Vineyards, Horses and Autumn Days

Sounds pretty good to me!  This is my favorite time of year - the dust, heat and flies are gone...........yes, it's now getting cold and muddy, but I'm not tired of that - yet.  We've had some glorious days in between our early fall storms, and last Sunday we took advantage of such a day .  Joe brought his Lipizzan team  over to Blue Fountain Farm, along with his gorgeous show carriage.  We were given permission by Mike and Diane Naggiar to take a drive through their vineyard, so off we went.  We, in this case was me, Joe, his son Joe, his grandson Little Joey, my folks, (Wally and Dotti), and Rolf and Carolyn Laessig (Rolf is doing great in his lessons of driving Ash - more on that soon).  Joe and I went ahead in the Bobcat, Rolf, Carolyn and Joey were in the carriage with Joe, and my folks were bringing up the rear in the golf cart - quite a procession!

The day was sunny and warm, the colors were outrageous, and we made quite an entrance !

We all pulled up to the Naggiar Tasting Room, and disembarked from our respective vehicles.  We were hoping that Mike and Diane would have time to go for a ride with Joe through their vineyard, but they were busy hosting one of their private wine tastings (see my post on the tasting we did last spring).  We'll have to go bck again to get them in the carriage!

  I did, however, find two ladies who were very excited about the prospect of a ride, so off they went with Joe, while we sat on the lawn in the warm sun and had some wine.

They had a great time, and Joe was in his element!  Joe got a chance to enjoy a little wine,

and it was great to see three generations of Kaszas enjoying some time together.

It was finally time to go home, and I couldn't resist a shot of the horses and the carriage seemingly buried in the vines.........

The team did their job well, and got everyone home safely. 

On to today........... the clouds parted from yesterday's storm, so I took some time to grab my camera and take advantage of the beautiful colors and the great lighting.  This view is from the house, looking out over Maverick in his pasture to the vines............ 

Then I went into the vineyard, and got a shot of our house from a different perspective.............

I think  you've got to admit, Vineyards, Horses and Autumn days have something magical about them!

 

Aurora's Birthday Party

Most of you who know me know that my primary focus with  my photography is horses, but I've gotta tell ya, I had a blast photographing Aurora's 4th birthday party this last Saturday.  It was over 3 hours of semi-controlled pandemonium (at least that's my perspective as one who's not often around 25 - 30 young children!) but at the same time it was just a lot of fun and very heartwarming.  The kids all got along really well, and little Aurora was in her element.

Aurora's parents, Anna and Ricky, really did it up right, and even had a miniature horse come out, which the kids loved.

There were plenty of games for the kids, which they all thoroughly enjoyed, and which gave them a venue in which to burn off their excess energy........

Of course, they were goofy as well............

......and even the youngest was having a great time........

When things cooled off a little, there was always grandpa or mom to keep their young ones snuggled and warm.....

Aurora did her happy dancing.....

The kids were just sooooooooo cute.......

There are many, many more photos on the photo web site in the proofs section.  Parents, if you're interested in any of these photos, just contact me .

So, little Aurora...........

Love,

Lesley

"Ears" to you........

Is she cute or what??  This young doe came for a little visit today.  At first she was pretty timid..........

but then  her curiosity got the better of her, and she came right up to me.........

She even let me touch her..........

She seems to think she's one of the cows, and there was no mom around anywhere. 

When the cows moved off, so did she.  I hope she comes back tomorrow!