Farmer Brown will showcase Fairytale Town's friendly barnyard animals at the fifth annual Farms, Friends and Fairytales program on Saturday, May 19, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This celebration of all-things agriculture features live sheep shearing, wool spinning, a mini-farmer’s market, hands-on art activities and more fun for the whole family. The highlight of the event will be a live old-fashioned sheep shearing. Fairytale Town's twin Babydoll sheep, Reading and Writing, will be sheared, and their wool will then be spun into yarn on a spinning wheel. Children and parents will also learn more about the daily lives of some of Fairytale Town’s rare and miniature animals. Multiple agriculture-

Little Relics Boutique and Galleria in Midtown is home to handmade fine jewelry and original work by Eric Decetis and local artists.   Owner and artist Susan Rabinovitz has been running this new gallery for the past five and a half weeks. With monthly themes, she is able to show the abilities of various artists. The shop held a preview showing of "Love Your Mother Earth" Thursday. With inspirations from spring and Earth Day, the thematic art that was composed of recycled and repurposed items, as well as nature-filled artwork. From jewelry made of old credit cards to nature themed paintings, creativity filled the gallery. With recycle and reuse as the infused theme, one artist used someth

The Del Paso Boulevard Partnership is hosting its 3rd annual Spring Carnival on The Boulevard from Wednesday, April 4, to Sunday, April 8. It will be held in the Rite Aid/O'Reilly Auto Parts Lot at Del Paso Blvd. and El Camino Ave. in North Sacramento from 3pm to 10pm Wednesday-Friday and 10am to 11pm Saturday and Sunday. Carnival attendees can enjoy rides, games, corn dogs, cotton candy, and other fun. Proceeds of the event go to the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership Foundation. Their website (with information on the carnival and other events) is http://dpbpartnership.com.

With spring in the air, it’s time to explore and delight in all the bountiful early season has to offer with tasty vegetables like asparagus, spring onion, carrots and potatoes, too! Arden Hills Resort Club & Spa can help you create healthy, delicious and nutritious recipes during the next "Live With the Chef - Spring Has Sprung" cooking class on Wednesday, March 21, beginning at 6 p.m. Talented Chef Rina will demonstrate special cooking techniques and share secrets to low calorie but high impact recipes that maximize the flavor and nutrition of every meal. This special monthly cooking class is focused on incorporating fresh ingredients designed to maximize the nutrients for a healthy and

In addition to its fascinating Gold Rush past, the Sacramento area is rich with an amazing array of state-of-the-art museums and historic sites that offer visitors the chance to explore California’s fine art, history, science, and wildlife treasures all year long.  And with spring just around the corner, many of the 28 members of Sacramento Association of Museums (SAM) are proud to showcase a variety of fresh, spring-related events and activities in March, including: “Bloomin’ Crazy Plant Fest” at The Sacramento Zoo - March 3 For one-day only from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., visitors to the Sacramento Zoo will have the unique opportunity to visit with local gardening clubs and plant experts who wi

Spring is nearly a month in, and as April turns into May, the forecast promises warmer weather and plenty of outdoor activities, especially this weekend, as Easter is Sunday. There are plenty of ways to celebrate Easter, whether you’re looking for a traditional egg hunt or a nice place to eat Sunday Brunch. What: Southside Park Spring Egg Hunt When: Saturday, 11 a.m. - noon Where: Southside Park, 2107 Sixth St. Cost: Free With help from the Southside Park Neighborhood Association and St. John’s Baptist Church, Vineyard Church, the city of Sacramento will host the Southside Park Spring Egg Hunt, which will have a plethora of activities for the kids, including an egg hunt, face paintin

A female wood duck was spotted leaving Marshall Park with 11 ducklings in tow Tuesday morning. Mom duck led the babies across I street and then 28th street – in the direction of the pond at nearby McKinley Park.    The troupe travelled in a tight bunch down a street gutter until mom duck hopped the curb. Most of the peeping ducklings then summitted the curb and rejoined mom.   Peeping loudly, the last duckling wandered up and down the gutter several times without finding a way to get up. Following a little encouragement from two humans watching nearby, the duckling finally jumped up the curb and wandered off with mother and siblings.

The American Bonsai Association, Sacramento (ABAS) held its 52nd Annual Show and Sale over the weekend at the Shepard Garden and Arts Center in McKinley Park, Sacramento. Bonsai is the Japanese art of growing and shaping miniature trees in containers to imitate the forms and shapes of full-sized trees. The show included displays of over 100 bonsai trees, suiseki (Japanese viewing stones) displays, workshops, and bonsai vendors from around Northern California.                  

