Retreat in the Sagebrush

I've been in Dayton, Nevada on a three day retreat with friends. We did this last year and we were invited again. I guess we behaved ourselves well enough the first time for our hostess to invite us back this year. So off we drove to Dayton, for food, friendship, being creative and just having fun... and we did have fun!
The four of us met above Pioneer on Carson Pass and actually got everything into one car. Our hostess drove us up over the pass...

It was a lovely spring day in the mountains. I'm always in awe of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I forget that I live so close to such beauty. Driving over the pass into Nevada is a beautiful experience. There wasn't that much snow at the pass and I was surprised at the lack of it elsewhere.. but Caples and Red Lake were still frozen over.
These were my partners in fun at the Carson Pass.

 We took a quick break and then continued on into Nevada, ate lunch at a Basque restaurant, and stopped at a wonderful little art gallery store and theater in Carson City.

 I really wanted this sign. I love old neon signs.

Before I could figure out how to pack it into the car, the lady inside said that it wasn't for sale. Darn! I even had a wall for it in my house. So we walked around looking at some very good art that was for sale.
There were baskets...

and glass art, jewelry, paintings and drawings by local artists. There was a small restaurant and a theater in this old brewing company building.

 This charming creature, made from found metal pieces, looked so cute on the little chair that I just had to take a picture of it...

 Sometimes you have to exercise a little self control when it's the first stop of the trip and "impulse buying" space in the back end of the car was at a premium. So we looked around and moved on.
We stopping at Tuesday Morning in Carson City and Trader Joe's for a few important items like ice cream, cookies and candy.
When we arrived at the house, we  disembarked and choose bedrooms.  Then we began our BASKETS. Making baskets has taken on a whole new respect for me. I will never look at a basket again without knowing how much work goes into making it. I will never say, "Well, it's just a basket." every again. I don't care what kind of basket it is... their is a process and a skill involved with making that basket that is one of the most creative endeavors known to mankind.
This was the beginning of my basket. You are looking at the bottom of the basket.

 Our hostess showed us every step, slowly, with wonderful direction and patience. She had made two of them recently, so we had examples to strive for. All of these pieces of reed and twine have to be soaked before you can weave or bend them. It was a very creative feeling to watch my own hands work on this basket.

I felt as if I was carrying on a tradition that my ancestors started. Some Cherokee woman sitting by a creek weaving strips of reed together... making a basket to carry wood, or food, or a baby. Talking to her friends, laughing and telling stories to each other. It's all the same. Except we are soaking our pieces of reed, that we bought on the Internet, in the laundry room sink and sitting in the comfort of a lovely home. But, the idea came to me as we sat around that table together, doing something so old and necessary, that we may recreate the memories of our ancestors because we subconsciously want to continue the traditions.  Also, because there is something elemental in the process.  Maybe it's an ingredient in the recipe of our past. It was a good feeling.... until I got to the part where we had to fold the "spokes" over the rim of the basket with a 3 in. over lap, cut them and hold them with clothes pins while we wove them into the inside of the basket. I didn't take any photos of this because I never picked up the camera again. I had some cranky moments when my fingers ached from pushing the reed pieces into the already woven basket. We all finally got the baskets sides secured, so we put them aside for the evening.
We ate a nice dinner, talked at the table for a long time and then each of us went to our rooms to get some sleep... each dreaming differently about this moment in our lives. In the middle of the night I woke up to a full moon and an owl hooting. I had opened the window before I fell asleep. I got up and stood at the window listening to the owl and marveling at the brightness of the full moon. The air smelled wonderful. I thought about this place before houses, golf courses and air fields and so many people. How the tumbleweed would have only stopped  at the bottom of the mountains and not piled up against fences and the wild horses would have walked across the whole valley without having to cross a busy highway. It must have been beautiful then. It's beautiful now when you look in the right directions.
 I promised myself to get up early in the morning and walk out beyond the houses to the field filled with wild bushes, birds and rabbits. I went back to bed and dreamt of walking toward wild horses... but I don't remember much more.
Tomorrow I will write about my walk into the fields of sagebrush and watching the sun rise over the Virginia Range...

A Wonderful Sister Visit

Sis was here for a few days. She comes up to the farm for a short, rest-filled getaway. We love having her visit. Carl is always so excited to see her. Sis is his third favorite person in the whole world and that's OK with her. Wherever she goes he is right behind her. She loves dogs, having three of her own, and I think she would have more if her hubby would agree.
As if Carl didn't get enough attention around here..., he becomes "the little heartbeat at (her) feet" (that Edith Wharton writes about) when Sis is here. If she takes a nap, he's right there cuddled beside her. If she sit down on the sofa to read, watch TV or talk, he's in her lap. If she takes a walk with us, he's at the door waiting for HER to put his leash on and keeps looking at her as if to say.., " Come on now. Let's go. You're coming too aren't you?..., Please." It's mutual admiration with these two. He's such a ladies man.
I have no problem finding Carl when Sis is here. He's always with her. It's kind of a symbiotic relationship. Each one loves the other and they seem to speak the same language. Sometimes I think that she would like to take him home with her, but that's just not possible. Our lives would not be the same without the pupster. We just love him. He's a very special little being and he knows where the food is.



