weekending :: a swap, a festival

I could stare at this bouquet all day long, I think.  I mean goodness, just look at those colors! dahlias are not a flower I have grown myself before.  I think I get intimidated thinking about how you are supposed to dig them up and all....... someone tell me it's easy and I just may dive in.  a friend surprised me with this lovely bouquet when she showed up for the swap this weekend.

so yes, another swap~ this was the seventh one.  as per usual, we had a fun mix of folks and food and drink and goodies.  not as per usual, I didn't take a single photo during the swap.  here's an after shot of the tables though, taken when Mike and I were running around readying the garden for a 31 degree night.  it was probably already down to 40 and here's Claire, hanging around in her old flower girl dress as though she can't be bothered to notice the cold.

this time around I contributed medicines.  elderberry tincture, nettles tincture, tulsi/holy basil tincture, ginger/echinacea syrup, and sore throat/cough syrup.  I came away with two amazing infinity scarves, pumpkin butter, ginger spiced apple butter, hot honey, beeswax candles, a trio of compound butters, mint extract and butter mints, and a lovely pair of essential oil rollers (one uplifting and cooling, and one grounding).  there were many awesome goodies, and a couple that I didn't score but was inspired by were a beautiful fire cider made by Ashley, and an oil pulling/mouthwash set featuring thieves essential oil.  there was laundry soap, hand knits, peanut butter, deodorant (I actually was gifted one of each of the last two as well- these ladies spoil me!), honey lollipops, hand spray, Lisa's incredible rope baskets, Molly's granola and cloth napkins and mulberry jam, and I'm sure I'm probably forgetting some option amazing things.

anyway, the point is...... I love these gatherings.  they feed me in so many ways.  connecting with others with intention and a common goal of sharing our goods with one another and learning from and inspiring each other...... oh it's good stuff.  the community of women who come together at the swaps shifts from time to time, but there are several folks who have become regulars and I love how it has come to feel like we are all a part of the swaps, that it isn't me making it happen, but that we create them together.  and of course, that's true.

the morning after..... easy like Sunday morning.  drip coffee, those incredible dahlias, the amazing autumn light softly filtering in through the cold windows.  a peek at the plants tells me they're fine.  of course they are.  we plant what we plant for the fall because they are frost and cold-hardy.  but still, sometimes I fret.  pretend I have control.

breakfast the morning after a swap is usually pretty special.  for a while it was my friend Jen's lavender-coconut tapioca (what? that's a dessert? pshaw!), which she brought to swaps a couple or few times in a row, possibly due to pressure from me.

today it was toast with some of the vanilla-honey-pecan compound butter that Rachael brought, along with pumpkin butter made by my sweetest of friends, Kassie.  (and then maybe I had the same thing later on as an after dinner snack)

after our slow, easy morning, we headed off to the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF!) with some buddies for the afternoon.  this is a wonderful music-and-art-and-so-much-more festival that happens to take place about 6 miles down the road twice a year.  Claire loves it and looks forward to it all year (well, twice a year, actually).  the lineup is always superb (my highlight this time was Rising Appalachia- I adore those ladies, and there was a ton of New Orleans jazz and funk and zydeco and so much more), there is a ton of international music, there is great food...... and it's in a beautiful location.  it happens to be held at the camp where I worked on the farm this summer and it turns out that gig is worth a couple passes(!).  score!

today we mostly snacked (tacos! spicy kombucha on tap! kettle corn!) and let the kids play.

thank you, glorious October weekend.
weekending with Karen and friends~