Category Archives: Northern California

A Monday Ramble ~ 18 March 2013

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Just a few rambles for this March Monday ~ 18 March 2013

I decided to finish my Denyse Schmidt quilt I started a month ago. Started out with a pile of charms I received from a Denyse Schmidt Charm Swap and with a few cuts from my own stash I went from this:

dscharms2813

To a 60″x72″ quilt top ready to be sandwiched, quilted and bound.

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But first I must wait to spring my new machine out of layaway prison (should anyone have any money burning a hole in their pocket…she’s sitting at Windy Moon Quilts! ;) ).

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Last week on Facebook I saw this MEYER LEMON LOAF recipe on Mennonite Girls Can Cook.

Oh My Word! It’s very tasty! My husband and I have almost polished off one loaf…I stuck the other on in the freezer.

My loaf isn’t as pretty as theirs…the pan I used was a bit bigger than what they suggested. Use the smaller loaf pan, it’ll look bigger. LOL!

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Over the weekend we went to SWAN LAKE, in Lemmon Valley, to see if we could spy any birds. I walked along the Marsh boardwalk, but it was sorta of disappointing. Besides the sparrows and finches…we saw Mallards, Northern Harriers and Canada Geese. That’s it. I’ve been there before when there were quite a few swans and other water fowl.

Canada Geese

Canada Geese

Such a pretty birdie.

Such a pretty birdie.

Northern Harrier

Northern Harrier

Northern Harrier

Northern Harrier

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Headed up to Frenchman’s Lake too…we like the little day area below the dam.

Creek below Frenchman's Lake.

Creek below Frenchman’s Lake.

Slushy ice behind the dam.

Slushy ice behind the dam.

Older guy fishing. Looked like everyone was pulling out some fish that day.

Older guy fishing. Looked like everyone was pulling out some fish that day.

At the end of Lake Canyon Drive, in Port Costa…The Burlington Hotel

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After a day at San Francisco’s Pier 39 (had to ride the Rocketboat at least once before they closed down for the winter) we headed to Port Costa to stay at a hotel I found online ~ The Burlington Hotel. You’ll find it at the end of Lake Canyon Drive. A beautiful three-story hotel built in 1883…maybe used as a brothel.

The Burlington Hotel on the right…the Warehouse on the left. I’m standing at the railroad tracks and Carquinez Strait is behind me.

You can email or call for reservations…there are 18 rooms to choose from, four of which have private baths. When I called and asked for a room on the 3rd floor with a private bath, Hillary booked us Wilma. The weekend price includes a coffee/tea and pastry at the Cafe.

Wilma’s room…faces the waterway and rail tracks.

Early morning light in Wilma’s room.

Out the window…

The room was clean and tidy and the bed was very comfy (may not be so comfy if you’re 6′+)…but the hotel is definitely a work-in-progress. If you are a light sleeper, don’t take a room in the front (on the weekends) or the waterway side. You have the Warehouse bar across the street and they party pretty hardy until after midnight. On the waterway side you have the railroad tracks which has the California Amtrak commuter during the morning until evening…then the freight trains take over. We live near the tracks in Reno so we had no problems with the trains.

I loved the hotel…and enjoyed the people we met at the Warehouse on Friday night. Had a great time and would love to go back.

The Burlington Hotel Cafe ~ Port Costa, California

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We had a mini-vacation last weekend…headed to San Francisco on Friday and then spent the night in Port Costa at the Burlington Hotel.

The best part was the Cafe on the first floor of the hotel…Saturday morning in a small cozy cafe drinking tea and coffee and munching on sweet cornbread, with honey, right out of the oven. The owners and staff were a delight and a few of the local folks that wandered in and out were entertaining.

We definitely want to go back.

Loyalton Firemen’s Street Festival ~ 25 August 2012

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On the way home from Portola’s Train Days last weekend, I saw a sign that Loyalton was going to have a Street Festival with a Show & Shine the following weekend. :) I Love Sierra Valley and you have to like a festival that raises money for the Volunteer Fire Department. My husband was excited that they were having a horseshoe tourney and luck would have it another guy needed a partner, so he got to play. It was a fun day full of old cars, arts and crafts, music, monster truck rides, horseshoes, and good food.

Have lots of pictures from the day ~

Shelby Cobra Mustang

Care Flight made a grand dust storm entrance!

Plumas-Sierra Cattlewomen Quilt ~ Love it!!!

John…we were under the Horseshoe Tourney tent.

The band…before a wind gust took the canopy…and the band played on. :)

Is this not a cool horseshoe pit or what?!

First and Second place teams.

Monster Truck rides…ok, that was one fun ride for $5.

Kid in middle doesn’t agree with me…but his grampa had a blast.

Lake County, California Quilt Trail

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Before heading over to our Clear Lake’s Featherbed Railroad Caboose stay I goggled for things to do and saw Lake County had a QUILT TRAIL! How cool is that?! I’d like to go back in September during the Pear Festival and get pictures of all of them.

I printed out the map and crossed my fingers that I could find them along the way.

I saw two of them…with my head swiveling and the car going 55 mph. Big sigh. Those were the Grape Basket in Glenhaven and the Tulip in Lucerne.

Here is what I did find ~

In Kelseyville (where most of them are!) I found 4 while walking around a few blocks on Main Street.

Martha’s Vineyard on the Wildhurst Vineyard Tasting Room.

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Around the Corner on the Lake Family Resource Center.

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Berries and Blossoms on the second floor of LuLu’s Ice Cream Cafe next to the Studebakers Grocery.

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My favorite ~ Blazing Sun on The Brick Tavern established in 1872.

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Just north of Kelseyville on both sides of 29 ~

Square in a Square on the Hill Creek Ranch barn, the ranch grows organic Sauvignon Blanc grapes and olives.

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Full Blown Rose on an 100 year old hay barn on an early Kelseyville pioneer ranch.

Featherbed Railroad Bed & Breakfast Resort ~ Nice, CA

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My husband’s work gave him a “forced” day off with no pay last Friday. Since he hasn’t reached his 6 month probation (and no annual leave for a full year) they don’t consider him an employee yet, so they didn’t fly him back to the Grand Opening of their new North Carolina plant like the rest of the Sparks employees.

He didn’t want to stay in town, so I scoured our AAA California book and found a B&B with Cabooses! It’s not too far away, a four hour drive from Reno to Clear Lake. They had one caboose vacant for Friday and Saturday so we talked it over and booked it.

Featherbed Railroad B&B…our hosts were Peggy and Tony Barthel, very nice people. Peggy’s a great cook and Tony is loaded with information on what to do around the area. There are nine cabooses set on beautiful green grounds with the lake just across the way…and their own dock.

Our caboose was the TropiCaboose…but I just called it the Jimmy Buffett Caboose. ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. Bright and breezy, very relaxing. The caboose is the oldest one they have, it was commissioned on the Southern Pacific during the Great Depression. It has a cupola that I loved climbing up to read.

Today I’ll be posting pictures of our caboose and the grounds.

TropiCaboose

Looking out at Clear Lake

AWESOME SWING