Autumn Walk

I really hope you aren't all sick to death of photos of autumn, herons and egrets.

You see, I just can't stop taking pictures. This is one of the most beautiful autumns I can remember.

I put on the headphones (and they really DO make you walk faster) and do my time going around the large circular path.

 

At the Ditch, the colors don't seem to change all at once. It evolves, which makes every walk interesting.

The sunlight just seems to make every leaf glow.

And the water -- it looks absolutely magical.

I love watching Harry hunt for food. He is so focused, so determined.

There are actually two Harrys, but I don't know how to tell them apart, other than that one tends to be on the northern pond, the other a bit more south.

The egret tends to hang right in the middle (very unphotographable)...

...or near the reeds and weeds. (Equally tough to photograph).

It's so hard to catch a photo of them flying (that isn't totally blurred!). But I felt relatively good about this one, even if the focus is a little soft.

Of course, it's not just birds -- there are squirrels stuffing their faces...

...and playing "run up and down the tree."

The fauna is fabulous, but so is the flora, even those in a more muted palate!

There are lots of ducks. Is this a wood duck? He looks much different from the mallards.

And there are always other walkers. Sometimes we walk together, sometimes we watch together.

Someday I will get a great photo of Harry.

Till then, thanks for enjoying these with me.

I wish you could be walking this path...

...enjoying all this color and beauty. 

And my birds.

Winter will soon be here, Harry will head to a warmer climate. These beautiful leaves will make a crunchy carpet on the ground until they are covered by snow.

And believe me, I won't be ditching too much!

Burgonogne -- Boeuf et Vin

The Cork Poppers are back for the fall tasting -- and this time the theme was the wines of Burgundy. The venue was my house. It's a good thing I retired, because I had plenty of cleaning and purging to do before I could allow people entry! (In fact, there are still some off-limits rooms.) But I got it looking reasonably respectable.

And somehow, I managed to fit two tables into the very tiny family/dining room so eleven of us could sit down for dinner.

But that's later. First comes the wine!

Dick, our wine guide, brought eight wines from Burgundy and the area going from Chablis to Lyon. The price range for these ran form $8.50 to $30. We started with one of the four whites,  Chateau de Le Greffiere, Mason La Roche Vineuse 2011. It has a short cellaring period -- about two years from the vintage year, so in this case, drink by 2013 or else! The price by $18.

It was a nice start, clean and crisp. "It's the best one there is!" exclaimed Barb, adding "I already have a buzz in my cheek." To which Roger replied, "Better eat some cheese quick!"

Our cheese and bread platters by Pat and Meredith are one of the finest parts of each Cork Poppers gathering! (Meredith made that very cute pumpkin filled with flowers on the table!)

That was followed by Macon-Villages Chardonnay 2012, by Louis Jadot, the negotiant. (The negotiant doesn't necessarily grow the grapes but instead collects the juice and/or grapes, makes and bottles the wine and markets it.) This was an unoaked chardonnay from the Maconnaise region of Macon in Burgundy.

Several of us preferred this one -- when we learned it was $16, I think more of us preferred it! (Again, a short shelf life -- this has to do with the lack of acid in the wine. Reds have a longer cellaring potential.)

I loved the third -- it was Domaine Servin Chablis 2011, Les Pargues.  In fact, I think most all of us did, although some felt it had a slightly metallic smell. I didn't find that. I thought it spicy, peppery, very crisp, deliciious and had a nice long finish. Alas. It was $23. "That's a shame," someone said. It was simply delicious and later when comparing, most agreed it was a favorite of the whites.

That was followed by Louis Jadot Pouilly-Fusse 2011. "It'll tickle your tongue!" Rick said, though he agreed he liked the chablis better. Aged six months in French oak, Cheryl thought it tasted like urine and was ready to put in the slop bucket (but she ended up giving it to Roger instead.). Clayton said "the longer it sits in your glass, the better it tastes. In the end, at $28, I don't think any of us will be buying it.

Then it was on to the reds with a popular and easy-to-come-by wine, Beaujolais-Villages 2010 by Georges Duboeuf, clearly the winner of the pretty label contest and the best price ($8.50). This uses the gamay grape and was initially peppery. I wrote "It's OK. It's no bordeaux, but it's OK." Someone else called it "really lame."

 

Then we had another that was also gamay grape, Beaujolais-Villages 2010 by Louis Latour. Same grape, same region, same year. No comparison. Dick said "there's more going on here with flavor and texture," and Mike agreed it had "more depth." It was also more expensive -- $14.

Laforet Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2011 from Joseph Drouhin was a stelvin (screw cap). It had fine tanins and I wrote "It tastes really good but wimpy." Mike agreed -- it felt a little watery. On the other hand, he also said "I hope it's cheap, because I would buy and cellar it," knowing that it would be one that would improve with age. Rick also liked it better than the other two. But at $18, I didn't think it was worth it.

