I'm photographically challenged .....

I took lots of photos yesterday - without the memory card in my camera!  I'd been learning a little about  the Photoshop Elements 11 application I'm trying out for free before buying it and decided to use the memory card to upload photos from day before yesterday.  Well, as often happens, I got side-tracked and forgot to reinsert the card in my camera ..... lots of shots with no proof!  Here's the only shot I got of the team detailing Floribunda yesterday, right here in the RV park ...

And, here's Lacy, in her camping hairstyle, watching the process.

I'll take more photos of Floribunda's return to beauty today and post them later.  Yes, the memory card is in the camera!

Look To This Day ... Red Bluff, California

Dawn in Puerta Encantada, Venezuela

Look To This Day 

Look to this day

For it is life, the very life of life.  In its brief course

Lie all the verities and realities of your existence.

The bliss of growth,

The glory of action,

The splendour of achievement

Are but experiences of time.

For yesterday is but a dream

And tomorrow is only a vision;

And today well-lived, makes

Yesterday a dream of happiness

And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well therefore to this day;

Such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn!

  by Kálidása          Thought to be the greatest of the Sanskrit 

                                                       poets and playwrights, he lived in the 4th and 5th 

                                                       centuries C.E.  Of humble beginnings, he's said to

                                                       have married a princess, who challenged him to write

                                                       poetry.

Wednesday in Red Bluff .....

I lived on a ranch 10 miles North-East of downtown Red Bluff in the late 80s and early 90s. Originally, my husband and I bought the 37-acre ranch as a weekend get-away from the San Francisco Bay Area; after a couple of years of driving back and forth almost every weekend (200 miles each way) I moved to the ranch full-time and worked for Saint Elizabeth's Hospital Home Health and Hospice Agency in Red Bluff as Assistant Director.

During this latter part of my marriage, several relatives from my husband's side of the family relocated to the area; now, years later, I love to come back to visit friends and family.  So, I'm enjoying the first week of my NA adventure in some old haunts, so to speak.  

Today Lacy and I went to Home Depot, which wasn't here when I lived here, to buy some laminated shelving material and brackets to 'remodel' a Floribunda wardrobe closet into a pantry.  While we were out and about, I decided to drive through the downtown area to see what's happening with some of the lovely old buildings and houses.  Red Bluff is not what one would call the "in-stopping-off-place" along I-5, but if one takes the time, it's a lovely little town, population ~8K (1960), ~11K (1990), ~13K (2012) that hasn't changed too much, save for the popping up of a Walmart, Home Depot, etc.

I remembered that I'd visited a really exquisitely restored and decorated home way back in about 1990, so I thought I'd drive around to see if I could find it and came upon this beautifully restored home on Washington Street, there always has to be a Washington Street in small-town America.  I decided to jump out of Petunia Smart Car and take this photo of a truly gorgeous home, every detail done to perfection.

As I was standing in the street admiring it, the lady of the house came out to talk.  Lo and behold, this is the house I'd visited all those years ago.  My friend, Nancy, knew of this lady who'd done this house all in red, white and blue, inside and out.  I recall that she'd done all varieties of art work, quilts, house and furniture restoration.  "Babs" has now redone the same house in this magnificent new rendition of the Victorian look.  We had a nice conversation and she even invited me in - which I declined for today as I had Lacy with me. I gave Babs my card and encouraged her to look for her house on my blog.  And, here it is!

This is exactly the type of experience I'm longing to have all over this Continent.  I love meeting people and Babs is the kind of people I look forward to meeting.

She suggested that I go 'around the corner' to take a look at a Victorian that's in the restoration process right now ....

Each of these Victorian homes has an historical plaque identifying the year of the original construction.  I believe Bab's house is from 1889 and this one from 1890.

A couple of blocks down the street I found this captivating specimen on a corner lot ....

Check out the gorgeous window curtains.  It's obvious in all three of these examples that there is much love and pride put into these magnificent specimens of another era.

