Beautiful Clearlake in California

Beautiful Clearlake in California
Pacific Ocean/Mendocino Feb 2016
Update: March 6th, 2016.
After a very very long year of learning to live a new life with my most recent handicap. I am getting movement in my arm!! :) It started the end of August and has been progressing, slowly. My issues with paranioia and depression are also getting better. I am confident that things will continue to progress. However, loosing a whole YEAR of my life is devastating to say the least. However, keeping a positive attitude for the most part has been a huge challenge, but I do it. I am grateful to all my family and friends that have been so encouraging and helpful. Thank you..




Sunday, April 28, 2013

WOTM Officers Installation

It’s going to be an awesome year at the Moose this year!!
I am the new Senior Regent!! I have a wonderful slate of officers on my board!! I am following Pam Rowland who was one of the best Senior Regents our lodge has had in quite sometime! Now I get to try and follow in her footsteps!!
We had our officers installation today at the Moose. We had a pretty great turn out for the woman.. Yummy pot luck to follow.. soo much food!

Be sure to checkout the Moose for upcoming events and dinners and other activities!! http://www.mooselodge2284.org/

Friday, April 26, 2013

Yosemite Fun April 2013


Our first real trip with the new trailer!! We planned this trip to Yosemite a couple of months ago. We thought it would be great to invite Lee, our friend from Walnut Creek. Everett and Lee also worked together years ago and have kept in touch over the years… Ev, Lee and I went to Yosemite about 11 years ago and I know we all enjoyed it so very much, same time of the year.. I do believe that was one our first trips in our “new” trailer, a Salem 23’. So this is now a tradition.. Smile
We left here on Sunday afternoon (late start) and arrived at Rossmoor where Lee lives. We stayed over night with Lee that night and planned on leaving first thing in the morning..
Lee treated us to a nice dinner at the lodge there at Rossmoor.. very nice.. Smile

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First thing Monday morning we loaded up and off we went. Not without stopping first to have breakfast, then be on our way..
Ev was driving and I was in charge of routing our trip.. The GPS instructed us to go Hwy 120 east of Escalon, close to Stockton.. As we were driving I saw a sign that “Tioga Pass” was closed.. Well hell, I had no idea where the heck Tioga pass was, as I never drove that Hwy before.. So I called the Groveland Campground “
Yosemite Pines RV Park”.. The girl that answered the phone told us that the pass was closed.. however she didn’t ask where we were coming from.. Sad smile So we turned back and took the long way to Groveland, via Merced.. At this point we were only about an hour and half from Groveland. By turning back and going around by way of Merced/Hwy 140 it was about 4 more hours!! and whole lot of HILLS or should I say MOUNTAINS that we climbed with trailer in tow.. Dang! As it turned out the pass we were going to cross originally was Old Priest Grade.. NOT TIOGA PASS! Oh well another lesson learned! I guess we should have stopped at a “gas station”?? and asked.. oh well..
We finally arrived at the campground and it was lovely!! We pretty much had the place to ourselves..With such gorgeous weather I would have thought the place would have been packed!
There were 4 young men  from Germany camped close to us.. They were so funny.. They all spoke English some, some better than others.. They were Thomas, Thomas, Rene and Marcus. We didn’t know it then but we would see these four guys each day we were there! As they only camped one night at the
Yosemite Pines RV Park”.. and then moved closer to the Yosemite Park. We were about an hour’s drive to the Yosemite Valley.
Our first evening I cooked up a meatloaf and put it on the barb-q to cook… ummm gave that meatloaf a great flavor.. Later in the evening one of the German boys came by to visit Thomas. He had never tried Brandy before, so I treated him.. Smile Not sure he really liked it. But he sucked it up, then poured him a vodka/orange with little ice (he requested little ice).. Thomas spoke pretty good English.. He was the one we could communicate the best with. His friends referred to him as “Iron Man”, for good reason. Thomas did some of the Iron Man marathons in Europe. And it would seem is he is always training..

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We were up and at’em the next morning get to Yosemite! After a wonderful breakfast, I packed us a nice picnic lunch and we were off! Didn’t’ realize at the time that the drive was quite long.. While driving on Hwy 120, cal trans was painting the white line on the road.. uummm.. gonna love this one.. Ev always love staying close to the white line.. aaaww yes now our truck is burgundy with WHITE LINE PAINT on it!! Not sure how we will get that off.. but we will work on it..
We had a beautiful day at Yosemite.. Seeing all the rock giants stretching thousands of feet abobe the valley floor. Spectacular water falls!! Bulging streams of white water!! All the trees coming into bloom. Lots of color coming alive!!
On our way back to the camp.. As we were driving, who do we see walking along the road?? Oh yes remember those German young men.. Oh yes.. Smile They had hiked about 15 miles through the Redwoods and were wore out, so they were “hitching” for a ride.. we saw them and pulled over.. Picked them up! One was missing, “Iron Man” he was running.. But we found him too and picked him up.. Took them back to their camp and continued home. I cooked up some delicious Rib Eyes Steaks.. Took the mashed potatoes from the night before and added some stuff to them and made them “twice baked potato” casserole.. uumm..
Wednesday was pretty much a copy of Tuesday.. Only this time we saw the German boys at the Yosemite Falls!!

