A Wonderful Afternoon At The Keen Estate

Murrieta Here We Come (Page One)

Page 1 - Arrival and Meeting Old and New Friends | Page 2 - Dance time | Page 3 - Dancing Collage

We and many of our dancing friends were invited for an afternoon party at the home of the Keens, brother of Kathy Roberts. We had met Jule and Sandy a few months back after a Temecula wine tasting adventure and got to talking about dancing. We had a magnificent time meeting new friends and sharing a fantastic afternoon with the Keen's and Robert's. Please join the fun.


It was NOT difficult to find.... Just follow the signs
The people at the Open House probably wondered why no one showed up.... he he he

Thank you to our wonderful hosts... Jule and Sandy, Kathy and Ed.... Let us share with you what one of your guests shared with us in private during the party.....

"When I was little, I used to go to the library and read every fairy tale I could find. I never though in my life I would be invited to such a nice event with such wonderful people and wonderful hosts dancing on the clouds overlooking the Kingdon of Murrieta! Thank you, thank you , thank you!"

A Keen dance party is Murrieta

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
"Can I come to the party also????"

A Keen Dance
Click for full size collage

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
A gentle reminder that we are in the "high desert"

Did You Know? - Murrieta is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The population of Murrieta was 103,466 at the 2010 census. Murrieta experienced over a 100% population increase between 2000 and 2010 according to the most recent census, making Murrieta one of the fastest growing cities in the state. Largely residential in character, Murrieta is considered a commuter town, with many of its residents commuting to jobs in San Diego County, Orange County, the more commercialized neighboring city of Temecula to the south, and Camp Pendleton.

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
We were having some heat today.... It was in the 90's when we arrived but the breeze made it perfect!

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Sandy and Bob were already there and had a great seat at the outdoor bar

AJCam at work in Murrieta
Around the bar (Courtesy of AJ Saam)

AJCam at work in Murrieta
On top of the world (Courtesy of AJ Saam)

AJCam at work in Murrieta
From the pool (Courtesy of AJ Saam)

AJCam at work in Murrieta
Looking towards San Diego (Courtesy of AJ Saam)

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Greg and Herbie having fun tilting their perfectly reflective heads so as to flash the guests...


Paul is sometimes known as a tree hugger....

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
... and, all the way from Sun City.... Laura and AJ

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Paul stood under the sign for 45 minutes and no one squeezed him....

AJCam at work in Murrieta
Todd & Rosie Boorman are friends and neighbors of our hosts and we were provided with a magnificent selection of wines!

AJCam at work in Murrieta
Very very nice people who shared their stories with us.... Thank You!!

A Keen dance party is Murrieta  A Keen dance party is Murrieta

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Marianne and Craig were first to the dance floor... They gave the high sign... "Come Dance!!_

Outstanding Entertainment

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Dr. Jerry Benton... Professor of Dancable Music lite up the party

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Not just a DJ... A man who knows his dance music, makes excellent mixes, and
throws in surprises like the Twist, Polkas, Line Dances....

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Difficult to dance when the scenery was breathtaking also....

AJCam at work in Murrieta
The closest neighbor is 1 mile away (Courtesy of AJ Samm)

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Paul and Craig giving an assessment of the dancing arrangements....

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
The only one unimpressed by the scenery had four legs

Jule And Sandy Hit The Dance Floor With Irene And Herbie

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Irene and Jule (our host) take to the floor

AJCam at work in Murrieta
Beautiful in charcoal

Did You Know? - For most of its history Murrieta was not heavily populated. Its gently rolling hills dotted with native trees (such as the now-threatened Engelmann Oak) encouraged a Spaniard named Esequial Murrieta to purchase the Rancho Pauba and Rancho Temecula Mexican land grants, comprising 52,000 acres (210 km2) in the area, intending to bring his sheep raising business to California. Instead, he returned to Spain and turned the land over to his younger brother, Juan Murrieta (1844?1936), who brought 100,000 sheep to the valley in 1873. Using the ample meadows to feed his sheep.

