solstice fire | Apothecary Shed

Summer Solstice 2023

July 14, 2023

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What you gonna do? It rained. It was July 4th weekend. People are bone tired.

Have a party! It was a good one.

Thank goodness for Alec and Eli and Markus and Aubrey. Many hands makes slightly less work. Romey and I can use all the help we can get.

Don’t let his easy smile fool you, this man is serious about his parties!

The list.

Aubrey brought the Messerhead Memorial Salmon Dinner.

And then the time arrived.

Where’s Maybe?

Last minute instrument shells added to the bonfire. Makes art. This has become a really fun tradition.

Even Maybeline got into the act, chewing up her own personal frog.

The culprit.

We knew what to expect from the weather this year so we set up the tables near the barn. That was very helpful when the deluge came.

We retired to the barn for about an hour before the second and third waves of people showed up.

Old men make muscles.

Richie gets wild.

After the rain delay it was back to the tables.

And then the lighting (around 8:15).

It was just a smidge humid.

There was music in the barn.

This year we wound things up around 2am. Getting old I guess. LOL.

We will do it again. Thanks to all who came to the 2023 summer solstice.

Winter Solstice 2022: Warm Friends on a Cold Night

December 18, 2022

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It all started at 3pm for me (with the perfunctory “lighting of the barrel”). Just making sure there was a heat source for people who arrived before the big bonfire lighting.

The sky was gorgeous.

And soon there were solstice attendees and tiki torches.

We lit the fire shortly after 5pm when it finally got dark enough. There were LOTS of people here for the lighting. It was a good one.

The fire had a huge core (that is still burning late the next day).

Meanwhile up at the barn there was terrible Christmas music, lots of food, and a great sense of camaraderie.

The homemade eggnog (recipe here) made things a little blurry. Delicious.

The space between the barn and the bonfire is always magical. This year, the lasers were particularly remarkable.

And the highlight of the evening for me. Music with Clark and Gina. Yes please. This is how we turn the sun.

We wrapped things up around midnight with the last of the hearty attendees, leaving a large pack of 20 somethings to deal with the skunk!

Moonshine loved it.

And he says, now that everything is cleaned up, lets do it again!

Thanks to all who came. Magical.

Summer Solstice 2022

June 21, 2022

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We’ll start in the middle, with a video of the lighting of the summer solstice bonfire of 2022. The weather was absolutely perfect and the crowd friendly and warm. Every year the size of the fire seems to come as a surprise.

This year the weather was so cool that a dip in the river was not in the cards.

Rewinding a day, Aubrey provided another great iteration of the smoked salmon Messerhead feast helping to set the FOOD stage. Speaking of FOOD, Chef Michael was down from Chicago with Astro. That means we were spoiled rotten on the food front for days on end.

Salmon feast table

Any solstice that starts with caviar is destined for greatness.

Before.

Prepping for late night tacos

It seems that Chef Michael can’t cook for less than 700. But that’s OK. We just need to make the solstice party seven times bigger. Pork shoulder in the firepit by the shrine.

We had a mid-day break to tour Eli’s fantastic art show at the Barns of Rose Hill. The show continues through July 2nd.

Then it was time for the pre-game Negroni.

And we were officially underway. Esther and Cora presided over the opening.

The sufferin bastard made an appearance

After an outstanding potluck feast, replete with fresh flowers, it was time for one quick song (thanks guitar week fellers) and FIRE.

By far the cutest thing at this solstice iteration was the jumping of the gun by Brantley the marshmallow boy. The fire was still a bit young. But that did not deter Brantley.

The fire burned for two days. In fact, it is still smoking as I write this.

Thank goodness for Alec, David, and Gina. We had a few hours of music by the bonfire.

Rumor has it that absinthe hour stretched from 3am-6am.

The next day happened fast.

Morning after breakfast

The chef outdid himself three times.

Party cleanup was a breeze with Aubrey in charge. The weather cooperated the entire weekend.

What is left of this fire?

Are there coals down there?

Fresh veggies from the Berryville farmer’s market (thanks to Chilly Hollow Farm)

While the

veggies roast, we hang by the fire.

Donkey Hodie says “sup homey?”

Astro has the best home

The garden

Roast veggies

OMG more food

Even moonshine is in a food coma.

What do you do with recd currants?

You make a fresh tart. Then mezcal straight from Mexico City?! Yup.

Morning never arrived for some of the mezcal participants.

And then a visit from Iulie.

Fin.

“Post-pandemic” Solstice Fire 2021

December 27, 2021

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The weather was iffy with heavy rain to come. But the night started out beautifully enough as the tiki torches were lit. And we were off on the experimental solstice fire on xmas edition.

The afternoon was balmy at 65 degrees

Who ordered this crazy weather? This has to be the warmest winter solstice on record.

The scene

Tikis wink on

The highlight of this year’s fire was a set of busted up instruments that Josh brought out. We used a 3/4 size bass (well, what used to be one anyway) to light the fire.

The logs this year were immense as the ash tree that once held the treehouse came down over the summer. One or two of the giant logs still remain.

The lighting.

Turn the sun!

Meanwhile back in the barn, the super dangerous Boilo was out and the keg was tapped. The food was plentiful and included both shrimp and carrot cake.

