Back to the Faire...with a side of PTSD for Mommy

HRH surveys her people... GARF Opening Day 2022

So this past weekend was the opening one for the Georgia Renaissance Festival. Anne and I headed down to work with her bloodhound Finn (whom I must have called Bo a million times) and my Bryn. I hadn't originally planned to take her, as I am reducing my appearances at Faire with HOEF until I have another keen Rennie hound that isn't into her bonus time. We're working on Ciaragh.

I was anxious all last week for all kinds of reasons. Will my garb fit? Have I forgotten how to do GARF? Will Bryn be okay at faire/for a long car ride/in a hotel room with a dog she really doesn't know? Things that were rote back in 2019 are now new and difficult and daunting. For example, I had everything packed save my overdress which was in the dryer when I started to load the car. My garb would have looked hilarious without the rest of my dress! The drive down was uneventful - Bryn slept for most of it. Our accommodation seemed fine at first, but turned out to be a nightmare of the not enough towels/shower gel dispenser falling off the shower wall/a kitchenette with no chairs for the table and no cutlery/an AC unit that sounded like a plane coming in for a landing variety. But there was a bed and a roof and we could make do.

Saturday morning I loaded Bryn up and we headed to Faire. And I was fine, really fine...until we got off the interstate and headed down that road that I drove up and down for days back in 2019, looking for any sign of my Ciaragh. My throat tightened and my mouth went dry as I saw the parking lot entrance ahead, and thought of all the times I'd driven in and out of there, knowing that I was leaving her behind to go get sleep. I was tearing up as I rode down the driveway to the backstage area where we were to park...where I sat for hours in my car with the tailgate open, hoping that she would just appear out of the trees, hop into the back, and settle in with a sigh that said she was ready to go home.

It was hard to see people who, when I last was with them, were telling me how sorry they were that she was missing and that they would keep an eye out for her. I saw the joust arena where she became so anxious and the fence that she pulled me face first into before breaking free. But Bryn wasn't running. Bryn was tired, and hot, but she stayed with me and we made it back to the hotel together.

And now I've done it...and I'm so grateful to all the cast and crew at GARF that helped and looked for her and loved me through it. But I'm also thankful to the patrons who made a point to ask if Bryn was the wolfhound that had gone missing and then were overjoyed to hear that Ciaragh was home and healthy and safe. 

Faire-mly is real. Rennies are some of the best people on the earth. Onward and upward to Celtic Weekend!

 

Bryn, Tweeted.

From Ireland she came, bringing the #Royal Dog of Eire as a gift for Her Majesty.

(Or at least that's what Mommy told the bazillion people that wanted to pet me. I thought we lived in South Carolina?)

Is cailín álainn í. Is é ainm di Bryn.#vss365 #Clobberpaws #irishwolfhound pic.twitter.com/zMJnX5g8A6

— NancyD_writes (@nancyd_writes) February 23, 2020

Sharing the Wolfie Love...

This is our friend and fellow HOEF cast member, Oberon. We are so proud of him - he came through physical and emotional struggles to become a valued member of the HOEF cast. #WOLFHOUNDSTRONG

One more with Ciaragh...

Miss Emily caught Ciaragh growing into a real Rennie Hound, right there before our eyes.
She healed lots of hurting hearts that day by just looking into people's eyes. 

So, Ciaragh here...

I promised Mommy that I would never run away again and yet, here we are. Somebody explain to her that I'm not a pillow, please?

Downtown Bodie Brown's GARF Farewell Tour

You know, if they would just listen to Auntsie, we would have all been looking at the camera!

*Bo the Bloodhound had his last visit to the Georgia Renaissance Festival this weekend. He has retired from his life on stage to focus on what he loves most, being a therapy dog...but Bryn will miss her big brudder from another mudder on the joust platform so much!

The Clobberpaw Sibs

Even his HEAD is bigger than mine! But I love my brother Barley -
and Auntie Tamara and Unka Marc aren't too shabby either.

Sometimes...

My humans are weird. Lucky for me, I was at home when those shenanigans kicked off.
But I still don't understand why Auntie Shannon is a ghost...?

HOEF as the Hounds of the Wild Hunt

Or, The Day Our Humans Lost their Minds.

Show me what overheated looks like?

THIS IS WHAT OVERHEATED LOOKS LIKE.
(Note from Bryn's Mommy - I was much hotter that day than Bryn was.)

The Quick Brown Fox...

...jumped over the Lazy Dog. 

Bryn of the Wild Hunt

I'm not sure that the Unseelie Fae live in a LaQuinta,
but I'm suited up and ready for their arrival nonetheless.

Cast Photo

Two of the majestic HOEF Irish Wolfhounds.
Well, one majestic one, and one whose nickname is KikidoodleDOO.
I will let you figure out which one is me.

Bryn's Squad

I love everything in this picture.

Send help

Either she's been into the make-up again or there's been an outbreak of kudzu on her face.
Do swirly eyeliner vines spread?

My mommy may have been melting...

...but I was thrilled to be back at Faire where I belong. Just look at that smile.

She is STILL not wrong...

She is OH SO RIGHT. Love you, Miss Lisa.

It is not my fault...

...that Mommy is making that face. Not this time, anyway.

So muggy, so frizzy...

I just couldn't even with the mugginess today. Of course, it got WORSE when Mommy
thought it would be a good idea to walk back to the car in a downpour, but thankfully
there are no pictures of that.

Twinsies!

Me and my buddy Ashling backstage at CRF. We even have the same ears!
This was pre-torrential rain and Bryn's Bad Hair Day.