Cavalia

I was able to go to "Cavalia" last Saturday with my friend Cheryle and her husband and that guy you've seen in a few photos. I'm not sure whether he wants to "publicly" be a part of my life but hanging around me is, well, kind of public.

We started out the evening by having dinner at Toby Keith's, not Toby's actual house (although I'm sure he'd love to have us over) but the restaurant. We were very disappointed when we found the bull ride we'd heard about was not there. Dang! The only attraction was the young waitresses running around in microscopic shorts. But we all went there for the food, don't ya know. Regardless of the atmosphere, the salmon Cheryle and I had was supreme!

You can't take photos of the Cavalia performance so all I have is photos of the printed canvases you see as you work your way into the tent.

I don't even know how to describe the show or I how I feel about it. There were several women around me that were teary-eyed because the horses and the interaction between the horses and humans was so touching and beautiful.

Even if you didn't like horse (I can't even imagine), the artistry and acrobatic feats were enough to keep you utterly entranced.

I am still trying to figure out how they did some things like there was some sort of mist coming down that they used to project images of horses walking across the stage -- very haunting and mystical. And on a more basic level, how was it that none of the horses ever pooped on stage?

I loved the lady that stood on the backs of two side-by-side horses with two more horses in front that she drove at a high speed around the stage. This woman looked so happy and wild. It was a perfect expression of the unbridled joy and freedom you feel around horses -- at least on a good horsey day.

(photo of photo in the event program)

Cheryle and I tried to emulate some of the trick western riding the day after the show but all I could manage was to gallop Luke around the outdoor arena while whooping and hollering and waving my hand above my head. Luke seemed to enjoy this non-dressage move.

Cheryle did some kind of graceful canter along the long side of the arena while she performed a kind of parade float wave. You know the kind I'm talking about...

Anyway, the joy and fun was on our faces and I wish we had it on video. Instead, you'll have to settle for this exciting clip of Luke eating an apple. Tis the season!

Minnesota Autumn Brew Review

Last Saturday, I went with some friends to the Autumn Brew Review, put on by the MN Craft Brewer's Guild. Basically, you pay a fee to get into the event and are handed a small glass to go around and sample beers brought by 80 brewers.

There was a large variety of beers (over 250 craft beers) from pale to dark to exotica. A few of my favorite brewers were there -- Goose Island, Surly, and Left Hand Brewing Company. A new favorite is Deschutes Brewery. I liked three kinds of their beers. And I probably liked Flying Dog Brewery for their artwork and their brew called "Raging Bitch". Hey, it's been a rough month.

There were numerous people at the event. The line to get in was about two blocks long. Some attendees had obviously done this before as they arrived with string loads of pretzels around their necks in various shapes and sizes -- you must cleanse your pallet between tastings, don't ya know.

And there were wreaths made out of hops.

And music.

And dancing.

And there was Hammerschlagen, a challenge after a few beers.

And best of all, a different kind of Brew Babe...

As I walked around tasting beer and observing the crowd, I couldn't help but notice all the cool boots! 

I had definite boot envy going on. I took so many photos of boots that I had to put them into a little musical video. Can you guess what song I chose?

Smiling on Vision and Verb

I have a post on Vision and Verb about my greatest beauty asset. Please check it out.

It-s been a super-duper rough week at work -- a teary, hit my head on my desk week. A "I'll be working part of the weekend to try and right things" week.

Lots of drama. I guess I let it get to me too much.

So yes, smiles. I've even tried smiling big huge grins when I'm the most hurt and frustrated. It does help... a little.

My mantra this week has been "It will be okay."

Oh heavenly day... (I love that Patty Griffin wrote this for her dog.)

Keeping My Fingers Crossed

Last week, the weather in my neck of the woods was sunny and warm. Utterly gorgeous.

My photos were a battle with the sun washout but I'm not about to complain about the brightness as we all know what's coming our way...

Monday, a gorgeous day, I played hooky with a couple friends and road the Greenway, and around the lakes and Minnehaha Falls. It was an invigorating, joyful, zoom zoom time -- in other words, not too many photos as I was going with the flow. 

But tonight, we're supposed to get our first frost so the plants are suited up to battle against an untimely death. They (and I) are not ready to call it quits yet.

