I got to stay at Poppa and Grandmas all weekend long! Last week I went to camp two days and one of them we took a bus ride to be with all the camps from all over the city!

He said

So another Home County Music & Art Festival has come and gone. By all counts it was a rousing success. As I type this, the last of our friends here for the weekend, has begun her trip home. That is always the downside to the weekend — the packing up and saying goodbye.

As much as we don’t like ushering our friends off one-by-one throughout the day, I’d be lying if I said that I am not tired and ready for a little quiet. We love having the traditional gathering on our porch that happens every Saturday night of the festival without fail probably most of all. And I love that we spend three days with a group of friends that all feel the same passion for music that we do, covering all corners of the park listening and experiencing the music that brought us together in the most pure of settings lying on the grass in the shade of trees. And staying up to the wee hours too.

But come Sunday evening, I am ready to be done. Having this much fun can be exhausting. We have three weeks to recuperate for the Wolfe Island Music Festival.

As mentioned, we did have the usual gathering of friends on our porch on Saturday night which to be honest I think is the reason everyone keeps coming back. I can’t blame them — our porch is pretty magical. It is the one thing I really look forward to every festival. But, the highlight for me – unquestionably so – was having Sarah Harmer play a song I had been incessantly bugging her to, and having her dedicate it to me as I stood side stage during her headlining set Saturday night. And then getting to hug her a thank you after she was done playing.

There was a lot of other great musical moments all weekend long. The best part of the festival is always the workshops that puts two and three bands together on the same stage encouraging them to cross pollinate their songs as they share them in rounds. Our favourites this weekend were ones that featured Basia Bulat, The Kramdens, Royal Wood, and Great Lake Swimmers. But one of the best all weekend featured The Sadies who were formed by brothers Travis and Dallas Good, with a folk country band called The Good Brothers which happened to feature Dallas and Travis‘ dad and uncles.

And of course the other Home County tradition that has popped up in the last few years, we kept intact with the Sunday Brunch at The Bag Lady Variety. One of the most unique and best places to get a bite to eat in the city. It was a real treat and the perfect way to start our last day of the festival.

One thing we did a little different this year was Emelia spent the weekend at Poppa and Grandma’s. The week leading up we had unbearable heat, and with that our AC unit decided to die. Given that Emelia doesn’t deal well with the heat, and was already pushing every one of Danielle’s buttons, and at the urging of Mom & Dad, we decided to let Emelia have a weekend vacation.

It gave Danielle and I the time to just enjoy the festival the way we like to, and it gave Emelia some time to hangout with Poppa and Grandma and have some relief from the heat. She was happy to see us earlier this evening when we went to pick her up. But what assured us was the all of about an hour back down at the festival that she survived before starting to show the more obvious signs she was done with being there.

So the weekend ended up being perfect for Danielle and I, as well as Emelia. We didn’t push her into doing all the stuff we wanted to do. We got to be adults knowing that Emelia was having just as much fun if not more with Poppa and Grandma. So, it was a win/win all the way around! The perfect kind of way to end the week.

She said

As I type this we are sun kissed and exhausted so I will keep my part brief. The weekend was incredible, from start to finish. Well maybe not the exact start. As John mentioned we have been dealing with unbearable heat, so when there was talk of a thunderstorm brewing for Friday night we knew it would be a big one. And was it ever. I had hoped that the storm would hold off until later in the evening OR have it earlier in the day to give a break from the heat wave.

But nope, just as we arrived at the park the skies opened up and gave us one hell of a thunderstorm. Terrible timing since we were just arriving to see The Kramdems perform. We were really looking forward to seeing them play as we first love their music but also John has become friends with the lead singer Craig Norris through CBC Radio3 where until quite recently Craig was a host. But in spite of the downpour the show went on and they put on one hell of a great show.

The storm was thankfully short lived and did provide some relief to the unbearable heat. Which is perfect timing as John also mentioned this week our AC unit decided to die and we cannot get a quote until Thursday to replace it. Add in that the dryer has not been working for 6 weeks and we have a repair person coming Tuesday to fix it next week will be one expensive week.

But back to the weekend and not on the PITA things we have to deal with this coming week.

A highlight for me was absolutely Great Lakes Swimmers, they have been long one of my favourite bands and there is something magical about listening to Tony Dekker sing while standing with great friends under the stars on a warm summer night. It was perfect. And even more perfect was being able to enjoy them again at the workshops the next day.

All in all it was an amazing weekend, filled with great music, lots of time with old friends and once again meeting some amazing new ones. I love this weekend, it is one of the most anticipated weekends of the summer for John and I and it keeps getting better and better because of the group of growing friends we get to enjoy it with. Only 362 days until next Home County!

But that being said 2 nights of later bedtimes, some drinks with friends, lots and lots of sun means I am just about ready to get to vegging with John and enjoying these last few moments of the weekend before the reality of the work week is upon us.

At least we can now be on the countdown for our week off as a family, only two more weeks of work and we have a week of family time!