sedona weekend

We went to Sedona for the weekend. It is quite pretty up there any time of the year, but with a few fall colors and the crisp blue sky, it was really beautiful. The days were warm and the evenings got cool enough for a jacket. Perfect fall weather. We were planning to do a photo session with the youngest girl. Her senior pictures. So, we found this great marketplace. It was absolutely beautiful. It was filled with great buildings, interesting architecture,wooden doors, ironwork, old tile and gorgeous greenery. Exactly what I was looking for. It was decorated with gourds, pumpkins and other fall goodness. 

There were colorful flag banners being put up for an event that we learned would be Saturday night.

All of the fountains, archways and small niches were filled with autumn decorations.

So very colorful.

They had fresh flowers and fruit that they were adding to the fall pumpkins and gourds, preparing for the  event.

We soon learned that it was to be a  Day of the Dead celebration.

We were there in the morning on saturday taking pictures as more and more decorations were added for the celebration that night. 

We decided we would go back that evening to see how it all looked at night and to watch some of the festivities. We got there later, after all the alters had been lit, but it was still a sight to see. 

There was a flamenco guitarist playing while a couple of dancers, with their faces painted, swirled around in front of him.

There were candles everywhere that people had lit earlier, honoring friends and family members that had passed.

Later, while walking around, we found these fire performers. There was one guy keeping rhythm with his hands on a drum of some kind.

And several people dancing with fire. A belly dancer and a young boy dancing with his mother. They all had their faces painted.

 It was interesting to see them spin and swirl and perform with fire. One of the guys juggled a small ball that was on fire too. Leah thought it would be fun to get her picture with them, but it just didn't seem like a good opportunity. We were hungry so we found a place for dinner.

Later, as we were leaving the restaurant , we noticed the troupe of fire dancers were loading up their

car. A very nice vintage Mercedes. Not the kind of car we would have expected to see these fire dancers loading their stuff into. I said, "Hey Leah, still want to get your picture with a fire dancer?"

And so she did. His name is Julian and guess what? He was from here originally, but had been living in Colorado for the past several years. Coincidental. The car was his and he said "it still knew how to shine". I agree, it was a great car. Leah was excited that she got her picture with a fire dancer.

The senior photo session turned out very nicely.
The fall weekend in Sedona was great.
It was a surprise to stumble on a Day of the Dead celebration.
Something we have never experienced before.
A couple of hikes were made.
Pictures will come later.

Happy Halloween!

edible acorns

I found a picture of these little sweet morsels on the internet. I don't know who originally posted it or came up with the idea, but I thought the cuteness factor was pretty high. So, I made some. There weren't any instructions or a 'recipe'... just the photo. But, my amazing culinary skills gave me the ability to re-create these on my own.

They are little bite size bits of tastiness. Like a little chocolate kiss to your mouth. Wait, it is a chocolate kiss! And here is how I made them.

You will need:
Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Bites
Hershey's Chocolate Kisses
Prepared chocolate frosting ( the kind that comes in the small tub)
Mini Chocolate chips

Take the silver foil off of the kisses. Put the kisses in the fridge to get them cold. ( this gives you more time with your warm fingers to assemble before they start to melt) Separate the peanut butter bites. You will have peanut butter that stays on one half of the cookie bite, or part of the peanut butter on part of one half and part on the other half. That is ok. It does not have to be a perfect peanut butter separation.
Now, spread a small amount of chocolate frosting onto one of the cookie halves. Stick a peanut butter kiss to the frosting. Take a mini chocolate chip and dab a little frosting on the flat end. Stick it to the top of the cookie half. Let the frosting dry. Pile on a plate or in a bowl and you have a treat that is autumnally tasty!

I added these to a platter of desserts, that I served to the volleyball girls, who were at our home recently for a team dinner. I forgot to take a before picture of the acorns and the hand full above was all that was left after the dinner. I think they loved the desserts!

I think these would be fun to make with the young 'uns.
Be warned though, warm fingers = melty kisses.

Or, a stolen kiss = a chocolaty kiss!

color wednesday

Old tank spotted in Jerome, Arizona.

The sky behind a church in Old Town Albuquerque.

                                                   The night sky behind the moon.

