Thar's Gold in Them Thar Hills~~~~~

Hello Again Sweet Things,

I'm blogging from my place up here in the Gold Country. Yes Sweet Things, that is the euphemism for the lower Sierra Foothills that surrounds Hwy 49.

First I want to Thank Dear Sweet Fram for his generous compliment on my writing in my last blog. Thank you for the encouragement. I never really thought of myself as any kind of writer, but now you have my mind thinking----maybe I should consider taking some "creative writing' courses or something. Thank you Fram, Kisses to you. (MMMWhhaa) (giggle)

Baby Sis has been following my blog and has also insisted that I save the blogs onto a flash drive and later put them together for a "journal" in print format. Who knows where this might lead.

Definitely not like the "Dame Shirley Letters", but who knows. All I can say is "Thank Goodness for Spell Check".

Because of my work I paid to have installed a DSL connection here at the house, that way I can be in touch should an emergency arise. My caretakers made sure it was done properly and in a way that it doesn't intrude into the 'fabric' of the house, so it was installed in a Armour that I purchased in town and put into the room that was originally the 'office' of the house when this was a large working farm/ranch.

The last time I was here, I suggested to use that room as a office, they looked at me and told me about it's original purpose, and managed to find pictures of his great grandfather at a desk in that very room. Looking through the attic and the basement, we managed to find a number of things, restore them and put them into the 'office'.

There did appear to be an Armour there that was used to hold the account books for the 'farm' years ago, but it was sold some years later for needed cash. Now they are happy that bit by bit things seem to be going back in time.

I have to say that this house seems to "speak" to me, I feel so much at home in it.

But before I digress to far from what I was going to say.....

I once again left early on Friday, first to go to my other rental property towards the south, just to see how my tenants are doing, they knew I was coming and offered to put me up, but I didn't want to put them to too much trouble and instead stayed in a nearby motel and treated them to dinner.

Over dinner they told me what they thought the property needed to have done, so in the light of day I inspected it and agreed. A corner of the foundation needed replacing but the rest appeared to be fine, and they would get estimates for me. Some of the other things, they could do themselves, mostly cosmetic or simple repairs, I asked them to take pictures of before and after and to save all the bills for my records.

I was happy to hear that things were going well for them, Bill was working and Margie got a part time job a few days a week while her children are at day camp. I kept wondering how they could put up with the heat being well into the nineties, but they told me that getting up early in the morning and doing the outside work before the heat became unbearable helped and then towards the cool of the evening to finish it. It was a matter of pacing oneself.

I realized that living with the cool weather of the Bay Area I had gotten soft and had forgotten this wise idea.

Then just after lunch with a final wave I took off and drove up Hwy 49 to my "country home".

Hwy 49 is a mixture of narrow two lane roads with turn outs for slower traffic and modern Highways, but I found myself enjoying the two lane roads with it's twists and turns, because it gave me the feel of what it might have been like in the 1880, with the notorious Black Bart and Joaquin Murietta, robbing the Wells Fargo Stagecoaches, or raiding the miner's camps.

The wild grasses had turn a golden brown, and in the heat when I stopped to stretch my legs I could hear the cicada's with their high whine as they hid in the grasses, and seeing an occasional horse or cow taking shade under a huge oak tree with it's branches twisting and reaching, some of them to such impossible lengths that I wondered how the branches could remain up without breaking under the weight.

Sometimes the two lane roads would be flanked with what appeared to be old rock walls or fences with dried moss in the crevasses, when I took one of my rest breaks I examined one of those fences and was surprised to see that the rocks were of lava and appeared to have been there for years. I wondered what would they look like all wet when the winter rains came, I just knew I had to come back to see the changes.

I thought of those old western T.V. programs, where they show huge dry expanses of land as the hero rode across, and had a sense of what it was they were trying to capture.

But I knew it was more than visual, you have to feel the heat, smell the grass, feel what little breeze there is, hear the rustle of the grass and the insects, to look up and see a hawk or a buzzard soaring over the bright pale blue sky to really get the feel of it, the grittiness and how it could, if one wasn't strong enough, beat a person down.

Tough people those pioneers, I thought, tough and determined.

