Month: October 2010

bigsurkate is back

My time off is over, and I will be back to reporting as usual.

First, Avis Latone, yesterday’s post was magnificent – and those Jade photos are so very beautiful!! Thanks for sharing them with all of us. Because you are such a precious friend who is ALWAYS willing to help me out, I have a wee something for you from Kiwiland. What an adventure! I will share a bit after I catch up with things at home, work, and blog.

Second, in the 2 weeks I have been gone, I received 2.75 inches of rain, for a season total of 3.0 inches. Old-time Big Sur locals all agree that when we get this much rain this early, we will be having a dry winter, which is in line with the La Niña that NOAA is predicting.

There was a rave party (or techno, or whatever) up on Prewitt Ridge on the 16th, and I received a voice mail from the USFS about it. They were headed up to check on it, make sure it complied with requirements, and were taking law enforcement with them to assure compliance.

Lastly, it has been a gloriously sunny day on the mountain, particularly welcomed after a very wet drive down the coast (lots of pebbles on the road and one search and rescue yesterday) and a very muddy trip up the mountain.

So, that is my brief report tonight, back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow or the next day. I’ll also be changing my links from fire to weather watch shortly, as the rain these past two weeks, and the two days of rain coming later this week, have certainly ended fire season 2010.

More Jade Fest 2010

Hello everyone. Avis here to post some more pics from this years Jade Festival.

But before I do….

If Kate were posting, she would tell you all about the rain we are having here in Big Sur. It rained most of the day on Friday and my rain gauge down at Highway 1 level recorded “1/4 inch”.  Saturday started off absolutely beautiful. Later in the day it started to rain and it has been raining all day today. It’s been a steady rain that has given me another inch of rain as of 5:00pm.

This post is going to be pictures of Jade in all it’s glory. I wish I had more time at the festival to devote to getting really good pics but I do volunteer work that keeps me very busy. I have to take the camera and make a mad dash around the vendor booths. And here are some of the results of my mad dashing.

Although she's a bit dusty, the Jade Lady has been one of my favorite carvings for many years. Carved by Gary Goudy
Ahhhhhh...Siberian Jade. My favorite!!!
I love when Jade is the right quality and just the right thickness that you can see the light through it. We call Jade you can see through "A Lens"
This hunny is Botryoidal Jade. Otherwise known as "Bubble Jade". Resting on a piece of Redwood burl. And the whole thing is sitting on top of a local jade slab.
This represents the many colors and types of local Big Sur Jade. Including the Red "Vulcan Jade"
This face is so sweet. I've seen this piece at the festival for a few years now...Don't know the history of the piece or the artist.

That’s it! Hope you enjoyed the beautiful Jade!

Kate will be back to posting very, very soon.

Items of Note

Before Avis posts more Jade Festival photos this weekend, if she does, I would like to bring a couple of items that are dear to my heart to your attention. First, the Bal Masque at Nepenthe benefitting the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade is on Halloween, October 31st.

Second, Mike Gilson, of CPOA and the Big Sur Bakery is making a plea for the MCWPP on KUSP in a piece produced by Meade Fischer. “His plea to pass the wildlife plan will air on Mon, Nov. 1 on KUSP 7:33A and 4:33P” writes Meade.

I’ll be back to my usual blogging next week.

Jade Fest 2010

Hello everyone. Avis here stepping in for Kate. As she has stated, she is taking a break from things to catch up on life.

Kate lives on top of the world and I live at very close to sea level. Today in Lucia, we woke up to thick, drippy fog. About an hour ago the fog lifted and we can see the rain clouds. It’s sprinkling on and off with moments of sun peaking out. I love looking out at the ocean on days like this. So many different layers of clouds and colors. From the looks of these clouds, I suspect Kate’s house is in the clouds and having a bit more rain than us down here.

During Kate’s brief  interlude, I’d like to share some photos with you from this years Jade Festival.

I thought I’d start off with a whimsical theme. There’s plenty of time to show off the Jade.

"Gourd Man" Never did see this guys face. He played with the african drummers
"Clown Shoes" You have to admit....it's not everyday you see clown shoes. I couldn't resist.
"Belly Dancer" The belly dancers have been coming to the festival for years. I always look forward to watching them and love how they make the crowd smile.

"Cat's Dance Group" I think the smile on Cat's face, the other dancers faces and the woman in the background...says it all!

 

And one final pic. Without these two guys and their awesome crew, the Jade Fest wouldn’t have the incredible entertainment it does.

"Dan & Sid" The music & entertainment gods. We love you guys and thank you for putting on another FANTASTIC & AMAZING show!

Rain this weekend?

It looks as if there is rain in the forecast for this weekend. This is what NOAA had to say: “FOCUSING ENOUGH MOISTURE AND ENERGY TO BRING A DECENT CHANCE OF EARLY SEASON RAINFALL TO OUR AREA OVER THE WEEKEND.”

I am really trying to take some time away from my computer, the internet, and my cyber life. I am doing other things, and will be back to our regularly scheduled programming shortly. In the meantime, we are still hoping Avis will be posting some Jade photos she took at the festival. Let’s keep bugging her, shall we?

Recovery

Sorry I haven’t been around lately. I have been busy, catching up with life now that the Jade Festival is but a memory. I was hoping Avis would post some of her Jade photos, as she said she might, but, alas, that has not yet happened.

