Country Time Acres Blog

Banana Orange Bars are a tasty treat.

This week I tried a new recipe using bananas. I especially like the orange frosting. Here is what you need: In a large bowl mix 2 cups mashed bananas, 1 – 2/3 cup sugar,  1 cup oil and 4 eggs. In a seprate bowl mix 2 cups all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.  Slowly mix dry and wet ingredients, pour into 15 in. X10 in. X 1 in. pan and bake  at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool and frost: Orange frosting: mix 5 tablespoons butter, softened,  4-1/2  cups confectioners sugar, 5 tablespoons orange juice and 1 /2 teaspoons grated orange peel. Beat until smooth. Spread over bars.  Did you visit?  Leave a comment. Visit Jowana Lamb on Facebook.

Tommie Turvey is always a hit with the audience.

If you missed the Horse World Expo in Maryland then maybe you can catch it in Harrisburg, PA.. The expo is scheduled for Feb. 25-28 at the Farm Show Complex. This is one of my favorite expo’s because they host Theatre Equus, an equestrian production that celebrates the beauty and excitement of the horse. In the past the show has featured  performers such as Tommie Turvey, Lynn Palm, Matt McLaghlin, Erik Martonovich and Alethea Shelton and Geradro and Staci Diaz. There  will be plenty of shopping opportunities, clinicians and good food. Learn more at Horse World Epo. Did you visit?  Leave comment!

Jenna and Sundae enjoy a summer day.

Here are some more inspirational quotes to enjoy: You shall be the greatest of creatures for you will possess grace, beauty, strength and speed. I shall call you horse. “Unknown”. 

Behind every success is effort… behind every effort is passion… behind every passion is someone with the courage to try. “Unknown”

Great minds have purpose; others have wishes. “Washington Irving”

Ask me to show you poetry in motion and I will show you a horse. “Unknown”

The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit and fire. “Sharon Ralls Lemon”

The cheif enemy of curiosity is fear. “Frederic Pignon”

Horses change lives. They provide peace and tranquility to troubled souls, they give us hope. “Toni Robinson”

You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it. “Charles Buxton”

Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but, the ability to start over. “F. Scott Fitzgerald”

Did you visit?  Leave a comment. You can now visit Jowana Lamb on Facebook!

This weekend is the annual Maryland Horse World Expo held at the Maryland State Fair Grounds in Timonium. The 4 day event began on Thursday and will end on Sunday. Terry and I attended the Expo on Thursday as it is less crowded than the weekend. Some featured clinicians included Kenny Harlow, Scott Purdum, Julie Goodnight, Colleen Kelly and John Lyons. I must say they had a good selection of food vendors this year which is always a plus and there were plenty of vendors selling their wares. We enjoyed looking at all the horses ans stopped and chatted with a few people we knew. Before we left we were able to catch Caroline Rider’s demo with her horse Smoky. We met Caroline a few years ago when she was just starting out. It’s great to see her horsemanship program has grown. She has even co-authored a book, Horse as Teacher Path to relationship. I wanted to get a copy but, wasn’t able to catch her at her booth to sign it. I am sure we will visit in the near future. If you are unable to attend this event there is another Horse World Expo in Harrisburg, PA. next month.  Don’t forget to visit the side bar Pages/Events for performances and store showings for 2010. Visit Jowana Lamb on Facebook! Visit Caroline Rider Horsemanship. Thank you for visiting, we are sorry but, the comment box for this post is full.

Makhi is a great help in the kitchen.

A yummy treat is less than 30 minutes.

Don’t have much time but, want to bake a tasty treat for a party or snack?  You can take  a box of cookie mix and some peanut butter cups and in less than 30 minutes have a yummy treat that will leave everyone asking for more. Here’s how! Mix one package of peanut butter cookie mix (17 ounces)  as directed on package. Roll into 1-inch balls and place in miniature muffin pan. Lightly press dough onto bottom and sides of pan. Bake at 350 for 11-13 minutes or until set and remove from oven. Immediately place peanut butter cups in center and gently press down. Cool 10 minutes and carefully remove from pan.  Did you visit? Leave a comment!

Gallop to Freedom, a fantastic book!

If ever there was a fairy tale life, it would be that of Frederic Pignon and Magali Delgado.  Both were born in France, and lived  just a little over 100 miles from each other. Magali was raised on her parents breeding farm. She excelled in dressage. Frederic grew up in the country as well  and was a master of trick riding. The two were working at an equestrn center in Apt when they first met. It wasn’t long after they discovered they shared a passion for horses and  the same approach to their training.  Within months they opened their own stable and soon were doing performances all over France. They were consulant trainers for the Arabian Nights Dinner Theater in  Florida  for three years.  It was their dream to create a show that would  incorporate circus acts, dressage and liberty acts. That creation would later become Cavalia, one of the most spectacular equestrian events in the world.  This book has beautiful photography from their performances  and  at play with their horses. They share their experiences and their philosophy on the training of the horse. There are six principals to follow to build an amazing relationship with your horse and mankind. A fantastic book, I give it 10 stars and then some. If you want to be good with horses this is one book you must read! Did you visit?  Leave a comment! 