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Herbie found Sandy (our hostess) and got here onto the dance floor....

AJCam at work in Murrieta
Pastels also work quote well.....

Ed Seems To Attract The Girls... Keep An Eye On Him

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Carri, Ed, and Nancy discuss the finer points of a new step

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Sam and Brenda found a place right on the dance floor.... Romance is in the air

A Keen dance party is Murrieta

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Let's dance....

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Miss Marsha (doing her Hollywood starlet impersonation) and Lee Brander

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
See... It is hard to concentrate when the views are so spectacular

A quick sketch
A quick sketch

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Sandy and Bob gravitated to the music and dance floor

Did You Know? - (intransitive) (figuratively) To tend or drift towards someone or something, as though being pulled by gravity.

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
The dance floor and the bar area were far enough apart that people could dance and talk

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
The dance instructors at work

A Keen dance party is Murrieta

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Craig and Marianne make a great dance couple

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Long shadows of the afternoon provide for much conversation

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
... but which shadow belongs to who????

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Sandy was working too hard at setting up the buffet for dinner....

Line Dancing Anyone???

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
The Electric Slide???

A Keen dance party is Murrieta

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Nancy leads the way.... "Come on you all, do it this way!!"

AJCam at work in Murrieta
Some people just light up their surroundings.....

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
"Turning... turning...."

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
The old 180 degree maneuver

AJCam at work in Murrieta
Tripping the light fantastic (Courtesy of AJ Samm)

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
The slide is easy... any multi-billionaire can do it

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Beautiful fall decorations

Call To Dinner

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Ed plays the dinner triangle

Did You Know? - Most difficulties in playing the triangle come from the complex rhythms which are sometimes written for it, although it can also be quite difficult to control the level of volume. Very quiet notes can be obtained by using a much lighter beater ? knitting needles are sometimes used for the quietest notes. Composers sometimes call for a wooden beater to be used instead of a metal one, which gives a rather "duller" and quieter tone. When the instrument is played with one beater, the hand that holds the triangle can also be used to damp or slightly modify the tone. For complex rapid rhythms, the instrument may be suspended from a stand and played with two beaters, although this makes it more difficult to control. It is historically associated with calling people to dinner, especially in nineteenth century depictions.

A Keen dance party is Murrieta

Did You Know? - The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve. It was first made around the 16th century.

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
The reason cats are not chefs....

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Craig was not bashful.... First in line

AJCam at work in Murrieta
A view from the dinner table (Courtesy of AJ Saam)

AJCam at work in Murrieta
Turn your head to the left and another vista (Courtesy of AJ Saam)

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
The buffet and the kitchen were mere steps apart.... Great dinner... Veggie Lasagne, spaghetti and several sauces....

AJCam at work in Murrieta
Lining up to refuel (Courtesy of AJ Saam)

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Guy, Irene, and Herbie discovering the goodies

Did You Know? - The buffet table originates from the Br?nnvinsbord - Swedish snaps (shot of alcoholic beverage)[1] table from the middle of 16th century, and had its prime during the early 18th century, and was developed into the buffet we more know today not until the beginning of 19th century. The Smorgasbord buffet did not increase its popularity until the expansion of the railroads throughout Europe.

The smorgasbord table was a meal where guests gathered before dinner for a pre-dinner drink, and was not part of the formal dinner to be followed. The smorgasbord buffet was often held in separate room for men and women before the dinner was served.

Sm?rg?sbord became internationally known as Smorgasbord at the 1939 New York World's exhibition as the Swedes had to invent a new way of showcasing the best of Swedish food.

The term buffet originally referred to the French sideboard where the food was served, but eventually became applied to the form. The buffet became popular in the English-speaking world in the second half of the 19th century after the Swedes had used the smorgasbord in New York. The word is still borrowed into the English language.