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After another fun filled day at Yosemite we headed back to camp.. Great fun!!
For dinner tonight I cooked up some ribs/bacon wrapped asparagus and those potatoes we have been eating all week!!

Below are the scenery photos.. Some great shots!!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Schedule April & May

April 17, 2013
Hair appointment 9am
Pick up corn hole game at Lindsy’s work
Pick up Eifel tower/table dec’s at Toni & Phil’s in Petaluma
Pick up trailer in Santa Rosa
Go to Costco for supplies for Yosemite trip on Sunday

April 18th
Go to bank sign signature card
Moose Installation Practice 3pm
Fix sprinkler leaks-home

April 19th
Go by Jim & Shirley’s drop of Moose membership, Possible lunch?
Home to pack for Yosemite trip on Sunday to Thursday 4/21-4/25

April 20th
Fashion Show at the Moose, Noon, meet Bea Garcia
50’s-60’s Dance at the Keys club 6pm

April 21st
Leave for camping with the trailer to Walnut Creek to pick up Lee..

April 22nd
Drive to Groveland/Yosemite

April 25th
Drive home from Yosemite

April 26th
Pick up flower at Safeway
Design 20 corsages
Put together bouquets for Saturday Installation
Make pot luck dish for Saturday

April 27th
Installation starts at 2pm

April 28th
Clean Paradise House

April 29-May 4th
Get ready for Cinco de Derby Party

May 4th
Cinco de Derby Party.. gonna be a blast!!!

May 5-May 10
Get ready for Fishing trip up North

May 11th
Lee’s Birthday Party
Cook for the party

May 12th
Finish packing for Fishing Trip!!

May 13-may 26
Fishing Trip.. awww

May 24th
Gail & Don arriving.. Smile

May 26th
Home from Fishing Trip


Garden’s in.. 4/16/2013

 

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Chilly out.. stormy sky’s

 

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Philosophical Society April 14, 2013

What a wonderful turnout we had today at the Philosophical Society’s monthly brunch at the Riviera in Kelseyville, CA!!
We were so busy taking the pictures forgot to take one of us.. so we took one of us at home on the deck.. Smile

Party at Keith & Mary’s, Keith’s 60th

Keith turned 60 in April 2013!! And the party is on!!
Great time had by all!!

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Elected Senior Regent Chapter 1691

I am now the new Senior Regent of our local Moose Lodge here at Clearlake Oaks.
It has been an extremely stressful week. Being Senior Regent is hard work!! I know this is the second time I have done it. I was Senior Regent  in 2006-07 and now 6 years later I am at again.. It’s not a cake walk believe me.. I have had to ask a number of women if they could serve as a “chair person” during my term, it is a commitment that not all want to participate and then some gladly take on the responsibility. Basically that is taking one month of my ensuing year and cook a dinner and a bit more. Finally got my “slate” officers/chair people.. full.. Being an officer is a big commitment. A lot of hard work and many many hours of volunteering. Plus I always need to find people to help work and not always does that work out. But all in all it is fun time with lots and lots of activities! Kind of like having lots of “Parties”.. And I think I am pretty good at throwing a party.. Smile 
Thankfully Everett is my best support! I don’t think I could do this without him.. Just love that guy!!

There is a lot of phone calling, making copies of book material for the installation. Preparation for the actual ritual of the installation, like practices.. Also since I am also the “flyer” person I was working on different flyers for upcoming events so we could get them into our newsletter that the deadline is this week for May/June calendar.. I am also the web page designer and I keep it up to date the best that I can.. Smile Lots and Lots..
To get some relief from this stress this week Ev and I took the kayaks out out on the lake for a few hours on Wednesday.. We got to relax, get some sun and kick back a bit.. Very nice.. In the meantime we purchase a bunch of Strawberry's. So over the course of a couple mornings I made up some jam.. 33 jars..

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Today (Saturday) we have a surprise birthday party to go to.. as well as our Cowboy/Cowgirl dance at the Moose this evening.. Fun day in store.. Not before going down into the garden and getting rotor tilled and ready to plant.. Smile

On Sunday is our monthly meeting with the Philosophical Society, this month at the Riviera, about 35 will attend.. Smile

Next weekend gets crazy as well.. Fashion Show at the Moose.. Then dance at the Keys’ club Saturday night..
Sunday morning leave for Yosemite come home on the 25th..
Installation of Officers on the 27th at the Moose.. and the roller coaster has hit the tracks!! wooo hooo here we go!!!

Check out our Moose Lodge and come to an event.. The events are listed under??? “EVENTS” tab Smile

http://www.mooselodge2284.org/

Me at work in the garden this week>>

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Saturday, April 6, 2013

Girls Gone Wild!! 2 days in San Francisco!

