Sorry, not tonight 10-28-17

Oh, Dear!  I guess I will have to give up on those fast round trips in just a few days.  I have been wiped out today and have not been able to get through the pictures I took on the way home.  Since they were strictly point & shoot whilst driving I had to dump about half of them.  But I wanted to show you the difference in the two routes - I-5 and Hwy 101.  Very different drives.  So, I will work on them tomorrow after meeting friend Liz for coffee.  I'll take KoKo in his stroller so he can have his fill of staring at everyone and everything.  As long as no other dogs are around he is happy in the stroller, but I keep the leash tightly in my hand in case another dog comes into the area. 

Here are some pictures from Mary's area above San Juan Bautista.

There are two redbud trees close to the house and they are lovely in the fall.  Almost gone by now though. 

Those heart shaped yellow leaves are enchanting.

This the front yard - just California Live Oaks and fallen leaves.

The tree by the driveway that Mary immortalized in a quilt which is in the TCQC.

The native Toyon trees are covered with red berries in the winter - very Christmasy.

And right beside them are masses of poison oak which has such beautiful colored leaves in the fall and winter.  But beware - it really is poison, don't touch.

The madrone trees do very well in this area, but they are a short lived tree.  Fortunately they leave many tiny trees growing when they die.

Buckeye trees are plentiful, growing wild. See the buckeyes hanging in the top right quadrant of the picture.

 

And here they are in close up.

This is the motel down at the bottom of the hill, right on CA156 Hwy.

The locals call it the "Bumpy Motel" because of this peculiar stucco surface.

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Report on a fast trip 10-27-17

It was a fast trip to see Mary & Joe in San Juan Bautista, CA, and pay a visit to Back Porch in Pacific Grove, CA.  I spent the first night (Tuesday) at Harris Ranch near Coalinga, CA.  It is one of my favorite overnight stops, I can't explain why exactly.  It is like visiting something from the past and also of my past since I have stopped there many times over the last 30 years or more.  It is all tile roofs and floors, uneven stucco outside and plain painted walls inside with stick furniture (attractive, but not comfortable) and fluffy covers and pillows.  It is very "farmy" including the eau de cow if the wind is coming from the north where the feed lots are along the freeway.  Harris Ranch beef is prime.

For dinner at the "kitchen" I had a bowl of squash soup and a fall salad with lettuce, dried cranberries, sliced almonds, grated carrots and honey mustard dressing on the side.  The way to have just a little dressing is to stick my fork in the dressing and then load it with the salad.  Just a taste. 

In the morning I drove on to San Juan Bautista with terrible stop, stop, go, stop, stop. stop, traffic on CA 156 where they are patching the pavement.  Since it is a two lane road the work requires stopping one lane, letting a number of cars to proceed, then stopping that direction and letting cars move into the lane and proceed.  This road has a million trucks on it since it is in the middle of the produce farms and plants in the valley.  Fortunately, I was not behind a semi hauling veggies during the stop and go.  They tower threatening above me and give me the fidgets so I always leave a huge space in front of the car.  I could never drive a Mini-Cooper!

We had one of Mary's delicious chicken salads for dinner and it was plenty for me since I had done nothing but sit since I left home.  I did the blog that night but didn't plug the laptop in again until I returned home. 

On Tuesday I went to the Gilroy outlets and was thrilled to find two pair of Easy Spirit shoes - one pair has zippers up the front like those that Mary wears.  AND a pair of black pants at the Dress Barn.  They have completely changed their store and seemed to be all about dressing up, while I was looking for some plain black pants with POCKETS.  I found a pair, but the pockets are very small, I guess I'll have to add to them.  And I will have to shorten them, as I almost always must, since manufacturers seem to think that if one is THAT big around they must also be equally THAT tall.  I swear I'll have to cut off a foot of the legs. 

Then on to Pacific Grove on CA101 which is also under repair, so it took an hour and a quarter to make the 45 minute drive.  This was a trip with construction and TRAFFIC.  Back Porch, the extra special, super fabric store was as wonderful as ever and I made a nice donation to the economy.  Bought a few fabrics for Ruth McDowell, including the light value she says one should always buy when shopping for fabric.  I had lunch at Peppers (fish tacos) because I forgot that The Red House is not open all afternoon.  I asked for a box and took one of the tacos and the fixings to eat for dinner.  Driving along the south side of Monterey Bay is always fascinating and this time I discovered a number of new houses going up.  Of course, they are McMansions, outshining the lovely old beach houses that have stood the test of time over many years.  But the view is of the smashing waves and flying spray - it was great with the blue sky and the sun shining brightly.  It was quite warm.

CA 68 starts at Asilomar Blvd, wanders through Monterey, and along the hills covered with California live oaks, and ends in Salinas on Hwy 101.  It was slow going - so much traffic just bumper to bumper.  I was quire a way south before the traffic lightened up.  I called ahead for a room at HIE in San Luis Obispo.  Where I finally ate the rest of my taco lunch,  went to bed and slept well.  Guess it is all the tension on the highway.  I was up and gone at 7:30am trying to make the drive home in four and a half hours.  Turned off 101 at Ventura and took CA 126 to the I-5 and then to the 210 Fwy.  Stopped for gas in Fillmore and then just headed home.  A lot of stop and go, just because there was heavy traffic.  Some construction along 210, not unusual, and I suppose people making a three day weekend by leaving before noon on a Friday.  So, I arrived at Dee's house at 12:10pm to pick up KoKo. 
We came home, I unloaded the car and before we both had a nap.  I suspect KoKo is tired because Dee's little Harper is very hyper, so KoKo has to be on his toes while he is there.

