County fair chickens, cowboys & ribbons--quite the summer blowout

I just learned a blogging friend entered her photos into the county fair

after being inspired by my post about doing just that.

Competing chicken beauties we ogled...

This made me happy.

Then she tells me her husband saw her example

and he screwed up the courage to enter his baked goods

into the local county fair (there's a men-only category).

Very cool 'do!

This made me even more happy.

So, I've decided I should risk accusations of bragging and write about this year's results

'cause maybe another person would be similarly inspired. =)

I don't pretend to understand 4-H economics. Wow!! =)

Plus, I just learned fair organizers say that

the more people enter stuff, the better the fair.

This duck looks like a deep thinker to me...

So, you are helping your community by doing this, not merely seeking approval. =)

Loved the feather shake-out on this gorgeous rooster.

Didn't get his head in this shot, but it's the only fluff-up he did.

Last year I entered my photos into the county fair for the 1st time.

And I won some ribbons, which was a surprise.

No 1st place, but I was delighted to win anything.

And I learned a lot, and had a great time. =)

How many dollars-worth of cowboy hats are in this photo?

This year I entered again, and DH entered a few, as well.

This weekend, as soon as we stepped into the photo-zone,

I saw one of my photos from afar & saw the blue of a 1st place ribbon.

SWEET! Already beat last year.

So, DH & I cruise around, ogling folks' fabulous work...

(The center bottom one is a super cool abstract. Looks like waves but is rock! =) )

...and seeing how we did.

So, here's Sammy's results:

1st & 3rd place in "flowers", 2nd & 3rd in "insects and reptiles"

1st place in "any other" category

1st place in "seascapes/marine"

and a nothing (upper left) and 1st in & best in show in "plant life/natural environment (no flowers)"

So, at first I saw the giant rainbow ribbon & freaked.

They give out one per each division (beginner, intermediate & professional).

I was SUPER amazed.

I'd only seen photos of people & agricultural plants get best in show,

so I figured I'd never get it.

Then, DH noticed a small chart on the wall,

which lists the special awards.

It listed best in show for the 3 divisions,

then best in show overall,

AND MY NAME WAS THERE!

You can't tell fm. the above (& I didn't notice in person)

there's TWO giant rainbow ribbons there.

Wow!!

I'd call this some pretty serious positive reinforcement for

doing new things despite the discomfort & initial floundering,

working on your skills,

joining the fray,

and thinking happy thoughts.

Check your ego at the door

In case you think my head will be getting huge from ego,

I overheard a woman talking to her husband,

looking at & discussing my ribbon-festooned photo.

"It's a picture of bark.

On a tree."

Like that's the dullest thing in the world. =)

Made me laugh out loud.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, baby!

xoxoxobb

Late summer: Yosemite, clouds, cowboys & cutting out California wine...

Home...

Tiny, gorgeous fork-tailed (I think) bush katydid nymph on California poppy, chez-nous.

This young creature is backing verrrry slowwwly away from yours truly. =) 

Got a twitter-heads up that "mares tails" were in the Mariposa county sky,

so I looked out the window:

They're lonnnnng, thin clouds

(streaky left-to-right thing, not the vertical contrail).

And this one had a rainbow in it. BONUS.

The garden is underwhelming this year (I'm being very stingy with water),

but these pea flowers really do have the golden sparkles you can see, here.

It's one of the few things our local Anna's hummingbird gets excited about in my garden.

I need more flowers, next year.

I'll have to make additional drought tolerant, flowering plants happen.

Maybe next year the (very drought-tolerant) pomegranates I planted will bloom?

And the baby California roses? Maybe? Crossing fingers. =)

And Away

Hiking to Lukens Lake in Yosemite, recently, 

we happened upon a family of

one of my favorite & most rarely-seen birds: mountain quail.

Can you see them atop the log?

Cropped.

Adults have exclamation points atop their heads (v. Calif. quail have commas).

And cropped again. Such a stunning bird, jeepers.

Crap photos, but I was thrilled.

A stunning bird with a haunting call that can

send a chill up your spine when you're hiking in the forest.

The ever-picturesque Lukens Lake. A super easy hike, even at ~ 8,000 feet in elevation.

Note smoke on horizon, from the Rough Fire.

At the lake, I ogled this beautiful snag.

I have a thing for dead trees...

 I love how 'neath the bark is what looks like

a mysterious language scrawled into the tree.

What does it say?!?

 I wanna know.

Sat at the edge of Lukens lake with dozens of blue damselflies.

Sharpest shot I got (via my non-telephoto lens):

Such gorgeous animals, jeepers.

A favorite plant, California corn lily (Veratrum californicum).

See the little damselfly, center right, resting on a leaf?

Most of the corn lily was past blooming,

but this one, in the shade by the lake, was still going.

There were numerous happy bees merrily visiting these flowers.

Recently, in Tuolumne county, I was later to a work site than I'd planned, due to a traffic jam.

They had a bunch of cows & their young on the road. Poor creatures sounded stressed.

It took several men & horses, a dog & lots of yelling & arm-waving to get the job done.

Finally, cattle off the road, I drove past slowly, stealing a shot of this horse & its super fit bod.

Check out that crazy butt. This was back in August,

so you probably want to be lean in that heat

(daily over 100F in central CA).

Horses are SO beautiful (IMHO), I find it confusing.

Why do they affect us this way (from an evolutionary perspective)?

Did we co-evolve with them, so a desire to have horses could be selected for?

Or have we just selectively bred them to increase what we consider attractive traits?

Last, but not least, a tiny conservation vignette,

and why I may never accompany DH to this golf course again.

This sign calls the vineyards an "ecologically sensitive area."

Biobabbler's head exploded when she read this.

The quotation marks definitely indicate sarcasm, to me, in this case.

The baby vines are in the white tubes, in front of the mature vines (green in the background).

I never golf ('cause Imma conservation biologist), but I accompany DH and look at birds.

However, I used to love this course 'cause it had

large stretches of native California habitat in it

(vs. an entirely transformed, non-native landscape).

This is very unusual for golf courses in California.

But, this summer all those native spaces were razed and converted to vineyards.

=(

Vineyards are crawling across California,

taking out so much of California's remaining, unique native habitats,

it is a serious source of habitat destruction.

For something we do not need to survive.

And who knows how much water they are using?

Yours truly doing fieldwork in California habitat.

Thinking deep thoughts.  =)

Therefore, I've decided will not drink California wine, pretty much as of now.

I'm sure this decision won't be felt by the wine industry,

but I cannot reward this behavior (by giving them my money)

and feel OK about how I'm living my life.

So, thank you, darling peeps, for letting me express this.

I feel better, now.

=)

xoxoxobb