Common Ground Fair

Oxen from New Brunswick...see their headpieces?

It’s written in stone, I get the Friday of Common Ground Fair off…someone else must man the campground because I’ll be in Unity at 9:00 AM waiting for the gates to open.  This wonderful celebration is only 45 minutes from the campground, always around the Fall Solstice.  For me, the weeks of anticipation between Fiber College and the fair feels like waiting for Christmas when you’re 10 years old…only now I’m old enough to know better than to wish the days pass faster than they already fly…so it’s a guilty conflict I suffer for a solid 15 days.

Freshly washed fleece

same fleece, dyed the next day...all the shades you can find on a plum tree

There’s no other place in the world where you can indulge in so much ADD behavior without anyone blinking an eye.   This year I got advice from three wise shepherdesses and chose two beautiful gray island fleeces for my winter time playing, learned about dyeing with the indigo Steven is growing in the garden, attended a talk on advances in solar panels, and shared hot cider with friends I hadn’t seen since last winter…and that was just between 9 and 11 in the morning.

Michelle from Fiber College...or more commonly from recognized at her farm, Sunshine Daydream Gardens

An enchanting story teller makes acorn flour exciting

By the time the gates were closing and the volunteers were ushering me out,  I had learned about the best lavender to grow in our damp, zone 5 climate (Hidcote hands down), tasted acorn flour bread and wrote all of the steps for producing our own…if you’ve been here you know we have acres of majestic century old acorn trees in the park, ate a bowl of beanhole beans, curried chicken and apple pie…ran into more friends from across the state and learned how to harness and drive a goat.

…what did you learn on Friday?