Another long weekend, this one signaling the end of summer and the start of fall activities, although technically fall doesn't arrive for a while yet. I had the last of my "organized horse activity" photo shoots this weekend, and my annual art-show-season launch, the Art at Ebon show, is coming up on the weekend. Next I'll be packing up artwork for the pre-Christmas shows!! Time has flown, as has summer.
It was another mixed week for activities and for weather, although other than the last couple of days, seems to me it was nice. I'm keeping a bit of a nervous eye on the forecast as my art show is outdoors, or to all intents outdoors as we're in tents on grass, and I'm not pleased to see the return of the wet, chill, and wind. However, a lot can change in the course of a few days, so I have to remain confident all will be well and we'll have another good show.
We feed the local bird population year-round, so have a good established flock of various species. I thought we had one or maybe two chickadees, but found this not to be the case when I decided to "pish" them one day last week. I've showed photos on this blog of the chickadees of a nearby provincial park that will eat from your hand, having been habituated by local birders. I thought maybe I could get our chickadees to do the same, so I went out with some shell-less sunflower seeds (a special treat), put them on the overhead beam of the backyard deck, and stood close by while "pishing" (which essentially involves making a "pish, pish" noise, repeatedly). To my astonishment, the branches of the nearby big cedar started rustling and moving, and there were at least eight chickadees all working their way closer and fluttering about. Shot one shows the only one bold enough to move in to get the treat while I stood close by with the camera.
My houseplants live outside in the summer. I have quite a few in my collection and by the end of the winter we need a break from each other. Since it's quite chilly many nights now (single digits celsius) it's time to start re-integrating them to the indoors. I try to do this a few at a time, repotting and/or cutting back as required. Shot two shows a shockingly root-bound philodendron that, with a huge amount of effort, I repotted earlier in the week. In my defense I would like to point out that I'm not the one that let this poor plant achieve this state. It was one of a bunch of plants that appeared at the barn in the spring, looking for new homes. I was pretty sure it needed repotting when I adopted it, but it looked so nice I didn't like to mess with it.
Seems I was right about the repotting! Everything you can see that isn't green in this photo is root. There were vast lengths wound around both the bottom and the top of where the pot had been. Until I sliced into the middle of this mess, I wasn't sure there was any soil at all! And in fact there wasn't much, and what there was seemed to be pure peat moss. Not a lot of nourishment there. Again, I have no idea how this plant managed to thrive in this situation. I have removed a large amount of root, and it is now in a nice pot with beautiful garden compost to sustain it. Doubtless it will wither and die almost immediately, from shock, if nothing else.
Friday and Saturday saw the third annual Fireworks Festival on the riverbank. Since the old "traffic bridge" which was up to now the launching platform for the fireworks has been found to be on the verge of falling down, the launch area had to be hastily reconfigured to the east riverbank. Grandson Mark and I went on Friday evening to take in the show. Last year I debated whether to take my camera, decided against it, and have regretted it for a year. I'm still peeved with myself as not having the bridge as part of the event meant that the very effects I was most hoping to shoot weren't possible. However, the visuals were still excellent and I had a lot of fun doing photos. Of course I didn't Google "how to photograph fireworks" until after the event, and if the information I read is correct I did absolutely everything wrong, but I'm still very happy with many of the shots I got. I really did hope to get back to try my big lens for the second night, but it just wasn't in the cards. Maybe next year. 
The horse activity photo shoot mentioned above was the annual Canadian Warmblood evaluation, this year held at Pelmac Stables, which provided a very nice venue for this event.
I was there to photograph the under saddle horses (only a few of them), and the mares and foals (lots more here). Shot four shows a brash young fellow giving his poor mother a hard time as she was being led around the triangle. You can see by her tucked tail "body language" that she isn't amused by his rudeness. This youngster put on a great show for the viewers, demonstrating a lot of confidence and curiosity, backed up by some very nice action. It's always fun to see the foals strut their stuff at these events.
Shot five shows a relic of past harvests that sits like an old dinosaur in one of the fields between Pelmac stables and the city. Things are still pretty green for September in Saskatchewan, doubtless the result of the large amount of moisture we have seen this year. 
Saskatoon and area readers! Art at Ebon is this upcoming Saturday, September 11, 11AM-5 PM at Ebon Stables, a ten minute drive from the east side of the city. Unless we have gale-force winds and/or driving rain, the show will go on, so try to come along and check out the artists and the stables. There will be a dozen artists showcasing original artwork in various media, a concession for refreshments, and horse activities in the riding rings (if they dry out enough for the footing to be safe). Check the Ebon website www.ebonstables.com and click on the map link on the left, or email me judywood@sasktel.net and I'll send you the email version of the poster, which has directions to Ebon. Hope to see you there! 
