Panorama - On The Road in Iowa

A panorama of the exciting landscape of Iowa. Look, it is actually pretty cool, but it goes on for a hundred miles.

I had scanned about 100 slides from a 1973 trip to the Badlands and notice that a few of the pictures actually formed panoramas. A few minutes later thanks to Photoshop CS5 I had a panorama of a view from the car window. Looking at the pictures I remember that this scenery went on for dozens of miles on end. The pictures brought back a lot of forgotten memories of the trip.

Captured the world and a life time of memories. Use your camera and photo document your life.

Grape Harvest Festival

We attended the 2nd annual Grape Harvest Festival at Gervasi Vineyard on September 29th. There were food and gift vendors near the vineyards, two local bands and competitions for Bocce Ball and Cornhole. Also open to the public was the new winery and Crush House restaurant.

There were two bands playing the lake side as well as a band in the Pavilion.

After a brief walk around the Gervasi grounds and checking out a few of the vendors we decided to have lunch on the Piazza. It was a perfect day to enjoy relaxing with our favorite foods and watch all the activity around us.

Follow the link to see more pictures from the Grape Harvest Festival

 

Myrtle Beach

We just got back from our vacation in Myrtle Beach. The weather was perfect with almost every day in the low 80's. The above picture was taken from our balcony at the Sands Beach Club room 128.A great early morning view of the ocean and sun does something to recharge your batteries.

The Sands Beach Club is near Barefoot Landing, Tanger Outlets, Myrtle Beach Mall and the Alabama Theatre. We visited all 4 attractions/shopping venues and enjoyed just getting away from home for a week.

The Alabama Theatre show "One" was very enjoyable with great talent entertaining you for the evening.

We had a late dinner at the Conch Cafe situated on the beach. What a great view and meal. It was a bit breezy that evening but not enough to keep us from enjoying the deck and the view. We also had lunch on Friday at Bombay At The Beach. Pretty good Indian food buffet, check it out if you want to try something different or enjoy Indian food.

It was shag dance week at Myrtle and we met a few people from North Carolina who came down to get together, dance and party. A great time was had by all!

The northern part of Myrtle Beach is quiet and more residential than commercial. We like it that way. Plus there was a big sale at Stein Mart.

 

Mute Swan

I visited Gervasi Lake on Sunday and took a few pictures of the resident Mute Swans Gina and Giuseppe. They had 4 cygnets earlier in the year but unfortunately not all of them survived the attacks of predators. I know that 2 had died, but Sunday I only saw 1 of the cygnets. Many times they fall victim to snapping turtles.

I had my 70-300mm lens with me so I could get some pretty good shots without disturbing the swans. A month ago when I took a few pictures and all the cygnets were still alive I saw dad go after a fellow who was getting a little too close. Fun to watch!

The swans are able to make noises but you don’t hear the loud calls that non mute swans are capable of. Mute Swans are not natural to the United States and were introduced from Europe and Asia.

Mute Swans are usually strongly territorial with just a single pair on smaller lakes and will keep geese away from the lake.

See my post at iNaturalist

 

Backyard Birds - American Goldfinch

I typically put a couple of Niger seed sacks out in the backyard near the bird bath each year. It is very relaxing sitting on the upper deck of the house listening to the American Goldfinches sing as they fly back and forth to the seed and the water fountains and birdbath.They fly to the tree and eventually make their way down to the seed, sometimes sharing and sometimes fending off the other birds.

Of course with all those birds comes with a few fights that sometimes get very acrobatic. These little birds are very fast and catching them in flight is difficult and typically a bit blurry as well. The two Goldfinches below decided to go heels when one decided to chases the other from the food.

Once the birds find your feeders they can empty them out pretty quick. I typically make sure they are filled Friday night so I can enjoy there visits during the weekend. Of course a few squirrels typically need to stop by and checkout what is happening. A few peanuts are in order for them.

An Evening of Music with the Tim Hunt Jazz Trio

It was a perfect Friday evening and the Gervasi Vineyard Piazza was crowded with people enjoying the food and atmosphere of the vineyard. The Tim Hunt Jazz Trio was performing with special guest vocalist and percussionist John Mahon. I had my Nikon D90 with me and captured the evening in pictures and video. I hope you enjoy viewing the pictures as much as I did taking them.

The trio features Scott Grewell on drums, Jeff Bremer on Upright Base, and Tim Hunt on keyboard.

Jeff is from Youngstown and is a very accomplished musician with abundant jazz music and classical orchestra experience.

Enjoying the view of the lake with the Tim Hunt Jazz Trio playing in the background.

Scott is a very accomplished artist who excels in many styles of music.

Tim Hunt

John Mahon sat in with the band for a few songs.

You can explore Gervasi Vineyard and its 55 acres, and spring fed lake as well as enjoy the entertainment for the evening.

If you are traveling to Canton, Ohio it would be well worth your time to make Gervasi Vineyard one of your stops, and even better if The Tim Hunt Jazz Duo or Trio happen to be there as your entertainment for the evening!

If you want to see all the photo's I captured Friday evening follow this Link. If you would like to see more photographs of Gervasi Vineyard follow this Link.