The Folks You Can Find on the Internet

Mary Anne and Charles ready to leave for the airport. 

Bill first met Mary Anne on Facebook through a mutual friend.  She seemed like an interesting person with an unique take on life, so why not become a friend?  The mutual friend died, but the friendship with Mary Anne continued. 

In one of life's little twists, they soon discovered that Mary Anne's husband, Charles, and Bill, are cousins, sharing the same ancester, one Isaiah Willmon.   Charles calls him Great Great Great Grandfather, while to Bill he is Great Great Grandfather.  To bring it closer in time, Bill's Grandfather and Charles' Great Mother are siblings.

This is the second time we have stayed in their home with Toby the Wonder Spaniel, while they are off on an adventure.  We will gladly stay here again, but first we are planning to get together at our home in the desert next spring.

I have long believed that friends are your chosen family; with Charles and Mary Anne, we have both!

Bob's Hummingbirds

Our friend Bob, in Redding, has two hummingbird feeders hanging by the front walk of his house.  Every morning his fills the quart bottles of each and by nightfall they are both empty.  At any given moment, there are hummingbirds eating, whooshing by, chattering at each other and at you, if you stand still.  There is nothing quite like the feel of being dive bombed by a hummingbird!

Breakfast time!

All the seats are full and there is a waiting line.

They fill the perches as fast as they are empty.



All of these hummers are Anna's, the most common variety in Redding.

A very small, young bird.

A rare moment of stillness.

Hurry up Bob, it's time for a refill!

Granzella's

If you find yourself driving I-5 through Williams, California, be sure to stop at Granzella's.  They have everything you need for a nice break.  Lots of parking, clean restrooms, good food served either sit down or deli style and, although you may not know this is a necessity, lots and lots of olives to taste, for free!  We stop every time we pass through, which isn't nearly often enough.

What you get to look at while waiting for your food in the bar.

Everywhere you look, wild animals, except for the one hereford bull.  Who put him there?

They have had this polar bear for a long time.  He even survived a major fire several years ago.

Interstate 5 North to Redding

Driving from Sacramento to Redding on I-5 can be a pretty boring trip.  Honestly, the road is straight except for maybe 2 curves, except for driving through College City, population 290, which has an overpass and a curve!

Olive tree

Rest area built in an olive grove.

Corn field in front, coastal range in rear.

The center medians are filled with blooming oleanders.

Barn in the corn field.

But there is beauty to be found, if you just open your eyes.  It also helps you stay awake while driving.

Toby the Wonder Spaniel recommends Charity Miles

Toby and Mary on the patio in the garden.  He has the silkest hair on the very tiptop of his head.

Toby is the Wonder Spaniel, just ask anyone who knows him.  His breed is Springer Spaniel, with an added emphasis on the Spring part.  His favorite thing to do is chase the squirrels who run along the electric lines over the backyard, barking ferociously.  Since the last time we stayed with him, Toby has developed epilepsy, which requires him to be on fairly heavy doses of drugs.  These make him sleep a bit more and to be constantly hungry.  When he wants to eat, he will sit by you and put his left foot up and down, up and down, to get your attention.  He is very determined!

Toby and I walk at least 4 days a week, using my Iphone app for Charity Miles to earn money for the ASPCA, Toby's favorite organization.  You see, Toby thinks all animals should be as loved as he is!  If you walk, run or bike, have a smartphone and a sharing nature, check out Charity Miles. 

The Sacramento Garden in Early June

Close up of a poppy bloom.

The lovely green on green Bells of Ireland.

Spectacular amarylis in the front courtyard.

Hydrangia, a summer bloomer that has a delicate feel.



The ball shaped bloom of an Allium.

The pot in the back has almost disappeared under the nasturtuims.

When we arrived in Sacramento a month ago, the garden still had a "spring"feel about it.  Maybe it was the rain that added to that feeling.  Now, though, the heat has shot up, the sun is shining and everything is growing like crazy.  The lettuces have bolted, so they have gone to the compost bin the city picks up each week.  The early blooming flowers have been deadheaded and, in some cases, completely cut back, to wait for next years call to bloom.

Summer fruit is set and growing like crazy; peaches and grapes to eat, if Toby can keep the squirrels at bay.  I've heard that squirrels like peaches almost as much as I do!

No matter if it is spring or summer, this garden is still beautiful.

Stuck in Lodi Again

Lodi has really changed from the sleepy little farming town we knew many years ago, into a vibrant town with a wonderfully renovated downtown area.  The farmers used to grow wheat, now it's grapes for wine.  We visited several wineries with Anna and her in-laws, Kathy and Mike.  I do believe a fun time was had by all! 

At the second winery, we forgot to take a picture at the first, but we did remember to buy some of their wines.

By the third winery we were in a fun mood!  This is a tasting room for several wineries, set up in one of the renovated building downtown.  And, taste several wines, we did!

The last winery was Jessie's Grove where the owner, who is the great granddaughter of the founder, invited us to sit in the shade and listen to the story of her family's arrival in California. 

Flood! or One of the Things that Might go Wrong in a Housesit!

Water running around the side of the house headed for the front.

Our bedroom is upstairs here in Sacramento.  There is a lovely window seat which overlooks the backyard.  Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is look out the window at the garden.  This morning there was water everywhere.  At first I thought, "Oh, it's raining."  Upon closer inspection I realized there had to be a broken water pipe somewhere, as the water was running from the back yard around the house and into the front.  Rapidly!

Look! We have a water garden!

