The Victorian Medieval Festival is over and I'm happy to be back home. It was an absolutely wonderful event, which was a new venue for me. I had a few ups and downs, but on the whole, the display was well received, and I spent most of the two days straight with limited toilet breaks and a lot of very interested members of the public.

There was no Grand Parade, so for the first time ever, I got to just set up, put on the clothes I was wearing for the day, and stay in them. It was pretty warm, so as a bath attendant, I wore just a chemise and headwear and went barefoot! It was such a hot day and although I was inside my tent, the angle of the sun meant on the first day I got horribly, horribly sunburnt.

Very sadly, the brass pan I was waiting for for the display arrived a day after we departed home for our epic road trip across three states to get there. We needed to dodge a lot of flooding and closed roads so the trip added substantial extra miles, petrol and another 6 hours travel time at least. Happily, I had packed a wooden bowl which, while not what I wanted, did the job. The new basin has since arrived and is just perfect!



The lavarbo itself was a huge hit with members of the public who not only enjoyed it as an item, per se, but also enjoyed having a few drops of rosewater splashed onto their hands to try. I also has herb bathwater samples and my friend Michelle from who had a 14th century Surgeon display next to me made some of Trotula's tooth powder for me in between talks and people. My own Trotula's hair powder was also much loved by people, so that was fantastic too!

All in all, a really fun event!

Well, here we are all composited into one picture! It's been impossible to get everyone together for a group photo, so that will wait until the Saturday morning at the festival. Thank goodness for digital technology.

It was a bit of fun making this, but cutting everyone out and pasting us together is time consuming. Still, it's a nice break from sewing! 

I've given the ladies the option to mask up or not, but it's a bit covid-y out and I will be. I usually hope for correct shoes, but quite frankly, I'm feeling that since we are in the Marketplace and not re-enactors (for me this year) that gumboots and dry feet are quite okay also. 

It's looking very wet on the grounds and today I would have been setting up my tent but it's too wet. I've got all my fingers crossed that it's not raining on Thursday for the grand setting up. I've packed extra surcote and hoods for warmth. I thing we will need them.