Passing through the town of Gilmore was a real treat, IF you like GARLIC! (which I do!) As you get into the community the aroma of garlic is almost overwhelming, this is apparently the garlic capital of the country. I'm a believer. They have fields of it everywhere, even in front of their malls.


















We stopped at this great market, Casa de Fruta, I loved how they displayed their wares inside the shop and out. This old truck display, filled with various kinds of grapes, was wonderful. And this big table display of brussel sprouts, sold "on the stalk" was a great idea!

Santa Cruz on a tuesday afternoon. Rod had meetings up this way (about an hours drive south of San Fran) so we drove up monday, stayed over, and made our way back to Bakersfield via Fresno, it was a nice trip. Someone seems to have built a sun shelter on the beach, made me think of the movie "Castaway".

Spotted this lonely surfer out in the bay, he was headed to the harbor, there were no waves coming his way so he was in for a long "paddle".














This little bird was one of three, each on their own boulder, overlooking the water.

Problem solved! I emailed msn directly and they fixed things :) So I don't know if what the email predicted had anything to do with my problems, or if there may be more problems in the future, but for now all is ok.

The other day I was forwarded a message in my email regarding the fact "My Msn" was going to close down. I ignored it, thinking it a prank, or worse, that it might have a virus attached. It stated if I didn't forward the message I'd lose my MSN site. Well today I went to get into MY MSN and its gone! All my "favorite" sites I'd saved there, all msn media news, weather, sports, gossip. You name it. Gone! Just a big blue blank page!Anybody know whats up and what to do? I still had the original "fwd" message so did send on to some of you in hopes it would "magically" restore MY site, but nada! Crazeeeeee!

Alrighty then! Got her moved inside, that was a job, from the garage, thru back door and laundry room, twisting and turning thru the kitchen, & into dining room. Good thing I have a big strong hubby! Those "nicks" by the way are "intentional", we deliberately created those. This is an "antique" remember. Anyways these are the chairs from our oak table back home, the chairs I'll be antiquing are still out in the garage, awaiting their turn. Stay tuned.

All done!

We "antiqued" this lovely old table, first effort at such a task and it was a lot of fun! Took awhile, stripped old paint, sanded, stencilled, more sanding, especially on corners and edges to get that "well worn and used look", a coating of antique glaze,
then two coats of furniture paste wax and then buffed our butts off! I really like the finished product, and am anxious to attack the chairs next. They will all be in different colors, the colors in the stencil, sage green, pale yellow, blue and terra cotta. The chairs I expect will take me longer to do, though smaller, harder to get at some spots. (btw, we haven't pushed the two halves of the table together yet, not to worry, we were waiting for it all to "set up" first.

But stay posted for when the whole set is finished! We will move this into the dining room later today, when Rod gets home from visiting Corey, and use our old oak chairs for the time being. Ah, the joy in a finished project ( the table leastways!).

Fire has jumped the freeway! Wouldn't you know my hubby is right this moment on his way home from meetings in LA, just got to Castaic (half way)on I-5 to learn the freeway north for the next 35 miles has been closed, & reports indicate it will be closed for several hours. Arghhhh. This is an eight-day-old wildfire (called "The Day" fire) that has scorched nearly 20,000 acres so far. They are pre-burning some areas west of I-5 in the hopes of stopping it from spreading east, across the freeway, altho it sounds like in some spots it has succeeded in jumping the barrier. At least 10 water-dropping helicopters were working to control this fire which was steadily growing on two fronts, in the southwest of the burn area near remote Agua Blanca Creek and on the east side, near Interstate 5. East is the direction my hubby is now driving, Hwy 14, to detour this thing, he will make a loop on a hwy he hasn't travelled before so hope he doesnt run into more problems. Between wildfires burning out of control and a just reported bomb threat at an LA school - what IS this world coming to!

"Itsyville"... home of the magical, treehouse village. While visiting Salinas (just 15 minutes east of Monteray) Rod and I came across this wonderful sight, and just had to explore. What woodcarver Steve Blanchard has created is absolutely delightful!

I copied this from his website - "The only known village of 'wood spirits' in the land of 'meant to be', which is the name that our world is known as, to these mysterious charactors.
Throughout history, the timeless, shadowy faces of 'wood spirits', with Their long, flowing beards, have hidden in the grains and barks of trees, and been sought after by wood carvers.
As a wood carver, I found myself attracted to them for those very reasons--at least that's the way it began . . . But there was something more . . . As time went on, it began to appear as if they had sought me out. And perhaps they had. What is their story, I began to wonder. Do they have one? Did I glimpse their world . . . ? " ~ Steve Blanchard

Check out itseyville.com for more wonderful pictures of his creations. The man is truly gifted.

Latest hobby - refinishing old used furniture :) I got this dining set at a yard sale (chairs and all) for $10. My plans (after I finish removing old finish) are to repaint and try my hand at stencilling. The chairs need new upholstery, done that before, and will paint 4 different colors for my "country" theme. I'll post finished product when its done, just don't hold your breath, I have been known to get sidetracked!

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. ~Jack London

Don't blow it - good planets are hard to find. ~Quoted in Time


Ahh, sweet peace at my cabin retreat. One can forget most anything and everything when sitting on the dock, dangling feet submerged amongst gentle fish.

I see our sailboat is still in good shape, thanks Tim! If she doesnt sell (and I'm hoping she won't) maybe one day I'll get Rod to get back into sailing. Those were truly some of the better days of summer!