Thoughts about Opportunities - Three Simple Rules for Life

From time to time I come across a saying, poem, song or story that seems to 'speak to me,' and when I do I like to set it down, somewhere safe, to bring up when the spirit moves me.  Since I began blogging I've found a perfect repository for thought-provoking dialog and / or wisdom.

A couple of them .....

From a facebook and knitting friend, Pattie:

Three Simple Rules for Life

1)  If you do not GO AFTER what you want, you will never have it

2)  If you do not ASK, the answer will always be “No’

3)  If you do not STEP FORWARD, you will always be in the same place

and then there's .....

A Thought For Today

Are you gathering the rosebuds of today or do they 

             wilt while you wait for tomorrow?

Getting Into Blog Design

Bouncing around on the Internet I found this clip art HEART made up of BUTTERFLIES.  Perfect  as an intro to my blog, says I.  Well, now I don't know how to edit the size of the picture, so it's gigantic.  I also shortened the little blurb at the top.  This all started because, although I like the color scheme I'd chosen, I've been frustrated that I don't know how to change the birds on the wing to butterflies in flight in the upper right on the watermark template.

Before I continue fooling around with it I thought I'd share that I woke up early enough this morning that I went out and gave Petunia a first bath.  She'd become dusty, mostly from ranch parking and a little from the freeway driving.  Now she's nice and shiny again and has had a chance to dry completely before the heat terror of the Red bluff sun.


Later ....  Okay, I found a way to make the image smaller so the title line shows up better.  Now I'd like to make it a little more rectangular - wider than it is long .....

And, can anybody tell me how to change the birds to butterflies?

Malaise, Heat Exhaustion, Laziness, Satisfaction ....

No, I don't think I'm suffering from malaise or heat exhaustion and I choose not to think it's laziness.  I guess it's satisfaction .....

Red Bluff in the summertime is hot and dry; the difference between the climate at this northern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento area is that it just doesn’t cool down very much in the evening and night.  Last night it only got down to about the mid-70s - then started right back up this morning.  By the time I rolled out of bed after 9, it was climbing up towards the 80s.  In Loomis the last month it has been dropping way down into the low 60s and sometimes the 50s at night – kind of restoring one’s energy supply.  Oh, maybe this lazy feeling is just the first day of the rest of my life!  We’ve done a lot of relaxing today ….

The kids say, "This is the first day of relaxation - since yesterday!"  They just move from one place to another and start relaxing all over again!

Alice, my beautiful daughter-in-law,  called this morning, came over to see the wheeled abode at about 1 and we went out for a great lunch (dinner for me – for sure) at the Green Barn Steakhouse on Antelope Blvd.  It’s an old establishment, but neither of us had previously been there and found our lunches to be very good.  I had a prime rib French Dip sandwich and tossed salad, while Alice had a beautiful Shrimp Louis.  We did a lot of catching up on what’s happening with the family and my plans [next to none] for this adventure. 

Lacy worked up enough energy to accompany Alice to her car when she was ready to leave.  Sometime I tell lots more about Alice, one of God's gifts to the human race.  I love that lady!

Because I want to give Petunia-Smart Car a bath I wanted to buy some kind of car-washing product and Alice told me about one she’d purchased from a salesman in the service station while she was filling up with gas a few weeks ago.  She couldn’t remember the name, so we went to an O’Reilly’s to see if they carry such.  The guy there knows about it and even has some at home, but he couldn’t remember the brand either; however, they both agree it’s kind of a wonder product, so now my interest is peaked and I’ll not rest until I find out what it is and where I can buy it!  The O’Reilly guy said it’s not sold in stores; if anybody knows what it’s called, please let me know.  Supposedly you can ‘wash’ the car without soap or water!!!  And, Alice said Jeff loves it for cleaning the boat too.  Got to find out more!

When Alice had left it was time to take Lacy out for a little jaunt around the park – but late afternoon is the hottest time of day – about 103 today – so we didn’t last too long out there.  I find it so easy to pass the time reading, writing, playing games [Words With Friends, etc.], and generally being lazy – I mean relaxed.  Come on, MP, work on acclimating! 

