A Day at the Food Show!

Can you imagine all kinds of food, and you can try most of it? Cheeses, meats, crackers, breads, drinks, delicatessen items, desserts….MMMMMMM! How about spending some time with me at the “Tony’s Fine Foods” food show?

Our host

Ready to attend the food show with me? OK, let’s go! Here is how we are greeted when we arrive.

The entrance to the food show

We head into the building and are handed a bag for any samples we might receive! Samples? Yes, samples! Now this affair is held in the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento. Yes an arena! So we head to the doors leading into the arena and here are two photos of the floor!

One shot of less than half of the main floor

More of the floor

Now take a look at the photo above. There is another area, hidden from view, that houses the meats and seafood. That is on the left behind that wall! Yum! Let’s head on down the stairs.

Let’s stop and try some cheese, shall we? This company is called Fiscalini. They have some extraordinary aged cheddar cheeses. Shall we ask for a taste?

Two aged cheddars

I loved the one on the left the best. How about you?

Heading further down another aisle there are some hand crafted salamis. Shall we sample these too?

Salamis

As more people are showing up the aisles are getting more crowded.

Looking down one of the aisles

Wow! Check out this food vendors fare. These are all precooked meats which all one needs to do is heat and serve! They want us to sample some tri-tip!

One vendor’s display

Yummy!

Our sales representative meets us and tells us about the money booth. Let’s go check this out!

Win money!

We see the money booth behind this sign. Looks like folks have already won some of the money, but check this out anyway!

Money, money, money, money

The idea is you get 30 seconds inside the booth and you grab what you can as air is blowing the money all over inside the booth. I think we will opt out of this. Let’s continue on.

It’s really getting crowded.

Another aisle

Let’s stop here with this vendor who has fresh meats.

Another meat vendor

Boy I am full, how about you? We have tasted a variety of cheeses, meats, sweets, and beverages! And we have been here for more than 5 hours! Time to head back as we have quite a drive.

Thanks for coming along today! See you tomorrow?

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Views of Ensenada

I realized this morning that other than an evening shot of Ensenada, located on the coast of Baja California, I did not share photos of this place with you! So today’s post are some of the views we saw while there!

Let’s start with a view of the town. The last time I was in Ensenada, back in the early 80′s, Ensenada was a small town. There were no houses on any of the hillsides, and you could walk the town in a couple of hours. Here is a shot that I took from the ship of the town today, which is quite a bit different!

A view of the town

There also were few cars on the road. Not so anymore!

One of the busy streets

It was nice to see that the square was still there which features the heads of three of Mexico’s Presidents.

The Presidents in the square

Walking down the street, we came upon an old building that offered this shot.

A spot of color

Hanging onto the wall of a building was a copy of the Mayan Calendar.

A copy of the Mayan calendar

And of course I spied some amazing bark on the side of a palm. I love the patterns in this shot!

Palm bark

Speaking of bark, one of the locals did quite a bit of barking at us as we walked by.

One of the locals

Finally, we came across some artwork on the side of a building that was pretty good!

Artwork on a wall

I hope you enjoyed these views of Ensenada!

Today I am off to a food show! I buy the food that we feature at the winery, and today, with one of the owners who is going for the first time, we will be looking for some new items to add to the current line up to pair with our wines! Maybe I should bring the camera along! Well, thank you for stopping by today! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

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Thank You!

I have to say that I am amazed at the number of awards I have won from those folks over at Let’s Be Wild, and from you my readers! Over the time of entering their challenges I have won 16 awards from this site! I wanted to thank my readers for their comments left on the Let’s Be Wild site for these awards!

The last that I featured was their challenge number 24 – Reflections. Today I wanted to share the other awards that I have since won! Again a huge THANK YOU!

Challenge #28 was “Mountains.” Here is the winning photo of the Grand Tetons from Jackson Lake:

The Grand Tetons from across Jackson Lake

The award:

Audience Choice Award – Challenge #28

The next is Challenge #30 – Movement. My photo of rafters won the Audience Choice for this challenge. Here is the winning photo:

Going under!