While I love blogging and covering matters for our coast, sometimes life’s attention is elsewhere.

The Alien 6 foot spider

BTW, I need to tell a story that has nothing to do with the Jade Festival, except that it happened to me this morning.

My friend and volunteer in the main booth, Rose, came up to my place to spend the night in paradise Saturday night. In the morning, we went out to the Jeep to go down to the festival. The driver’s side door and the driver’s side back door were covered with a huge, silk-string spider web. We are not talking an ordinary spider web here, we are talking about something that looked like an alien spider about 6 ft. tall landed and tried to capture my Jeep, sucking out the good parts, and leaving the rest to become an empty hulk.

Rose and I are a tad freaked. At first, we hypothesized that kids had snuck in during the night, and sprayed the spider web on my Jeep. Nah, the dogs would have freaked out, and how would they get in? Then, we decided it must be the alien spider from hell. I had to brush some away in order to get in my door. It was quite thick, quite strong, very sticky, and a lot like silk. Amazing stuff, actually.

So we get in and start to drive down to the festival. We both feel really creepy, look at each other, then look in the back of the Jeep. I had left the windows down, and we were both convinced the back was occupied by our 6 ft. spider. We notice similar stuff on some of the plants as we head down, and decided that wherever this massive spider-web was, it was blowing all over Plaskett. 16 years. I have never seen this phenomena. Okay, when I get down to the Jade Festival, hopefully John Smiley, the bugologist who was present Saturday will be there, and I can ask him. He isn’t. Squeeky doesn’t know, and Avis swears it is probably a Wolf Spider. (I looked it up, and Wolf Spiders do not weave webs, but carrying their young in an orb on their abdomens.)

Exhausted though I am, I guess I have to at least try to find out what it is. If I do, I will let you know. Now, back to the rest of the Jade Festival.

Here is a link to a HUGE spider web in TX. The one I saw was big, but not this big. The phenomena is a rarity, and they think it is caused by “stretch” spiders working together. Texas Webs

Jade Festival, Day 3

If this link works, here is a video Meade Fischer took today at the Jade Festival posted to youtube: Jade Festival video
Meade, if you object, I will take it down – and nice to meet you!

7;30 pm and the Jade Festival is closed down for the year. It was THE most incredible Festival ever. All of us who have worked them these last ten years agree that Saturday we saw the biggest crowd we have ever witnessed. It was HUGE – basically shoulder-to-shoulder. And? Despite all the people, it was mellow, no emergencies, no problems – a wonderfully peaceful and utterly enjoyable crowd. We were very blessed to have so many wonderful people visit. The vendors all reported a stellar year. We like to keep our vendors happy, as besides the raffle sales and the donations, the fees they pay are the only income our non-profit makes. Thank you all for such a successful Jade Festival. As usual, the weather was completely cooperative and beautiful.

There were some problems Saturday night, mostly from a few very unconscious individuals – one of whom thought it was a great idea to build a campfire in the middle of the school’s garden. One, no campfires outside designated campgrounds, certainly not the school. Two, in the middle of the garden? What planet was this guy from?

We all hope you will join us next year for our 20th Annual Jade Festival.

Here’s one of some incredible jade, that Dan Danbom caught with the light. Yes, it really is that color!

11 am – “She Folk” lead by our own Cat Madama

Here is a photo by Dan Danbom of Mowtowners and the crowd dancing yesterday. You Cambria folk may recognize Lady Tie Di in the crowd.

10 am – Every morning we kicked off the Jade Festival with a drum circle. It is our tradition. Everyone brings their drums and joins in.

And again, our leader, the gorgeous Tracy Morgan.

From yesterday, I was not able to upload the photos of Chad Carvey, the falconer, and his rescue red-tail with the broken wing.

Jade Festival, Day 2

The Mowtowners sure got me up and on my feet – as well as the rest of the crowd. Woohooo …. wish I could post video so you could hear them. Cheryl, the Hawaiian is the lead of this group.

And here is one of the whole group, I think. I might have missed Frank.

11 am – the Central Coast Arts Institute Drum and Dance troupe

10 am drum circle led by Tracy Morgan

It is almost 8:30 am, I have had my 2 cups of coffee, am dressed and ready to rock ‘n roll, boys and girls. Saturday is always our biggest day, and the weather is picture perfect. I am ready to pack up the Jeep again and head down the hill. Today, I will be taking and posting photos throughout the day, if I can get on the wi-fi. Stop in and say “hi.” Remember, we open at 10 am and go to 6 pm. What better way to spend your Saturday?

Jade Festival, Day One

An hour and 1/2 into the festival, I finally was able to hook up to the wi-fi. Photos when I can, but the weather is absolutely beautiful. Perfect temperatures, mellow crowd, great music … a wonderful way to spend a Friday afternoon.

And now, for the very rare photo of BigSurKate seen with Steve Finch, SCCLT Board President.

Not many photos today, busy with volunteers, t-shirts, coffee mugs, and meal tickets. Hopefully, more tomorrow.

Remember, we open at 10 am tomorrow, and the weather should be even better! This from NOAA: “THIS [the stronger ridge of high pressure] WILL TRANSLATE TO ABOUT 5-10 DEGREES OF WARMING EACH DAY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.”

Woohoo! Bring it on. See you tomorrow, right?