Wednesday July 9, 2014 Birds

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Wednesday July 9, 2014

There were a couple of shots of clouds at dusk on my camera from June 30th.  The lighting fascinated me because these clouds are to the east, not the west,  and the clouds to the rear are lit up like a sunset!  Very unusual!

I had to make a trip in to Hearts Of Gold this morning to donate the camera I just bought.  HoG needed a camera for their various projects at some of the partner organizations.

I also got some good feedback from the successful BBQ & Barn Dance last Saturday, nothing negative.  The venue is being very cooperative in the areas where they shorted us on a few items.  Caballo Campana has been a pleasure to deal with so I am sure more HoG events will be held there.  We don't quite have the final numbers yet but, with some last second sponsorships, it appears that we will exceed our goal by about $1,000.  Thank you again to all the supporters who have helped the cause.

I slipped next door for a coffee and a quick bite at the Popacuchu (spelling?).  A person cannot possibly enter that place without sampling at least one of the sweets on display, they are all so tempting.  I had something made with mora berries and white chocolate... Mmmmmmmmm Good!

I came home and Tom Thumb was visiting more than usual and he didn't seem to care that the window was open and I was standing there with the camera.   The light was dying though so the photos are of poor quality, sorry.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

Hope you enjoy the photos.  That was the day's excitement,   Cheers, Al 

June 30th dusk shot to the EAST....

Why are the clouds at the back lit up like a sunset?

Some of the goodies at Popacuchu Cafe

Irresistible sweets to delight the palate!  They do not disappoint!

This is a cute little place for a tete-a-tete

This songbird had the highest perch

Tom Thumb was at my window continuously.

He didn't care that I was watching.  He had a feather out of place.

An unusual motion shot of him winging away.

I don't know why he was checking out the birdseed feeder...

My little buddy gave me a pose.

Saturday July 5, 2014 HoG BBQ & Barn Dance

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Saturday July 5, 2014

Today was the long-awaited day, the culmination of many hours of work and frustration for many Hearts Of Gold Foundation volunteers.  I caught a cab very early to the venue, Caballo Campana, and got busy taping up signs and setting up electrical, etc.  It was necessary to coordinate with the venue staff to get many things re-arranged as we had requested.

Soon, most of the executive and volunteers showed up, but it was still a mish-mash as the volunteers scheduled to handle the initial onslaught of arriving patrons were not in place so other volunteers, including myself, had to fill in the gaps.  Essential venue staff like the bar staff, the coat check, and the horseback supervisors were all late, again requiring some extra duty from our amazing core volunteers.  Without these dedicated folks holding the fort initially, it could have been a disaster.  Again, a huge THANK YOU to all those who helped out.

Many, many things did not happen as desired, or on time as requested, but the patrons were not aware of this so the show went on regardless, seemingly without a hitch.

The music was good although we expected more people to get and dance much sooner.  It was hard to keep my feet still, especially when two-stepping music was playing.  

We had activities for the children, including crafts, a magic show, and the afore-mentioned horseback riding.  We had a good selection of varied music plus the very popular Brian Gary for live music.  The fireworks show was short, but jam-packed and the most spectacular show we had seen in a long time.  Everyone was impressed.

The food was poorly set up, not lined up as we had requested, but the quality was great and people seemed very happy with it.  All leftovers were being donated to a local orphanage that HoG supports.

My greatest fear was the transportation busing to and from the venue, but our superb volunteers had that nailed down pretty close for almost 250 people and I never heard any complaints.

Overall it was a great turnout and it appears that everyone enjoyed it.  Thank the Lord!

Chances are that this was my last function as Event Coordinator and it appears that this one will exceed our expectations for fundraising as well, keeping my record intact.  The credit goes to the superior volunteers that we have at Hearts Of Gold who help bring these things to fruition.  Somehow we make it work and the great patrons that support HoG keep coming through with their support.   Hugs to everyone.

The hardcore volunteer group met later at La Terrace at the Villa Nova, had a few pops and blew off some steam.   Finally I had a chance to sit down!
My apologies for the poorer quality of these photos.   For convenience I had decided to use a smaller, less sophisticated camera so that I could move around more freely, which I certainly did, but now I deeply regret that decision.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

Hope you enjoy the photos.  That was the day's excitement,   Cheers, Al 

Setting up, looking toward the front of the hall

Looking to the rear of the hall

Dressed western for the event

Even the back of the vest is cool

The kids' crafts were underway

The hall is filling up, almost 400 people came

The kids made fancy crowns or guitars

Tents outside for GringoTree and the Red Cross

Some of the patrons, gringos and Ecuadorians

Horseback riding in a large paddock

Kids were lining up for their turn

The line-up was steady to get food

Brian Gary is a very popular musician

The horseback riding continued until almost dark

What an awesome setting for this event

A very large crowd on hand

Rich Westcott entertained the kids with a magic show

I expected adults to crowd around too...

Finally folks got up and danced

Even some line-dancers showed us their moves

This lucky 50-50 winner picked up about $640

The fireworks started about 7:45

Boy!  Did we light up the sky!

Our Executive Director salutes you

Everybody made a big circle and danced some more

The die-hards danced until the end

We cooled down at La Terrace afterwards

Some were still in a dancing mood

A good time was had by all

Friday July 4, 2014 Caballo Campana

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Welcome…..  Please note that you may SUBSCRIBE below to this Blog.

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All my work is COPYRIGHT protected and may not be used in any way without purchase, or without my permission.

Friday July 4, 2014

Today was set-up day at Caballo Campana resort for the big Hearts Of Gold Barbeque tomorrow.  Three of us went over to check the room logistics and to bring over signage, tickets, etc that we will need manana.   The venue is fantastic, the weather is supposed to be superlative, and we have sold almost 400 tickets so it should be an exciting day.

Every event has its usual last minute hitches and last minute ticket buyers but the staff at Hearts Of Gold have been tremendous and now we need to count on Caballo Campana to come through with the transportation and the food.   The fine folks at Caballo Campana have been so very accommodating so far so we expect the BBQ Barn Dance to be the hit of the summer.   Thank you to all of you who are joining us tomorrow.

Once we all got back to the HoG office I decided to walk over to Mark & Karen's as they were having a small get-together to introduce some guests they have, gals they used to work with, one from Russia and one from Campbell River.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

Hope you enjoy the photos.  That was the day's excitement,   Cheers, Al  

Setting up for the big event

Almost 400 tickets sold - WooHoo

We have loads of room to kick up our heels

This is the view back towards Cuenca

This is the view towards Banos

I expect the parking lot to be busy tomorrow

The kids playground should get a workout too

Center left is where there will be horseback riding

The venue is great.  Fireworks will cap the night off

A little gathering at Mark & Karen's

Many familiar faces were in attendance