Greetings! ...from Kimberly Shaw

Road Trip

Snap shots from my Central California road trip of farms, orchards, magnificent clouds, the Sacramento River, a Snowy Egret, and an old Chevy truck.

A Road Less Traveled

A road less traveled has always been my preference, and this last week I took a drive through Central California to one of my favorite get-aways. Along the way was this orchard covered in pink blossoms. It's my guess these are cherry trees.

San Fancisco Tour with Gary Holloway

Our main reason for visiting San Francisco was to join Gary Holloway on one of his historical walks through the Richmond District, ending at Katia's RussianTea Room.  Before we get started, here's a quick picture of the amazing architectural details of his 1800's Victorian home. Isn't it pretty?

 

A quick detour takes us to the Secret Garden Tea House for a delicious pot of Irish Breakfast tea and an enjoyable chat with the owner. Besides the classic tea sandwiches and crumpets, they also offer smoked salmon, grilled feta & tomato salad, baked brie & mango chutney... YUM!!!

 

Now it's time for our tour.  Gary is a very entertaining guide and his historical knowledge is extensive, making the tour very enjoyable. There were several people returning from a tour Gary lead the day before, and some had been on a number of his tours already.

The Richmond District was built on sand dunes?  You wouldn't know that seeing it today.  An Art Deco home built next to a Victorian cottage is a typical sight. 

 

A Fire house with a past.  A police woman joined the discussion to learn these offices were once the horse stables and the upper windows were the hay lofts.

 

The elementary school Gracie Allen attended and continued to support throughout her life.

 

A See's Candy store breaks the record for being in this same location for 75 years.

And now it's time for tea at Katia's Russian Tea Room!

 

We were greeted warmly.
 

The food was so delicious (eggplant caviar, salad olivier, chicken cutlets) I didn't think to photograph it until desert, Meringue Pavlove. Aren't these teacups amazing?

A few more photos around the city.

 

 

And one last stop at Lovejoy's Tea Room, but I took so many photos my camera's battery died just after I took this shot of their dogie water bowl outside.

We had a great time, and to learn all the history in San Francisco would take months, but if I had to learn it from anyone, I'm blessed I had an awesome and charming tour guide. If ever in San Francisco, I highly recommend one of Gary Holloway's tours. Sorry.

Take me out to the ball game!

My son's high school team in action! & what a game it was! With moms and dads jumping up and down in the stands high-fiving each other, and doing the wave (well, just two of us moms anyway) as we watched our sons round the bases. The momentum picked up when my son (only his second time up to bat this season) hit a slammer out to the fence on the college size field. They scored so many runs, my son was back up to bat the same inning as the alumni players yelled, "Pick a fence, Brad!!! Pick a fence!!"

Painted Pony Art Festival

Saturday I went to the Painted Pony Art Festival in Jamul, to do something I haven't done in a very long time.

I set up a canopy, a rack of teacup cards and a table

of other tea party goodies with 20+ other artist

in support of Art in Schools.

My friend Mark, Owner or Mark's Airbrush Artism, was the feature artist displaying motorcycles he painted and 0ne of four painted foals that were auctioned off.  He also demonstrated and shared his amazing airbrush techniques.

There were even four live painted ponies at the festival.

This one was my favorite.

 

Have a blessed week.  Besides working, I'm planning to make jam from the 15 Pomagranates I seeded today, piece my quilt top together that I cut out last week, and finish painting May's page of my 2010 calandar.  

Calaveras Big Trees State Park

That's me standing in the center of these trees so you can get a scale of their size.

It was really fun getting away for a little rest. I was awed by the massive size of these huge trees at Calaveras Big Tree State Park.  These trees are really big and the 1.5 mile hike late in the day as the sun came through the trees was an inspiring stroll.

The tree on the right is a regular sized large tree with it's big brother dominating it on the left.

I'm standing taking this photo, so this trunk lying down is taller than I am, and its length disappears in the forest.

I visited a charming Tea Shop on the way which I'll share with you next time and the wonderful treats I found there.

Time For A Drive

The clock in my 1947 Ford looks like art to me, I love the classics!  It feels like it's time to go for a little Sunday Drive.

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Out With the Old, In With the Older

Yesterday was a bitter sweet day for me.  I said good by to my beloved  '49 Chevy Truck, with a teary eye, but said hello to my new '47 Ford Sedan. 