Then driving through the towns when the road doesn't by pass it, like Jamestown, Sonora, Angels Camp. The towns and people that were written about by Bret Hart and Mark Twain,
"The Luck of Roaring Camp"---"The Jumping Frog of Calavaras County"......

It made me think, think about how I got caught up in this modern world and not taking time to look and see what has made us what we are, the history that surrounds us that we just take for granted, that we ignore and destroy in our greed.

Development and progress is fine if it is done for the right reasons, but before our economy crashed it was done for all the wrong reasons. This country, away from the flash and zip of the big city, makes you think and think outside one's little ticky-tacky boxes. And I got some ideas which I quickly wrote down in my ever present note book, now I just need to formulate them, that will take a little time, but out here you feel as if you have time.

All too soon I knew I had to get back into my car and get to my other house, I had told them to not wait for me as I wasn't sure what time I would arrive; starting up my car I felt like I was on a stage coach traveling to my destination, traveling over the same routes that perhaps even "One Eye" Charlie Parkhurst had driven, cracking "his' whip over the heads of the team of horses and not a single person knowing that Charlie Parkhurst was a woman.

Of course a far more comfortable drive than being in a stagecoach or mud wagon, a lot less bouncing and jostling and air conditioned as well, but instead I turned it off and lowered the window to feel the heat, and catch was smells there were, other than gasoline, from this country.

I arrived just before dinner time and was greeted warmly by my caretakers. That evening over ice tea they told me what had been happening, so many positive changes that made me smile.

And now with the Internet connection they can almost immediately keep me posted on things and send me pictures as well.

I slept deeply last night, waking up early with sun up, my hosts having gone to church this morning, I'll be joining them soon as their church is having a fun raiser breakfast and church bazaar to raise money for a new roof, they are very close to their goal. I'll be meeting them there and I'll give a very generous check for the church's roof, after all it was built in 1878.

I'm not going to be returning to the Bay Area until Monday, allowing me a little extra driving time, but I will be driving to work in the late afternoon to see how things are going and hitting the grind stone once again.

But to keep the feeling of the Gold Country I'll be reading some of those books that I bought, and making plans.

Until Later Sweet Things, Kisses.

Had to Take a Break~~~~

Well Sweet Things,

I just had to take a break from the Bay Area and once again drove down to the Santa Cruz Mountains.

I took a chance that a hotel or motel room would be available, but this time I did not go all the way to Santa Cruz but instead stayed in Brookdale just 5 miles north of Felton on Hywy 9.

I think it was last year that I drove past it on my way to Santa Cruz and thought it would be a quaint place to stay for a night or two.

Work was boring me, and the weather had turned yucky, not warm enough, over cast, just a bore.

I was ahead of things and with WiFi I knew I could keep in touch if I had to, so I made arrangements and on early Thursday evening I took off, Chugged South down 880 and I have to say chugged because it was afternoon going home traffic.

But near Los Gatos I took the opportunity to turn off onto Hywy 9, the back door, granted with it's twists and turns it is slower, but at least people don't try to run you off the road like they do on Hywy 17.

I was so into going along the road that I missed the turn off for Brookdale Lodge and had to back track, not unusual considering how tight things are.

And I was lucky they did have a room available, I had a chance to see the age of the building, it had been around for a long time, and it seems that maintenance is a never ending chore, but the room was comfortable, the water hot, the fellow stayees quiet.

They have a swimming pool, a cafe for breakfast and lunch, a bar, live music on the weekends, and the most fantastic dinning room, a brook runs through it and an excellent dinner, more than enough to eat, I had to take what was left over to my room and finish it later when I dined there on Friday evening.

I was told that I should come in the spring after the rains and see the brook when it runs at it's fullest.

There are some down sides, no air conditioning but it seems that people come to the mountains to get cool and air conditioning is not necessary, heat really is.

So I used Thursday to settle into my room and do a bit of simple exploring in nearby Felton in the evening where I came across a park that had a historic bridge built and had a chance to walk a bit in Henry Cowell redwoods with a family before sunset. It was enchanting, and felt otherworldly

Granted Felton had a number of the "modern" conveniences, like a chain drug store and super market, the Starbucks, but if one looks you can find things that are still "rustic" and "Homey".