                                                 
                                       Beam of light at last year's Christmas parade.

                               
                             Smudge of paint next to the window and by the girl.

                     
                                     Cast after basketball girl's surgery last spring.

    Empty chairs ready for graduates at the college boy's graduation.

                                            Senior girl's graduation cap and gown.

                    Moving blankets taped to the floors in the Colorado house.

                     Me in the almost empty Colorado house on moving day.

 That very photographed bird that welcomed us to our new home in Arizona.

                                          Flowers blooming in our yard.

                                          Plaid shirt worn by the little scarecrow boy.

Today's post was brought to you by the color blue.


Note: I added the scarecrow photo to the line up at the last minute this morning. It wasn't originally planned to be here since I just showed a similar photo on monday with my halloween crows post. In that post I commented that others in my family were "over" seeing the creepy birds that tend to startle them. I had not had that happen to me but, figured eventually I would get the fright of my life. Last night, we had a big wind blow in along with a gusher downpour. Because of the wind, the rain was whipping up under the roof overhang in the front courtyard. So, not wanting this guy to get soaked, I brought him in and set him on the hall tree seat by the front door. Later, as I made my way to our bedroom through the darkened hallway, I passed by that said hall tree... boo! the little scarecrow scared me. I had forgotten I had set him there and normally I don't see little stuffed boys with straw hats on their head in that particular spot!  So...jokes on me! I did manage to scare myself, just not with the crows! Ha!! 

halloween crows

I did a little decorating for Halloween this year. I put my scarecrow boy out like I do every year. If your're new here, or you just don't know, I made this little guy years ago. A favorite pair of Osh Gosh overalls the kids outgrew were the inspiration for making him. I couldn't get rid of those last worn-out pair of striped overalls. It makes for a cute fall decoration and a bit of a keepsake too. So, the little guy, my terra cotta pumpkin that I found last year, and a few black crows that I had also bought last year for our 'dining room haunted halloween' affair, welcome guests to our front courtyard. 

The black crows really are fake looking, when you look at them.

The problem is...they kinda look back at you. And, with our situation with creatures around here, real live creatures... my placement of these posers has not been very favorable with the youngest daughter and the Dad.

Especially this one by the front gate. Okay, I admit...I did put it there thinking it might frighten someone just a bit. But it's Halloween, right? And, I don't go through this gate very often, so I'm not really affected by the fact that...when you come home after dark and you reach down to open the gate you just might jump a little when you catch a glimpse of this black feathery fake crow!

It does seem a bit crazy that me, the person who can't walk anywhere through the yard without looking down or around her feet constantly, or the one who won't even walk the path to the studio at night without a flashlight, would even think to put these birds out at all, right?

Right.

But I did.

They are even in the house. And the girl does not like them very well. 

I wonder why?

The little beady eyes perhaps? The feathers that look real? The little claw feet?

It's the fact that fake is not really fake around here when it comes to scary creatures. A misplaced black garden hose looks like a 10 foot snake when you aren't paying attention. A branch from a tree rubbing across your hair feels like a bat has flown in. An unruly vine rubbing against your leg as you walk by makes you think a lizard just crawled up your leg. Stepping on a sharp cookie crumb on the kitchen floor makes you jump because you think it is a scorpion. A rabbit scurrying through the bushes makes you think a javelina is close by.

So really, fake crows sitting around for Halloween may not be my best idea. Because, one of these nights, I'm going to forget I put them out and I'm going to scare myself half to death!

remember...if you click on the highlighted lines above you can catch up on old news.

color wednesday

Little squishy toys nesting in the pool raft.

      Those amazing hot-air balloons from last years Albuquerque trip.

                                         A license plate ceiling spotted in a restaurant.

                                          Homemade frosted Easter cookies.

                               Tie-dyed t-shirts from the graduation party.

                                            Too many candles on my birthday cake.

                                   Way too many candles on Chuck's birthday cake.

       
Hippie jeans worn by Leah, made by her Dad, who wore them all the time in high school and college... many, many candles ago.

The perfectly formed colors in the sky leading to this cute little treasure of a pip squeak. (yep, I am starting the gathering and copying process of the youngest one's graduation albums)

Today's post has been brought to you by the colors of a rainbow.