Merry Meet, Merry Part and Merry Meet Again

giazzpet — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:21:10 +0000

All good things must come to an end….even little Winslowshire Festival. Yes…it is true.

Winslow farm has decided that they are going in a different direction.

We would like to thank ALL of our performers, merchants and of course our hard working cast and crew that made this Festival 10 Classic Renaissance Faires across America : http://www.thedailymeal.com/10-classic-renaissance-faires-across-america (yeah, I am still not believing that either!).

We’d like to personally thank Nourish Lexington, http://www.nourishlexington.com who not only became the one and only Vegetarian food vendor that was fabulous but also was like finding a diamond – plus we now became friends.

We would like to thank ALL of you who came to the festival, whether it was our very first year (yeah, it was small) to the very last year (2011 season). We would like to thank ALL of the people who have supported us (behind the scenes) like GoBostonCom http://www.gobostoncom.com and others.

We thank all of YOU who have become our friends and family – we were lucky to see some friends from the past (who I never thought I would see again) and meet some new ones every year.

We have other festivals/faires in the works, so other things are coming our way. I like to think that Winslowshire was my springboard into this new career for both of us. Without that, we would not have had this many opportunities that have come our way now.

So, Merry Meet, merry part and Merry Meet Again – Fare thee well, Winslowshire, you will always remain sweet in our eyes.

Getting Nourished by Nourish Restaurant of Lexington

giazzpet — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:38:17 +0000

As Winslowshire is a Renaissance Festival that Winslow Farm Animal Sanctuary hosts – it was a very difficult challenge to find a vegetarian food vendor who would not only satisfy the farm rules/regulations of having no meat on site, but to also feed many festival patrons and Renaissance Faire goers who are used to getting meat items at other Festivals.

It took us a while, but we found Nourish Restaurant in Lexington, MA (http://www.nourishlexington.com) who not only has fabulous food at the restaurant in Lexington but they were also able to come up with an fabulous tasty menu that exceeded all of our expectations with great vegetarian options such as: Falafel wrap sandwiches, Vegetarian Chili (oh, and btw, I am not a huge fan of spicy food, but hubby is, and it was not too hot for me, and just tasty enough for him!), Salad wraps and Ice Teas with some sodas!

They have live music at the restaurant and what I also love is that they have all this art on the walls…see, what happened (or the story goes) that the Art Gallery down the street from them in Lexington closed, so they told the artists, hey, we have wall space, hang it here, and if we sell it – we just get a small portion of the monies…Great deal right?

I love their food, and maybe I’m being a little biased, but everyone else seemed to really enjoy it as well.

So, if you are in Lexington, MA looking for a great restaurant to try out, check out Nourish of Lexington! Tell them we sent you!

Our results from this season! Thank you all!

giazzpet — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:09:56 +0000

Well, another Winslowshire has come and gone. The weather forecast for Saturday wasn’t so great, but what people don’t understand is that Winslow is a magical place. I can’t explain it. Every year, (or since we’ve been doing this festival there) the forecasters always say Rain or Thunderstorms, BUT it doesn’t rain there! (Well, not while we have the festival anyways).

The Norton Patch came out http://norton.patch.com/articles/a-faire-weekend-for-winslow-farm(yes, that’s me being interviewed) and our new pals from Geeky and Cheeky

http://www.etsy.com/shop/geekyandcheeky

were featured (they are the ones that have those adorable puppets!) Sunday was much better weather and in turn we ended up with many more people/patrons/customers that came to see us and hopefully enjoy themselves.

We did want to apologize for the bus services (sorry, we didn’t realize that it wasn’t so great) and for having no ATM on site, but sometimes, these are things that are not in our control.

However, we DO want to thank all of you who came to see us, Thank all of our vendors (new and returning), our amazingly talented performers and of course all of our hard working cast and crew!

The farm raised a little over $8,500 plus pet food donated to the farm which I know they appreciate.

Foxboro Founders Day, June 11th and countdown starts now!

giazzpet — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:03:43 +0000

This is a picture of myself (I’m the one with the flute) and my husband (who goes by Bumbly Phinn) who started Winslowshire in 2008. Back then, we had only 16 vendors and 10 performers. We grew into something more the next year though.

