Waterford Fair Get-Together- October

This month, on the 6th, the Take Joy Society attended this year's Waterford Fair in Waterford, VA .  Click on music link to hear Donna Nomick, one of the vendors at the Fair, play "Si Bean Locha Lein" and come back here to read along with the music.

♫Hammered Dulcimer♫

Only Cindy and I were able to make this get-together so we brought our husbands along and met at the Fair.  Ken and I took the back roads whenever we could for the 35-minute drive, passing lovely farm scenes like these. . . .

Waterford, VA was first settled in 1733 by the Quakers.  Since 1943 the Waterford Foundation has ensured that the small village would remain just that--a small village--helping to preserve the historic houses and open spaces. . . .

Several colonial entertainers and costumed crafters were on hand. . .

Plunkett & Tremolo: Old World Clowns

Terry Bender: Organ Grinder

Sunnyland Band:  One Man Band with helpers

The school children of Waterford are given the day off, but they have assignments such as interviewing the crafters or taking turns being taught as part of the demonstration at the one-room school house.  The little girl on the left was thrilled to have her photo taken. We heard her say as she passed by that I was the SECOND person to take her photo! . . . .

This crafter was making one of her very intricate paper cuttings called Scherenschnitte. . . .

Cindy and her husband, Andy, watch the Blacksmith. . . .

A crafter making jack-o-lanterns from gourds. . . .

Creations using copper pipes and flashing . . . .

The hooked rugs were works of art. . . .

More gourds made into bird houses this time. . . .

The smaller ones are Christmas ornaments. . . .

Copper flashing was used on this birdhouse. . . .

Lots of fiber arts, too. . . .

I barely touched on the many crafts available!

Not looking very happy with all the hubbub in the village this cat was biding its time in the yard of one of the tour houses. . . .

The children would stop to pet his beautiful dog that was waiting for its owner outside a shop. . . .

I wonder if this chicken escaped its pen. It was the only one I saw in the village. . . .

There are four different houses open on each of the three days of the fair.  The first one we toured was the Charles Merchant House, circa 1906. . . .

This was one of the several log houses in the village. . . .

This stone wall with the hedges caught my eye. . . .

As did this view between houses. . . .

An interesting entrance. . . .

And a cut-out design on a window shade. . . .

The Mahlon Schooley House on the tour was built in 1817 as part of the "New Town" development in the village. . . .

Views from the back porch. . . .

The path up to the street. . . .

The log cabin across the street was built from two Maryland cabins salvaged in the 1970s/80s. . .

Interesting architecture abounds. . . .

Even for the bird houses on the old telephone pole. . . .

This house was nestled in a long row of rowhouses. . . .

Climbing vines on a stair railing. . . .

My favorite house on the tour was the Francis Pierpoint House.  The left section was built circa 1795.  In 1809 Samuel Pierpoint purchased it and the house next door and operated a dry goods store in that one.  In 1844 Ann Taylor Ratcliffe, a Quaker widow with four young children bought both houses and operated a fabric shop on the lower level and lived upstairs. There would have been an outside porch with a staircase to the upper floors.  It wasn't until 1950 that an interior staircase was added and the porch removed.  More additions were added in 1960 and 2005 to make it a lovely home. . . .

We entered the house through the back yard. . . .

This is a view of the other side of the house.  You can see the smaller 1960 stone addition and the larger 2005 addition. . . .

John Wesley Church. . . .

I neglected to photograph the front of the last house on the tour, Tanyard Hill.  This photo is from the website. . . .

It was only built 22 years ago and made to look old, but once inside it just did not feel old to me.  This is a garden in the side yard. . . .

As we walked up the lane back to our car there was another log cabin.  I remember touring this one years ago.  It was cozy and charming. . . .

You can read more about these houses and the others on the tour on Saturday and Sunday HERE.

If you would like to browse the photos again, watch the slide show. . . .

                       

You can also watch the slide show I made in 2014 of our visit when we were the Maryland Tasha Tudor Museum Society HERE.  Plus, YouTube has more videos like this one produced by Visit Loudon.  I highly recommend watching it!

❤️Take Joy❤️