Dick saved the best for last -- Chorey-Les-Beaune 2009 by Joseph Drouhin. This was 100 percent Pinot Noir aged in new French oak barrels for 12-15 months. The newer the oak, the better (more) flavor as none of the flavors from earlier vintages are absorbed. We all agreed it had much more depth and Clayton gave it the official stamp of approval when he said, "You could have a couple of bottles of this while barbecueing.

And the price for this divine wine? $28. Sigh...

One of the points we discussed today was that the price for wines from France had increased. According to the wine guy where Dick gets what he brings to the group, they aren't buying nearly as much French as they used to because of the price increases. Pity. (See the end of the post for our French dinner wine -- a bargain and yum!)

Tasting wine, then time to dine! Our dinner began with Anne's amazing salad.

The Rick dished out the Boeuf Bourguignon -- Julia's recipe. (Here is a close adaptation with photos -- the original I used was in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

Julia says one can make it the day before and it's even better. So, that's what I did -- it took about six hours (I was making a double batch) but it was worth every second!

Everyone seemed pretty happy eating it! It was accompanied by a Madoc from Trader Joe's, Chateau Amour. At $7.99 it was the bargain of the day!

Barb's cream puffs wrapped up the feast. I wish I'd taken a photo because they were gorgeous! With whipped cream and chocolate squiggles on the white plate, they could have been served in the finest French bistro.

Our party favors were hand-made bookmarks. It is, after all, reading season!

Centerpieces relied on things at hand -- round baskets, leaves from several varieties of coleus, hydrangeas, seedum blooms, a selection of my home-grown gourds and of course, wine corks!

As always, a day with Cork Poppers is filled with laughter, friendship and delicious flavors. If you are fond of wine, you may want to check out a few of these (especially the Chablis and the Chorey-Lea-Beaune -- if you have the budget for it!

ArtPrize -- Some of the Others

Now, listen up! I'm going to share with you a bit more about ArtPrize!

 

I wanted to wait until they had announced the Top 10 and winners before posting more images on ArtPrize here. But first, let me say Greg landed in the Top 50 (we don't know where -- could be 26, could be something else). We're tremendously proud and thank you for all your support.

I didn't see as much as I would like to but here are some of the items that caught my eye in the building where Greg's work was located.I will say not all of these are my favorites, but I'm sharing because of their diversity. (Apologies to those I've photographed but did not have names for.)

This was a very well done painting that to me had a Norman Rockwell feel about it. I couldn't get far-enough back to get the whole thing, but as you can see, the train is being stopped...

...by a goat!

Next to it was one of my favorites -- a beautiful hanging fabric flower by Jill King.

The way it captured light was dazzling.

Speaking of fabric, this Christmas quilt by Mary Buvia caught my fancy. I love that ArtPrize offers art in all media, including fabric. This was huge.

Here's a detail shot.

And the back was as lovely as the front.

This one was right by Greg's exhibit. Taking Flight also made it into the Top 10 (It ended as #9). It was lovely and ethereal, but I think I was less impressed with it than many others.

This one made it into the top 10 (Ended up #8) and is by Fraser Smith -- it is a quilt carved in wood. I admired not only the carving but the painting was exquisite, catching the drapes and folds of the fabric beautifully.

Here's a detail shot.

(To hear what the judges had to say about this and the angel above, listen HERE. It's long but for those of you who are professional artists, it's an interesting discourse by some of the country's well-known art critics.

Small items in ArtPrize never score well with the crowds. They look for the "big" and the "showy." Too bad -- this crystal arrangement was elegant.

This was one of my favorites -- beautiful glass flowers by Jason Gamrath, all a good eight-feet tall.

These weren't in Greg's venue. But the lighting was fabulous!

I thought this wooden sculpture whimsical...

And I esecially liked the puppet show, which was titled the Cooperfly Puppet Troupe.

Others did, too.

A few comments on ArtPrize -- First, it's a wonderful event that packs the streets of Grand Rapids with people. It's terrific for the city and for the venues. For the artists it is a place to be seen.

But the prize issue is like a lottery. It's a popularity content, pure and simple. Listen to the discourse and you'll get an idea of that. In a way, that isn't surprising. Art is subjective. Your favorites and mine will or may be totally different and that is all right.

But because it is virtually impossible for any one person to see everything unless they live in Grand Rapids and can return often, the votes are based on what one sees -- and so a fair vote is nearly impossible. The only thing too bad about this is that there is so much prize money at stake -- $200,000 for the first-place winner.

The artist who works "small" or is in an untrafficked venue doesn't stand a chance to be seen, much less receive votes.

If I were to organize ArtPrize, there would be categories -- I'm not sure how I'd do it (by media, by size, by venue --  indoor or out?) but it would break things down so the smaller artist had as much a chance as the bigger one did. Grand prizes would be smaller, but there would be more of them.

My friend Judy brought up the idea that it should be Michigan artists only -- keep the prize money in the state -- and that makes some sense. Or at least a Michigan winner and a non-Michigan winner.

But what I DO love is the diversity. I love that I can see that exquisite Santa quilt getting plenty of people's admiration, just as much as I loved the puppet show. I liked the variety of media and the creativity of it all.

In any event, I'm sad I didn't get to see it all!