(Bet you just knew it would be this one tonight!)
:o)
......And here is a fun movie to watch this Halloween Night:
:o)
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Friday, October 30, 2015
Friday Night Steam
How about a ride on a Ghost train this All Hallows' Eve????
 |
| Source: http://duncanlong.com/blog/?p=4879 |
Take a hop over to: http://jterryt.blogspot.com for another fun Ghost train! :o)
Clean up!
Had strong thunderstorms come through Wednesday night. The sun was out but the pen was soaking wet when I went to let the gang out yesterday morning. Time to clean it up!
Tools of my trade:
Took about an hour to cleanup all the mud, wet hay and poop:
Shirley sunning herself while I cleaned - the others went under the deck:
Hubby trying to dry it out a little faster:
Now you know why I wear boots (my 4 inch heels are just a fond memory. (Sigh....)
The weather started to change. Another squall was going to hit:
The gang was scooted in the coop while it rained:
And it sure was windy! The rain didn't last too long, but it stayed blustery all day:
Got leaves? Just let us know if 'ya want any!
:o)
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Nano Lopez
Was wandering around the web looking for some 'different' types of sculptures to post on the blog and came across this amazing sculptor. His work just blew me away. Oh, to have one of his pieces!
If you have ever wondered how bronze sculpture is made, you will be fascinated by this:
Soure: http://www.parkwestgallery.com/artist/nano-lopez
Nano Lopez was born October 31, 1955, in Bogota
Colombia. He was recognized early in his life for his artistic talent
when he was awarded first place in a municipal school drawing contest at
the age of five. By high school, he was making serious copies of the
Masters including Michelangelo’s sculptures and paintings.
Nano continued his upper division studies and studio work at the School of David Manzur, The Rembrandt Academy, and the National University in Bogota. In 1978, he traveled to Spain and began working for the sculptor Francisco Baron. While with Francisco, Nano carved marble and granite and fabricated in steel. He worked all three materials on a monumental scale. It was in Madrid that he began casting his own works in bronze and held his first single artist show. After several years of learning in Madrid, Nano traveled to France, where he furthered his studies, showing his work more often. He attended the Superior National School of Beaux Art in Paris,
and focused his studies in new materials, discovering the versatility of various casting media.
In 1981, he returned to Bogota to build a studio and put to use the methods he had learned in Europe. In 1983, Nano moved again this time to the Pacific Northwest area of the United States. He began to work with Manuel Izquierdo, head of the sculpture department at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. During the following four years, he was employed by various bronze foundries in the Northwest, and further developed his techniques in welding, and tooling of bronzes. Additionally, he continued to learn and develop skillful and original uses of patinas.
Nano began his own business in 1987 in Walla Walla, Washington, model-making, reducing and enlarging maquettes to monumental sizes. There was a great demand for Nano’s talent by both artists and foundries. In 2001 and 2002, Nano designed, built, and moved into his custom building. It contains very high ceilings with skylights and 8,000 square feet of floor space. Nano’s attractive building is enhanced by artistic landscaping and a beautiful scenic pond. It now serves as his personal studio space.
Nano has become successful in the production and marketing of his fine art bronzes and no longer takes on the business of enlargements. This frees up his time for the creation of his own work. His “Nanimals” engage viewers of all ages and reflect a sense of playfulness, intense creativity, and wonder. The combination of Nano’s classical training, experimentation with materials, and extensive experience, has led to the production of avant-garde art, which combines aesthetic considerations and rich textural surfaces. Nano’s work invites us to experience a range of emotions from joyful sense of wonder and creativity to deeply felt emotions relating to the human struggle.
If you have ever wondered how bronze sculpture is made, you will be fascinated by this:
Soure: http://www.parkwestgallery.com/artist/nano-lopez
Nano continued his upper division studies and studio work at the School of David Manzur, The Rembrandt Academy, and the National University in Bogota. In 1978, he traveled to Spain and began working for the sculptor Francisco Baron. While with Francisco, Nano carved marble and granite and fabricated in steel. He worked all three materials on a monumental scale. It was in Madrid that he began casting his own works in bronze and held his first single artist show. After several years of learning in Madrid, Nano traveled to France, where he furthered his studies, showing his work more often. He attended the Superior National School of Beaux Art in Paris,
and focused his studies in new materials, discovering the versatility of various casting media.
In 1981, he returned to Bogota to build a studio and put to use the methods he had learned in Europe. In 1983, Nano moved again this time to the Pacific Northwest area of the United States. He began to work with Manuel Izquierdo, head of the sculpture department at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. During the following four years, he was employed by various bronze foundries in the Northwest, and further developed his techniques in welding, and tooling of bronzes. Additionally, he continued to learn and develop skillful and original uses of patinas.
Nano began his own business in 1987 in Walla Walla, Washington, model-making, reducing and enlarging maquettes to monumental sizes. There was a great demand for Nano’s talent by both artists and foundries. In 2001 and 2002, Nano designed, built, and moved into his custom building. It contains very high ceilings with skylights and 8,000 square feet of floor space. Nano’s attractive building is enhanced by artistic landscaping and a beautiful scenic pond. It now serves as his personal studio space.