What began as a sparce croud mostly made up of photographers trying to capture a moment full of feathers quickly turned into a fluffy croud. Just as every pillow fight has always started, someone yelled "PILLOW FIGHT!!!!!!". It was at this moment a croud between 100-200 people turned on one another and began swinging, blocking and laughing. It was madness. Kids swinging at adults, Adults swinging at kids. The hardcore pillowfighters with two pillows, one to block and one to swing... When the feathers finally settled and everyone was out of breath there was no clear victor, just a croud of happy people on a beautiful spring day.

SMUD offers kite flying safety tips: When flying a kite, the sky’s the limit but remember to fly with caution. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) offers these simple safety tips to help make kite flying a safe experience. Build or buy kites made of wood or plastic. Only use cloth for the tail. Fly kites in wide, open areas, away from power lines. Only use cotton, linen or nylon string. Never use metallic thread, wire or wire reinforced string as they can cause a fire, serious injury or death if they come in contact with energized electrical equipment. Only fly kites in dry weather. When kite string gets wet it becomes a stronger conductor of electricity. If a kite gets

[A note on the text: This is a little essay I submitted to another publication at the beginning of spring.  It was never published, but I stubbornly persist on liking it and wanting others to read it.  As gray skies have robbed of us this year of our little window of SoCal weather, I suppose reflections on the nature of spring are not very much in demand, but since this essay was written in the mood of Stravinsky much more than Vivaldi maybe it is fitting after all.]   The coming of spring always reminds me of the things that make the Sacramento region important. There are many things that do, but somehow they get overlooked in favor of sports teams, parking lots and human beings -- in ot

According to KCRA, there are big changes ahead with cold Pacific storms moving in. Mostly cloudy skies today with mild temps and an increased chance for showers through the afternoon and into the evening. Better chance for rain moves in Monday night and into Tuesday. South winds will be running 10-20mph. The coldest weather moves in Wednesday with more valley rain and the chance for thunderstorms. If you are heading to the Sierra expect gusty winds with heavy snow on Tuesday. Here are some signs that spring is here, shot over the past couple of weeks around Downtown and East Sac. SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

Good taste prevents me from spelling out for you what it is about spring that really excites us, but the pipevine swallowtail butterflies (Battus philenor) in the photos above will give you some idea what I am talking about. After this all too literal hookup, the female will lay her eggs on the undersides of the leaves of the California Dutchman's-pipe vine, which is endemic to California. The California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) is hard not to love, being our state flower and all, but to tell you the truth its floppy, orange pedals annoy me. For one, the pedals are difficult to photograph.  Secondly, they are too obviously beautiful. Like movie stars or fiscal years with never-end

This Second Saturday we set up shop at Bike Kitchen for the evening of Mochii yogurt, cold beers, good people and a super fun band, The Poplollys! We did a little meet and greet, gave away our reusable grocery bags, stickers and fantastic Mochii yogurt from our friend Marc Otero! Its is very interesting to hear people talk about there experience with the site just four months after launch. I met a few community contributers and a couple familiar faces from the local media world. With the weather teasing like its Spring people were out and about this Second Saturday and I hope you stopped by and said hello!  

Besides hayfever, what do weeks of rain followed by blue skies and balmy weather bring to Sacramento? Wildflowers, of course. There are preserves in the area where you can see rare, native wildflowers.  But for people who are taking a walk along the American River Parkway or just poking around in the backyard,  here are four wildflowers you are almost sure to enoucounter.  (The common name of the flowers are linked to hi-res photos) 1.  Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)  This pretty weed is a great wildflower to point out to children.  It's unmistakable seedpod appearently looks like a shepherd's purse, but to our modern eyes it looks like a valentine's heart.  The child will

In my previous article, I introduced the annual Martin Luther King, Jr, Day of Service. This year, people all over the country took part in more than 12,000 service projects that were organized locally by your friends and neighbors. As for my part, I spent the day the way I'd like to spend any holiday: outside in nature. Only this time I did it with a trash bag in hand. I joined a great group of people and cleaned up the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area wetlands. You know, that area next to the causeway that’s flooded with water and teeming with migratory birds during the winter months. I often see the birds from the freeway, but was unaware of how accessible the area is to visitors. All you hav

"A day on, not a day off" There seems to be no shortage of bad news these days. From local and national budget crises to home foreclosures and job loss, our country and communities are falling on hard times. But we here in the central valley do have one reason to smile. While the rest of the country is experiencing record-cold winters, we have sunny skies and warm days. Spring seems to have come early to Sacramento. Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which means no mail, no school, and, for many of us, no work. But did you know MLK Day is also a national day of service? We have holidays that celebrate our country, our families, and the past and present service of our military, but