This is a picture from last year. As you can see, we grew into a real Renaissance Festival.

We will be marching in Foxboro, MA for Founders Day on June 11th at 10 am, so if you live in the local area, we hope you can come out to support us!

We have some new vendors that are coming to Winslowshire this year:

Seeing Stones – crystal balls and readings
http://www.pjworiginals.com/home PJW Originals – jewelry and photographs
http://pupdogpottery.com/ Pup Dog Pottery
Delicate Designs
http://www.healingtouchpottery.com/Healing Touch Pottery
http://www.parrishrelics.com/ hand made jewelry – Tudor inspired
http://www.ironwoodartisans.com/ – Iron Wood Artisans – wooden toys and games
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ladylethalchainmail – Chain Maile
http://www.motherearthgourds.com/ – Mother Earth Gourds – Gourds for accessories and more
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LdyIsis – T York Stained Glass

We do hope you can come this year. The dates will be June 25th and 26th of 2011 from 11 am to 5 pm. Make sure you don’t miss out on all the fun! Hope to see you there!

Prospect Hill Forge – The Blacksmithing Classroom comes to Winslowshire

giazzpet — Tue, 24 May 2011 10:16:53 +0000

The sound of cold steel against hot iron. Human will versus inhuman resistance. The shimmer of heat as it rises into the sky. Sinuous curves stiffening as they cool…
A battle with a fire-breathing dragon? No, just a blacksmith doing his job.

According to Prospect Hill Forge’s website http://prospecthillforge.com ” a blacksmith is one who works the black metal (iron) by smiting (hitting) it. The blacksmith takes advantage of the fact that iron becomes plastic when hot and forms it to his will in that state.”

Prospect Hill Forge will be demonstrating Blacksmithing for Winslowshire this June. They have been with us since 2009 and they are just really interesting to watch. If you have any questions about what they do, or would like to try your hand at it, they do have classes available in Waltham, MA and take students so you too can learn the art of blacksmithing.

We do hope you can come to Winslowshire this June. There is plenty to see and do!

_____________________________
Update:

Reliable Bus from New Bedford, MA will be our chariot this year. The extra parking has been allowed at The New Testament Baptist Church in Taunton, MA on Saturday, June 25th from 10:30 am to 5:3o pm. The bus will go every half hour from the Church to the Farm for your convenience. The Bus will then go on Sunday, June 26th from 1 pm to 5:3o pm. Please do respect the church and not park before 1 pm on the Sunday as they do have services there.

We have only a little more than a month to go, and we’re working hard on some new songs for finale! 38 vendors and 22 performers! Lots of things for the little ones too! There will be an ATM on site should you need cash for some vendors (or give a tip to our performers, please do feel free to tip them well).

A pocket full of love – Esme’s Heart Pockets

giazzpet — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:47:35 +0000

My new friend Alison Blair has been doing a new venture called Esme’s Heart Pockets http://www.alisonsmagick4.com/ who makes really cute little pockets – these pockets are an excellent way to keep your gems and charms safe!

She also makes lovely kilt pins called Lord Montegue Kilt Pins that have all kinds of charms on them. She made me one as a gift that has all kinds of musical instruments and renaissance themed things on it (including a Castle!) So cool!

She also has an Etsy site as well at http://www.etsy.com/shop/alisonsmagick4 so if you like, you can go on Etsy and search her products!

She also teaches metaphysical classes in Tarot, astrology and spell casting – Neat!

We can’t wait to have her back again to Winslowshire Festival! Please be sure to stop by her booth to say Hello!

________________________

Update:

We are very close to the actual event! We now have an ATM service that is coming provided by All Star Vending Service! http://www.allstarvendingservice.com/home

We also have some more vendors that are just coming in (hopefully this week) and the schedule should be up on the website (http://www.winslowshire.com) so check it out! We certainly hope that this entices you to come to our little Festival. After all it is for a fabulous cause, and there is so much to see and do!

thanks!

