I think that September and October are the prettiest months on the coast.  The colors are inviting, the weather can be spectacular and there’s a sizzle in the air…maybe it’s the “going back to school” excitement that’s built into our modern DNA or maybe it’s the chattering of the birds and the escapades of the squirrels as they prepare for winter…in any event, this is my favorite time of the year.

In the campground things are quieter and we get to know our guests over coffee and in front of the fireplace.  Things become a bit more self-serve it we feel more like an extended family than a public business.  Now that there are fewer guests, there’s less of an urgency to “stay on task”…so all of us tend to “wait until it warms up a bit” before we get started with the day.

I’ve got time to cook flowers to extract their dyes and there’s nothing better than having a group around a simmering dye pot as we add handfuls of wool just to see what color will come out…yesterday it was the magenta of amaranth and today I’m hoping to start the indigo for blues and purples.

The gardens are filled with tones of orange and purple this time of the year.  We’re harvesting the carrots and celery for winter and Norma’s been busy tying up the garlic and shelling the beans…the goats are gorging on all the pulled vines and heaps of apples we’re picking up from the campsites.

Pat and her husband Ron came for Fiber College and extend their stay in one of our rentals on site 33 to be here for a couple of weeks…In the afternoon Pat spends lazy hours weaving and spinning while Ron reads and keeps the fire burning in the rec hall…she’s been snapping pictures and graciously allowed me to download her camera…this is what she’s seen while she’s been walking around…