deborahjross | Harvest festival report

We hosted our 2nd annual Harvest Festival and anniversary/housewarming party yesterday. I'm saturated with social contact, but boy, was it fun. We rearranged the dining area, set up seating on the porch and barbecue area, thereby creating spaces for people to both encounter one another and sit and talk. I did homemade bread (hearty wheat walnut baguettes and a slightly sweet egg bread) and Kadoo, our favorite Afghani sweet spiced pumpkin with mint yogurt, also piles of cherry tomatoes and lemon cucumbers. Dave grilled chicken and Freddy's (amazing marinated sirloin or tri-tip -- people were snatching slices as fast as I could cut it). People brought all sorts of other goodies, including about 10 pies, all of which were wolfed down except for a tiny bit of rhubarb, which I am ignoring.

But the real party was the people -- local friends, neighbors, writers, Quakers, co-workers and bloggers. We decided, for the comfort of some of our friends, to not serve alcohol until about half way through, and even then, very little was consumed -- I think people were so engrossed in lively conversation, they couldn't be bothered.

It was such a delight to see all the various friends making connections -- sometimes exchanging business cards -- and the wide range of topics. Many, like us, are avid readers, and the tour of the library shed was a highllight. Rose made a splendid guide, before retreating to her room with various guests of approximately the same age. A couple of younger boys (6ish) had a high old time running races through the "maze" of hedges between house and barbecue area. We had incarcerated the cats in Dave's study (with a note that visiting was encouraged, but please don't let them out, no matter what they tell you), but left Oka out. Enough people played with his "bug" (laser pointer) to keep him in a state of perennial hope, very calm and watchful, so he was no problem.

Now is the Day After, rounds of cleaning and re-rearranging, letting the intensity of the event settle down, resume normal life. Whew! I think that's our big social event of the year, and a good time was had by all.