Sunday, 12 October 2014

Harvest Home Celebration - Friday Sept 5th, 2014

I was feeling a lot of empathy for all farmers in that first week of September, when I was on tenterhooks to see what the weather would do for our big event -- would we get rained out? would it be fine and sunny? I was casting an anxious eye at the Weather Network every morning.
And when it came down to it, we were lucky; it was as beautiful a late-summer day as anyone could have wished.
Brian's Corn Dolly opus anchored the celebratory decorations of the garden;
an info board about the history and traditions of corn dollies is at the foreground, hanging on our fence

The Tiddley Cove Morris Dancers arrived and immediately notched up the feeling of celebration

There was something for everyone to do in the garden....
Smaller people got down to business, pulling up the patches of marigolds...
.... While the big folks worked on pulling up the flax,
which had to be done carefully so that the tips and root ends don't get mixed up



The fresh flax was hung on the fence to dry


The flax that we harvested in the previous week was rippled by enthusiastic volunteers
We had musical accompaniment for the whole time

At the end of our harvest, we posed for a group photo...

... and then headed off for a procession down to Locarno Beach and back up to the Discovery Cafe, for dinner.
I didn't accompany the procession, but one participant told me that as they got to the beach, heads snapped around and a thicket of smartphones appeared, recording the event.
We brought a picnic or ordered our dinners at the Discover Cafe.
Inside, the Cypress Street Band played a mix of covers and originals; outside, we made some linen stricks on the break and hackles.
As the golden afternoon faded into twilight, the Morris Dancers performed again and even did a couple dances that got everyone involved.

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