We both jumped up, grabbed our clothes and went to look.  There was a lovely spring coming from the ground in the back of the garden.  We both ran around looking for the water meter to turn the water off to the house, only to remember that Sacramento doesn't have water meters in the older parts of town.  I opened the side gates and swept the debris clear so the water would not pool and run into the basement.

A bubbling spring where the pipe once was.

 A call to the homeowners' daughter, who gave the number of a plumber.  I called him, even though it was barely 6 am.  He called back about 6:30.  I'm impressed!  With the help of the neighbor, who thought this was the main shut off leaking, the valve was closed.  We have cleaned up what we can, as far as the washed out leaves and mulch.  The hole left by the water is large and will take a bit of dirt to fill once the plumber is finished.

 

A hole left by the leaking pipe.  That's a whole lot of dirt gone!

On the bright side:
All the water we had to deal with was clean.
The neighbor was most understanding about the water pooling in the front of his garage. 
Now the garden won't need watering for a bit, it's been deep watered today!

We have also added to our "Need to know before the homeowner leaves" list: 
Where is the main water shut off valve.
 Name and number of a plumber.

Perks of the Job

The folks here in Sacramento gave us a membership in their gym to use during our stay.  The building was originally a church.  Upstairs classrooms now house bicycles in various forms.  The main sanctuary is the weight room with other torture machines.  We have been faithfully using our yellow membership cards to make our bodies ache. 

We start in the bicycle room, riding some sort of stationary vehicle for 30 minutes; gets our blood flowing.  Then it's off to the sanctuary for weights.  Bill uses much heavier ones than me.  He has been going to the gym in Tucson since it's included in his Medi-care insurance.  Since I am sooo much younger, I do not have Medi-care to pay for a membership, so I walk instead of lift.

The machines are easy to use,  or at least figure out how to use.  I started on light weights, usually 15 pounds per arm, but am all the way up to 25 on most of them.  You may stop laughing now.......My left arm and shoulder, which I fell on last summer, are sore from the use, but I think it is getting better. Wish we could continue this all summer, but I don't think there is a gym in the village where we will be in France.  We will have to alternate our arms when lifting our glasses of wine.

On the days we don't go to the gym, Bill walks 6 to 9 miles around and around William Land Park.  I speed walk 3 to 5 miles in the same area, usually breaking my walk at 3 miles to pick up Toby for the rest of the time.  Toby seems to enjoy walking fast, if he is allowed to stop and smell every once in a while.  This exercise we will continue, just a change of location and dogs.

Race for the Cure in Sacramento

Geri and Donna, two amazing women!

Every year the Susan B Komen Foundation sponsors a 5k run/walk to raise funds for breast cancer research and screenings.  This year we were invited to join a team from Anna's work, Geri's Gang of Support.  There were 14 of us who walked together, while there were 13,500 who participated!  It was a pretty amazing sight.  Most of the participants were in white tee shirts, with bright pink ones worn by those who are survivors of this horrible disease.  We had two survivors in our group; Geri, who organized us and Donna, who is Anna's mom and our dearest friend.

Arriving at our table to meet the Gang.

At the finish line!

Breast cancer research has come so far in the last 10 years.  We can all hope that a cure will be found in the next 10.

Celebrating Donna's survival at lunch.
 

Wine Tasting in El Dorado

In the foothills above Sacramento are two wine growing areas.  We visited Amador last time, so El Dorado was our destination for this trip.  Our tour guide was the lovely Anna, who we have known and loved since she was 3.  She is an excellent guide!

Our first stop, Narrow Gate.

Miraflores Winery

Sierra Vista Winery

The view from Sierra Vista!

Holly's Hill where we shared a bottle of Rose while eating out sandwiches.

Obscurity Cellars

Oakstone Vineyards

We visited 6 wineries, made several purchases and enjoyed many different samples of wines.  The folks at the wineries are friendly, knowledgeable, and generous with their pours.

Back in California

The drive from Tucson to Sacramento seems longer each time we do it.  Getting through LA isn't a problem, but when we hit I-5 headed north watch out!  The road is still just 4 lane, 2 either direction.  The cars have one speed limit, 65, while the trucks are going 55.  So, anytime a truck moves over to pass a slower moving truck, bam, every one is down to 55 or maybe 60.  California needs to  widen I-5 to at least 6 lanes, limiting trucks to the first 2 only.  Now I'm off my soapbox.

The house and garden here in Sacramento so incredibly comfortable.  Between late rains and other things to do, not all the vegies were planted, so we offered to do it after the owners left.  Due to unseasonable warm weather, the giant Catalpa tree was blooming a full month early.  Lots of pollen and flowers falling, then we had a huge thunderstorm with a hard driving rain for several hours.  The next morning, most of the blooms had fallen and all the pollen was washed away! 

These blooms are huge; about 8 inches in length.

Love this planting!

Sweeping up the fallen blooms.

Straw flowers blooming; I always thought they were dried, but they really just grow this way.

Looking over the garden toward the back of the house.

The grape arbor with the vegetable beds behind.

New Camera

Blackberry bushes taken through the window in Sacramento.

Bill laughing at me learning how to take pictures.

Bill and I have different ideas as to picture taking.  He is more artistic.  I like to show what is going on.  When I write in the blog and then try to find a picture, it doesn't always work. Solution?  Buy my own camera.  It is a Nikon Coolpix L24.  It uses the same software on the computer and the same download cable as Bill's fancier Nikon.  It will do all sorts of things, or not.  The most important option is I can turn the flash off easily.  There are lots of places where a flash is not welcomed.

Ready for dinner in the back yard in Sacramento.  Tamales!