Friday I used to see what the town of Brookdale and the other nearby communities, there was a church that had been converted into a museum, I was lucky to get there just as docent was opening it up, I bought a couple of books about the area and took pictures, the lady who was more than happy to talk about things told me about some of the other historic places I should check out and about Roaring Camp, Big Trees Railroad and was advised to get there early for parking----it seems that "Thomas the Tank Engine" was going to be visiting Roaring Camp

Saturday Morning I got up early and had a very good breakfast at the Lodge's cafe, blue berry pancakes and they didn't skimp on the blue berries, I got there early and found parking and was already being overwhelmed by little children and their parents clamouring about "Thomas"

The closest I came come to the excitement is like opening day at Disneyland, a lot of children, a lot of steam whistles and a lot of parents tired before the day begins, but friendly helpful staff at Roaring Camp, I managed to buy a ticket to ride the Narrow Gage train that takes one up Bear Mountain----this was different from the Thomas train ride-----very informative, historical peaceful and just delightful. We even managed to catch a glimpse of a buck I think his antlers we coming out of velvet, of course the children cried out "Bambi", it just stood there for a moment and then trotted off while everyone clicked their cameras.

A lot of old growth and second growth redwoods, all preserved for future generations I'm happy to say and the people of the concession of Roaring Camp also working to preserve it as well.

I've got to admit, I spent time in the "General Store" afterwards buying books in regards to history about California and the West---it seems my library is going to be taking a different turn.

I again had a chance to take a walk from a different end through Henry Cowell Redwoods, seeing it from a different time of day, but I felt at peace with it even though I could hear the steam train whistles it seems as if they were not intruding but a part of the fabric of the area.

I left about 1:30 just when it was getting really, really crowded, but staff was smiling and working to make things run smoothly, I could appreciate that. I also manged to get information about future events they are going to have, I have to plan on going down for Labor Day weekend when they have their Great Train Robbery Event---it should be fun as well as a nice little get away.

I couldn't leave right away as there was a pond with ducks and since I also bought a bag of duck feed I had to toss it to them, all fat and sassy.

In going back through Felton I checked out several place that were more out of the way and quiet and found several to my liking, they still had rooms available for Labor day weekend, but I'll have to reserve them by this week.

When I eventually returned to Brookdale Lodge, I was amazed to see the parking lot filled with antique autos----I found out that they were doing a run from the Bay Area taking Hywy 9 with the owners staying at the Lodge overnight.

I made the acquaintance of one couple that had the most marvelous Model T. They invited me to join them for dinner at this little restaurant in one of the communities that was just two miles away, so jogging and jolting along I had the most fun ride, and enjoyed the wonderful company.

Paul and Gretchen live in Fremont and knew a few acquaintances of mine, they said they were coming up for Labor Day weekend as well and recommended one place that was on my list, it seems they are also members of a Gunfighters re-enactment group that is taking part in the Great Train Robbery event. Now I have to go.

But all too soon Sunday morning has come, I had to return back to my home. My new books are now on my shelves waiting for me to read, in checking my e-mail and work everything is going smoothly.

So now I just have to do a little grocery shopping, pick up my mail from Lillian and treat her to dinner and tell her about my travels.

This next weekend I need to go to my gold country properties, I know it's going to be hot, thank goodness my car has air conditioning. I'll also be taking some more clothes to my country house and see how things are going with them.

But after my little "escape" from the world----I'm beginning to wonder do I want to continue to do what I'm doing---do I want to do something else. These are things I'm going to have to ponder on.

I know I have to make money, and my money needs to make money even in these tough times, it will take some careful consideration.

Until later, Kisses Sweet Things.

Next weekend I'll be visiting my gold country properties.

Memorial Weekends and Historical thoughts~~~

Hello Sweet Things,

Yes I have been away from my Blog; I have to admit work, work, work.

And the insanity of some of my co-workers commitments to their children’s graduations parties and events, but I can understand the “fuss” of it all. In a way I missed the “fuss” of my graduation from college, even high school. Something which Dad and Mom regret in the last phone conversation I had with them.

