Day on the Lake

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  Seems there are many titles of “Day on the Lake”, each I am sure has it’s own special meaning to whom ever is posting the title.

Our “Day on the Lake” was April 18th and it just happened to be on Clear Lake, the largest natural lake in CA. A dear friend, Charles called Everett and I on Saturday and asked if we would like to join him  and Tim for a “Day on the Lake” for Sunday? He also informed me that he had invited Rich & Judy more dear friends. Without hesitation when he asked I said, “yes and that it sounded just wonderful”! The weather was going to be gorgeous, a a balmy 75 degrees. The water temp is probably 50 degrees, but what the heck, might be a tad chilly late in the day, no worries… We would be riding in Tim & Charles’ boat, cruising down to the Boat House Bar & BB-Q for late lunch. 
We met up at Rich & Judy’s place were Tim & Charles pulled up the dock where we were all standing waiting to go for that “Day on the Lake”. It seemed like it had been decades since we were out on the lake, really it has only been months, but who’s counting??  You just don’t know how much you miss something until you don’t do it and then go to do it again! And here we were going to do it again! Everyone was happy, smiling and ready to go for that “Day on the Lake”. We were all sitting in the boat as Charles took the wheel and gently pulled away from the dock, while Judy and I sat in the back of the boat to be sure we got lots of good sunshine and nice breeze in our hair as we cruised across the water. The boat bouncing gracefully over the low swells with all that fresh air streaming in our faces. Feeling the water sprinkle  as if they were small crystals brushing our faces lightly, leaving behind a cool excitement over the skin. The sun was bright and almost virgin warmth this April 18th. Our “Day on the Lake” was just beginning, it was just getting better with every minute as we cruised from Clearlake Oaks down to Nice, where the Boat House Bar & BB-Q. Just sitting in the boat while we cruised past the small communities nestled in the coves along the shore, our eyes reaching up the mountains to embrace the glory of spring with all her young green colors like neon signs all over the hills. The reflection like a mirror the lake was absorbing all the vibrant neon greens reflecting the mountains as shadows. The lake reflecting the blue sky as if it were all one. The wake behind the boat sparkled crystal like shimmering like diamonds in the wake. aahh yes this was a perfect “Day on the Lake”!
We arrived at the Boat House Bar & BB-Q and we were immediately seated at a nice sunny table on the lawn over looking the lake. We could see that Boat House Bar & BB-Q was under going major upgrades to their dock system, a great improvement! We were only seated a short time when an old familiar face surfaced. That would be “Rooster”. He’s part of the Boat House Bar & BB-Q motif. It seems the first time we were there so was Rooster. Then a few years ago we were blessed to have been at the Boat House Bar & BB-Q for Rooster’s 80th birthday celebration! He was kicking (dancing) back those ladies like nobody’s business! He’s a little older now, not quite the spunk he had at 80 and is soon to be turning 83 years old about this father’s day. The Boat House Bar & BB-Q usually has live music most every Sunday afternoon during the summer. It’s great fun!
After stuffing ourselves with a delicious lunch and a couple of cocktails, we all strolled back to the boat to head back. The sun was still bright and warm! We were all bathing in the rays and feeling the “kiss” on our skin as the day passed. We all had that little glow. While cruising across the water with not another boat in site, we decided to enjoy the day just a little longer. We decided to cruise on over to Richmond Park Bar & Grill , over next to Konocti Harbor (who is now closed) near the Riviera. We pulled up to Richmond Park Bar & Grill and there were just a couple of boats tied at the dock. We tied up and strolled up the ramp to an outside table to have a cocktail. The owner Dan greeted us as we sat down and offered to get our drinks for us.. must have been a slow winter.. hehe.. just kidding.. As we sat on the waters edge listening to the water lap the deck, boat pulling up to fuel up and other tying up to do the same thing we were doing, having a cocktail .
We met a lovely couple Bob & Jane.. They’re getting married next month. They live in the Riviera, just above Richmond Park Bar & Grill. I am not sure what Bob did all his life, but Jane was a card dealer in Nevada for 50 years and is now the official picture taker at Richmond Park Bar & Grill! And Jane is proud member of the Red Hat Ladies of Lake County, CA. All of us had such a wonderful “Day on the Lake”.
Our day ended as we cruised back over to Rich & Judy’s our starting point. We all reflected on the day’s events and toasted to the next time we would all get together and do this again and again!!
We actually have many days like this during the summer, I guess that is why we miss it so much during the winter months.

My husband Everett and I hope you will come to Clear Lake one day and taste just a little bit of heaven that we have here! We love it here! Every night is “Friday night”..

