Latest Adventure & Schedule

This past weekend we celebrated my grandson Mason's 11th birthday. Although his birthday was February 20th, I didn't book it till, well, this past weekend.
His birthday adventure was to Landcaster to stay at The Red Caboose Motel http://www.redcaboosemotel.com. Mason has been a huge train fan since I think the day he was born! I've always promised him a night at this place. There were 46 sleeping cars, a restaurant, gift shop, a silo with spiral stairs inside to the top, & miniature horses, amongst other attractions on or around the property within walking distance. The train also passes right along the properties edge.
We stayed in car 24. Very cool space to spend the night, although, I would seriously consider booking maybe 2 or more nights as there is so much to see & do there within only a short distance away.
There are a few images here & the rest are in an album on my Holly Horner or Holly Horner Photography facebook page.
As usual, I have serious editing issues, but did as best I could! As most all of you know, we shoot a lot with digital. Okay, maybe that's just me! But I did limit it to just this selection.
During the Wings & Water Festival at The Wetlands Institute, I had recieved 2nd Place in the Coastal Scenic division for my image on canvas of "Ghost Ship" taken on the skeleton coast of Namibia in Africa...I'm grateful for the honor of receiving this award!

This week:

Celebrating 50 Years Ocean City Arts Center's

BOARDWALK ART SHOW

8th-13th Streets
Fri Aug 3, 10am-8pm
Sat. Aug 4, 10am-8pm
Sun. Aug 5, 10am-6pm

http://oceancityartscenter.org

I'm in space #182, between 9th & 10th This is one of the best local art shows around with a variety of awesome artists.

August 18th ~ Beachfest II ~ Long Beach Island, Beach Haven

November 3 & 4th ~ Noyes Museum, Oceanville, New Jersey

My note cards are currently available at the Noyes Museum

Please check back for any schedule updates.

As usual, much Peace Love & Happiness my friends :)

Come out & see me if you get a chance! I love catching up with those of you that I may only see once, if that, a year when we get a chance!

Hope to see you soon in my travels!

Schedule this week

Wings & Water Wildlife Arts Festival ~Wetlands Institute (see below for location details)
Thursday, July 12, 2012 & Friday, July 13, 2012
Time:10am till 4pm ~ both days
Location : Avalon Community Hall
30th Street at the beach, Avalon, NJ  (exit 13, Garden State Parkway)

Beachfest I Arts & Crafts Festival
Saturday, July 14^th, 2012 
Location: Bicentennial Park
Engleside Ave, Beach Haven , LBI, NJ
Time: 9:00AM to 4:00PM

On another note...Ashley is now going to have her own collection of notecards! She had been added last year to my notecard collection & has been selling really well! So, I've decided we would do more of her. A suggestion has been made to have her even do a signing (!) I kinda thought it would be a great idea! I'll have a ink pad, put her paw in it & then stamp her cards!!! (lol!)...We'll see!

This week it's going to cool down a bit & people will be getting out & about! Be sure to stop by & say hello in your travels!

As always, be safe, be happy & stay well!

Peace 





4th of July

Happy 4th of July folks! Although it doesn't seem like the 4th today with all that has been going on around us, I've decided I'm going to make the best of it. I'm digging out all my red, whites & blues around the house, hanging flags everywhere & will make it as festive as if I'm having a party. I will go to shoprite, pick up a few things, make salads, pies & frozen drinks & party like it really is…. the 4th of July!

I'll have 5 grandchildren for a sleepover by 4:30.....I'll make firefly cages out of plastic mayo jars, take them out on the boat to our island to watch fireworks from 8 different locations, let them swim under a full moon & float on tubes. We'll let off wish / sky lanterns & what we have left of some old fireworks.

The mess will STILL be here tomorrow. I'll work on it more then. Today, it's time to celebrate being an AMERICAN! To celebrate our FREEDOM, FREEDOM of CHOICE to come & go as we please & the FREEDOM to make our own DESICIONS. I have been to many countries that we may never see in this lifetime ever come to know any of this.

AMERICA

FREEDOM

FREEDOM OF CHOICE

INDEPENDENCE

Don't ever take for granted any of these things. As rough as it can be now a days, we still have it better than most countries. Visit a 3rd world country sometime & you will come back with an entirely new perspective. Oh, & make sure you take your children for they know no better than for what they only know. They think the world owes them. Let them get the visual of what it's really like out there.

Happy 4th of July my friends!

Celebrate Your / Our Independence!!

PEACE, LOVE & HAPPINESS!!!!

June 30, 2012 Storm and Schedule Updates

Time flies between blogs! It’s not that there isn’t much to write about, I guess it’s more of a lack of time & energy.

Here it is 4^th of July, “Independence Day”, which means more to some of us than others these days. Never thought I’d be writing about this as I too used to be one of those people. 4^th of July was just another holiday, a day of summer barbeques, going to the beach, the boardwalk & a day off from work.