The award:

Audience Choice Award – Challenge #30

This was followed by Challenge #31 – Scent. My photo of fresh cut grass won the Audience Choice award on this challenge! Here is that winning photo:

Fresh cut grass

The award:

Audience Choice Award – Challenge #31

And, then I was amazed that I won Challenge #32! The subject: Beaches! The photo chosen on this Audience Choice award was the contrasting white sand beach at Honaunau Bay on the island of Hawai’i. It was surrounded by the remains of a lava flow.

A white sand beach at Honaunau Bay on the Island of Hawai’i

And, the award…

Audience Choice Award – Challenge #32

The last challenge I won the Audience Choice award for had “Forest” as the subject. And the photo chosen by the Audience:

Palm tree forest

And the award:

Audience Choice Award – Challenge #34

Many thanks to everyone who commented on my posts not only here, but at the Wild Weekly Photo Challenge!

Hugs to all, and have a great Tuesday! Thank you again for your comments, and for allowing me to win these awards! And, most of all thank you for following me, visiting me, and for liking my site!

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Playing with Photos

One of the things I like to do is to play with photos using my Painter’s Essential program. I recently did a post called “Lights on the Water,” and today I wanted to share with you the photos turned into art! I will start by showing you the original photo and then the “painting” I did with my software!

The Ensenada Pier:

Ensenada pier

The painting:

Ensenada Pier Painting

A crowd of people:

A crowd of people

The painting:

A crowd of people-Painting

Reflections #1:

Reflections 1

The painting:

Reflections 1-Painting

Reflections #2:

Reflections 2

The painting:

Reflections 2-Painting

Reflections #3:

Reflections 3

The painting:

Reflections 3-Painting

Reflections #4:

Reflections 4

The painting:

Reflections 4-Painting

Reflections #5:

Reflections 5

The painting:

Reflections 5-Painting

Which one do you like the best?

Enjoy your Thursday! If you are anywhere near my neck of the woods, stay cool! Thank you for the visit today!

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Lights on the Water

When we were on our cruise I was hypnotized by the lights reflecting on the surface of the water. So, of course I had to take photos and I hoped that they would come out well. I was very pleased with what I got, and I thought that today I would share these photos with you.

I started off with a photo at night of the pier in Ensenada.

Ensenada pier

My eyes were caught by the ripples in the water. To me the reflections resemble people standing around. What do you think?

A crowd of people

Moving from the water around the ship, I turned my attention to the water inside the ship. The lights reflecting off the water look like works of art. Please let me know if you agree!

Reflections 1

Reflections 2

Reflections 3

Reflections 4

Reflections 5

So, what do you think? I look forward to reading what you have to say!

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a fantastic Thursday!

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Pretty Feet Contest Winner 2013!

I just know that you are dying to know who won this contest! Are you ready for the results?

In third place, with the most beautiful toenails…

The Elephant

In second place, with dainty feet for such a big girl…

The Lioness

And number one…

The Zebra!

Many thanks to all who voted for me!

Thanks for participating, and for stopping by today! Stay tuned for Part II of the San Diego Zoo!

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Other Zoo Views – Part I

I wanted to take today to share with you some other photos that I took at the San Diego Zoo. There was so much to see, and I took so many photos…where do I begin? Shall we walk through the zoo together?

Do you remember the movie “The Lion King?” Well, I was able to capture some photos of some of the cast. Let’s start with that cute Meerkat who was named Timon…

Timon

And the Warthog was named Pummba, remember?

Pumbaa!

Then there were the three hyenas. Laughing little fellows! Check this one out!

That was very funny!

OK, aside from “The Lion King” characters there were some pretty cool animals. One of the most striking things was one of the first sights: It was a dog who was best buddies with a cat. Not just any cat, but a Cheetah!

An unlikely friendship

Did you know that there really is a Cheshire Cat? No, really there is! While I did not catch it smiling I did capture its tail!

The Cheshire Cat

Some of the faces of the creatures that we saw were very expressive. See what you think.