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Vacation Homes on beautiful Clearlake in California

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Live this day as if it were your last.
The past is over and gone.
The future is not guaranteed.
Wayne Dyer

Clear Lake has Recovered from the Drought! March 2010

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http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/
I can’t imagine living any place else other than right here above Clear Lake. We have a different landscape everyday, even every hour and sometimes minute to minute, depending on the season the dramatic skies that come with every winter storm.
We have magnificent breath taking colorful sunsets as you can see by the photos I took recently above in the album. The absolutely best dramatic skies we get are in the winter and spring. The cloud formations with the big puffy billowing clouds with colors ranging from bright white to dark gray against the back drop of the deep rich blue ski behind them. Then the rich warm colors of reds, pinks, purples, blues and even golden yellow when the sunsets in the west over behind Mt. Konocti. Each season/day/hour/minute bring a new mural of mother nature at her best! We have the GREAT pelican migration in late winter into early spring. What magnificent beautiful birds gracefully flying over head, then to ski the surface of the water to come to a peaceful rest floating at of the crisp water of the lake.
Our winters are pretty mild, with sunny days, rainy days, crisp cool days, windy brisk days and on occasion we get a “happy snow” day. “Happy snow” is when you get up in the morning and we have a dusting of snow and by noon it has all melted away, leaving only trace amounts in the most shaded areas of the trees. The rainy months of January, February and March bring us on average about 30 inches of rain a year.
Those of us who live here at Clear Lake are so excited that our lake has recovered from the drought we have endured over the past couple of years. Clear Lake is BACK! Come visit! You will love it here!

http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/

Cheri’s Visit February 2010

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Cheri & Edward and Ali and the puppies were our guests for the weekend.We put them up in the " Swesey Estate Suite".... "our travel trailer".. everyone loves it there!We visited Ceago winery... Cheri and Edward got engaged officially!!
pppssssttt.. they may get married up here?? ssshhhhuussshhh
We celebrated Cheri's birthday...
We had great Chicken Lasagna and Shrimp Salad w/garlic bread for dinner w/delicious homemade apple pie, courtesy of my friend Gwen..Chicken Fajitas and homemade refried beans for lunch.. Served out of the Swesey kitchen..
We went to the Keys' Club for breakfast..
Went touring Upper Lake, CA, Tallman Hotel.. Antiquing..
We had a fun and eventful weekend!
Thanks Guys we had such a fun fun time!!
Thank you for all your generosity!
We love you.. see pics below!!

Cheri, Edward, Ali visit us February 27, 2010
http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/2010/cheri_edward_ali_feb_2010/index.html

My Recipes
http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/recipes/index.html

Money Lent

“Lend money to an enemy, and thou will gain him, to a friend/cousin and thou will lose him.”
Just about 4 years ago I lent money ($4,000.00) to a friend/cousin. I had no idea that it would be an infinite amount of time when I lent it to her. Maybe a year or two, but it has been 4 years!
She was desperate and seeing this desperation out of the goodness of my heart I lent it to her. I lent it to her because I love her and her family. Last year  ( 3 years later) when I approached her about it, she acted as if I had done something wrong?? Apparently she doesn’t love me as much as I loved her at the time when she wanted the money. She has even gone to the point of asking me if I have said anything to anyone about this loan? I am not exactly sure why that matters other than maybe she is trying to make an excuse to she doesn’t have to pay me back?? She even told me last year that money will never come between us.??? I haven’t heard from her since last year in January..  Obviously, it is coming between us..
She has made no attempt to make payments or make the loan good. I can now see why you don’t lend money to friends/cousins. She took advantage of my generosity, my love and my caring about her. I am feeling pretty used.  I would have never of thought she would act like this, guess I am pretty naive. I know there have been opportunities for her to pay me back even if it was a little at a time. But no.. She “borrowed” the money it was NOT a gift!
Analogy: Don’t borrow money from a friend and don’t lend money to a friend! either way you will loose them! Probably not by choice.
After writing this a miracle happened! We were paid back, but not with out hard feelings. It seems like I am the bad guy.. go figure..?? We were paid the full amount, no interest and a comment of, “I heard you were saying bad stuff about us”? I never did say anything bad about anyone. I had kind of hoped there would have been a, “Thank you” and “I am sorry it too me so long to pay it back”… nope..
We got the money and we will probably never hear from them again because we lent the money and she had to pay it back.. I lent the money out of love and kindness and get repaid with bitterness and ridicule..uumm??