The couple who owned this Ford Sedan was selling it to buy a late 40's truck.

I was selling my truck to buy a late 40's Sedan, so we traded. I loved the truck, but the kids want to ride along with us & I'll love spending time with them more.

I love its green wheels, suicide doors, black and white

interior, huge steering wheel, and classic details.

We've already been asked to shofer the bride & groom in a friends wedding. It's funny to think the green wheels I photographed for fun last year I drove around town in today.

I know, most women don't "Show & Tell" their cars, but I love old cars.  They are like moving works of art from designers who are no longer creating them.  It was a blessing my favorite Christian music artist, Evan Wickham, enjoyed Twitting about his picture in the driver seat. 

Thinkng of Getting Some New Wheels

So today I'm thinking out loud, wondering what you think. First of all, I love these green wheels. I actually took this photo last year at Escondido's Cruzin' Grand." They are attached to the most beautiful black 1947 Ford Sedan 4 door, with black and white interior. For you dudes and gear girls, it has an 8 cylinder flat head engine.
 

Last night hubby and I went cruisin' to Escondido in the oldie truck to check out "The Over The Hill Gangs" classic cars displayed there. These green wheels where parked with the club's cars, '47 Ford still attached.  I said to hubby out loud, "Oh, I would look good driving to the market in this" (you see, when you are born as plain as I am, an accesory like a classic car really helps). Anyway, the owner heard me and she laughed, saying the car was for sale. I told her I'd have to sell my truck first before I could buy it but when it sells, she's the first one I'm calling. She asked which truck was mine, took a looked at it and showed it to her hubby. Her hubby loved the truck, took it for a spin around the block (it must have been a really big block because he was gone a while), we drove his Ford and he offered to trade.  Yep, just trade pink slips. He's looking for a truck, we are hoping for a car. Today I have a lot of thinking to do.

UPDATE! I decided to make the trade.  Sally, who's getting my truck is as excited as I am to get her car. I learn from talking to her tonight that we both talked everyone's ear off about our new wheels all weekend. Tomorrow we get to show them off!  After making the trade at the AAA Office, she's driving my old baby to work, and after work I'm picking up a friend for tea or coffee. Pictures coming soon.

Need More Cents

It now cost 44 cents to send a letter, and with the increase comes a new challenge.  By placing the 1 cent stamps closer together horizontally, I was able to leave a narrow space through the center to add a name and address.  I'll send this one to my Pop, which is what I call my dad.  That way Pop will have a matching set with Mom's letter.  They moved out of the city to a very small town, where I'm sure there will be a fun discussion with the Postwoman.

Good Cents

For some reason we ended up with a lot of 1 cent stamps.  60 sheets, actually.  I didn't know this before, but the Post Office doesn't exchange unused stamps for stamps of a different value.  So I asked the Post Master if I could send a letter using all 1 cent stamps, and he said, "I guess so."  In the little rectangular space left over I wrote my mom's address. She said it arrived with each stamp hand stamped.  Now that the postage rates went up again, I needed to get creative when sending my Dad's letter.

Local Beach

My son asked me to take him to the beach so he could use the vintage film camera he found at a local antique store in town. 

I ditched my chores, grabbed my camera and captured this beautiful day the end of January.

While I was focusing on the scenery, I wasn't paying attention to the tide.

But a day at the beach wouldn't be the same if you didn't get your feet wet.

Monkey See, Monkey DO

Edmund has been watching the a lot of news this past week.  Being a creative little monkey, he got an idea and began doodling on a piece of paper.

With help at the office, his doodle multiplied. He watched as the HP Laser printer processed sheets of his new Monkey Money.

Thrilled with the outcome, Edmund wallowed in the bliss of his new wealth.

Eager to spend his newly printed Monkey Money, he finished the process by cutting each $700,000,000,000.00 bill out.

Now, I'm guessing, you want to know what a smart monkey will do with all his newly printed Monkey Money?

He's definitely NOT going to invest in failed companies or bad loans.  Instead, Edmund plans to invest in the SOCK Market: Striped Socks, Polka Dot Socks, Argyle Socks... It's his goal and ambition to establish a new colony of Sock Monkeys. So, Edmund will also be investing in Fluffy Stuffing companies so his monkeys have substance, and Button companies so his fellows can see the truth.