 See Jowana Lamb and Her Amazing Paints Sat. Oct. 2, 10 at The Heartland Equestrian Center in Frederica, Delaware for the performance of  Wild West Round-Up. For information call 302-284-9898.

Cavalia A Dream of Freedom

Everything you would ever want to know about Cavalia, from the design of the tent and arena to the selection of the artists; it’s in this book. How did they come up with the name, Cavalia?  It’s in there!   Beautiful photographs help tell this most interesting story of how a dream became a vision and then a reality. My favorite page in the entire book is a poem by Raoul Duguay entitled “In Search of Freedom”. Here are a few exerts:

You have an instinct to conquer all that serves you. Mine is to escape whoever enslaves me. Never really daunted but conditioned only for a time to serve your whim my freedom will forever only be on loan to you.

I use to be a servile and useful animal. You shaped me into a work of art. Today my greatest use is to please you and that is easy for me. Since I feel free and secure I no longer want to flee but come towards you. You are my most noble conquest, my joy.  Learn more at Cavalia.

This is what it is all about, not just the horse, but life. Take what is offered, do not dominate it, respect each other and in the end there will be joy.  Did you visit?  Leave a comment! See the side bar-  Pages/Events for performances and store showing for 2010.

The Cavalia tent with a canvas of Frederic Pignon and Templado.

My adventure began in Altanta, Georgia; my excitement building with each passing mile. We pulled up to the parking garage, showed our ticket to the attendant and were directed to the V.I.P. parking. Just a few steps away was the huge white tent where the show would take place. Inside a smaller, V.I.P. tent there were cafe style tabels, I took one closest to the heaters. I sat sipping on Champaign  and watching big screen T.V.’s playing exerts from Cavalia’s past perfomances. I could easily get use to this V.I.P. treatment! Ten minutes before showtime we are escorted to the main tent to be seated. Everything in the tent is designed for the ultimate Cavalia experience. The comfortable stadium seats sit higher than normal so the visitor’s can see the horse from the top of his ears to the tip of his hoof. There is surround sound so no one is exposed to to much or to little volumn.

The show opens with a performer dancing in a large puddle of water;  a magnificent white horse joins her. When the number is over, the water dissapears. The magic has just begun. Throughout the show there are acrobats, aerialist, trick riders and girls with lassoes. The beautiful horses never end. Cavalia is home to more than sixty of them; twenty are stallions.  I was most impressed with the number “Grande Liberte” with Sylvia Zerbini.  It was amazing to watch as she played with eight horses at liberty. Not once did I see a performer tug a rein or kick a heel into a horse. All of the moves were so soft you didn’t see them. This is the way it should be. The horses are allowed to be horses.

During intermission we were ushered back to our tent where we sampled lush desserts and more Champaign.  The second half of the show as spectacular as the first. To soon it was over. Several of the artist were in the tent signing autographs and there was a tour of the barn. The next show was only an hour away and the horses were feasting on a much deserved flake of hay. Having seen this show and reading several books on Cavalia and the training of their horses I am left with a new perspective on the horse.I am so inspired.  There simply is nothing more emotionaly moving than the horse/ human relationship; to be at liberty is truely an unconditional love.  Learn more at Cavalia. 

Did you visit? Leave a comment!  Visit our side bar Pages/Events for 2010 performances and store showings.

At Cavalia, everthing is a work of art, even the tent.

Spectacular! Magical! So beautiful it moved me to tears. Cavalia, an equestrian experience of a lifetime surely to leave you inspired and with a newfound understanding of the relationship with human and horse.Unlike most equestrian productions, the horses are the stars and their human partners their props. Everything was designed with them in mind; from the tent to the stage to the very soil they run on. Add flowing costumes, breathtaking backdrops and a cast of the world’s most talented artist and you have a huge work of art symbolizing the most graceful, spirited and powerful animal on Earth.

I use to be but a servile and useful animal. You shaped me into a work of art. Today my greatest use is to please you and that is easy for me. Since I feel free and secure I no longer want to flee but come towards you. You are my most noble conquest, my joy. (Taken from the poem, In Search of Freedom by Raoul Duguay.) Learn more at Cavalia.

Cavalia, a dream of freedom. It will touch your heart. Did you visit? Leave a comment.

Don’t try this at home!  Before my daughter, Jenna returned to California, I asked her to spin her fire poi for me one more time. The pictures I had taken a few days ago  in the snow were taken with a flash. This time I took them without a flash to get a great splash of color. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. It was pretty awesome.   For more pictures see Jowana Lamb’s Facebook! Did you visit?  Leave a comment!