I hadn't intended to make it such a fast trip, but the opportunity presented itself with nothing on my calendar for this past week.  I especially wanted to see Dolores Roseveare's quilts hanging in the gallery at Back Porch.  She has made all of them in (or after) Empty Spools classes at Asilomar and the teacher name is on the identifying placard of each quilt - nice touch.  And almost all of them are sold or NFS.  Nice work Dolores! 

It was almost 1000 miles and I loved being on the road again.  Only I missed my KoKo!

I'll look at the pictures I took after I posted last time and post whatever is worthwhile
tomorrow. 

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Twenty views on Interstate 5 and CA 152 10-24/25-17

On Sunday I asked Dee Jacobs if she could take KoKo for a few days, and she said yes!  So, I dropped him off with Dee on Tuesday morning and headed north to visit my friends Mary and Joe. And to drive into Pacific Grove to my most favorite quilt shop -

the fabulous Back Porch Fabrics.

 

It is always hard to get out of the LA basin, crawling through the Pasadena area on the 210 is stressful and sometimes v-e-r-y slow.  But once past Castaic the landscape is very bare and rather craggy.

There wasn't a lot of traffic on Tuesday and I made good time.

The hills have their tawny coloring and are very dry and susceptible to fires.

At this higher elevation it wasn't as hot as Placentia when I left there - 105F.

There is a ranch house amongst the trees.

Up and up with a cloudless sky and rolling hills.  I think the high point is 3000 feet.

This is in the area of Frasier Park, the trees on the right in the distance are around a Highway Rest Stop, the last one I'll see for a while. .

Looking up at the tops of the hills.  Sometimes there will be house at the very peak and I always wonder how the residents get up there.

After the top, the highway goes down through the area called the Grapevine, although it isn't as vine like as it was when I first drove it over 50 years ago.  At the bottom of the downgrade is a wide spot in the road with gas stations and a motel that is called Grapevine.

Down, down, down, winding through the narrow slot in the hills.

There are two truck emergency escape routes where trucks that have lost their brakes can exit into a deep pit filled with gravel.  The road bends upward and the combination of gravel and elevation help stop the truck. 

I was hoping this picture would show the valley in the distance, between the two hills, but it is too hazy out there, it usually is. 

 

That thing that looks like a flag in the middle of the picture is another sign showing the emergency exit.  Beyond in the San Joacquin Valley. 

Somewhere north of the Buttonwillow exit my odometer turned over to 200,000.  I can't remember what the mileage was when I bought the Lexus used, but it seems to me it was about 30,000.  I've driven a lot of miles!

After a night at Harris Ranch, I am still on I-5 North.  Several spots showed where grass fires burned.  I'm always sure that it was a lit cigarette that started these roadside disasters.

This one was quick put out on both sides of the road. 

Just before Santa Nella, which is the largest town I come to since leaving the LA Basin, is the turnoff on CA 152 west toward the ocean.

It is mostly grassy hills with California live oak trees. 

Down and down to the fertile valley where so much of our vegetables are grown.

Where turned off on CA 156, where they were, unfortunately repaving sections of the two lane road.  They make it a one lane road where they are working, with a flagman to let so many cars go one way and then close that lane and divert the opposing cars into that lane.  It was interminable.  At one point I was stopped in front of this boxy house on the right side of the road.  These people like to put statues in their yard, along with the junk, and even have a pair of plastic flamingoes on the right.  There was also a pit bull to go with the chain link fence, but he wandered off before I could take the picture.

This is the view on the opposite side of the road from the house.  All that dark loamy soil has recently been plowed.  At the foot of the hills are farm buildings, farm workers and their vehicles.  I believe the highest peak is Mt Fremont which is a California State Park.

I am with Mary and Joe tonight and will go on to Pacific Grove for a fabric fix tomorrow.

 

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Re-visiting an Elizabeth Barton quilt 10-22-17

I posted this quilt previously on 03-22-09.

"Gathering Storm" Elizabeth Barton 2006 44"W x 26.5"L

Elizabeth was working on this quilt in August 2006 while she was Artist in Residence at the Empty Spools Seminar at Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, CA. By the end of the session I knew it needed to be in the TCQC. Elizabeth dyes/screens/creates all the fabric in her quilts; and I particularly love her shibori and the way she uses it in her quilts. The towns and buildings she creates are inspired by her native York, England, which she still visits and still photographs. I posted her quilt "Chimney Pots" in January 2009 and there are still two more of her quilts in the Collection.

Here is a detail showing both her hand quilting and machine quilting. She likes to use shiny threads to add a little sparkle and she also uses a variety of fabrics including silk chiffon and sateen.

You can see Elizabeth's quilts and read her Bio on her website:

http://www.elizabethbarton.com/

She also has an exceptional blog:

http://elizabethbarton.blogspot.com/

 

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