cool, but not cold, weather. And apples... I love apples. Fall is a lovely in-between season, but never seems to last long enough. Summer always lasts too long or winter starts too soon. Of course, maybe that's why I love it so much...Fall doesn't last long enough for you to get sick of it. Fall has learned the showbiz rule of "always leave 'em wanting more".

But enough of my thoughts on the seasons...on to some pictures!

This is "our spot" on Moose River in the Adirondacks. We usually come here in the summer to swim and jump off those big rocks into the water. But last weekend, Mom, Grandma, and I decided to stop here on our way back from the Remsen Festival of the Arts (aka: Remsen Barn Days). I'll elaborate on the Festival more in the next post.

It was chilly...but I still had to fight the urge to swim (not having a bathing suit kind of helped in suppressing that urge).

Remsen Barn Days Festival (Part 2: The Carillon)

The highlight of our day at Remsen was discovering Cast In Bronze and their traveling carillon. We heard the music from across a parking lot and were just drawn to it.


A carillon "is a musical instrument that is usually housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord. A carillon is played by striking a keyboard called a "baton" with the fists and by pressing the keys of a pedal keyboard with the feet. The keys mechanically activate levers and wires that connect to metal clappers that strike the bells, allowing the performer, the carillonneur, to vary the intensity of the note according to the force applied to the key."
Sure, it may sound kind of boring to any non-music-geeks, but it's absolutely captivating to watch and listen to. And the guy doesn't just play the instrument, it's a theatric performance.


The carillon player (ie: the "Spirit of the Bells") was such a nice guy! He was autographing CDs and DVDs and took pictures with people and would just talk with you. He was a very approachable guy (if you're not intimidated by the mask!) Here he is with my Grandma...

Mom was at the table that was selling CDs and DVDs and was talking to a man about how she used to play handbells. So the man invited her to go up and sit at the carillon. Mom was intimidated at first and was going to decline, and the man says "It's my carillon! I own it. I can invite you up if I want!"

I thought the "Spirit of the Bells" had cool boots. He told me that they primarily play at renaissance faires.

I originally had a theory that the carillon player was masked because they do more than one of these performances at a time, but I read (via wikipedia) that the reason is much less practical and much more symbolic..."the musician was hidden from view within the cabin of the bell tower so the carillonneur was never seen. Thus the reason why Frank wears a black costume while performing. His face is concealed by a golden phoenix mask. All but his hands and eyes are covered as a symbolic gesture to downplay his identity and role in creating the music."

Although I am still curious if he is training other carillonneurs to follow after him... the "Spririt of the Bells" I saw and spoke to sounded very young. Plus his mask was silver instead of gold.

Remsen Barn Days Festival (Part 1: Welsh Dragons)

I went with my Mom and Grandma on Saturday to the Remsen Barn Festival in Remsen, NY. It's a fall festival that's near the Adirondacks. Remsen was a town that was founded by Welsh immigrants, so the red Welsh dragon, which is on the Welsh flag is everywhere. (I happen to be a little bit Welsh on my Dad's side). The image fascinates me since it's very medieval looking, so I took lots of pictures of it...

This barn is on Rt. 28/12. We pass it every time we go to the Adirondacks and I always want to take a good picture of it (but never can in a moving car!) So Mom was kind enough to pull over so I could get a good, clear picture of it. The sign and red dragon are on the barn year-round.

Painted on the sidewalk in front of the Remsen library...

Last year's dragon, now faded (also on the sidewalk in front of the library)...