All’s well in the party barn

We started into a wobbly rendition of “let it snow” and the torrential rain pushed us first under the tarp and then up into the barn. Where we proceeded to play even more xmas music in sing-along mode and drink way too much boilo.

Things get a little hazy after that. But the sun has turned, so we got our main job accomplished.

Two days later, the fire is still smoking. Thanks to all who came.

Winter Solstice Solo 2019

December 22, 2019

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The solstice tradition continues in force. Thanks to all who came for the love, laughter, music, and joy.

Tiki lighting

Deck the bridge

Sophie prefers parties indoors, thanks..

Sophie prefers indoor parties, thanks.

The barn in party mode

Before

More before

Sundown on the solstice

The lighting was as spectacular as ever.

Turn sun turn!

Meanwhile in the barn…Sophie takes a party nap.

Do not party like Sophie.

Boilo

Solstice potluck disco center

Burn hot

Alec and the fiddle player

The solution to cold butts

2am coals

I know, lets do it again. See you at the summer solstice!

Summer Solstice 2019: Bodacious Bonfire

July 1, 2019

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First a story of the lighting through the photography of Amy Barley.

Prepare to Burn

Burn

Light it Up

Fire Maiden

And that is how you turn the sun.

Things looked pretty much like this before we started

Then there were several undocumented hours in the river with the special beer float courtesy of Aubrey. We’re still not sure where he is.

The most popular guest of all was baby Cora. (Yes, that is the three McGraw brothers in kilts.)

Panorama by jackie

Idyllic

A video of the lighting.

This shot by my brother walt (at his first solstice) is one of my favorites.

From the bridge

Spectacular

When the fire burned down enough to get within 100 feet, we started the music.

Burning pile

Joel Winstead created some great sketches in real time.

Music by firelight

The fire

Gary and Gina

The the thunderstorm moved in around 11pm and we shifted the music to the barn. We played until 4am. What a joy.

Gary and Gina in the barn

Allen behind his hat

There are a few more pictures on the evite page. Thanks to all who came to the 2019 summer solstice fire!

Thanks for coming to the summer solstice!

The 2018 Solstice Fire

December 24, 2018

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The weather cooperated spectacularly for the 2018 solstice party. The rain cleared for a day or two. The moon was full. It was a crisp cold night with a beautiful sky.

Our ritual of gathering good friends from all walks of life every six months took place again without a hitch. Thanks to all who came to help us turn the sun.

Sunset before the party

This year, the fire lighting was cheered on by a rising full moon. The fire caught quickly and burned hard and fast.

Full moon and unlit pile

Lighting (time to run away)

Lots of people arrived for the lighting this year

Every solstice party is different in interesting ways. This year lots of people showed up for the lighting at 5:45. Then the BOILO got the party rocking. The lighting is always a sight to see.

The fire gets going

2018 solstice fire

The moon was incredible and lent a silver tinge to everything.

The barn was alight in party mode

This year the unplanned potluck food supply was great with chilli, meatballs, sloppy joes, fried chicken, and even krispy kreme donuts. The barn bar took a licking. Gonna need some serious restocking before summer!

Sorry about the terrible Christmas music in the barn. That’s just how it goes. At least there is a disco ball.

Marco. BOILO! There’s nothing quite like extremely local product.

A violin burns

Possibly the most ridiculous and surprising part of the evening was the violin sword fight instigated by Josh Henry (my trusty and talented violin and bow repair guy). Unbeknownst to everyone, Josh brought three dead rental violins to the party. So when we got them out and started sword fighting vigorously with them and then threw their remains into the fire, the 20 somethings who were already wondering just what those old people across the fire were all about, freaked out. They thought just for the smallest moment that I was destroying my actual violin.

LOL! Got you.

There was lots of music this year. It started early and went late. Thanks music makers! We love playing with you all.

Late night the music continues

Ember glow

I know, lets do it again this summer!!

Moonglow (picture by Amy Barley)

Marco. BOILO!

December 13, 2018

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This is how a tradition is born. First a seemingly innocuous cocktail article. Then edition one. Then fun. And here we go down the slippery slope to BOILO.

Step 0. Gather ingredients.

The makings of BOILO

What is that fancy ass ginger beer doing in there? And mace from Grenada?! Yeesh.

Step 1. Combine and boil down for 30 minutes or so.

Boil the BOILO

Step 2. What are we missing?

No really, what are we missing??!

Step 3. Eureka.

Step 4. Let the BOILO steep overnight (or 5 hours, whichever is longer)

Final product steeps

Now we are ready for the solstice! Yes we are.

Burn, baby, burn. Solstice fire 2017.

Burn Baby Burn: 2017 Winter Solstice Fire

December 24, 2017

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Cerbe meets mogli before dark

Music. Great food. Huge fire. Friends. Boilo. What more could you want?

Early birds get to see the lighting

Mmmmmm. Beer.

The lighting

Put it in perspective: 100 feet of flame.

This year the fairy ring of osage oranges turned into a warning line for fire spread. We had to get water buckets and a hose out for the first time ever.

The fire spreads

View from the field

The two (or three) pods making up the solstice party are always a good mix. Food and cheesy Christmas music in the barn. Fire and live music in the field. This year some of the real music moved into the barn during a brief rain.