Physical fatigue is so much nicer

then the emotional wreck I've been for the last few weeks.

Wolf found out yesterday that there was a Faerie Festival in Windsor this weekend. The Boss left for vacation Friday and I was given extra responsibility that freaked me out. It took me about an hour to talk myself into locking everything in a drawer and letting it wait until Monday.

Anyway, Mama A had given Wolf the ticket money because "You deserve a nice day out with your family, Queenie. With all you do!" And it's the perfect excuse to wear the fairy wings I bought Cuteness and myself last month.

So we went today. I wore the same green costume I wore for Pooh's initiation, with my gold jingle belt and my Pan horns and my lavender lacy wings. Cuteness wore a blue/yellow/green checkered dress (no, not gingham, the checks are too big for that) and her rainbow butterfly wings. The guys did not dress up. We got some cash, as I noticed there were no credit card signs anywhere on the website, had lunch at the Spiedie Pit to avoid the gods-awful faire food prices, and drove out.

NY Faerie Festival is held on the same plot of land the Binghamton Pagan Community has been using for years and years. Wolf seemed pleased to point out certain areas, like the large stone altar we used multiple times for resting, and the fire pit where he was married the first time. Ironically enough, we saw his ex there and she was perfectly pleasant. It's heart-warming to know there's no ill will between them, even if she still makes him a little uncomfortable. My ex wasn't so enlightened.

I've only been to the Ren Faire in CO before, but I can say this Faerie Festival was hands down a gazillion times better. It was smaller, easier to walk, there were a lot more costumed visitors then street clothes, and everyone was smiling and friendly and bowing/curtseying.

I wanted to walk the Labyrinth, so while Wolf rested and IDK wandered, Cuteness and I walked it. It wasn't the meditative exercise I was hoping for, as I was guiding Cuteness so she wouldn't accidentally cheat, but it was fun. I made of point of having us jump for joy when we reached the middle, and pat the stacked stones at the entrance when we got out.

Cuteness had charmed the Goblin Wedgie, who gave her a silver token. This came in handy at the Troll Bridge, when the trolls tried to get IDK interested in a ball of mud and he turned them down. The price for passing was a Shiny Thing or playing Troll Toss. When we went over, the trolls were trying to get an engagement ring out of a couple. I pulled the silver token out of my little leather purse (no point dragging my big honking work purse when I'm all Faerie'd up), gathered the kiddos and waved the token at the Troll sitting on the bridge.

"These two are with me and I'm using this shiny to pay for our passage!" I announced.

"OOOO! Big Shiny!" The troll cheered and let us through. We went over the bridge, past the Wishing Tree and down to some large fallen trunks to look at the creek.

It took a while for me to get a chance at the shops, but we finally managed to install Cuteness at the hula hoop field and IDK came with me. There were some marvelous artists, the usual gorgeous-but-hideously-overpriced clothing stalls, and one shop that had hand-painted Chinese silk fans with bamboo slats. I pounced and found a pink/white one with cherry blossoms.

Now, LJ-land, Queenie has loved fans for years and years and has always wanted one of the folding type that had something pretty painted on it. For $17.95, that cherry blossom fan came with me and Goddess!, did it come in handy!

I also visited with a mosaic artist who had a stunning Chinese dragon piece. She told me a story about a 4 year old girl who looked at the piece and asked her "Where does the door go?" It turned out she had named the piece "Dragon Portal", but the little girl didn't see the tag. I had to tell her about the Dragon Scroll. I would have loved that Portal piece, but it was over $600 and I knew she wouldn't give me a discount. Besides, I don't have a home for it.

I did collect some business cards from a mask-maker and an aromatherapist. She had a Stress Relief mist spray that I felt immediately. I will have to look her up. I need something like that very, very badly.

I did succumb to IDK's begging for tea and bought the kiddos a cookie to share and an iced chai. We had brought four bottles of water in our picnic basket, very handy, and they were gone by the end of the day.

Cuteness had a blast with the hula hoops and the bubble-blowing, puppeteering, house toting turtle wagon. She also loved the waterfall.

Wolf ran into more old friends and had some good chats. I had some nice chats with perfect strangers. I also saw one of my customers, who is a very nice lady and asked if I was working the Faire since I was dressed up. I said no, and then asked her not to tell The Boss she had seen me in horns and wings. She laughed and assured me she wouldn't tell.

I skipped the face painting, even though I really wanted to, as the lines were long and I didn't want to spend all of our cash on myself. The fan was only a few dollars more and it'll last so much longer.

We went home about 4:45. We missed the joust, but we did run into the Faerie Queen many times. There were a lot of processions. Wolf got some great pictures of Cuteness and I, I'll see if I can get them posted.

All in all, I feel more relaxed then I have in, oh, about a month. I much prefer physical exhaustion then the emotional exhaustion I've been coming home with every night. That grove has a lot of peaceful energy. It really helped me.

Tomorrow is His Royal Highness, Prince Robert of Bermania's second birthday party. IDK had a brilliant idea for a present. I love my kiddos.