Kelmarsh!

Super Super SUPER fun weekend. We (my aunt, uncle, cousins, and my uncle's friend previously mentioned and me) drove the what should have been 4 hours to Northhampton in two cars that were filled to the brim with camping supplies and authentic dress. I looked super cute as a 17th century boy.

Why the ride was not 4 hours was because two sections of the freeway were closed and we had to take back ways. That would have been fine if not for the fact that every else seemed to pick that way to go as well. We were stuck in a traffic jam for over an hour while we covered only 3 miles. Grr.

I was in the car with my Uncle and my younger cousin at that point, (me and my uncle's friends had switched cars so each of the kids and adults could have the pleasure of our company. I wasn't much company cause I slept through most of the ride), and had a fun time singing with them. My cousin sang in Welsh for me. He is ridiculously adorable! And he hates it when I say that. I learned a new song. One man went to mow, went to mow a meadow. One man and his dog--woof-- went to mow a meadow. Two men went to mow, went to mow a meadow. Two men one men and his dog --woof-- went to mow a meadow. And so on and so forth. Lots of fun.

For most of the ride, or at least the bits that I was awake for, it seemed like we were chasing the rain. We kept driving through puddles of water that littered the motorway. It never rained on us till the end, but we were able to see a double rainbow which was really cool. I have not seen one in ages, and my cousin had never seen one.

When we arrived it was cold and wet. We sent up the tents without too much trouble, a big one for my aunt and uncle plus the kids, one for me, and one for my uncle's friend. The friend is pretty tall, like 6"4' ish, and he barely fitted in his tent. I had problems getting into mine and would always trip and lunge my way in. That night was cold! I was able to meet some of the rest of the people in the group which was nice.

I just realized that I never mentioned what Kelmarsh was. Its a hall, huge manor place, and on its land a huge history event takes place every year. Its a big reenactment from different periods, with tents set up to show what life was like in so and so period, battles like those of the Romans and World War II, and lots of other things. Shops as well. Its like a very authentic Renaissance festival. I managed to refrain from buying much, thank goodness.

I was in the civil war section (English civil war, not American) and had loads of fun quickly learning all I needed to know for the battle that was take place on Saturday. I really liked meeting some more people, even though most were not near to me in age. One guy had just turned 21, but everyone else was in their late 30's and beyond.

Saturday was a beautiful day. A day where you could actually get sunburned, surprisingly enough. Of course, this was in the warm midlands where it stays semi dry, unlike west Wales. Drill was in the morning with the actual battle at 1. I had some time to wander a bit and soak up the sun.

The actual battle was fun, if really loud from all of the cannons and muskets going off. The pike men and cavalry also were quite loud as they yelled while attacking. I really had no idea what was going on, but that was okay. I just followed orders and did my job. We lost the battle both days, which is silly cause the Parliaments won in the end and it was silly for the Royalists to win both battles if they lost overall. Usually we lose the first day and win the second.

Campfires are not allowed this year on the campsite. No one enjoyed this new piece of legislation. When it gets all nice and cold at 10, 11 at night, people want a campfire to gather around. To make due, there was a grill that was filled with little candles. Not much light or warmth though. Luckily wearing lots of layers of wool clothing came in handy, even though I was sweltering on Saturday when it was so warm.

Sunday was a lot colder and there were some small rain showers. More wandering about, and I watched the boys as well. I felt terrible because I was constantly yelling at them. "No, do not touch the daggers" "Put that DOWN!" "Stop hanging on the tent ropes, it will collapse" "Stop wandering off!" "Wait for us" "Be Careful" "No, you can't buy that"

It was a good thing that I did not have the boy's money with me or they would have made a lot of impulse buys. The older boy is better with that, but my younger cousin wanted everything in sight. They both had to wait to buy things until my uncle went on a round with them as he held all of the money. One of the daggers, which was really just a miniature model of a sword, that my younger cousin kept touching, was actually bought in the end. Since then I have been frequently threatened by either cousin with it. Its so dull, that even if it was sharpened 800 million times it would not be a real threat. Thats good because coordination of children that age is never very good. I am talking from personal experience.

We ended up going home on Sunday instead of Monday because of some terrible rain that was on the way. Wet tents are no fun, so we packed up just in time, because it started to drizzle which later turned into a fairly heavy downpour. Fish and chips for dinner. I have never had fish and chips like those before, and I am not sure that that is a good thing. It tasted funny. And they gave huge portions of chips (french fries). 4 days later and we have just finished them after eating them at what seemed like every meal.

So Kelmarsh was a big success. I cannot wait till I come back again and hopefully attend another muster.