Picnics and Pickle-making

I'll begin by saying that E's friends' wedding reception was the most delightful reception I've been to in...quite possibly, ever! The ceremony was nice, and after changing out of my dress (vintage-y red with white polka dots) and those $@&%#!* high heels (silver and sparkly, but which rendered me utterly useless), I carried camera equipment for E while she took pics of the wedding party at a local park. It's fun to watch her work...she has a great eye and equally great ideas, and would love to do more professional photography gigs. Anyway - the reception!! It started out looking fairly standard: rented foreign legion hall, food buffet, round tables with fancy napkins. The food was pretty good, and there was free beer and wine, but what really made it a party was the music!!!! That was the first time I've ever heard so many not-standard songs (The Spice Girls, The Beach Boys, Footloose, Blues Traveler, etc), the first Neil Diamond sing-a-long (Sweeeeeeet Caroline/ "BAH BAH BAHHHHHHHHHH", good times never seemed sooo good/ "SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD!"), the first time I've slow-danced to Daydream Believer (and E didn't mind that I sang the whole thing to her while we danced! SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!), and most definitely the first time I've ever danced the Time Warp. SO much better than the Chicken Dance!! Plus, it turns out that the bride and groom are in a really awesome cover band, and they took the stage intermittently and rocked the house! Total wedding win.

On Sunday, we slept in, then did a little pre-picnic grocery shopping. We needed bacon for our BLTs, and then we got a bright idea - "Hey, we have all that cast iron that needs to be seasoned...we should use the bacon!!" Roughly two hours later, the bacon was cooling, and so were our newly-seasoned pans:

 

Then, using toasted onion rolls, mayo, lettuce, tomato, and bacon, I assembled our main course:

 

Nommalicious, right?! These tasty sammiches went into a cooler bag with single-serve bags of Fritos and Funyuns, glass bottles of Coke and Mountain Dew, some napkins, and some dark chocolate. We grabbed a blanket and our current books, and off we went to the banks of the Huron River:  

 (There's a street and some street parking behind us, but never mind that part. River! People fishing! Nature!)

The weather was absolutely perfect. Not too warm, a nice breeze, no bugs. We spread our blanket, enjoyed our sandwiches, and watched the ducks. There were a lot of ducks. Some were in the river, including three white ones that performed some formation gliding...and as time went on, we realized they did formation everything. Seriously, these three did not go anywhere individually:

And yes, there were quite a few ducks in the river. Most, however, were next to us. Like, right next to us:

 Do you see allllll of those ducks?! Look closer. Look further, by the pine tree. (Also, see that white goose? I named him Gordon. He looked very much like a Gordon up close.)

E and I decided that it wouldn't be so bad, coming back as ducks. Lots of swimming, soft feathers, the ability to fly...and you get to quack! One particularly chatty duck was very entertaining: "QUACK quack quack! QUACK QUACK QUACK!" You could totally tell that one was the loud relative at all the family parties. It was great to duck-watch, eat chocolate, and enjoy our books and each others' company in nature. Totally relaxing and blissful. We're hoping to do it lots more before winter!

So. Pickle-making. Having already dipped my toe in the fermented-foods pool, having six lovely blue mason pint canning jars that beg to be filled with something special, and having tasted some absolutely fantastic homemade pickles at Fest (Yes, in the woods. What?!), I was super excited when I found this recipe for Seven-Day Fermented Pickles. Currently, there are four quart-sized mason jars (for the fermenting process) in the dishwasher, and 5 pounds of (MI grown, local-business purchased) pickle cucumbers on the counter, waiting for their ice water bath. They'll soak for 30 minutes, then I'll slice them into 1/2-inch slices, pack them into the mason jars, and cover them with boiling water. Tomorrow night, I'll drain them, then cover them with boiling salted water. On Day 3, they'll be drained and covered with boiling water with dissolved alum. Day 4, drained and covered with boiling apple cider vinegar, and spiced. They'll brine for 3 days, fermenting all the while, and then...well, just read the recipe. LOL! I am so stinking excited to make these things! And I hope E likes them...she's more of a dill/sour pickle person, I think, so we'll have to do those next. 

Ok, the dishwasher's done...time to soak the cukes...wish me luck!

*insert random title here*

I should not have slept in today. No, really. There is waaaaaaaaaaay too much to be done - I'm still not unpacked from Fest, the SCOBY needs new tea, there's laundry to be folded, pajama bottoms to hem and finish (and another pair to start), a crocheted scarf/hoodie in progress, Christmas projects to plan, I have three clients later, I REALLY need to go for a run, and oh right, we have a wedding to attend tomorrow...and I have to buy new shoes. 