Nano has become successful in the production and marketing of his fine art bronzes and no longer takes on the business of enlargements. This frees up his time for the creation of his own work. His “Nanimals” engage viewers of all ages and reflect a sense of playfulness, intense creativity, and wonder. The combination of Nano’s classical training, experimentation with materials, and extensive experience, has led to the production of avant-garde art, which combines aesthetic considerations and rich textural surfaces. Nano’s work invites us to experience a range of emotions from joyful sense of wonder and creativity to deeply felt emotions relating to the human struggle.
:o)
The gang
Haven't posted many pics of the spoiled little darlins' lately, so here's a bunch:
Laverne - she's starting to look more and more like Evil Ethel:
Maude - this is her new favorite spot:
Shirley - getting fatter and lazier every day:
Sophia - taking a break:
Charlie is finally getting new feathers on his neck....
... but the ones on top of his head are falling out:
Wonder which one came up on the deck looking for treats?
:o)
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
1955 classics
'Bet you can name them all - except for the last one!
 |
| http://www.remarkablecars.com |
 |
| http://car-from-uk.com |
 |
| http://www.allcarcentral.com |
 | |||||||||
| http://classic-carpictures.blogspot.com |
 |
| http://www.vaultcars.com |
 |
| http://blog.brotherstrucks.com/1955-chevygmc-pickup-truck/ |
 |
| http://www.fanpop.com |
 |
| http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/ |
 |
| http://www.remarkablecars.com |
 |
| http://blog.hemmings.com |
 |
| http://blacktopcandys.com |
 |
| http://howoldisaclassiccar.blogspot.com |
 |
| (A Ferrari racing car) http://www.remarkablecars.com |
Our only supermarket in town...
...an A & P, closed down yesterday. Acme will be taking over the store next week. Hubby and I took a run over to see if there were any deals to be had. The store is about seven miles away and you are welcome to join us for the ride!
An equestrian center (about a five minute walk from our house)
The new owners have spent a lot of money making this a top-notch place!
Heading to town - we pass a hill that still has some colorful leaves:
Going down hill. In the winter you can see the ski slopes way off in the distance:
Say what you want about Joisey, but the fuel is cheap (for a while)!
The store was brightly lit, but almost all the shelves were empty. They had Ronzoni pasta on sale for 99 cents a box. We bought 15. The deli was closed and so was the butcher shop. Not much frozen food was left either. I'm kind of nostalgic about A&P - used to work in their corporate office back in the 70's. It's a shame really how they went downhill in the last 20 years. Not good management to think that charging $2.29 for a can of peas will make you money. (those shelves were FULL). Oh well, I hope Acme has better prices.
Our little airport - lots of sky diving done from here. The plane that carries the jumpers circles our house as it goes higher and higher. From oldest son's house, you can watch them jump out!
The veggie stand is closed for the season:
We turn left to go home:
Sunrise mountain:
Thanks for tagging along - 'hope you enjoyed the ride!
:o)
Monday, October 26, 2015
Wanna joust???
Source: http://www.knight-medieval.com/medieval-knights-jousting.htm
Medieval Knight Jousting
What is jousting?
it is a tradition that comes out of the middle ages where two knights mounted on horses and armed with lances charged at each other. The goal was to knock the other knight off his horse. This was often done in tournaments for knights to practice their skills, show off their abilities and to establish their rank within the community.
Where did jousting come from?
Originally, in the early centuries of knighthood knights would often fight vicious battles against each other to establish supremacy and find out who the better knight was. But over the centuries this practice was eliminated because it served no good purpose for knights of the same kingdom to wound, maim or kill each other. A knight killed this way was one less knight that could fight for the kingdom. So jousting came into prominence because it was much safer. Knights could still battle and establish their stature while not usually harming each other.
What did they use to joust with?
The traditional weapon for jousting was the lance. This is because the lance was actually one of the most effective weapons that a knight had. It was a long weapon, sometimes as long as twelve feet. And it was used by a knight on horseback to charge through enemy formations of soldiers. the length of it allowed the knight to attack the enemy while still remaining a distance away from their weapons. Because it was so important a weapon it was very highly regarded and knights were always ready to show off their skills with it.
But the lance was a very dangerous weapon and in order to insure they did not harm their opponent in the joust lances were specially made. These specially made lances were often made of soft wood, were hollow and very blunted at the end, or even covered with some kind of a ball. Having a blunted or balled end would cause a tremendous impact to the opposing knight but not pierce his armor. In addition the hollowness of the lance would often cause it to break harmlessly.
What is that metal cone shaped object on the lance near where the knight holds it?
That is called a Vamplate. It was designed to protect the knights hand and to stop his hand from sliding up the lance upon impact. These vamplates on jousting lances were often extremely large. This would also help in causing the opposing knights lance to slide away..
Jousting and the ceremony
Jousting developed into a show all its own and for many gatherings, ceremonies and events the jousting tournament was the highlight. Even today we still have jousting tournaments at Renaissance faires. This tradition of jousting as a spectacle has given us some wonderful costumes, outfits, clothing and regalia from the Medieval Period.
 |
| Source: http://www.corbisimages.com |
Just stuff
Pics from around Coopville:
Flowers among the weeds:
This is a hole made by one of the many chipmunks around here. They are so cute to watch and I just didn't have the heart to fill it in.
The gang: Always looking for a juicy bug to eat!
The camera is acting up again with the dark edges showing up, but this was just so pretty!
The top of my neighbor's tree in the morning sun:
One of our many trees that are bare now:
Still have leaves left on some of them. Glad I took lots of pictures - it's going to be a long, long, winter!