Hi friends, it’s really been a long time since I wrote and I apologize. First resolution of the New Year: (ok, second if you count my promise to eat less sugar)  I will settle back into the pleasure of blogging more often…it should be easy because it’s been a brutally icy winter so far and my knees are getting sore from falling down on the ice. Technology keeps making things easier too and I’m going to use my phone to stay better in touch. You’ll be the judge of my success.

For the pleasure of a good recap~ last fall, we hosted the Fiber College, Bluegrass Jam Camp and the Old Time Music Campout in September. For our small campground, that’s a lot of events when 1/2 of our help has gone back to their real lives.  The upside to the extra work of hosting is the energy we gain from being surrounded by so many fantastic people…and we’ve begun the work to plan for 2019.

As September was winding down we harvested everything from the gardens (at the time I grumbled under my breath about being too tired, now I do a little Martha Stewart dance every time I pull out the green beans, tomatoes, potatoes and squash from the freezer).  When the garden was put to bed, I sheared our little flock with Jessie’s help and Steve supervised putting in a new septic system for the dump station.  We’re particularly proud of the new system because a) it was a major financial investment that our past summer successes allowed us to achieve and b) we chose a Japanese system that while more costly, ends in a water outflow that is as pure as rain water…very important to our coastal environment.

And then it was time for our vacation!  Steven, Dad and I went to Mexico for Mariachi music, margaritas and fantastic food…and we got so much more!  We traveled by plane, bus, car, ATV and boat while we explored St. Miguel de Allende, Guadalajara and the fishing village of Yelapa.  People were incredibly kind and friendly, we ate the very best food and spent time with artisans who were making a living with a craft.  Between the colors, flavors and smiles, we came back energized, relaxed and ready to go back soon.  Really, I love our Maine home but everyone should visit our friends on the South side because the Mexican spirit is magical.

We got back just before Christmas to a mountain of holiday cards and more mundane correspondence.  We cut a tree in the woods across the street, piled our cards on all of the branches and called it good while we lit a candle and made apple cider bourbon drinks (we pressed apples in October, fermenting just enough to get us through these cold months).  We have some of the best guests in the world…in between the lovely greeting cards there was a jar of dried bolete mushrooms from Henry and Olga, a bottle of dessert wine from Linda’s New York State winery and a calendar filled with images from Jim’s vacation here at the campground!

As we slide towards the end of January (literally because of all the ice that has built up on the trails and roads in the park) we’ve been spending more time in the workshops and in front of the computer.  Steve’s been reworking the parts of the website we never get to and I designed new rack cards for both the campground and Fiber College.  It’s absolutely true that there’s no separation between our lives and our work…we’re making plans for all of the things we want to accomplish this year, fully knowing that we won’t tick everything off but we’ve found that doing a regular “brain dump” helps us sleep at night.  We’re also taking time for projects…for me that looks like weaving, knitting and sewing, for Steve it’s woodworking, music and maintenance.  The two of us love to cook so while Steve’s perfecting his ciabatta recipe, I’ve vowed to try two new soups every week.

And that’s our life in a nutshell.

Be well, Astrig