Well it is over again for another year. I am constantly amazed that we continue to do this to ourselves. I got home last night and was absolutely shagged. I drove down by myself on the Sunday before festival with a view to having a few relaxing days before the silliness starts – so much for that! I got my pavillion up on the Sunday evening with some help, and spent a quiet night with MD. Loads more people arrived on Monday and then the fun really started getting things set up. Wednesday night we went to Jo Jo Joey Jo Jo’s place for a party which was an absolute hoot! We drank too much and giggled until the wee hours, then MD and I crashed in Joey’s spare room – can’t wait to see the photos of the Heath Ledger cask laybacks! Thursday the event started proper and nearly everyone had arrived by this point. I spent my days hanging out in the shade embroidering, chatting, doing a little wandering around meeting people, and the nights were an absolute write off! I dont think i have ever consumed so much alcohol between MD and his 200+ litres of brew and the port to try and keep warm. It got really bloody cold this year, and I had to find myself some bed warmers – nothing like wandering around half charged going ‘hey come sleep with me, I’m cold!’ Luckily MD and Jimbo were very accommodating 🙂
Thursday and Friday were spent at the StarFall Cocktail party and the Descartes mint julep parties and ended up sprawled about in DX. For the first time ever, it poured rain on Friday night which no doubt helped keep the dust down for the rest of the event. Saturday night was quiet – really quiet, it got down to -3 degrees and it was like a ghost town, everyone had gone to bed early. Even the DX crowd had crashed. Sunday night MD and I went to have dinner up in Louvain which was actually really sedate – Flip wasn’t there so I was a bit over that – I hardly saw him all weekend. But after dinner, we went to the tavern for a bit, and then to DX, and then things went a little off the rails. I have vague recollections kissing strange men (plural! :D), smoking with Wystan and laughing so much my face hurt. Monday night was just as bad (or good depending on how you look at it!) I knocked off an entire bottle of port by the time dinner was over, and I ended up entertaining people in my tent until stupid o’clock each night. My entire pavillion reeked of smoke for the last couple of days. We had guacamole in the middle of the night (can’t believe anyone let me cut avocados with a Surly knife at that hour and in that state!) which went down a treat, smoked some more and laughed like madmen. I am surprised that no one complained about the noise! It was a lot of fun, and I had a ball hanging out with Innogen, Wystan and the Darkman. MD did his best pumpkin impression all festival and turned in early every night which was disappointing (not to mention boring). Inge got to be PowerSpew Barbie on Sunday night with a record six chucks in the tent that saw HdM wanting to sleep under the stars in subzero temps! Humbibble seems to have fallen in love with Aubury, so we will have to wait and see how that one pans out 🙂
The pack up went pretty good, everything seemed to come down like clockwork. I went back to CBR to Joey’s for the night before hitting the road yesterday. The drive back went pretty good – at least until I hit Grafton, then things seemed to come apart a bit – roadworks, idiot drivers and one truckie hauling timber who seemed intent on killing me by forcing me onto the wrong side of the road 😐 Got home in one piece though (after a couple of cans of V) and am tired as all hell, but for the most part had a great weekend. Big sigh – am off for a nap now 🙂
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