Topanga Banjo-Fiddle Contest 2013

The coolest harmony-makers on the planet, in my book: Launice, Louise and Janice.  The Harmonistas, tuning up for the Topanga Banjo-Fiddle contest in a little shack on the edge of the festival at Paramount Ranch.

We went to the main stage competition again, and this year we earned an Honorable Mention!  Will 2014 be the charm?

Yeah, I was there, too!  Thanks to Launice  for handling the camera!

Great day of music, plus I got to take this handsome singing cowboy home with me!

Janice’s husband, Andy, packed some lunch to share!  How cute is that? In his mandolin case.

Well…. It still plays!

These two were jamming with a near by band.  He’s on harmonica and she’s playing spoons.  They were terrific!

I didn’t take my good camera.  Always a difficult choice, but we were very busy and it’s very dusty out there.

As we sat on the Songmakers stage late in the afternoon, we watched lots of people take photos on this porch.  Wish I’d taken more shots of people having fun with this backdrop.  It brought out the fun in a lot of folks.

LDub’s Hideaway

The Harmonistas met up at LDub’s house to rehearse and enjoy each other’s company.  Of course, I snuck out into the yard to take some photos. Here’s living proof that tucking everything away out of sight isn’t always necessary.  Love this!

The trumpet vines that cover Ldub’s pergola ruled the day.

Oh, how the mighty are fallen.

Tucked away in a quiet corner.

Nice little table tableaux.

Backyard, Bunnyfied.

Yeah, I went out and sat around and took pix of the critters in the back yard again.  This is the bunny edition.

I started calling this one Scratch because she has a black line across her forehead.  She’s the only one I’ve named.

One of her bayyyybeeees!   (Oh jeez, did I just write that out loud?)

I dunno, I like this one.

Is this cute?  Is it?  Sometimes it’s like they’re posing just for me.

This is why we have chicken wire around everything.  They are not as destructive and greedy as the ground squirrels.

Old Dog Learns New Trick Thanks to Ex Libris Anonymous

Treacy Colbert posted on Facebook about this company Ex Libris Anonymous that recycles old book covers into new journals, and I was charmed.  They not only sell journals made from books that they find ($14.00 each), but they’ll make your old book cover into a new journal for $11.00.

I bought this book for $1.00 at a junk shop a couple of years ago. It was coming apart and some of the illustrations had been cut out. I thought I might cut some of them out myself, but never did.  Better!  I mailed the cover and some choice pages it to Ex Libris Anonymous and about two weeks later I received my new journal.

Email communications with Jacob at Ex Libris Anonymous were a lot of fun, too.  What a cool product and company!  They have a storefront in Portland which I would definitely stop by if I were up there: 916 SE 29th avenue, Portland, Or 97214

 

Adorable, right?

Originally a gift from good friends of the family?  Honorary aunt and uncle?

More salvaged pages.

Ah, the blank pages await!  I’ve kept a journal since I was 12, but I have never used an unlined one before.  I am the old dog. This will be my new trick.

Maybe it will encourage me to sketch more in my notebook.   Now I can relax and use up the last one, which is a gorgeous leather Martin Guitar journal Hydra gave me. Many of my old journals are hardbound legal notebooks that cost about $30.00 each these days and are hard to find.  For years I decoupaged them with interesting images.  There are a few blanks in the closet, because I’m like that about some stuff.

Some Days Are Like That

Right?

Lesser Evil?

I am morally conflicted about this salted caramel chocolate cake that I made and took to a potluck. It was insanely tasty.

The thing is, I’m eating more healthily these days, which to me means enjoying more organic veggies, grains and legumes, limiting sugar and cutting way way down on dairy and meat.  But I have this pantry stocked with things that don’t really fit this profile. Like cake mixes I bought on sale, and bleached white flour, etc.

I feel like it’s bad to just waste food–even if it’s sugary food–so I’m trying to use up the stuff in the pantry in a way that spreads the risk around a little.  I took this to a potluck last night, so no one had to eat too much of it.

I added cocoa powder to a yellow cake mix, so the chocolate cake under this was light and not too sweet. The frosting is butter cream made with real butter, raw organic powdered sugar, a touch of whole milk and the secret ingredient: powdered salted caramel hot chocolate mix from Target’s house brand, Archer Farms. The mix is great in coffee, and I thought it might make a great addition to frosting. Wow, did it.

Then I dusted it with cocoa powder, drizzled it with caramel sauce Hdyra gave me for Christmas and sprinkled on a little kosher sea salt. Presentation is often about 25% of the success of a dish, I think.

I don’t know. Maybe this is actually the greater evil, inflicting something so wrong that tastes so right on my friends and coworkers. The leftovers will go to the office tomorrow.

Sorry.

Now I’m going to see what I can do with some lentils and the celery root my pal Weezie gave me at the same potluck at which I tried to kill her with chocolate cake. She resisted the cake, but did have some of the healthier corn muffins I also took. (What can I say, it was a good morning for baking.) They were made from scratch with coarse corn meal, white flour (I know),  olive oil based margarine, coconut oil, soy milk and egg whites.

My friends are nicer to me than I am to them.

Nobody Here But Us Condiments.

I try not to post pet photos on my blog, but I thought this might be instructive, in case you suspect that your home may be infested with parrots.

They are sneakier than you might imagine.