The Wye Colonial Fair -- Always Enjoyable!

We had a lovely day at the Wye Colonial May Fair, held on the beautiful grounds of the Old Wye Church in Wye Mills, Maryland.  It's the type of event where you find yourself smiling all day.  The people are so friendly and everyone is so happy to be a part of such a special church festival.

This was our 3rd year at the fair.   We were happy to be back, to see our friends and make new ones.

We forged, of course! And, tried out a new forge (unfortunately, the handle on the bellows broke when we were loading it up after the fair):

 

 

 

We had our "family-friendly" anvil set up, as usual, with aluminum that bends without being heated:

We visited the petting zoo, an ever-popular place:

The May Pole was a site of great fun:

Our dog was even blessed at the Blessing of the Animals Service:

And, Jeff taught in the later afternoon hours when the fair's pace had slowed down and there was time for talking and teaching.  Jeff really loves to teach:

Another special Wye Colonial May Fair!

What a Great Start to Our Spring Demo Season: 14th Annual Fairfax Civil War Day

What a way to start a season!  We had a wonderful time at the 14th Annual Fairfax Civil War Day held at Historic Blenhein, an amazing house with such an interesting history.

We had a great day of teaching and blacksmithing, surrounded by the General and Mrs. Robert E. Lee, Clara Barton, Colonel Mosby, and lots of engaged visitors.  There were wagon rides, kids' toys, educational talks, living history interpreters, wonderful music, and delicious food.  It was great fun.

Our friend, Vince, was able to join us for the day and we set up two anvils (along with the kids' anvil) so we always had something going on to show our guests.   

The guys were quite productive, working on various Civil War-appropriate campfire tripods and utensil sets.   

They even did a variation on the usual S-hooks on a utensil set for an interested visitor -- our youngest son was thrilled with this product because he's been making "sideways S-hooks" for quite some time, and now was vindicated that someone who does a lot of outdoor cooking would find them useful!  

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We even had canine visitors who were interested in what we were doing!  

It was such a fun day -- please be on the lookout for the 15th Annual Fairfax Civil War Day.  You won't want to miss it!  In addition, we'll be at Wye Mills, Maryland next Saturday for the Colonial Fair. Please come and see us!

  

Scenes from the July Market Fair at Claude Moore Colonial Farm

Many thanks to a friend for sending the photo at the top and to our older son for the photo of me taken before the fair.  We had a wonderful time!  And, we want to thank Matt for coming out to forge with Jeff on Sunday!