Some are even hiding out in the garage. Ssshhh...

Wait! I think I hear them breaking out in a song of solidarity!

Trail Ride Time

I'm in such a strange place. When haven’t I been? But this is perplexing in its uniqueness to my usual strangeness.

I don't want to be on my computer any more than I have to lately. I try to write, edit photos, read email, catch up with people but just the sitting down at my computer makes me feel overwhelmed. Too much data. Too much to keep up on.

Rather than push through what I find odd and confusing, since I usually like doing things on my computer, I’m trying to listen to my instincts and live what I’m drawn to at the moment, realizing that this can change again in an instant.

I'm getting that now, not to expect things to remain the same. Not to expect to find "the answer". To find that one thing that is going to make everything make sense. It's not bothering me so much because all of it -- the good and the bad just is and it's not so bad.

I went trail riding with friends on Saturday – only the second time I’ve been able to get out this summer.

I was planning on a big bike ride today but it got warm so early that after I walked Latte and Java, I was drawn to sit on the deck and read while sipping lemonade. The Brew Babes were in a similar mood and crawled under the deck to lay in the cool dirt.

I did ride to the bike shop later to get new handle grips and a comfort seat for road biking. Then I made pesto from my over-abundant basil and had it on pasta with sliced up garden tomatoes to boot – amazing! I threw in a spicy Greek basil along with the standard stuff; it definitely added a bite to the flavor. I would have taken photos of my dinner but I ate it up too fast.

I think what I loved most about my meal was that the basil and tomato were from my garden. I love eating things that I’ve grown and cooked up myself. The more that I’ve had to do with my meal, as far as the growing and cooking, the more I like it. I like the hands on, taking my time, aspect to it – the tactile, aromatic, meditative unhurriedness.

I’ll leave you with a couple videos: a brief play in the tall grass moment and a short montage of our trail ride. It’s a wonderful life!

How Did You Spend Your Labor Day Weekend?

Does this tell you anything about how I spent mine? I'm the one who fell off the bed and is laying out of sight. The gray fur ball on the floor is Shy.

My latest household problem was another appliance failure, this time my kitchen range. It seized recognizing the oven temperature setting and just kept heating and heating and heating until it reached around 550 degrees. I didn't wait to see if it could go even higher.

A thermostat replacement would have been a cheap fix but that didn't appear to be the problem and a new range brain is a bit more pricey and not worth the hassle on an old stove with other issues.

So TA DA!

It was tough spending money on a kitchen appliance when there is real fun stuff to be had out there. So to make myself feel better, I grilled pancakes to try out the stove's long middle burner. It worked pretty well.

For dinner that evening, I made pizza from scratch.

The toppings and tomato sauce (made from my own garden tomatoes... see following dramatic photo) were awesome! The crust I need to do a bit more experimentation as it was a bit bready. I may not have rolled it out thin enough.

I baked very healthy banana bread that took forever with all the rising and baking time, and I seriously injured my shoulder mixing the dough, but so worth it! Giganteously yummy!

And I baked salmon with soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and chives. The chives were my very own idea -- I'm all about presentation.

It's hard to take a "good looking" photo of salmon but it was dang tasty! I also made a sauce out of rice vinegar, lemon juice, white wine and raw sugar which doesn't sound so good, but the sauce drizzled on the salmon was just the right taste bud treat. (I should definitely write for a foodey magazine.)

Beside doing a lot of cooking over the weekend, I also put in a few bushes -- some Pinky Winky Hydrangeas...

And a Nishiki Willow. 

I'm hoping to find some kind of marker to put by this bush in memory of my dog Willow, who's been gone for over two years but I still think about her quite often.

So I now have a new favorite nursery. It's Nelson Nursery in Zimmerman where they had their bushes and trees 50% off and this coleus was 75% off which meant it cost $5. I was told I could bring the plant inside to winter it. I love the colors!

OK. The plan is that the bushes will spread out and block one side of the fence. Next year I'll buy some more bushes to block the other side. My Mom told me back when I got my first house and wanted more trees to buy one thing a year and that way it wasn't such a hard financial hit. Good Mom wisdom.

