honeyflake

peace, hoops and happiness

     

once again my friends... it's the clearwater festival! we so look forward to this june-live-music-gathering tradition of ours... it's a day spent outside under the sun (listening to tunes powered by the sun) that is filled with so much goodness, togetherness and inspiration (and check out this one too), and if we're lucky like today there's the occasional festival snack and lots of hooping! this year we brought along the hula-hoop that chuck & i made for margaret back at christmastime (sadly, mine is too big to travel with us)... and she totally worked that funky bright yellow loop of hers round and round through many sets and stages all day long... it turned around to the beats, with a few newly acquired fancy moves, through the felice brothers, mike doughty, david amram, and steve earle (just a few of the artists we saw)... she was unstoppable... and lots of fun to watch. i think also, i really love that there is such a good balance of everything, that it is an atmosphere that both the adults and children can have a great time with ease. makes for a very peaceful, happy, hooping good day.

when the ground can be worked

 
prepping the backyard containers.

fresh green chives sprouting up in the herb box.

 
raking up a raised bed.

even though there was still a patch or two of snow outside, it warmed up enough to break out the gardening tools (and side walk chalk and hula-hoops) and get to work (and play). such a sunny saturday. hope you are enjoying your weekend!

autumn gardening

the weekend weather has been sunny and warm. perfect for getting out in the yard and tending to the final phases of the gardens before they're quiet and resting for the winter...

collecting up seeds from this year's gardens and tucking them away into some quick homemade packets. we'll save and store these for the next planting season...

 

bulbs! tulips and alliums have now been squirreled away underground. these went in so easily since the earth was still so warm - very different from this time in november last year when we were chipping away the frosted ground to harvest our root veggies. i love the idea of putting bulbs in — so worth it when they wake up and break ground in the spring...

and then the leaves... they're not quite done falling from the trees yet, but there were plenty out there that chuck and margaret raked into several enormous piles. just right for jumping in (hula hoop optional).

happy saturday!

solstice gathering

after warmly shining down on all the many dancing and singing folks all day, the sun lingered in the sky for just a bit longer on saturday... it was the opening day of the clearwater festival and opening day of summer 2008. all the open outdoor space and the music-filled stages everywhere had us singing, hooping and happily welcoming in the new season grassroots-style...

the summer solstice is a time for letting go, letting go of the sun as the earth begins to rock and roll itself back in the other direction, letting go of the long days as they slowly will begin to get shorter... rocking and rolling, letting go... and how perfectly fitting, there was plenty of that going on at this celebration (originally put together by pete seeger more than 35 years ago, to help bring awareness to the huson river and the earth)

some of the performers we were able to catch this year were the silver swimmers, entrain, david amram, dog on fleas, the felice brothers, and a few others here and there...

it's an event that we always find to be a good time. it keeps us coming back year after year filling our souls with song. eventually, the sun did set, and we were on our way home, keeping the music going, singing our own songs (many from this songbook.) together. very glad that summer is now officially here. happy summer to all!

solar-powered good time

we seem to be developing a father's day weekend tradition. for the 4th year in a row we've travelled up through the land of ichabod crane to join in a gathering of musicians, artisits, environmentalists, political activists, smiling happy people and sunshine. clearwater festival 2007 was lots of fun. a solar powered music festival that also offered feltmaking workshops, hoola-hooping, storytelling, recycled-material koinobori making workshops, picnics by the river, dancing, sloop watching, etc... a sustainable good time as always.