Sandy drove up here to pick me up on Wednesday morning about 9:20. She had already picked up Tina and now we were heading over to pick up Greta. We were lucky all of our stuff fit in back of Sandy’s small SUV. And soon we were on our way to San Francisco!!
I was asked to take a dear friends (Bea) place. Unfortunately she got sick, but was fortunate for me!! Smile
When I found out I was taking Bea’s place on Tuesday about 2pm, I needed to rush over to Clearlake Walmart to get a cute little outfit we were all to wear to the Jersey Boys’ show.. I made it and they had it and all was good!!!
The reservations for our stay were at the Donatello at Union Square. Bea’s daughter had some timeshare points to get these wonderful rooms!!We had show reservations to see the Jersey Boys at the Curran at 2pm on Wednesday.
We surely turned heads with our cute blue & white striped shirts and matching blue pants. People would say “why are you all dressed a like”? We said so we could find one another, then we would say “We were the “Jersey Girls”.. People loved that we were dressed a like! Some would stare and then we would say “Your seeing quadruple huh”? “Guess you had too many drinks”!! Oh and they would laugh! It was fun interacting with all the people. We brought smiles to their faces! We kept the outfits on all day that day..After the show we went to Lori’s for a bit to eat.

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Then we walked around Union Square, did some shopping, etc.. we really wanted to find a place that had “Happy Hour”.. drinks are incredibly expensive in SF.. Happy hour on the other hand is a much better deal..
Finally we got back to the hotel where we went Zingari’s Bar/Restaurant..
Happy hour there started at 9pm.. Smile
We were seated at a small cocktail table by the mai·tre d'. Of course we were laughing and having a good time and he politely put his hand to his mouth gesturing that we should be quiet.. really?? Well needless to say, we tried to  hold it down, however we were having too much fun and laughing, etc.. We were listening to the music interacting with the singer of the lounge music.. She encouraged us to have fun and not worry about the mai·tre d'!! Soon we had the whole place dancing and having fun! Probably one of the better nights at the Zingari’s Bar!!! So fun!!
Our fun continued on up to our rooms! We were just laughing and just having a blast! We got our jammies on and soon we were having a “Pajama Party”.. finally about 1:30 or so we said our good nights and off to bed we all went..
Needless to say the next morning we all had the “slows” if you get my meaning??
However that didn’t hold us back.. We got dressed went for breakfast at Lefty O'Doul's. And as you can see we are on our way again!

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Then stopped off at DSW the shoe store, bought some shoes. We dropped the shoes off at the hotel, got our walking shoes on and headed to Pier 39!
We walked through China Town, then North Beach and finally got to Pier 39. We took a few pictures, stopped off to see the sea lions, visited some of the stores.. Chocolate store was one of the most popular.. Smile We stopped off to have a snack at a seafood restaurant. Greta and I enjoyed a crab cocktail. While Tina & Sandy had a beer and Sandy had some calamari… Tina’s isn’t crazy for seafood.. Soon we were back walking to the hotel at Union Square.. All of complaining a bit here and there about being tired or our feet hurt. Despite the complaints we all walked back to the hotel. We made a few stops on the way back.. we stopped for French bread and then at the salami store “Malinari’s”.. And in China town picked up another few items. We all could have sworn we walked at least 10 miles that day..!! well?? Not quite.. I mapped it when I got home and it was about 5 miles round trip.. not counting our little side trips to the stores, etc.. so I am sure it was at least 10 miles!!!! Right!! Smile
We had dinner reservations at Zingari’s at 5:30 on Thursday night. We made it back in enough time to rest a bit get cleaned up and go down for a cocktail and then dinner.
We had a fabulous dinner!! OMG “to die for scallops”! Everyone else's food was wonderful as well! uummm…

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It was an early night… we were all back at our rooms at about 9pm..bMovie night.. Smile I bunked with Sandy and Tina & Great Bunked together. Not sure what movie they watched..
Tina & I were up early and ready for the “time share” presentation we promised to go to, so we could get a “FREE” dinner at Zangari’s the night before.. and we also got one night of FREE parking at the Donatello!! woo hoo!!
We got home about 2pm on Friday.. aaahh great time was had by all!! Thanks Girls for such a GREAT “weekend”!!
A special Thanks goes to Bea and Bea’s daughter for making all of this happen.. Smile


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Visit with Dale & Barb

A few weeks ago Barb emailed me to let me know she and Dale were going to come down and look at property around Clear Lake to possibly buy for their retirement.
We met them for dinner on Monday night at the Moose. They said there were some prospects, but nothing that was really “jumping” out at them..
Tuesday we invited them up for dinner here at the house. I served up some Tilapia (fish) with bacon wrapped asparagus/rice/salad and homemade apple pie.. Smile
Barb & Dale looked at property all day on Monday,Tuesday and Wednesday.. But still didn’t find that perfect house.. We had wine on the deck and then ate dinner. They were staying at the Paradise House, so wanted to get back before dark.. I was leaving the next day for “girls weekend” in San Francisco so I didn’t get to see them before they left on Thursday morning early… They arrived home safely.. Smile

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