Trick Or Treat

"The strange thing is, this truly horrifying experience planted a seed deep within my heart that germinated and grew into a desire that, I have to admit, I've never completely overcome."

~Kathi Daley

Halloween Hijinks

I spotted this festive fellow? in Placerville earlier this week. I am guessing that because of the time of year the mattress is in costume. Sure, that's it, it's a mattress masquerading as a creepy guy you meet while speed dating. Or perhaps it's a ghost... you know... a futon phantom! Or... or... maybe it's the ghost of the mattress of that belonged to that one ex-boyfriend I had, whose mother gave us food poisoning (on purpose) to scare off the women her son took a fancy to.

Yep, that's right, she did it on purpose, and she also deliberately gave salmonella to her own son! He had to burn his mattress, for obvious reasons, use your imagination about what a tainted Thanksgiving Turkey dinner, served on a hot June day, is like. Of course it didn't help that she gave him muscle relaxers so he would "feel better."

Like the Stephen King book... Sometimes They Comeback.

It's only spooky because it's true.

(Insert Halloween Scream Here)

And Now... 

The Leaf Of The Day

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Natural As Apples...

"Stories should be natural as apples, brief as lust, long as thought."

~Leonard Michaels

Apple Hill 

2014

Earlier this week, Alan and I made our annual trek to Apple Hill. Nestled just above Sacramento, and slightly north/west of Placerville, Apple Hill consists of 50 independent ranches featuring as many different kind of apples as you can name, and the amazing desserts that can be made from them. Pies, tarts, turnovers, and my personal favorite... Apple Cider donuts!

Especially the ones made at Rainbow Farms!

They are the best donuts on earth.

Period.

The good folks at Rainbow Farms make them when ordered, so each new order is always fresh from the deep fryer, and cooked to perfection! Slightly crispy on the outside, sweet apple and spice on the inside, it's autumn goodness melting in your mouth! We look forward to these donuts every year, and now it just wouldn't be autumn without them! If there is a heaven, these donuts will be there!

An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

If donuts don't happen to be your thing, you can always pay a visit to Denver Dan's Ranch, and partake of the amazing pies,

 tarts and turnovers.

YUM!

And if dessert really just isn't for you, well then, there are all kinds of wineries and spas where you can relax your cares away

 on a cool autumn day!

Apple Hill is open until just before Christmas, so check each farm for their hours and days of operation. You can also cut your own Christmas trees on many of the ranches as well! Just click the link at the top of this post to be redirected to the official website!

Leaf Of The Day

Mood: Happy

 

~Me :)

Highway 50

"The earth has music for those who listens."

~George Santayana

On our visit to Apple Hill earlier this week, we decided to take a ride north, at least half way to Lake Tahoe. Just to take in some autumn color, unfortunately, there was very little color to be found. It seems what the drought hadn't destroyed, the fires had. Still, its a good bet that if we visit again this month, and go a little higher this time, into Nevada, we might be able to see some leaves putting on a show. At least I hope so! The lack of the usual Sierra runoff made me sad too. There are several vistas positioned along HWY 50 where you can pull over, step out for a few minutes and take photos of all that lovely melted snow rushing along the creek bed. I remember years when you could hear the rushing water before your opened your car door. Not the other day. It was quiet. Too quiet.

I miss the music.

We'll see what our next trip brings!

Leaf Of The Day

 

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

An Apple Hill Bee And A Placerville Leaf

"An apple tree is just like a person. In order to thrive, it needs companionship that's similar to it

 in some ways, but quite different than others."

~Jeffery Stepakoff

Here are the first photos from our trip to Apple Hill. We had an amazing time, but I was a little sad there wasn't more autumn color. The whole area felt... well... a bit sad. I suppose it's understandable, given the situation with the drought and wild fires California has been experiencing. Oh but one thing hasn't changed... the amazing Apple Cider donuts from Rainbow Orchards.

Life affirming delicious!

But I will tell you all about them tomorrow!

Stay Tuned!

The Leaf Of The Day

Placerville, California

October 14th 2014

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Off To The Foothills...

"In the mountains the shortest way is from peak to peak; 

but for that you must have long legs."