Another spin on this day are thoughts of a popular movie, “Independence Day”.  We’ve been through something this weekend & as bad as it is, it could have always been worse. It has been a rude awakening for a lot of people that we need to be more prepared for these challenges when they do come along.

I was not here to witness the nonstop lightening, rain, winds, sound of trees snapping all around & in some cases falling on houses & cars. The horrific stories don’t end. And still, as bad as it has been, it could always be worse.

This storm called a “Derecho”, hit without warning. They are extremely rare & we may never experience another in our lifetime. It took down the tallest & oldest trees all around us, straight from the root system. It never seems to amaze me how shallow a root base these tall, old trees have.

I was down in Ocean City, Maryland, drinking & dancing at a famous place called “Seacrets”, celebrating a special friend’s birthday for the weekend. We never heard a thing. We left there around 4:30-5am, it was raining, but, very little. It had obviously rained quite a bit while we were in there. My neighbor called at 7:30am to tell me he just wanted to let me know my house was ok. OK?....there was a pause….then he went on to say what had happened & that our neighborhood had been destroyed. There were trees on at least 3 houses in our 17 house neighborhood, 2 cars, & many, many more trees were down all around the rest of the neighborhood. Mind you, I’m still drunk & trying to process all the information my neighbor is giving me. We got up, gathered our belongings that we had just lugged up there late the night before & started back home. We had to wait 3 hours for a ferry, but, what were we in a hurry to get to at this point anyway?

We are hard core survivors here. We spent 2 months in Africa, higher temperatures, in the bush with much, much less & did way, way more. These last few days, we had the luxury of a generator so we at least had the fridge & freezer running & also a fan. We’re also fortunate to have city water, (never thought I’d say that!) sewerage & gas. We looked in on neighbors throughout the day & made sure everyone had all they needed to get by. We have 2 neighbors whom are suffering with Alzheimer’s; one is on hospice & the other not far behind. There is a neighbor whom just gave birth recently to their 5^th child, but they opted out for the conveniences of electricity, rightfully so. There is also a couple recently married & are spending their honeymoon in Europe. No sense coming home from there! We are a tight neighborhood & it is times like this that make us even closer.

The images posted here are all taken within a 5 mile radius of my home on Saturday evening through Monday. (Most are only within 1 mile) I find it difficult to visualize even in my photographs the extent of the damage in our area. I stand in one spot & turn in circles. It’s everywhere I look. I will be only posting 5 images here & then I'll post the album on my facebook page.

Our power was restored late last night. We had the best night sleep we’ve had in days! Thank you so much to all the workers whom made this happen. To all the people who still don’t have power…hang in there. It’ll make you appreciate it all the more when you do get it back. Don’t you remember growing up? We all made it to this point! We never had air conditioning.

To the people who are complaining about not having the services they usually do…” where are all the people to come & help us”…..are you kidding me?? SUCK IT UP! You could live in Colorado & not have a house at all to come back too. People are helping people all around us. Be one of them.

One quick story to give you something to think about…………. I called my grand children’s mother to check on all of them & she told me they were camping down around Ocean County when the storm hit. When the first lightening strike hit, she took the children out of their tent, put them in the truck & took them home, against the wishes of her friends she was camping with. The next morning, they returned to the campground to gather their things & there was a tree, 3 foot in diameter, laid across the tent the children were sleeping in. They would have been killed. Sunday we awoke to news that 2 children sleeping in a tent were killed by a tree falling on their tent.

For all of those who came out of this unharmed, this is what you have to be grateful for. Food, houses, cars, can all be replaced.

I am grateful for my awesome family, friends & neighbors. I have a lot of people out there that make my life that much better because they are part of it! Thank you for your help & offers of convenience to make my life easier during these last few days! We really are all in this together.

Today….back to work.

Schedule:

July 14^th, 2012 Saturday Beachfest I Arts & Crafts Festival
Place: Bicentennial Park * Engleside Ave, Beach Haven * LBI, NJ
Time: 9:00AM to 4:00PM *

August 3, 4, 5, 2012 Friday thru Sunday Ocean City Boardwalk Art Show                                                                                                             Place: Ocean City, New Jersey, Boardwalk                                                                                                                                                            Time: Friday, 9am till 6pm Saturday, 9am till 8pm, Sunday, 9am till 4pm

November 3 & 4, 2012 NOYES MUSEUM of ART CRAFTS MARKETPLACE 2012
Place: The Noyes Museum of Art
733 Lily Lake Rd., Oceanville, NJ 08231
Time: Saturday, November 3: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Sunday, November 4: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

On another note...I won’t be going to Rwanda to trek silver back gorillas this year as planned. The trip has been postponed till the end of next June.

I will be going on some sort of other adventure sometime in the very near future, just not sure where or when yet, but, I’ll keep you posted!

Stay well & be happy my friends! Life is too short & remember this is NOT a rehearsal!...MAKE IT ALL COUNT!!!

Peace!