lantana blooming in the herb garden
four-winged saltbush, one of ‘s favorite native plants. we have a couple of these bushes out back near the ritual grounds. the seeds are edible, though very mild-flavored (more so even than elm seeds).
chamisa (rabbitbrush) in bloom. This is currently in the field that we’re going to lower; i may be digging it up and rehoming it before we get the bobcat in back there.
sunflower ripening in the west garden.
dyer’s iceplant in bloom.
hopi red dye amaranth, now about five feet tall and starting to set seeds:
coreopsis, still blooming:
monarch butterfly larva, on the bronze fennel:
gladiolas in bloom along the edge of the ritual ground
Monday’s First Annual Harvest Festival, which marked our 2nd anniversary as a community, went very well. it was mellow and mild; we started with a bread-breaking ceremony, then hung out eating and talking in the shade. some portraits:
Amber:
Rev:
Billy:
Hannah & Apple:
Kay:
Tristan:
Paddy, bobbing for apples. I took about a zillion apple bobbing photographs, but only a few of them really came out; most are simply my friends with their heads underwater. it was the air-conditioning method of choice for much of the afternoon, which was pleasantly warm. the anticipated rain held off until last night, actually, which is about perfect.
the prize for getting an apple was to get first crack at the prize-winning pie, after the pie contest was judged. we had nine delicious pies! the contest was wildly successful.
midway through the pie-judging, the acequia started flowing. Thistle had been at large, and immediately immersed herself in the muddy water–then tried to come shake it al off right next to the pies, naturally. she was forestalled, and put back in the barnyard till she dried off.
the crowd gathers to hear the the verdict on the pies.
Sandy enumerates the virtues of the first-place pie…
…which was baked by Amber. Ana’s pie took second place. Each of them won a basket full of farm goods, including apple sauce, pickles, and sweet pickled watermelon rind. Amber’s basket included a bottle of mead, while Ana’s included a jar of plum jam.
Somewhere in there, some folks sat down and started playing music. Dave brought harp, bagpipes, and mandolin.
several people brought guitars, including Matt, Rev, Kit, Chris, and a new friend, Andrew, Britta’s neighbor. here’s Kit:
Matt on guitar, Rev on drums & didge, Kit on guitar, and Andrew on flute; Dave is behind Rev, playing bagpipes:
Rev, playing the didge he made that is now Alan’s:
the music lasted into the twilight, when we began to be eaten alive by mosquitoes. Others had cleared up the tables around us and departed. we were having so much fun singing that we moved it into the livingroom and kept going for a couple more hours. it was glorious and beautiful.
the whole weekend was made of good music for me. saturday night’s full moon drum jam was the best one yet, a perfect circle outside of time, in the eternity of cocreative music, fire and night. sunday we jammed at the house, doing improv storytelling with music. i read poems from the new chapbook i’m producing while Rev & Kit played guitar, which was awesome. I want to do more of that, reading poems with improv music. Monday I did a couple poems in the twilight with Rev, Kit, Andrew and Chris. also fun. Chris wants to do more of that, too, which is exciting. i have been missing performance poetry in my life for quite a while now. it’s good to poke my nose in that direction again and get good feedback. and singing with Victoria was lots of fun. all around a magical musical weekend.
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