Begorrah Girl's Blog

I almost forgot the best part of the festival. I was leaving last night, it was 85*, it had been brutally hot all day, no breeze, really tough. My car was parked by the traditional music tent and there was a Ceili going on. A Ceili is a group of people dancing the traditional dance of Ireland.. think step dancing meets square dancing, sprinkled with clogging. A group of five or six musicians play the tunes. There were about 60 people crowded into a tent, on and off the wooden dance floor they went having the time of their lives. To them the heat was nothing as they danced the dances of Ireland, Waltzing around and around, couples, singles, sisters, families and dear friends. It was that moment that I realized that although selling my goods, having a beer, and listening to the big Irish bands was fun, the tradition of these dancers, the fun, laughter, encouragement of each other was really what the festival was about, keeping the tradition alive. They do not have huge amounts of opportunity to get together and dance the steps of old Ireland. It was a beautiful sight to see on a warm Summer evening, in a tent, in a field, in Glastonbury Ct. I loved watching them enjoy each other. Now that’s a festival. Safe journey my friends and see you down the road. Safe home. sbb

I am writing to you from my little dinette inside Ronan on a beautiful Summer morning. everyone in CT this weekend has just experienced a terrible bout of heat and humidity. Somehow a front forced thru and this early AM there is a beautiful breeze gently moving trees, grass, curtains and me.
Aside from the heat, Glastonbury is a wonderful Festival to attend. The music is great. It is pretty far from us, but the sound system brings it closer without us having to shout to our customers. The hard-working volunteers are directing traffic, cooking ver hot grills and corn pots and collecting admissions. I recognize and greet returning customers, commenting on how big their children are growing. I added a very simple thought this year for all the festivals… I give all the little kids who come into the booth a shamrock sticker. They are all so excited and promptly put them on. They are also a polite group in that they all offer me a quiet little thank you. They are lucky kids, when I was little the only stickers I got were off the Chiquita bananas in the grocery store!

We are open noon to six today, then time to pack it all up for the next time. Ronan and I are heading out on Monday morning. We have a very special stop to make on the way home. July 16, 2010, Chloe and Christian Banks were born to Jennifer and Patrick, our oldest son. We are going to visit and show Chloe are Ronan. I have her little camping space all ready to go for when she is a bit older. That’s all for now my friends, have a lovely day and see you down the road, safe journey. sbb

We had a very warm weekend in Chicago, the people were fantastic, met lots of nice new customers, some from our Milwaukee and Dublin Festivals. We even met a few from New Jersey. A funny part of the weekend is that everyone thought WE had accents, as if that is not bad enough, they thought we had NEW YORK accents, hah, we are Jersey Girls.

Our Hanna Hats were a good seller as were our kids tee shirts and all the Wee One infant clothes. We made a really nice display because we actually had a lot more than our usual 10×10 foot space. The only sticky wickett was the huge storms at the end of the night, I admit I might have jumped a few times. We were able to pull the car, tulles and all into the tent to pack up without getting eveything wet.

We hit the road 7:30 am and drove almost 500 miles to Mercer, PA. I am sitting out at the picnic table writing to you. From here home tomorrow, another 300 miles, for a little more than a week, next up is Glastonbury, CT.

Eileen Ivers was the headliner last night and she kept up her fiddle duel with the storm. Mark your calenders for this festival next year. If you get to Chicago in the mean time, stop into the Irish Heritage Center with its beautiful museum, library, theater, event room, classrooms and of course a couple of bars. It is one of the largest Irish Centers around. see you down the road.. sbb

Allison and I made it to Chicago, there is nothing like a nice jaunt thru a city with trucks and cars wizzing by you. Our venue for this Festival is the Irish Heritage Center in Chicago. It is located on a one square block in the middle of a neighborhood (hope they invited the neighbors to the festival that runs to midnight!!!). It is an old school, parking lot and play yard now owned by the Heritage Center. They have made changes inside, have a beautiful museum and a very very good library. This is the most compact festival I have ever done, but I hear tell they pack em in. Chicago is very Irish and the people here are super. Allison and I are staying in the back of the parking lot. The Cinderella’s had to be inside the gate last night by 9 PM. We were locked in for the night and at 9 AM we are currently still locked in. Our space is good, we are in a total inside corner, but because of the way I usually set up, it looks like it will work to my advantage. We’ll see. We set our tables up yesterday and made new tablecloths from beautiful plaid fabric we purchased in Shipshewana, IN, Yoder’s dry goods to be exact. Anyway we get them all measured, cut and set-up and then Allison says they remind her of ND. That was not my intent, I wanted something crisp and plaid. Let me know what you all think when I post a photo of the booth tomorrow.