It is historically associated with calling people to dinner, especially in nineteenth century depictions.

 

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Everyone is getting refueled for after dinner dancing

A Keen dance party is Murrieta

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Meeting new friends....

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Laura sent AJ back for seconds... Or was it thirds???

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
The Professor entertains throughout dinner... An amazing entertainer

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Jim smells Italian food... He cannot be stopped


A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Sandy tells us her secrets

Meanwhile Back At The Bar

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Meanwhile back at the bar the fort is being held down quite well

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Ah ha.... The people are gone and it is time to compare notes guys.... Whaddaya think?

AJCam at work in Murrieta  AJCam at work in Murrieta  AJCam at work in Murrieta

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Yo.... Waiter

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Do not give Craig any more katchup

Did You Know? - Ketchup (sometimes catsup in American English and Canadian English or tomato sauce in Commonwealth English; see Etymology) is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, and an assortment of vegetable seasonings and spices such as onions, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, garlic, and celery. Ketchup is often used with french fries (chips in the UK), hamburgers, sandwiches and grilled or fried meat. Ketchup is also used as a base for various sauces. It is a typical accompaniment for the meat pies of Australia and New Zealand.

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
This is serious... Sandy has her glasses on....

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Bob and Sandy are just delightdul.....

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
A wine glass for each hand..... This is good

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Back from getting the thirds.... AJ is washing everything down with wine

After Dinner Storytelling Begins

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Greg Leach and Janet Talbott share stories

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
The Wine Makers finally get to sit down....

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Herbie explains to Todd the finer points of foot stomping the grapes...
OR
Would you beliebve Herbie is teaching Todd the "Hokey Pokey"
OR
Herb is explaing how to stretch the leg muscles beforfe serious dancing an begin

 

Did You Know? - Known as the "hokey pokey", it became popular in the USA in the 1950s. Larry LaPrise, Charles Macak and Tafit Baker of the musical group the Ram Trio, recorded the song in the late 1940s.

They have generally been credited with creating this novelty dance as entertainment for the ski crowd at Idaho's Sun Valley resort. However, two club musicians from Scranton, Pennsylvania, Robert Degen and Joseph P. Brier, had previously copyrighted a very similar song, "The Hokey Pokey Dance", in 1944. (One account says that copyright was granted in 1946.)

According to Degan's son in The New York Times, Degan and Brier wrote the song while playing for the summer at a resort near the Delaware Water Gap.[9] Degan resided at Richmond Place Rehabilitation and Health Center in Lexington, Kentucky until he died on November 23, 2009 at the age of 104.

In 1953, Ray Anthony's big band recording of the song turned it into a nationwide sensation. The distinctive vocal was by singer Jo Ann Greer, who simultaneously sang with the Les Brown band and dubbed the singing voices for such film stars as Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak, June Allyson and Esther Williams.

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
The wrath of grapes

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Twilight makes the setting even more romantic

Did You Know? - Twilight is the time between dawn and sunrise or between sunset and dusk, during which sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere illuminates the lower atmosphere, and the surface of the earth is neither completely lit nor completely dark. The sun itself is not directly visible because it is below the horizon.

Owing to the distinctive quality of the ambient light at this time, twilight has long been popular with photographers and painters, who refer to it as the "blue hour", after the French expression l'heure bleue. Twilight is technically defined as the period between sunset and sunrise during which there is natural light provided by the upper atmosphere, which receives direct sunlight and scatters part of it towards the earth's surface.[

A Keen dance party is Murrieta

Remember: A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. ~Douglas Pagels

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Our co-hosts Kathy and Ed take a minute out to enjoy themselves and a glass of the grapes....

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
Look into the cactus very closely and....

A Keen dance party is Murrieta
... Mr. Cactus says "Let's dance!"

Page 1 - Arrival and Meeting Old and New Friends | Page 2 - Dance time | Page 3 - Dancing Collage