Are you looking at me?

You smell funny!

What’s doing?

Others are a bit more laid back.

No chance of getting cold with all this fur!

Nap time!

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I took a lot of photos! So, stay tuned for Part II!

Thanks for the visit today! I hope your day has been excellent!

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Triple Crown!

Inspiring is defined as having an animating or exalting effect. I have once again been honored with the Very Inspiring Blogger Award by three amazing bloggers!

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

My humble thanks go out to Susan at Gasm Travels; Julie at Cookie Crumbs to Live By; and to Shlehora at Shlehora!

The rules of this award:

1 – Display the award logo on your blog (top). Done!
2 – Link back to the person who nominated you. Done!
3 – State 7 things about yourself. This and the remaining are below!
4 – Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.
5 – Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.

7 things about myself:

* I love it when it snows!
* My first pet was a toad whom I name Ferdinand Magellen
* I love the patterns found on the Zebra
* I love a good avacado
* On our recent cruise I ate 3 lobster dinners!
* I love to write
* I love yellow roses and white carnations

Now I am to nominate 15 bloggers. This is where I cheat…with less than the 15! Here are my nominations:

Lily Mugford
Sustainabilitea
Julia Bailey
Ruth Nina Welsh
Cindy’s Art Blog

Congratulations to you all! You are very inspiring indeed!

Enjoy your Tuesday and have a great day!

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Barking at the Zoo!

As you might have figured out by now, I love the textures and patterns that can be found in tree bark. The San Diego Zoo has an unusual array of shrubs, trees and flowers. So for today, I thought that I would share with you some of the amazing bark that I captured while visiting the zoo! Shall we take a look?

Let’s start with the amazing bark on the Sycamore tree. I love the contrasts that can be found on this tree’s bark.

Sycamore

The Eucalyptus is best known for its peeling bark, each shred showing off the inner beauty found at its core!

Eucalyptus Bark

Another shot!

After visiting the elephants we came across this tree. I am not sure what the name of it is, but I can say that this tree was definitely looking at me! It kind of looks like an owl doesn’t it?

Eye see you!

I also came across a tree with a lovely rust colored bark. There was an interesting knob on this tree that caught my eye!

Knobby

Then I found this one that actually had spines!

Spiky bark

Tree barks are mostly shades of brown, gray and rusts. But I did find this one with a green colored bark!

Green

Stay tuned for some of the amazing flowers I discovered at the zoo! Now go out and have a great Monday and may the week be a good one for you! And, of course, thank you for stopping by!

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A Kiss for Mother’s Day!

Who does not love a big, huge kiss from their sweetheart? Of course, it does depend on who the kiss comes from, don’t you think? Well, I got to witness one big kiss that totally tickled my heart. Maybe it will tickle yours too!

Where did I witness this kiss? At the San Diego Zoo! The kissers? The Rhinoceros! So before we get to the kiss, how about we check out the two that reside at the zoo? While this is not my favorite animal…it does come close to the elephant!

Now the two Rhino’s were in different enclosures. One was enjoying the water, and the other was getting face scratches from a docent. When the one in the water stood up, this was my first view of it!

My first view of the Rhino

Here is the other one getting face scratches. Notice there is a fellow right behind the head as you can see his leg just behind the Rhino’s leg and the top of his hat behind the right ear! If Rhino’s could purr, this one was!

Face scratches

The one in the water decided to play with a ball that was just at the edge of its pool.

Playing!

The other Rhino, having been satisfied with its face scratching decided to lie down.

Do I look enticing?

We notice that the other Rhino, the one in the pool, decides it has had enough with the water and starts to move out.

Coming out of the pool and heading towards…

Sauntering gracefully, it heads towards the other Rhino. Reaching the gates on the enclosure it leans its head down. The other Rhino raises its head. And through the gate they share a kiss!

The Kiss!

I feel very fortunate to have captured this special moment!

Happy Mother’s Day to all Mom’s! May your day be truly special! And, thank you for spending a bit of time with me today!

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