Shakespeare at play at Winslowshire Festival

giazzpet — Fri, 06 May 2011 10:31:59 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrMichaelMeissner#p/u/24/9aoUjtOm5Pw

Duncan Inches has been performing as the great bard himself, William Shakespeare for many different festivals and faires all over the Country and we’ve been fortunate to have him perform with us since the very beginning of Winslowshire Festival.

Duncan has a knack of getting the character of William Shakespeare so well, that you almost feel like you are talking to the great bard himself. He will let you ask questions and he’ll answer them as Shakespeare also. He also performs for libraries, schools and other lecture series.

He also is a character actor that you may have seen in some movies like; McLintock (yeah, the one with John Wayne) and others.

We love having Shakespeare come to our festival, and he really loves Winslowshire – he tells me he loves this festival as it’s very intimate and friendly, and the animals add another element to it.

We hope you can come to Winslowshire and meet Shakespeare. Maybe he’ll answer your questions too! Don’t forget the festival is coming up this June 25th and 26th from 11 am to 5 pm.

Cucina Aurora – Kitchen Witchery

giazzpet — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 23:25:00 +0000

Have you heard of Kitchen Witchery? Well, it basically means “to make a prayer over a cooked meal” and if you are a chef or one in the making (like the rest of us at home) then you really need to check Cucina Aurora out.

This wonderful Kitchen Witch knows how to make things tasty and just overall healthy for you and your family. If you love cooking, then you know the importance of having fused olive oils are. Cucina Aurora (Kitchen Witchery) (see her website at http://www.cucinaaurora.com) has wonderful, flavorful fused olive oils that will have you saying they are “magically delicious” (sorry Lucky Charms® cereal).

On their website they have recipies as well as all the events that they are going to be at. Cucina Aurora also has spices that you can add to food (great for me, since I need to live salt free) and also has kitchen gadgets as well as other items.

They have really great oils and I do know that she was sold out the very first day of Winslowshire, so you might want to get to her booth early!

As Graceful as ever – The Graces

giazzpet — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 09:48:23 +0000

Ah The Graces…three lovely ladies who can sing in such wonderful harmonies with a sense of humor and wit…not to mention they can get down right bawdy.

Jezzebel Grace with a drink in hand

(Picture by Paul Shaughnessy)

When we say bawdy, we mean that it’s not crude or rude or nasty…no…it’s twists of the language so that if your children understand their jokes, it’s not their fault. It is a show meant for older adults (mostly over the age of 18) but really, leave your young children to other things that will be going on.

These three lovely ladies are wenches free that consist of Kat McNiff (Kitty Grace), Gabrielle Murray (Jezebel Grace) and Mikayla Pachucki (Lily Grace) (more information is on their Facebook fan page at : http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/TheGraces?sk=info). This is a high energy group that has performed at King Richard’s Faire, Winslowshire Festival, The Steampunk Festival (coming up soon in Waltham, MA) and their newest adventure at Abbadia Mare Festival (coming to Hammond Castle this July).

If you love wenches, and you love bawdy songs, then you really need to look no further than The Graces. We hope that you come to Winslowshire to listen to their wonderful voices (crystal clear with harmonies too I should add) and enjoy their music (which you can now buy on a CD!)

Aetas Designs – Quality custom clothing

giazzpet — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:11:36 +0000

If you are looking for quality custom clothing for historical, fantasy or everyday wear, then Aetas Designs is a great place to start! Http://www.aetasdesigns.com has clothing for women and men that is very well made and can stand the test of time. They also sell, clasps, buttons, fabric and more to make sure that you get exactly what you are looking for as far as a Re-enactment Garb or Fantasy wear.

They also make sashes, scarves and shawls to go with your custom made outfit. They also make bodices for the ladies that are very well made.

Aetas Designs has been with Winslowshire since they started up in 2008 and has grown with the festival along with so many others. They have fabulous customer service and if they don’t have what you are looking for, they will help you search and actually make it for you.

We hope that when you visit Winslowshire this June, you can go and visit Aetas Designs - tell them we sent you.