On Friday Sis and I went to Sutter Creek. Saturday we drove over to Amador City, my favorite foothill town, pictured above and on Sunday we went down into Jackson. Each day we would leave in the late morning, have lunch, spend a couple of hours shopping in our favorite stores and then come home in time to take a nap before dinner. You see...,when folks gets older they have to conserve energy and find that the "Shop till you drop" motto just doesn't cut it anymore. It's more like "Why the heck am I doing this to myself." and "My body is telling me it's time to go home." So..., because my sister and I are 58 and 65 years old now, we do things in moderation. It's called self preservation.
We love going to our favorite stores like Country Living in Amador City and Yesterday's Heirlooms in Sutter Creek and a few others. It's kind of a ritual now. On Sunday we drove into Jackson and, in spite of the weather which has turned to wind and rain, we spent a few hours looking through the Antique stores.
Now you would think that after last year, with all the sorting and clearing of Mom's things, that we wouldn't be shopping for ANTIQUES or anything else for that matter. I really can't explain this. It must be hereditary or a genetic thing. With no space left, ANYWHERE in my house, I will still find one more wonderful, can't live without it, "It's got my name on it" item that seems to appear on a shelf or in a corner somewhere in one of these shops. I can rationalize this in many ways but the bottom line is that I love to find something beautiful that can be used again, repurposed, refinished or just fixed. I will just have to take more OLD things to the Thrift shops so that I have room for the NEW things.
In my defense, I only bought lunch on Friday. Nothing else. So I CAN control these urges. On Saturday and Sunday I was very careful and tomorrow I will show you what I found. I will even tell you what I paid for my wonderful acquisitions. This is an obsession. I know this, but it's OK and I know that a lot of you out there understand. Don't you?..., or do you think I need a 12 step program?

Sis left this morning. She thought she was going to beat the worst part of the storm but I think she drove down into it. Just after she left the wind picked up and the rain started again. It has never stopped.
Carl is sad and must be a bit annoyed. He went into our bedroom after Sis left and chewed a hole in Maggie's bed, strewed pieces of foam rubber all over the place. Then he went into the living room and curled up in the blanket that he and Sis had cuddled in all weekend. It must still have her fragrance lingering in it. Now he's asleep.
Come back soon, Sis. Carl is making his feelings very clear. He misses you all ready. So do I.....

"Out with the Old, in with the New"

This cute pink bicycle represents more fun than a corral full of baby goats. It's the reason I usually plan my trips to the bay area on certain days every month. This is the antique/ vintage/ creative art store owned by Susan Goodman called ROOM WITH A PAST. They are only open 4 days a month and each month is a new adventure, with amazing bargains..., and it's just down right fun to visit.
See that green chair in the top left photo? See the color? Does it look familiar? Yes, it's exactly the same color of the little, half size, green chair I have here in my home. That's because Jan Ely(the blond in the jammies and slippers) likes to paint cute little chairs in my favorite color. I bought one here last year. THIS cute chair did not(sigh) come home with me. I practiced some restraint on this trip, but if it's still there next month I may not have the control that I did last week. Of course I could just NOT GO to this sale and make my life easier, but that's "not an option", as they say. I might miss something wonderful!..., something with my name on it..., something I can't live without. See, how easy it is to rationize this obsession.

Last Thursday, before the unexpected dinner for 8, Sis and I took a run by R.W.A.P. It was their Christmas sale and , of course, we had to take a quick look. It's only about a mile from Mom's rest home, so there was just no reason not to go before I picked up Mom for dinner. (More rationalizing). Sis got home, afterwards, and found out she was having 4 extra people coming for dinner and the panic set in..., but it was still worth the stop at our favorite store.
These are the wonderful ladies who run R.W.A.P. This is the only time you will ever see them IN PUBLIC wearing their pajamas and slippers, and I did get their permission to put this photo on my blog. They are a very nice bunch of woman, who work hard to make this store a charming place. They enjoy what they do and they all seem to get along well. This was New Years Day and we were invited to wear our jammies and slippers too, but we opted for street clothing because we didn't want someone with a camera/phone to immortalize us in Trader Joe's. All customers were invited to partake of a huge table of goodies(and I mean HUGE) to celebrate the New Year and, of course, the amazing sale. Sis found a big drop-leaf table to do crafts and sewing on. I added a beautiful vintage pressed metal tray to my kitchen collection and one of Jan's handmade ornaments.

Thank you ladies. It was fun, as always. It was nice to see you, Marcia. Glad you are doing so well. See you next month.

Room With a Past ~ 1557A Third Ave., Walnut Creek CA 94597
(925) 933-1903

Jan Ely's "Little Pink Houses" blog can be found at pinkhousepages.blogspot.com. Check it out. She loves "vintage", painting and decorating. She also makes wonderful, artful things. We grew up in the same town and her Dad and my Mom went to school together in Napa, Ca. We found each other through our blogs. Small world isn't it?