"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and a Spectacular Party"

What a night, June 19, 2009. Our 5th Harry Potter Party. And, I might add, the best one ever!! Girls, your costumes were spectacular, classes were so much fun and the food was excellent. Every bruise during Quidditch was worth the efforts made, too. And the screams of terror as Voldemort arrived unexpectedly will forever be memorable. Thanks to Professors Bellatrix(Ashlee) and Serius(Jenny) for that( and William) Much thanks, also, for the Veritus Serum and the You-Know Poo brought to us by way of Weasly Wizzard Wheezes. Our Potions class, by Professor Pavarti Patil(Heidi), was colorful and quite delicious, thanks. Professor Luna Lovegood(Harmony) brought us our second ever Jeapardy Class, as always a stage for, this years Tonks HP knowledge. However, both teams, The Defense Against the Dark Farts and the Sharts, were competitive to the last answer. And speaking of comptetive, the Quidditch match, organized by Professor Death Eater(Karen) was both exhilarating and bloody, just as it should be. Now that was great fun! Professor Tonks(Hilary) gave us our Lessons With Dumbledore memories as we discussed our favorite HP moments. And I, Professor Delores Umbridge, helped us all discover and conger up our Patrouses. Our food, which included Gilliweed Wraps, Molly's Peach Quibbler, Dragon Chunk Cookies, Slug Club Sliders, Troll Guts, Felix Felicis and Grawp Salad was to die for. Thanks to all Hogwarts professors for a rollicking night of laughter and memories. Let us not forget the muffins and juice for breakfast and Luna's sleepness night that really bugged her. Love to All!

The Middle of the Night

I went to bed, really tired last night at 9:30. Then a text woke me up. My body seems to think I got all of the rest I needed and won't let me go back to sleep. I literally laid in bed till 12:30 AM. So now I am up on the computer, reading all of your blogs and fighting a sleep deprived headache. You all do such a great job on your blogs! Where did the word B L O G come from? Was it from blah as in blah, blah, blah. Or should I just shut up and go to sleep? I will probably erase this in a couple of days for lack of content but in the meantime I will call it therapy. But I will get out of bed in the morning at 5:40, get ready and go for a walk, sleep or no sleep. Just so's you all know, I just had a post a picture, ( I am a photographer and not a writer, so a photo was appropriate,) before I published and I chose this one for its CONTENT! Note the time this thing was posted folks!

Utah Fruit

I spent my formative years in northern Utah in a beautiful valley named Cache. I have memories of the colorful summers filled with gorgeous gardens filled with fresh, home grown vegetables and fruits. In the late summer we would travel over the mountain through Sardine Canyon to the fruit orchards scattered along the base of the Wasatch Front.. There we would pick juicy, ripe peaches and apricots. Cherries were in abundance in all varieties and colors from white to dark, dark red/black. Apples ripened a little later in the year, were so fragrant and the noises they made when we bit into them would challenge the finest Dolby Digital Sound systems. I seldom go to Utah in the late summer and early fall these days. So I had to create my own homage to the cherry tree. It may lack everything in taste and sight but to me this image represents, in my mind, figuratively, the long lost days of years past when our family would enjoy the fruits of others labors.

Introducing Heidi Crandall Catering

Last weekend we had our first, of many, Ashlland Photography Workshops. Students attended from all over the valley. We had a wonderful time and, hopefully, sent all away with a fresh awareness of their cameras and desires to enjoy the world around them. Photography fills all of our senses, if we create it properly. One sense we were wise to fill was created by Heidi Crandall Catering. She served up some delicious food that satisfied everyone. Thanks Heidi, we look forward to more from Heidi's food as we have more workshops.