~Friedrich Nietzsche

That's not a picture of the Sierra Foothills... is it? Well, see, we visited the beach at Pacifica last week, and it was so gorgeous and serene I thought it would be perfect for this post. Not that the Sierra Foothills isn't amazingly serene... it is... but I thought I would wait to post some new photos of my meanderings, rather than pull one from the archives to show you where I have been in years past and plan to be today. I say plan to be because there have been a lot of fires near where I plan to go, and, well, best laid plans and all that.

So wish me luck.

Okay, off to the foothills. 

Watch my Twitter account tomorrow for real time pics!

Leaf Of The Day

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

24 Years

"To be fully seen by someone, then, and loved anyhow...

 this is a human offering that can border on miraculous."

~Elizabeth Gilbert,

 Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage

Today is our 24th Wedding Anniversary!

Strange man... how in the world did you ever put up with me

 for that long?

Well, whatever the reason, I don't need to know, but I thank God for it!

I love you Alan!

Happy Anniversary!

And Now... The Leaf Of The Day...

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

When Cool Breezes Replace Summer Heat

"Autumn. It's crispness, it's anticipation, it's melancholia, it's cool breezes replacing summer's heat. It's long days in the field, a harvest festival when work's done, a cheering crowd in a football stadium, chrysanthemums punctuating a somber landscape.

 It's Halloween high-jinx, pumpkins grinning toothy smiles,

 the crack of pecan pressed against pecan. 

It's the first curls of woodsmoke, fresh blisters from pushing a rake. It's crisp and fresh and mellow and snug, solemn and melancholy. And it's very, very, welcome."

~Good Housekeeping Magazine

Mmmmm... Happiness! Last night I felt the first true cool breeze of fall. There is nothing like it.

The Leaf Of The Day

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Round Robin Challenge: Goodbye

"If I had a single flower for every time I think of you,

 I could walk forever in my garden."

~Claudia Adrienne Grandi

 RRC: Goodbye

Saying Goodbye...

Life is full of hellos and goodbyes. Whenever I lose a friend, or a TV show, or an icon or a project I dearly love, I try to remind myself that life is a series of hellos and goodbyes. Most of the time I grieve for a while and then one day I realize the sadness has passed, and I am doing a lot more smiling at the memories, than crying and longing for one more visit to a place lost, or a smile that won't be there, or a joke that won't be told. In truth, I have been lucky enough to have had many more happy hellos than tragic goodbyes, but even the most charmed life will have their share.

2014 seems to have been a year of loss. You know from the news. But none touched me more deeply than the death of Robin Williams. He was a San Francisco Bay Area fixture. He lived in southern Marin County, but his love and generosity was felt throughout the Bay Area. In the town of Tiburon, where he called home, he was affectionately known as "The Man On The Bicycle." He was well loved by many, and that included me. With my little photo jaunts around the Bay Area, I always figured I would cross paths with him one day, alas it wasn't to be.

I have to admit... it's a fact that breaks my heart into

 the tiniest of pieces. 

Shards really.

 

:( 

There were many different tributes to Robin Williams held around the Bay Area, most of them for his dear friends, and a few public ones. I chose to honor him in my own way. Just a fan saying, Thank You, for the many moments of happiness his talent brought me.

 So last Monday, October 6th, Alan and I made the trek to Marin County, to a lovely little quiet park that sits just around the corner, on the same waterfront that touches his home in Tiburon, to pay our respects. I brought him some plastic Army Men, of which he was an avid collector, and I quietly said "I loved you" and "Goodbye."

 Paradise Beach and Park. 

:)

Thank You, Robin!

Alan and I enjoyed our visit to the park and beach very much, we now have another amazing place to visit when we are in Marin County, and you know I will always think of Robin when 

we are there. It's one more thing to thank him for!

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

~Theodor Seuss Geisel (attributed)

And now, I want to say Goodbye to the Round Robin Challenges.

Karen and I accidentally began this meme, but we certainly had a great time with it over this past decade. THAT'S RIGHT... DECADE! The Round Robin Challenges is just a little over a decade old, and I am very proud of Karen for all she did to keep the fun going! She and our dear Steven, did a lot to make this project a very nice place during it's heyday, and while I haven't contributed as much to it in recent years, it was always near and dear to me because it began as two friends, Karen and I, inspiring each other to be creative. When others asked to join in, it became a lovely community project, with a lot of creative ideas suggested for challenges as we moved along. How could I not be at least a little sad to see it come to an end? In truth, I am sad, but more than anything I am proud to have been a part of something so extraordinary.

