Clans on the Coast

I'm sunburned. So is Adam. But for some reason the kids seem fine, at worst they have a slight rosy glow on the cheeks. Yeah, I completely forgot to take sunscreen with us today...look, it was DARK when we left the house, the sun was the last thing on my mind!

We dragged ourselves out of bed at 5:00am and managed to be on the road a bit before 6:00am with half a lumber yard in the back of the car. Pretending to be Vikings involves lots of wood. Made it to Nelson Bay by about 8:00am and got all set up for the day. We were at Clans on the Coast, an annual Celtic festival - lots of bagpipes, dancing and tartan everywhere. Will definitely go again next year if the Huscarls are invited back, but we'll make it a weekend away instead of a day trip I think.

Tom started off with enthusiasm on his back-strap weaving but lost interest before any members of the public actually arrived, he did go back to it later in the day - after most of the public had left - ah well, he still managed to charm several women with his weaving expertise.

Adam got the pole-lathe up and running, which brought people over from the other side of the field out of sheer curiosity wondering what on earth that thing with the big stick was for, and I alternated between yet more tablet weaving and working on the dress I've been making for Caitlin. I do not like sewing. So swapping back and forth between the two activities works quite nicely.

The Huscarls gave two fighting demonstrations during the day, Adam's swordfighting lessons seem to being paying off, he reckons he threw the last fight on account of thinking it would look bad if he won every bout he fought. (Fellow Huscarls, if you're reading this? Consider yourselves challenged - take him down!)

Woz showed off his woodworking skills in front of his gorgeously carved tent, chest and stool as he worked on a new chest panel.

The best bit of the day was when David decided to have a go at woodturning and then asked me to teach him to do tablet weaving. Two new things tried in the one day!