Yes, that IS a dirk in my kilt

but I am glad to see you. (some of you, anyway)

Fair’s over. Yesterday being cold and windy enough to make me glad. Even for Oklahoma, the winds the last while have been downright nasty; I’m going to have to do some work on my carport when things calm down a bit(assuming they do; there’s a scary thought).

Some guy from Los Angeles, here for the first time, was setting up Thursday and went by the fair office to ask when the wind would die down; the look on his face when they told him “It may ease off some, but they’re predicting they’ll be like this through most of the weekend” was startling. We’re used to this crap coming around at times, but the last thing he said as he went back to finish setup was “And people talk about earthquakes in LA…”

The whole weekend, one of the big requests for every blacksmith out there was tent stakes, big ones. Problems multiplied because a lot of people had the pop-up tents/sunshades for their shop; nice when it’s mild but not rigid enough to stand up to bad winds. Stake them down well enough to not blow away and they just might pop rivets through the aluminum, or buckle and collapse. Not fun at all.

Most people made it through the weekend ok, but some did give up, either would not/could not keep set up without a tent or- on Sunday when it had turned cold- unable/unwilling to deal with the combination of 30’s & 40’s combined with strong winds gusting into the high 30’s—low 40’s. And be it said that was downright nasty, the winds strong and gusting enough that I didn’t even light the forge. And enough dust and grass in the air to screw with everybody’s sinuses and mess up the place.

I told the fair director Friday that this was my last Med-Fair as demonstrating smith; my hands are bothering me enough to make heavy or long hammering a problem, so it’s time. She, and the other people who make the thing run, have been very good to work with over the years, and I’ll miss doing this. I’ve flat loved it; having someone, patron or vendor, come by and say “Can you make/fix this?”, and turning to the forge and making or repairing or modifying it. Tent stakes, display stands and poles, small tools, a belt buckle, and other stuff someone needs.

Not too many pictures this time. I wrote a few months ago about Fenris having died; his people brought out one of his descendants, Mordred, to see how he’d like the place.
Pretty well as it turned out. Especially the introduction to Scotch eggs.

Rachel Lucas would like the place, because there's dog abuse

Some of the cultural exhibits are always nice

And the interesting contrasts: “Arrh, I be a fierce pirate
with a little bitty dog.”
So this year’s done. May be one of the volunteers next year, helping people set up and such. We’ll see.