Allow me to distract you (and myself!) by narrating these pictures instead:

Ahhh...the Crafts Bazaar, pre-Fest, in the misty morning light. (I was on my way to use the catbox, but the light was so enchanting that my full bladder was momentarily forgotten.) 

 My workspace for the week. Sigh.

 It's been very hard working by myself in a small dark room this week, after working in such a bright and wonderful space with six other magical womyn...

 Home Sweet Home!

 The sign-painting crew are true artists.

 Belly Bowl, bright and welcoming in the near-dark.

 One of the critters encountered on my woodland safari. This little gal hitched a ride to the showers on my backpack, and was gently re-homed in the ferns.

 My view while working. Seriously, how the heck do they expect me to work indoors after that?!

 Ahhhhh, Belly Bowl - keeping workers hydrated, fed, and caffeinated at almost all hours of the day/night! How we love you!!

 Quiet woodland walks...

 ...and beautiful open skies.

 Meet Luna (on the left) and Aloysius (on the right), my new companions! Both were purchased from a craftswomon at Fest. Luna (who took nearly a week to tell me her name) is carved of rainbow jasper, and has a very calming and grounding presence. Aloysius is carved of hematite, and not only told me his name right away, but also that he is not a 'roo. He's a wallaby (Guard Wallaby!), and is intense and protective. They like to be together, with Aloysius always nearer the door, and they're very good at repelling negative energy. I heart them.

 Maple Walnut Flax granola with organic blueberries and local milk! NOMNOMNOMNOMNOM!

The beginnings of a Christmas present for my mom. That's not a P, it's B in progress, lol. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to cross-stitch!

Well, kids, that's all for now. If I'm a very efficient dragon, I can tackle the laundry-folding, brew tea, shower, and buy shoes before work! I hope you all have a fantastic weekend...very much looking forward to mine, we're planning a little picnic on Sunday! Yay couple time! Yay BLT's!

enough.

So, we did the Warrior Dash, and had a wonderful time - although we didn't do much dashing, lol. It was more of a nature hike with obstacles for us. But next year...oh, next year, we will dash like the wind! Nobody fell off anything, and nobody suffered anything worse than scrapes, sore muscles, and insect bites. We got gloriously muddy, ate roasted turkey legs, swam in a pond, and shivered the whole way home. Worth it? You bet it was!

And then there was Fest. Ohhh, what a magical Fest we had this year! There were more womyn...still not enough, but at least 500 more than last year, which is encouraging! The energy shift was palpable and amazing - we spent a lot of time looking at each other and remembering that we love each other, instead of eyeing each other with suspicion and wondering who was on our side. I participated in the Goddess-raising this year (E: "Baby! You cast a circle!! I'm so proud!"), worked on several big-name performers, helped my old crew load in their equipment and get set up, and curled up in a field with my love to watch the Perseid meteor shower. I won a massage in the raffle (!), got sized up by a low-circling hawk that thought perhaps I was a large rabbit, showered in the open air ("so...how hot is 'Quite Hot' this year?"), learned to shoot a longbow, did a metric f*ckton of walking, performed FOUR TIMES in a sock puppet show (word of our fame has spread), ate bagel dogs and unicorn-flavored donuts (if unicorns are chocolate and fluffy on the inside), drank a whooooooole lot of coffee, got rave reviews on my rocket ship fleece footed pajamas (it was COLD, y'all), and came back physically exhausted but with a replenished heart and soul.

The womyn. The absolute Amazons that found their way onto my table, trusted me with their bodies, worked alongside me, smiled and laughed with me, fed me (in every way), reveled in their freedom, danced in the Night Stage bowl...God(dess), what an honor. What a blessing to be one small part of such a radical, transformational, sacred place.

The hat got finished, and bartered for a leather cuff bracelet that says Enough. It's a word/concept I've been meditating on for the last year or so...mainly, letting the small steps, the effort, be enough. Maybe we're not self-sufficient gardeners, but we ate home-grown sauteed squash in the woods and canned a whole lot of jam, and for now, that is enough. I haven't figured out how to knit socks yet, but I can knit hats, scarves, toys, and blankets, and for now, that is enough. I may not be making enough to pay off my debts, but I can begin to pay them down while not incurring more, and for now, that is enough. I just spent 16 days in the woods and my house is a hot mess, but the laundry is half done and there is one clean, uncluttered dresser space in my room and for now, that is enough. The world is being torn apart by greed and bids for power, but every August, I'm shown again that thriving, loving community, and peace despite our differences, is indeed possible, and for now, that is enough.