Concerns about Clear Lake

For the past couple of years we here in Lake County have in drought. Our poor lake is suffering incredible changes. We have record low water levels, algae blooms that look like islands from satellite photos, this past summer. See article on the algae bloom below>>
http://lakeconews.com/content/view/11958/919/
I know we are all worried about the current lake levels. We are all praying for some great amounts of rain to fill our lake as well as all the other lakes in the area that too are thirsting for torrential down pours. Our rainy months have arrived. So far January (mid) hasn’t proved to be very wet. Our last rainfall was over the New Year which didn’t prove to give us much measurable rain. I do believe we are at about 8 inches for our current year’s total. We need at least 30 inches.. Doesn’t really seem like much, but I guess it doesn’t take much to sustain our lake.
I started writing this view on Clearlake as you can see mid-January. Since then we have had an enormous amount of rain to help fill our lake. Rain started 1/17 and fell through 1/26. The came up over 4 feet in that short time, that is quite a bit of rain accumulation in a short time. I have tried numerous time to find rain totals for Clear Lake and I have had no luck??
In the meantime Clear Lake is doing wonderfully with all the new great amounts of rain that we have received. We aren’t out of the woods yet, we still could use another 5 feet added to the totals that we have now. Someone once told me for each one inch of rain we get the lake will come up 1 foot?? uummm, not quite sure if that works, but sounded good to me at the time.
Below and above you will see a photos I took  of the Clearlake Oaks part of Clear Lake from our deck on Wednesday January 26, 2010. Gorgeous Sunset. We get such dramatic sunsets in the winter. I love all the seasons we have here at Clear Lake! We are truly blessed to live in such a beautiful area of Northern Calfornia.. Come enjoy Clearlake, rent one of our vacation homes here at Clearlake>>
Rent a Vacation Home here at Clear Lake, CA

Passing of Friends

“Your lost friends are not dead, but gone before, advanced a stage or two upon that road which you must travel in the steps they trod.”

I found the above quote on the internet, but there was no author listed and I thought it was appropriate for this time in my life. This past week I have lost two friends, for which saddens me to where my heart hurts! Ever had that happen?? When I think of both Don and Pete that they are gone now my eyes flood with tears. Maybe this is God’s way of reminding us/me that we are ALIVE and to LIVE our lives to the fullest that we possibly can! Reach out to your family and friends and love them and tell them you love them! Because you will miss them so much if they are gone and they will miss you when you are no longer here! We have lost friends and family members and “WISH” we had said or done more to keep in touch or to say    I Love You!

Two really wonderful men are no longer with us in our lives. However they will always be alive in our memories, our thoughts and our hearts. We all know life is short and there are no guarantees that we will still be here in a few minutes! Can you imagine, BOOM gone! Really that is where the last minute went, BOOM gone!

We are all so busy with our everyday lives that sometimes we think “Where did the time go?”, I know I have felt that way many times. I have always found that if I put something on the “calendar”, I do it, otherwise time goes by and the thoughts all seem to be passing and poof! gone!

My heart is most sadden by thought of what their families are going through this very moment. Their pain, sadness, tears and memories that they will share, this is their time to start to heal. Although the healing process is infinite or it seems so. Death of a Father, Mother, Sibling and Friend  is the most painful sickness we can suffer.

My thoughts and prayers are with these families.    God Bless… With all my Love.. Linda Swesey

Live this day as if it were your last.
The past is over and gone.
The future is not guaranteed.
Wayne Dyer

My Perspective of Christmas

For many years I have heard how people are so disappointed that Christmas has become so commercialized, they get upset because the Christmas decorations come out before Halloween!.. It is only commercialized I guess if that is the way you see Christmas. If you see it as having to run out and go shopping and spending and more spending.. To me that is a personal choice. Really Christmas is about giving and sharing.. Giving meaning giving of ones self and sharing your life with your family/friends and sometimes people that you don’t know so well, reaching out to someone that isn’t so fortunate as you are.  Inviting them to share Christmas dinner with you because they have no one or no where to spend Christmas. This is what Christmas is to me.. I am about giving and sharing, not about buying the most expensive or the most prestige's gift for someone I love and care about. I am not giving to get points or for recognition. I give because I love doing it. I love to cook foods/cookies/do crafty things/etc, freeze them and give them to friends and family at Christmas.. Dinner and dessert on me/us.. I know not everyone can cook or do crafts, its about sharing yourself, your family, your friends, joining together to feel the joy/warmth and camaraderie, feeling that everyone belongs.
This year at our house we had 18 people for Christmas dinner, and were they ever delicious!! <<laughing.. gtotcha! Honestly we did have 18 enjoying a festive dinner at our home. We had ages from  newborn to 90 years old! Quite a span, don’t you think?? We had our kids, we had our friends,and we had new friends join us in our celebration to share life and joy of Christmas bringing all these souls together all at one big gathering. All enjoying each others company, eating, drinking and more eating. If anyone went away hungry it was their own fault!! Friends and Family making new friends, giving to each other, money can’t buy these things.. We open our home every year, not just Christmas, but all throughout the year, we love sharing our life and our home with our family and friends. It is like Christmas throughout the year at our house.. At Christmas we have more decoration and lights..