But I told them to plan on a “Big To-do” for Baby Sis when it’s her time. I don’t want regrets, I want to build on what we are working on right now and that is a graduation of sorts.

If all we think about are regrets then all we will have is “missed yesterdays” and I do not want that, I want to think forward and build on the opportunities to come. I feel that is better in many ways.

Well again our weather here is doing its insanity again, first we have a record breaking (for the S.F. Bay Area) heat wave and then next we plunge into chilly temperatures, I don’t know whether to get out the summer clothes or keep wearing sweaters.

This last heat wave made me feel very “goofy”. I think because it was so sudden and overwhelming. But we did have fun with our “ice cream social”. And it was back to the gym for me.

I took the opportunity to go to one of my properties this last Memorial weekend and just get away from things; at least the weather inland was comfortable. I went to my Victorian house, taking up spare clothing and such to settle into my room. I had the opportunity to talk to my tenants in regards to some repairs on the front porch, nothing major, just a few steps and a banister to be replaced.

It also gave me a chance to look over the property again at greater length, they (the former owners now my tenants) have taken good care of the property and know all the local repair people, we talked about things to do in the future.

It is my intention to make sure that the house and land reflect the historical look of the area. And I think with the aid of the local historical society we may be able to do that, we had a get together to talk things over and they were very happy about my buying the property and my intention to preserve it. I have to say that my now tenants younger cousin was not happy, but that’s his problem.

Real Estate developers need not apply. (Not that the market would support it right now)

The Historical Society is in the process of buying the surrounding land around my property with the idea of working with the local community college and their agricultural classes. The idea is to show how farming and life was done at the turn of the last century, and also to acquaint students with the idea of “slow farming” using old methods that are less destructive to the land.

It’s still in the concept process, but obtaining the land now must be done and that is moving forward. There are a couple of people who do not have any heirs and are more than willing to leave their land and property to the historical society as a “Trust” which will help. I made a suggestion that it might be wise to place it in a “Trust” now and allow the people to continue to live on their property as “caretakers without pay” for as long as they wish or are able, with physical aid from volunteers and students to help maintain the properties.

Everyone including the current owners appeared to like the idea and with fundraisers to help maintain everything it would be viable. Fortunately there are a couple of lawyers on the Historical Society Board and they can look into all the legalities, but they felt it could be done.

I like the idea, although I believe that there will be times where I’m going to have to “share” my property for special events, but there is something about the concept that appeals to me.

But I am going to look into the legal side with a good lawyer from my point of view as well, I’m not going to just jump in without understand what legal problems I might be incurring.

I’m going to do it with this property, but with my own home and the other property I’m going to keep that in a separate trust for baby sis and what children she may have in the future.

But it was all fun too, the fire department had a “pancake breakfast” Sunday morning, there was a crafts street fair, music (great fiddling), a “old fashioned Snake Oil Salesman”, a couple of gunfight re-enactments, petting zoo of farm animals and a stage coach ride complete with hold-ups.

My tenants introduced me to a number of people in the community, and made some very good contacts with the leaders in the community. I now know where to get the best fruit and vegetables, freshest bread, a good doctor and dentist for emergencies, a (according to everyone) fantastic auto mechanic and where the best fishing is in the area.

I know that I’m the “newbie” in town, and as with everything it’s always wise to proceed slowly, according to what I’m hearing, they want to keep the “small town feel” but within it encourage good businesses that will help the community. They want to avoid development that would destroy the feeling of the place, so many things, buildings, locations, land and such have been placed on a historic register, made historic landmarks with plaques and signs, nothing can be done without a full public review.

A number of people told me they were worried about the property that I bought because of the former situation. But when they heard what I had done and suggested they felt more comfortable.

I could easily retire here, someday I might. But right now I have to make ‘money’.

Another gun show is coming up this weekend, and I have to make plans for the 4^th of July weekend as well, I’m thinking of driving down to my parents home during that time, Lillian will be fine up here she has her two sons and their families coming to visit so she will be busy.

Joe said he would be happy to “House sit” for me, since he’s renting and his landlord is planning to do some work on his apartment building, anything to avoid the noise.

But it’s early yet, I’ll have to see how my plans develop. Thank goodness the weather right now is mild, so back to work.

More later Sweet Things.