Great Blue Heron, Huntley Meadows

Tomato Season

Judge's Choice Award

Honored that my photo received the 2016 TGOA/MGCA Judge's Choice Award!

Editing My Dad's Photos

I am working on a project involving my dad's photos from around 1973-1975.  Several caught my eye this morning...

Other Artists at ABANA

Although Jeff was working most of the conference, we did manage to stop by a few other tents.  These national conferences are basically a "who's who" in the metal artistry world and it's amazing to see such talent in one place. In a few tents, groups of smiths were working on large sculptures, and another group built a railing with some incredible detail work.  I didn't get many photos and I don't know many of the people in these photos except Tony Swatton....but here are a few:

Day 2 - ABANA Conference in Salt Lake City

Jeff, Jay and Bill (and others) worked non-stop on Thursday to give all their students a wonderful experience.  Everyone walked away with a fire rake and a back scratcher.  Their tent was so popular that they started running every class twice, which allowed more students to partcipate -- it also meant that they were exhausted!  Happy....but exhausted!

And, I took a few hours to tour the Temple, since I couldn't really go to Salt Lake City and not stop by (although Jeff, Jay, Bill and all the others did just that because they were working non-stop!).  While the Temple was interesting and beautiful, I was really taken by the modern art exhibited all over the downtown....and a little rainbow my son found as we walked back to the conference.  

Day 1 - Youth Teaching Tent at ABANA's Conference in Salt Lake City

We've just returned from the ABANA conference in Salt Lake City, where Jeff had the great pleasure of working alongside Jay Burnham Kidwell and Bill McMillon, as well as lots of other volunteers who helped make the tent a huge success.  It was a very busy week, as the tent was very, very popular.  On the first evening session, Jay led a class in making fire pokers.

Blacksmithing and History Camp Start Today at St. Albans

Jeff set up at St. Alban's last week and is starting to forge with the campers this morning.  What a great opportunity for the kids!  

Summer of 2016 Photo Project

I have started a summer photo project, giving myself a challenge to take a picture daily of something that reflects our summer.  Photos will be posted on my website every few days, and I'll share a few on the blog.  It's forcing me to think more proactively about my photography...and to remember to keep a camera with me at all times!  Most of the photos are being taken with my smaller (and lighter!) Fugi X100T camera, which I love....

Fiona is Happy about Weaving Plans

Fiona the cat was thrilled to discover the fabric that I hope to turn into a rag rug tomorrow at a class.

Blacksmithing for Farm Day at Burgundy Farm Country Day School

We had a great time blacksmithing for the 1st graders and Kindergartners at Burgundy Farm Country Day School this past Friday.   In honor of farm day, Jeff made hoof picks, as well as nails and S hooks.  And, as always, the children got to try out how it feels to hammer like a blacksmith using our child-friendly anvil and aluminum pieces.   It's a joy to be part of such a special school!

Medieval Barley Bread Challenge

My older son's class at Burgundy Farm Country Day School has been studying the medieval time period and their study is culminating with a Medieval Festival tomorrow.  Parents were asked to sign up to help provide food, and I took on the challenge of baking barley bread.  I'd never baked with barley before, although I bake plenty of wheat-based bread.  Nor had I ever cooked in the medieval time period.  But, I am a historical interpreter of other time periods, so I was excited to try.  And, I've been watching a lot of Ruth Goodman's television shows, so the timing was perfect!

Working with barley flour was very interesting, and I had a fair number of fails.  But, I did learn a lot.  In the end, I will be serving an upper class person's barley bread, which used ale, yeast, and more white flour than barley and wheat flours (ignore the air bubble in the photo, please!); I also made a middle class person's barley bread, using the ale and yeast, but more wheat flour than white flour; finally, I found a recipe for what would be a lower class person's barley bread, using no ale or yeast or wheat flours at all.  This unleavened bread turned out to be more of a pita or tortilla.  Fascinating.

And, I learned that barley bread tastes fantastic, too!

Scenes from My May Garden