Saturday, July 28, 2012

Jamestown

 I thought we were going to go into Sonora - at least go out to the Mile High Pie Place! But we were both tired from staying up to late Friday night watching the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics, so we walked around Jamestown a bit and then headed home. Stopped in Manteca to eat at hubby's favorite chain restaurants!
 See.....hubby rides his trains and I go along with my camera and my knitting! And we are both happy (also my kindle in my purse...)
See that huge rusty ladle? It really is quite big. Now visualize it hanging on the wall or fence with some kind of trailing plant in it....yup.....hubbies entry for the 2013 Fair!
And this is a bargain piece of Balleek I found. Probably the bargain because no saucer. Oh well.

This was the weekend we were going to spend in the Jamestown/Sonora area, trying out a new B&B. What we had forgotten was that this was smack dab in the middle of babysitting our granddog!

So we were able to cancel the B&B reservations (sigh) but the train tickets were non-refundable. So we drove up there today to ride the train!

Hubby was in heaven - of course! Cause it was a steam train! (http://www.railtown1897.org/railtown/default.asp). I told him he needs to start a bucket list of all the trains he wants to ride....

We walked around Jamestown afterwards & enjoyed going into antique shops. Some were intersting - one had the largest amount of Autumn Leaf china that we have ever seen in one place! - and one was quite outrageously priced! An old, dirty, iron glass topped table - not even the original glass, and most definetly NOT an antique - and they wanted $49! HA! I wanted it but not enough to have my money stolen for it...

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A Rant Against the Fast Food Nation

Ok, here is the warning. This is a generalized rant. I know you all know exceptions to what I am going to say; even better, I know exceptions. But I still want/need to rant.

Yes, I read the book The Fast Food Nation and that is not what this is about. That is what I call a younger generation - twenties into early thirties. You all know them....they were raised via the drive thru's...and therefore expect immediate satisfaction.....

1. It is the young woman who are opting for c/sections because they don't want to 'feel the pain' of labor and delivery and who opt out of pregnancy when they 'are tired of being pregnant'. These are the women who only hear what they want to - pain medication and no labor.....they don't hear the part that describes abdominal surgery and the fact that the pain comes afterwards and usually lasts longer than those who opted for vaginal deliveries...And oh by the way, it is the medications fault if it does not IMMEDIATELY take away all the pain because it is expected to act immediately because, well, that is what you expect when you live in the Fast Food Nation.

2. And these same women are very disappointed when their bodies don't become like they were when they were not pregnant. Someone also forgot to tell them - or they forgot to listen - that they are not like the celebrities they are copying - they don't have people air brushing their photos - nannies raising their children - a trainer that gets them back into shape immediately - a cook to cook only healthy food for them - and the surgeon who does all that touch up surgery before they hit the public eye again...

3. These are the same people who apparently never listened to anyone who tried to explain "if it sounds/looks too good to be true, it probably is". They are the ones who jumped right into buying overpriced houses in areas they really didn't want to live - using the ARM because of course they only planned to own the house until they doubled their investment in oh, 1 - 2 years, so that they could afford the house of their dreams. And when the market crashed, what did they do? Walked away from the houses because they weren't worth it any more....foreclosures and short sales. Gumming up the system from those who needed the system because of job losses/major life changes, and things that were out of their control. And the best part? They are ANGRY at the people who advised them not to buy, and those who were not hurt or did not give up....

4. These are the people who CAN NOT be separated from their cell phones/iPads/whatever for a single second of any day because OMG they might miss something important - from someone else or more importantly that they need to share....What?! Their talking (loudly cause apparently cell phones don't have the same connection as telephones do) bothers you? You actually think that being polite to people working the cash registers, etc, is more important that what is going on in their lives? And you know, those posted signs are NOT meant for them.....or maybe they cant read those signs because they use complete words instead of Internet shorthand? (BTW, I really don't care what is happening in your world - and your having a cell phone attached to your body really does not make you an important/interesting person automatically)

5. I have heard that some schools are/considering not even teaching cursive writing anymore because this Fast Food Nation can only read printing because that is what comes through when you text and type on a computer. So that means they will not be able to read any historical documents from the past centuries - unless some learned elder transposes everything into printing.

I can, and probably will, add to this over time. This was precipitated by many things - the patients who will not/cannot get of the phone for the nurses to take care of them (after all - why do they need that - all the information they need can be found on the Internet and not from trained personnel).....the person at the gym who thinks the signs about cell phone usage means everyone but them because of course they are more important than anyone else....the person who holds up the line at the store because talking on the phone is more important than listening to what the clerk is trying to explain to you....

Monday, July 2, 2012

Bike Ride

Went to Sycamore Grove for the first time this year - and rode our bikes for the 5 miles. Yes, I had to walk on the hills, but I was on my cruiser, so I expected that!
 I love birds of prey - I love how elegant they look flying around....
 This guy's hunger must have overcome his fear - all the other ground squirrels would run away as we got near, but he just stayed there eating







See the nest? There was a beautiful golden hawk flying around but flew off faster than I could get my bike stopped and my camera focused. Too bad cause s/he was so beautiful

Sunday, July 1, 2012

The County Fair

I'm getting old....today at the fair exhausted me. We did walk a lot slower cause DD's knee was hurting, and it was crowded so we did a lot more waiting around. This is going to be mainly photos with brief captions....
 First stop - tradition - 4H cake booth....use to be able to get one slice and share it - HA!
 My socks.....did not win.....
 My scarf.....did not win.....
 They felt sorry for me and my breast cancer ornament rec'd Honorable Mention....
 But Tom's plant won 3d place!!!!!!!!
 LOVE THIS!
 I agreed with the boys who described this as "freaky"
 I love love love this and really want it - but not enough to spend $1300!!!!
 This was awesome - the chapel in Yosemite - all the stars in the sky - and my reflection as well as Connor's reflection in the glass! LOL
 Also liked this one - Concord Valley in 1900
 We painted rocks - Connors is the dog, mine is the very un-artistic patriotic heart
 and Luke's on the left and Jack's on the right (front row)
 Lunch! The grownups had tamales - fresh tamales - about the best I have ever had!
 A new game at the fair - glad they had the energy - throw the firehats and let the wind get them, and then chase after them!
And look who can do one handed "push ups"! !!!!

Aging

 Why is so much about aging kept a secret? Or is it that we just dont pay attention when we are younger? I mean we all know about the wrinkl...