Thank You Karen, you were and continue to be one of my favorite people and my good friend!

I had a blast!

:)

And Thank You to all the Robins who participated in this project!

Okay, so for one last time...

If you would like to join in, there is still plenty of time. Just pop on over to the official Round Robin Photo blog and leave the following 3 pieces of information...

Your Name

Your Blog's Name

Full Address Of Your Blog

It's that easy. Simply click the link at the top of this post to be redirected.

And now the Leaf Of The Day...

 

:)

Mood: Happy/Reflective

~Me :)

Rosemary's Baby Carriage

"The Shortest Horror Story...

The Last Man On Earth Sat Alone In A Room. There Was A Knock At The Door."

~Frederic Brown

Rosemary's Baby, By Ira Levin

Directed By Roman Polanski

Alan and I went on a date last night. There was a free showing of the 1968 classic, Rosemary's Baby.

I have seen this movie about 30 times, and Alan has seen it with me about 20 of those 30 times, and yet there is something about seeing it in an old fashioned theater, with old fashioned seats, and art deco designed molding and wall features, that makes it seem like one is seeing it for the first time!

 I got chills... I really did!

The lovely old Orinda theater has free movie night the second Thursday of each month. Next month, November 13th, the theater will be featuring "To Catch A Thief" by Alfred Hitchcock. I am not sure if we will be able to make it, but I know we are going to try to. And hey, if we do, we might do as well at their trivia game as we did tonight. We won two free cupcakes, for correctly answering the question... "What was the name of the name of the popular 1970's horror movie, adapted from another book by Ira Levin?" The Stepford Wives, of course! Yum... the cupcakes were delicious, if maybe a little sinister! Well, because, you see, they we the two cupcakes, of the twelve offered, that made up the wheels of

 Rosemary's baby carriage!

Ooooooh... CREEPY!

Leaf Of The Day...

 

:)

Mood: Happy


~Me :)

Fleet Week In San Francisco

"What she really loved was to hang over the edge and watch the bow of the ship slice through the waves. She loved it especially when the waves were high and the ship rose and fell,

 or when it was snowing and the flakes stung her face."

~Kristin Cashore, Graceling

It's Fleet Week in San Francisco, which means the sky and the bay will soon be looking a lot like this...

Well, not all the time, but if the sky stays clear of that silly San Francisco fog that most time is kind of special, but has all the potential to ruin some days, it will be all all ahead GO!

 Right now the sky is clear blue, and the Blue Angels are scheduled to so some practicing later today for all the festivities this weekend.

It's been a couple years since Fleet Week was held in San Francisco, last year at this time the country was being held captive by our psycho congress, who was threatening to shut everything down. The first to go in the temporary budget was, of course, non essential things like, Fleet Week.

But here we are with a budget again, and the Blue Angels are back, and so are the awesome Tall Ships, and come midday Saturday and Sunday, I will be there with my camera. I hope I get some good photos to post here, but sometimes, when those amazing blue planes fly over, it is but a blink.

An awesome blue blink.

It's just one more thing to love about October.

Leaf of the Day

Mood: Happy/Excited

~Me :)

Lemons And Limes And Leaves Oh My...

"I watched a bowl of fruit remain on a table motionless. Just another example of life imitating art."

~Jarod Kintz

Lemons and Limes. Is there anything tastier on a hot autumn day, than one amazing glass of sweet Meyer lemonade? Or a squeeze of cold, tangy sweet lime on a delicious veggie burrito. Or hell, do you enjoy just cutting a lemon or lime in half

 and eating it like an orange, as much as I do?

Okay, I admit it, summer isn't all bad.

;)

The Leaf Of The Day

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Lunch In Paradise Park

"A picnic is more than eating a meal, it is a pleasurable state of mind."

~DeeDee Stoval, 125 Recipes With 29 Seasonable Menus

Alan and I took a long drive through Marin County yesterday, just visiting the little cities along the way, and seeing new beautiful places in the Bay Area. We took a picnic lunch with us, and finally stopped at the lovely Paradise Beach/Park in Tiburon. It is an amazing place, right on the water, and absolutely relaxing. In fact, it was a little too relaxing, as I could have very easily stayed forever. It's been way too long since Alan and I went on a picnic. I love dating that man! And I think I am in love with this park.

The Leaf Of The Day

Mood: Happy

~Me :)