I did take this shot of the Sacramento River with the bridge in the background being one of the I-5 crossings in Red bluff.  This is just a few steps from my RV site.  Even though the water is very low, there is still quite a current - and lots of water.

Ahh, Relaxation in Red Bluff

Last evening I prepared our 'First Supper' in Floribunda Flair.  The kids and I ate, then I drove to Raley's to pick up some Haagen-Dazs to top off the day.  What freedom to have my own wheels to manage life while Floribunda is parked!  We turned in early - or as my military dad would have said, "Hit the sack," for some reading and cuddling - two kitties and me - Lacy prefers the beginning of her sleep cycle on the floor!  Woke up this AM after almost 10 hours of sleep - maybe I was more stressed than I was conscious of during the first leg.  Hmmm.

As was my custom in Daphne Dolphin, I vacuumed this morning, while the coffee was brewing - a good 4 minutes of work.  Now I'm beginning a day of relaxation, MP style.  I get into one thing, then another - one interest, then the next.  The day flows by.  If somebody had told me ten years ago that I would relish this kind of day, I'd have thought that person looney.

I'm re-reading John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley and find myself remembering the first time I read it and how longingly I viewed his freedom to make that trip.  At the time I was a very young wife and mother spending my time in the loving service of husband and family, 60s style.  I knew what I was doing was important, the most important job in the world, but, I was envious of Steinbeck's adventure with his dog, Charley.  Now, upon rereading, I find that his trip was something like 8K miles - in 3-4 months!  Yikes, he was moving fast, way faster than is my intention.  Alas, I'm not only living the dream I once had, I'm improving on it.

To give an idea of how my brain works, I read the comments about the 'fedora' hat I bought and they triggered lots of memories and interest in knowing more, so off to surfing I went ....

FEDORA - a hat that was first designed and worn by the actress, Sarah Bernhardt, when she played the part of Princess Fédora, in a stage production, "Fédora," in 1882 in Europe.  The play came to the US in 1889 and the hat became a feminine fashion.  Later, it was worn by the male set - especially during the Prohibition and Gangster era.  My dad had a hatbox that held three or four on the shelf of his closet when I was a child.  From time to time I was allowed to try on his hats, as well as those of my mother - you know, with the veils, sequins and velvet ribbons, etc.  When Jeff was a toddler, my dad gifted him with of one of his fedoras and he wore it literally ALL THE TIME .... even in bed and in the bathtub!  I could surely dig up some old photos of Jeff in his 'fashion statement' if I had access to them!  It's interesting, what goes around, comes around .... the fedora was originally a women's style, later only men wore it; now it's worn by both.  You gotta' love history.

Although my time here is not all fun and games - I do have to move things from Daphne Dolphin to Floribunda and get Daphne ready to sell - I plan to start the process by relaxing, as I said in the beginning of this post.  Maybe some good photo ops later - Happy Monday.

Leg One - Complete!

We made it to Red Bluff without any problems.  The setup's done.  The air conditioner is on HIGH - it's 104 outside.  Called Jeff to let him know we're here.  Now I'm going to sit back and relax for a while before I decide anything about dinner or anything else!

Bob and Judy gave the kids and me a nice send-off just before noon.  Thank you so much for your hospitality and friendship.  We've had a great time ....

Got Petunia hitched up, check list done - OK, World Here We Come .....

Tried to get Lacy in the photo but she was so concerned I might leave without her, she didn't want to step out of Floribunda for the photo op!  Good-bye Loomis.

The drive North on I-5 was uneventful, thank you, God; we stopped at one rest stop and had a snack and potty run for Lacy.  It was beginning to get hotter ..... Arrived here in just over three hours.  The park is beautiful and spotlessly clean.  A gentleman ushered me to our site and even helped with set-up.

Bought this Fedora yesterday at the Macy's sale - $9.00!

Here we are - all save and sound at Durango RV Resort, Red Bluff, CA.