Elephants and Wine

On Saturday, a friend of ours invited us to attend the Elephant Grape Stomp: An Afternoon In TUSKany at the PAWS Wildlife Sanctuary in San Andreas.  She works there taking care of the elephants.   There are just a few times a year that visitors are allowed to come to the sanctuary.  This sanctuary houses lions, tigers and bears…and elephants.   

 All these animals have been rescued from various zoos, circuses, and other places. The employees and volunteers were on hand to give us the history of each animal as well as information on the species in general.

Many of the local area wineries were also at the event offering tastings. It was a great day!

Loving Macro

I got a new Macro lens for my Canon SLR and I LOVE it.   

 

I've been wanting this lens for quite a while.  It's perfect for up-close photos.

 

 

 



And best of all---it's perfect for small things.  Like jewelry.

Isn't that a fabulous picture??  I'm loving this.  I've been spending most of the day photographing jewelry.  After months of procrastinating, my Etsy shop will be full soon!!

The Color Run

On Saturday, I got together with some friends and we participated in the Color Run in San Francisco.  It's a crazy, fun event where you run (or walk) a 5K and they have color stations set up along the route where volunteers throw colored corn starch at you.

By the end of the race you are covered in color.

There was a fun post-race party with color being thrown everywhere.  Lots of fun!!  We are planning on doing it again next year.

I Love a Parade

Each year a neighborhood near us has a 4^th of July Parade.  It’s just like an old small-town parade—mounted and motorcycle police, floats created by the neighbors, vintage cars with people throwing candy to the crowd, kids on bicycles, tricycles, and wagons all decorated in red, white and blue.  

At the end of the parade, all the spectators along with their kids and dogs, follow along as the parade winds through the neighborhood streets to the local park.  

The local fire department is at the back of the parade and when they reach the park they plug into a hydrant and start shooting huge plumes of water into the park.  The kids (both young and old) race around in the spray having the time of their lives!!  It's a great way to celebrate the day!

On the road to Artfest--Portland

I've been sick ever since returning from Artfest so it's taken me a couple of weeks to get my posts done.  Here is the first installment.



Since this is the last Artfest, Sunny and I decided to take a few extra days in Portland and then drive up to Seattle/Port Townsend. Our first day in town was just spent walking around and getting our bearings.

  Our second day was spent with our wonderful friends who live in the area...or who drove down from Washington to join in the fun.  The group consisted of Kathie, Mary, Jackie, Liz, Michelle, Janne, Sunny and myself.  We all met in the Alberta area of Portland where we shopped for treasures.  Then it was off to lunch for some wonderful food and laughter.

 The group split off after lunch and Sunny, Kathie, Mary and I went to SCRAP for more treasure hunting.  Portland's SCRAP is similar to the one in San Francisco--not as much stuff but better lighting and neater.

Next, it was off to Jesse Reno's studio where we saw stacks of his paintings--finished and in process.  Lana Guerra's studio is there as well so we were treated to all her lovelies too.

Our last stop for the evening was meeting Michelle Allen and Janne at Michelle's home and studio.  She has got the BEST studio.  Huge, well-lit, lots of storage and work space.  We ate and drank some wine and Corona (for Sunny), worked in our journals, took pictures and laughed and laughed and laughed.

Fog

It’s been very foggy the last few mornings.  I love fog.  So mysterious.  Reminds me of the old film noir movies of the 40’s and 50’s. 

And add in the mountains and trees and it becomes so romantic.  **sigh**

FOG

The fog comes 

on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.


Carl Sandburg



A Beautiful Fall Day

This is what I see as I look out my back door today.  It's an absolutely beautiful day with clear skies, comfortable temps, and gorgeous fall leaves.  What a great day!

Chocolate, Wine, Henna and Friends

What a great combo!! One of my Art Sisters threw herself a birthday party last night. Isn’t that a great idea? I’ve got to do that! She had desserts and wine to spoil us all. And a henna artist and a tarot card reader to entertain us. Several of our Art Sisters were there as well as other fabulous women. What a great time we had!!

Our Sea Plane

Sunday 10/2/11


MotoMan spent a couple of months last spring researching and shopping for a float plane—or a plane he could convert to a float plane. His search took us to Memphis which was loads of fun. The plane he saw there wasn’t what he was looking for –but we got to go to Memphis so that’s OK. A few weeks later he found what he was looking for, flew it home and worked on it for a few months. It’s been done for a few weeks now and I finally got to see it on the water this weekend. It’s a beauty, isn’t it?

7th Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

Finished the Avon Breast Cancer Walk Junly 9th and 10th.  The weather was perfect and the route was beautiful.  Came home with  a few blisters, sore muscles and a full heart.  I've signed up for next year....

I Can't See The Road...

My windshield is so dirty I can't see the road in front of me.  Sometimes I feel like that in my life too.  I've got so many things right in front of me that I can't look past them.  Things like work, what to cook for dinner, getting the house cleaned, the laundry done, on and on and on.  All those little tasks fill my days and I can't see past them to fit in time for art, exercise, plans for the future.  It's easy to clean the windshield of my car.  I've got to get all this other stuff clean too.  How to do that???  hmmmmmm

One Year Anniversary

Well, look at that.  This is my one year Blog-O Versary.  And they said it would never last....

Training Walks

I'm training for the Avon  Breast Cancer Walk.  I usually walk in my neighborhood.  It's fun to see the changes in the neighborhood during the year.  The different flowers blooming.  Landscaping changes.  Aren't these great?  These are artichokes.   Beautiful and yummy, too.

Clouds

“You must not blame me if I do talk to the clouds."
   Henry David Thoreau

I love studying the sky.  Especially the clouds.  They speak to me...and sometimes I speak back.

Rain, Wind and Trees

We had a spring storm roll through this weekend.  We got up Sunday morning to find that it had taken out one of our trees.  We have quite a few trees in our backyard which gives us a nice barrier between us and the neighbors--but this was my favorite tree.  Beautiful color.  I don't know if it will come back.  You never know.

Wine Blending

We recently went to one of my favorite winerys, Cinnabar, for a Wine Blending class.  They provided instruction from George, their hear winemaker, gave us 3 different types of wine and let us loose to make our own wine blend.  They had beakers and flasks set up for us to use.  It was a little like science class...with a buzz.  We had loads of fun...learned a lot and came home with a bottle of our very own blend.

Wildflowers

Aren't these the sweetest flowers?  I love wandering the local hills in the spring.  The wildflowers peeking up out of the ground.  Of course, my allergies aren't happy about it all ...but I just can't resist the colors of spring.

Elegant Corner

We've closed Elegant Corner this week.  An end to a chapter in my life.  I certainly learned a lot about business and people.

2010 Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

I walked in the San Francisco Avon Breast Cancer Walk again this year.  This was my 6th year to walk.

This is such a wonderful organization and they really put on a great event.  Even though we walk miles and miles and miles, we have lots of fun.

The entire route is 39+ miles.  26+ on Saturday and 13+ on Sunday.  I don't usually walk the entire thing.  I've learned that is just way to hard on my body---especially my feet.  This year I walked 19 miles on Saturday and 13 on Sunday.

We walk through SF, over the Golden Gate bridge, through Sausalito,  back over the bridge and through the city.  The views are spectacular.

It's a wonderful event and a worthy cause.  I'm already signed up for next year.

Welcome to my world

Welcome to my friends--current and future.  This is my little piece of the blog-o-sphere.  Just a little glimpse into the things I love--Art, music, color, fun.  And probably some of the mundane as well.