Allison is still sleeping, I tend to get up early and hope for a little lay down in the afternoon. I am going over now to work on the booth while it is still a tiny bit cool. Tough being off the grid. We have to watch everything we do to make sure our battery lasts until Monday morning. Take care my friends, I will post the booth photo tomorrow. See you down the road my friends, sbb, ACB & Ronan.

I take no credit for today’s blog heading. My quick witted son- in- law, Darren snapped me this little heading which fits since I am currently in Toledo, OH for a few more hours. I have taken the show on a long road, starting with a jaunt to Chicago this weekend. This is my layover reststop for the car and my bones . I’m in LOVELY KOA, having had my dinner in a truckers rest stop resturant last night. That in itself is another story, a real piece of Americana and the hard working truckers of our USA.

Big news on the travel front, I am not alone….daughter Allison has joined me for this trip. What a pure pleasure to have the company of a bright young travel companion. She is a reader and is showing me the wonders of her knook. Allison found out last night her little reading device has full internet service, amazing!!

I have finally lined up camera, wires, computer and time to download a photo of Ronam today!!! I know it has been a while but I have trouble getting my ducks near the pond.

This is an interia shot of Ronan and all my traveling comforts. Everynight is a treat to stay in such a wonderful trailer, but last night was the best. You see..since the wintery cold wet first week of camping in Lancaster, PA, back in March, I have not ever been plugged into electric. I have either been staying on a festival venue or in non electric state parks.

Since we are all in the grip on a huge heat wave, last night was certainly the place to have a nice 30 amp plug waiting for me. We were able to turn on the a/c, lights, fridge, water pump etc without worrying about the battery. I had all I could do to keep myslf from popping a little popcorn in the microwave. I have to report, as hot as it was…92* at 9:00PM, I never turned the air setting above low. I have one fine a/c unit. Poor Allison went to bed with a hooded sweatshirt. She has been assigned the top bunk of Ronan, a comfy place with plenty of room.

We are off to Shipshewanna, IN today with a stop for quilting fabric, food for the weekend and a visit to the factory when Ronan was made. Always nice to go home again. Take care everyone, stay cool and see you down the road. sbb

It is Monday morning after a very very hot humid CT festival weekend, in a metal building. I am the only person left on the venue, a county fairground. My ears are still ringing from the activities of the weekend, music, great heritage help, and tons of little step dancers. The weather affected this festival, it was too Summer like, but I got to meet up with my repeat customers, as they came to get the next size up in tee shirts and baby outfits. Ronan held his own out in a dusty field type parking lot all weekend. He was first in, and quickly became surrounded by uhalls and the like.

This festival concludes what I call my first set. I just completed 6 of 7 weekends in a row. I had rain only once, but 90 degree heat every weekend. I have to say I am very tired of that. The festivals were all good, crowds down a bit, but still wonderful to do and it was especially nice see my loyal customers.

I made out ok with Ronan, we certainly had some bumps along the way…gas leak, broken water pump, wrong short life battery and broken hitch. I am so glad I bought a new RV so I could avoid these problems. hahahahhaha. Everything except the hitch seems to be ok now. I have an appointment today to swap out for a new one.

My second set of festivals involves lots of long distance traveling, but also plenty of time to stop at some of my favorite places too. My first trip is to Chicago. I plan to stop at the fabric shop in Shipshewanna, IN. I plan to get new fabric for my festival tablecloths. That will be followed by dinner at the Amish Farmhouse.

This second set of festivals has me out now every other weekend until the end of August. Before I start though, I have a wonderful 4 day vacation planned with Dennis. We are going to the Finger Lakes for the first time and plan to do basically nothing except a hike or two. It is much-needed downtime for both of us. I better start practising my Scrabble!!! sbb

No need for an alarm. Somehow I missed the rooster last night!!!! Must have been sleeping. Nice. 5am wakeup. Sbb