This midsummer season has been a little bit different for me than others in the past decade or so, where I have not harvested as many herbs and such as I have in the past at this time of year. I am more focused on still getting to know the land, the local spirits and the flora and fauna.
That is not to say that I haven't harvested anything, as I have been wildcrafting quite a bit, going out with my foraging buddy whenever we get the chance to make our way to the fields and forest.
On Midsummer Day, after getting up before sunrise to greet the sun and make offerings at home, I went to some of my favourite spots in my area. After "paying the rent" to the spirits and some wildharvesting, I came back home to prepare some food for an evening barbecue that we were having with some friends to celebrate the solstice.
That night we stayed up later than we should, ate more than we should and probably drank more than we should as well. While paying for it the next morning, it was still worth it. ;)
Last week I headed off to the country for a few days to stay on my partner's family farm to both help with some work in the garden and to frolic in the fresh air and sunshine {and under the moon}. The property was at one time 240 acres, but has been parceled out to different members of the family. The better half's dad lives in the original farm house, which is 180 years old {!!!}, surrounded by a mixed forest, hay fields and some wetland. Pretty much paradise.
The weather was not the most agreeable to getting work done, so I will be heading back there again soon to help finish up the projects that have been planned for this year. So far we have got the hardscaping almost complete for a pollinator perennial bed, finished up a small succulent rock garden, and got some wood staining done. I am also working on convincing the father-in-law of creating a little
wildlife habitat, which I think he is just about sold on.
And finally, this past weekend I went with some friends to a local art festival,
Artfest, which we had all went to for the first time last year. The festival was held in beautiful
City Park in downtown Kingston, and there were so many vendors there.
I ended up running into a fellow North Bayite,
Josee of Northern Smittens. I recognized her booth right away and was so happy to see someone from my previous hometown. We have friends in common, and I have purchased her lovely mittens before, but other than that we don't personally know each other. Even still, as if we were old friends, we chatted and she filled me in on the recent goings-on up there and such. That is just how folks from up North are, warm and friendly. I highly recommend everyone checking out
her site! Her mittens are so unique and cozy and she has a new line of other pretties too, including cushions and blankets.
The rest of our time there was basically one continuous sensory overload, and I ended up coming home with another pair of mittens from
Josee, a couple of small stone cast pieces from
Douglas McDonald, and some shortbread and preserves.
While I wanted to bring more home with me, my budget would only take me so far. So, being the tourist that I am, I took pictures of artworks that did not make it home with me.
 |
| {artwork a part of the Wandering Gnomes series Morgan Jones} |
 |
| {Fairy Ring Toadstools and other pretties by Jayne Ayre} |
 |
| {the little woodland mouse is one of the casts by Douglas McDonald I went home with} |
*********
Sláinte!
Laurel
No comments:
Post a Comment