We wish you a Merry Christmas everyday of the year!!!
“Live this day as if it were your last.
The past is over and gone.
The future is not guaranteed. “
Wayne Dyer

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Tony’s Place at New Years

Happy New Year!

We spent our New Years in Somerset, CA with friends at beautiful cabin. We got there early in the week and did some shopping at near by Placerville "Hangtown". We visited the Moose Lodge in Camino, CA (known as the "Placerville Moose Lodge" uummm??), not sure how that happened.. Lots and lots of history in this area of CA .. visit their website >> http://www.cityofplacerville.com/
We also took a drive one day on Omo Ranch Road toward Jackson, CA. We visited Jackson Rancheria, but had no luck gambling there. DANG! New Years eve we spent at the cabin having left overs and hor' duerves for dinner. Tony fired off some shots at midnight to bring in the new year with a bang!! Scared the hell out of all the dogs, we had 7 dogs and 6 people. On New Years Day we drove up to South Shore Tahoe and did some shopping at this great little shop Sidestreet boutique >> http://sidestreetboutique.com/ . Judy bought a beautiful vest at the boutique. After a couple hours of shopping we were hungry! We all decided to go to the Lakeside Inn Casino and have lunch in their dinning room Timber House Restaurant. http://www.lakesideinn.com/index.html They have good food, small casino atmosphere and I love going there.

We ate most dinners and breakfasts at the cabin. Judy and I both love to cook!! Our first night we had home made lasagna and barb-qed tri tip..uumm good (see other recipes>> http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/recipes/index.html , other nights to follow were spiral ham, cauliflower, mashed potatoes and salad. We ate some dinners out.. Breakfast were in cabin.. great time had by all..

Be sure to visit our website if you would like to vacation at Clearlake, CA.

http://www.clearlakevacationsonline.com/

I am still learning this "blogger" postings.. I don't know how to delete a photo after "save now"??

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About Me

I am a positive/creative and dignified woman. I started out my life in a social ambitious "jobs". I worked in restaurants as a wait person/bartender, then to a self started housekeeping business, for several years, then a floral design business for many years and even have done some makeup cosmetology for Clinique at Macy's. I have owned a few different vacation homes where I was the interior decorator.

My education is the equivalent to a "AA" in Web Design. I have designed pages mainly for my own businesses. However I have also done a Hollywood Producer's Film company web pages. In different stages of my life it seemed that I was someway around the “film” industry. I did a commercial for Bayer aspirin back with I was in my teens, then did a commercial for a local business in my 40’s, also was in the movie American Graffiti with my girlfriends back when we were in high school. While designing the web pages for the movie producers, I also got more involved in the film industry. I attended a great many seminars/Film classes/acting classes/attended film awards at the Beverly Hills Hilton, Santa Clarita Film Awards and the Long Beach Film awards, Everett (my husband) was Gloria Stuart’s (old woman in the Titanic) escort for her lifetime achievement award), aboard the Queen Mary. I received my Film Producer Diploma as well as my Independent Film Maker Certificate (Dov Simens). I was also fortunate to meet some very “popular/famous” people. I was able to attend several “Producer’s Guild” meetings, meeting some very acclaimed producers.

I have done volunteer teaching of beginning computer/beginning email for Seniors. It seems that I have quite a knack for the computer, being creative with design of flyers for local non profits. Again my life has taken me to be "creative".

In my early 50’s I really started enjoying cooking and have gotten quite good at it. People love to come and eat what I cook. I volunteer my cooking skills locally at our Moose Lodge and our Keys Club on occasion, for which I most always get a great turn out!

I am pretty knowledgeable around the house (handywoman), I can do some electrical, some plumbing and I am pretty good with a screw driver and hammer. My other talents/duties also include, gardener, painter and just plain whatever needs to be done around the house.
In 1999 my life took a big change, I left my husband of 25 years and began a new life. In January 2000, I met the man I will love forever and always. My love is Everett. “Ev” is such an inspiration to me. He inspires/promotes and encourages me to grow! We both have enriched each others lives! I am adventurous/impromptu/creative and fun! Ev and I have what works.. I always say “he is the calm and I am the storm”, so we compliment one another. Ev is outgoing, thoughtful, sensitive, positive and loving. What more could a girl ask for? He’s the BEST! We both like to fish, camp, ride our ATV’s, and go to Hawaii. Our favorite island is Kauai, second is Maui, where we were married on the beach. Love our life!

In my early 20’s I had two daughters. My oldest daughter and I are best friends. She is the BEST! We have one grandson we see often.. We enjoy them all so much! A real blessing..
Ev and I have built a wonderful circle of friends here in Clearlake Oaks, as well as other areas of our travel. Great Friends!