So, I'm working on my patience and doing only a bit of my big picture yardorama oasis at a time. It's a work in progress, like me, and gives me something to plan, save for, and look forward to.

There were also some walks with the Brew Babes over the weekend. Yes, Latte has on one of those uncomfortable looking Gentle Leaders. I think they are fine for training dogs but I hope it's not something I need to use permanently. I keep running into loose dogs or leashed but aggressive dogs, on our walks and my body cannot handle the pain caused by two strong dogs pulling on me. I know, training, I'm working on it... it's another work in progress.

Fallen leaves along our walking paths are making it look very Fallish.

Plenty of Monarch butterflies around.

And a turtle crossed our path... s-l-o-w-l-y.

The grand finale of the weekend was a mountain bike ride with friends. Every time I go mountain bike riding, I realize how weak my legs are and how little stamina I have.

I'm not so hot at passing through trees that look like my bike won't fit through either. I try to tell myself "keep your eyes on the path, not on the trees" but my eyes and my bike are magically drawn towards scary objects. Hmmm... I'm pretty sure there's a doubly-deep meaning thing going on here....

But I had childlike fun on portions of downhill trail swoops that were like mini roller coaster ups and downs. I even enjoyed some of the standup, pump your legs up the hill climbs. It makes me feel strong. That is, until my legs start to tremble...

I may not be mountain biking material - a bit of a chicken and not so strong - but I try, and I'm proud of that anyway.

And to the little girl hiking with her family, who I passed by as I brought up the rear of our biking group, who smiled ever so sweetly at me and said, "You better catch up!" I have a response now that I am breathing normally and can talk.

"Sugar, in life, it's not how fast we get there but that we get there at all and that we know that our friends will be waiting for us."

Better yet, is when my friends are waiting there with extra water because I have sucked my own water bottle completely dry.

Who is this "Hot Sam" Anyway?

This is a continuation of my previous blog on my field trip to Hot Sams with the Twin Cities Photography Group.

I decided to start experimenting with my camera controls one at a time to better understand what they do. I started with my aperture setting and let the camera automatically set the ISO and shutter speed.
 

I did learn a few things about how the aperture settings control how much light is let in and how much of the picture is in focus. But I also learned, from the automatic adjustments my camera was making that I need to get control of those settings too because I didn't like what it was doing with the ISO setting and how it was trying to compensate for low light and was overexposing my photos.

Of course, with Photoshop, I can "fix" some of those problems but I want to get the shot I have in my brain and not have the camera override me.

I'm still figuring out Photoshop too and like to play with fun effects, like messing with colors.

Anyway, I learned a few things on this outing and had a fun time looking at the unique stuff at Hot Sams.

I really liked this statue of what looked like a girl dressed in a sailor suit.

I know... kind of ugly but there was something about her... Maybe the roughness, the imperfections that I think made her seem uniquely beautiful. She was chipped and all, but  I thought she had attitude and personality.

I was also attracted to pieces that could possibly be used for a birdbath. The stuff I see in garden stores just seems so unimaginitive. If only Jill of "Jill's Life" lived closer I'd buy one of her concrete birdbaths. (If you stop by her blog, be sure to check out her new puppy. Adorable!)

Since I can't find what I like in stores, I want to create something and add my own touch to it. I super duper loved this fountain but can imagine the $$$$ kachinging.

Take a closer look at the fish in the bottom! I actually squealed and clapped my hands over them!

I, of course, found some horses lying around. I wish I hadn't left my cowgirl hat in the car...

My photo assistant almost came to an ugly end.

But I hit the shark with this metal bird. Take that jaw man! 

Hmmm... this little guy has possibilities as a unique add-on to the birdbath forming in my brain.

So many old automobiles to look at and contemplate from various angles. Too many to show all of them here.

When I took this shot, all I saw was a rusty mirror. But now I'm thinking how cool it could be. My friend Sue can do wonders with rust and I started to imagine the metal with the teal-like colors she adds to some of her work.

Next time I go to a place like Hot Sams or simply return there, I'm bringing models. Volunteers? Come on! Opportunity to play dress up!

Hopefully, by the time I do something like this again, I'll know a bit more. But for now, I'm enjoying the experimentation and learning process.