Adventon Adventures.

I'm back from the weekend at the Adventon, and it was really, really nice. The Adventon settlement is a work in progress, with a lot of building activities going on (not this last weekend, though, when all the settlers were busy with the craft fair). It was nice to see the partly-finished houses, with the wattle for wattle-and-daub walls already installed and waiting, the place where wood shingles are made for the roofs, and many more things. (I have no pics, unfortunately - I left the camera at home...)

The Adventon is also home to a variety of animals, from cattle to a few different breeds of sheep and breeds of chicken. Two of the sheep, called Othello (who is a black sheep) and his lady Luise (white) wandered past my spot quite often, always on the lookout for interesting things to nibble, open doors to houses (Othello loves to go inside) or open chests to stick his nose in. A flock of chickens also came by several times - especially one of the chicks came and stayed forever right across the road from me, as there was food preparation going on, and she (correctly) assumed that a chicken who is not shy at all might wheedle some food out of the humans.

It was very nice to have this experience of domesticated animals and humans sharing the place, and naturally you'd throw leftover bits from food preparation to the chicks (as you do when you have chickens, and would have done in the Middle Ages). I was not so thrilled with some other animals who shared the spot with me, though... as I had ants in my tent.

I don't mind ants so much (except the really aggressive ones that my parents have in their garden, as they will bite you if you sit on their lanes), but it felt as if I had not just an ant trail through my tent, but more like at least three ant motorway junctions, so many were there. They were in my food and tableware chest (I was really glad that I had stuck my food into airtight boxes instead of just putting it into the chest and a basket, like I usually do), they were on my bench, and they were in my bed. The latter is the reason I was really, really, REALLY glad they were not agressive. They were also not active while it was dark, so most of the night went fine... and the only real issue I had with the critters was when early in the morning of Saturday, one single ant decided to venture boldly where no ant had gone before.

Into my right ear.

I woke from a tickling in my ear, and, half-asleep, reflexively stuck my finger in. Whether that pushed the ant further in, or whether it was already on its way to venture deeper, we will never know - but in any case, the ant was in so deep I couldn't get it out with my pinkie finger.

Only... the ant also couldn't get out anymore. In case you ever wondered what ear wax is for, apart from annoying you when it builds up and you need to clean your ears? It kills ants. Or, I presume, other small insects that end up in your ear. It was not a nice experience, though. I alternated between feeling sad for the poor ant who struggled and was doomed to die sooner or later and thinking "die already, stupid ant, I want to go back to sleep" - which I couldn't while the ant struggled. Ear wax, you see, is not only sticky and gooey, and protects your delicate inner ear from the wandering insect of choice, it also transfers vibrations to aforementioned delicate inner ear. Which means you can really hear the movements of the insect... loudly.

About an hour later, I could sleep again. (Good thing I had turned in indecently early, a luxury I love to have when I'm on events like this all on my own.) The ant, thanks to the mysterious workings of aural peristaltics, left my ear (with a little help from my finger) at some time in the afternoon. Dead, obviously.

Fortunately, there was no other ant incident in the next night.

There were lots of interesting chats with visitors and Adventon folks alike, and I even got to pack up a dry tent in the evening on Sunday, as there was rain and storm all around in the region, except in the park and its immediate surroundings, where we got to enjoy wonderful summer weather. (Unfortunately, the bad weather in the larger area meant that rather few people came to the craft fair, fearing the rain...) So it was a wonderful weekend - and now I get a little time off for coffee with a friend before I have to prepare for the next weekend: the Nadelwelt fair.