Powers Mansion Inn Tea Room

Yesterday I was able to go with my good friend Donna, to tea at Powers Mansion Inn in Auburn. We had a really wonderful time. The drive up there is about an hour and 15 minutes and we just had a blast talking and laughing. We both enjoy going to tea because it's all about getting together and just relaxing through a meal and reconnecting. We both love to take pictures and so we tried to document everything we did yesterday.

We ended up getting to Auburn about 45 minutes before our tea reservation, so we drove around Auburn taking pictures of the historical sites. Auburn was a gold mining town and it was so interesting. I took pictures of a giant miner and Chinese laborer.

1st course
Sweet Potato Soup
Artichoke and Red Pepper Quiche
Fruit

Donna

Tea Tray
Manderin Orange Scones
Chicken Salad Sandwich
Red Pepper Spread on dark Bread
Cucumber Sandwich
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookie
Brownie Square
Pumpkin cake

Manderin Orange Scones
Creme Brulee Tea




We had a great time and after our tea we went to the Bernhard Museum.
More about that to come!

Peanut Butter Cheesecake

I saw this recipe on Flourchild's blog. You can find it by following the link on my blog list. I decided to make it because her pictures were beautiful and I love peanut butter. I don't make cheesecake very often because my hubby hates it. After all my hard work on this he wouldn't even taste it. It was wonderful. I ate a piece and then gave some to one of my friends and then let darling daughter #4 take it to her apartment to share with her friends. That way I felt sufficiently appreciated. Here's a couple of pictures of the finished product.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

2011 has been a very challenging year for us. I am a big believer that every thing happens for a reason and that God is in control of my life. I don't think I could have made it through this year thinking any other way. The biggest thing we had to face was my hubby being ill. He had a bad case of kidney stones and after having surgery for their removal, he had every complication he could have. Losing your health puts everything in perspective about what's really important. After four months on disability, my husband regained his health and I got some of my sanity back...

In August we lost my dear mother-in-law and we miss her very much. We also were forced to downsize from our house to a one bedroom apartment. The blessing in disguise is that my husband and I really do like each other as well as love each other : ) We look around and we see so many hurting people and we feel blessed to still have each other, a roof over our head and food on our table.

2012 will bring more big changes to us. Hubby will be retiring in March and I will retire in June. We plan to move to Colorado shortly after my retirement to be closer to one of our daughters and two of our grandchildren. It will be a much different place than California but we are ready for and embrace the change.

Last School Year

School started on Thursday, August 18th. This is my last school year as a bus driver. I will be retiring at the end of June. It's kind of bittersweet. I'm really ready to be retired, but I think I will really miss the kids, too. When I retire I will have almost 24 years as a driver and as with any job, it's had it's ups and downs. I like to think I've made a difference in the lives of the kids I've come in contact with. I realize that sometimes I'm the first adult these kids see in the morning and I have the power to make or break their day by my attitude. I want each and every one of them to have a great day at school and I hope I can help them to do that.

This year is different because for the last several years I've been driving a small wheelchair bus with only about 15 students. I will miss all those kids I've been driving but their new driver is also great and I know they are in good hands. I'm driving a 40 foot bus this year with a capacity of 62 students. I actually have about 30 special needs children on this bus. Although our first day of school was hectic, as always, we got the job done and Friday everything started to flow better. I think it's going to be a really good year!

Don't forget to stop for those red lights when you see a school bus on the road. Be safe and care for all the children!

Sewing a Little

I haven't had a very productive summer when it comes to my quilting projects. I've been going though a lot of personal stuff, that I won't bore my readers with, but it's been hard to get motivated to do anything. The other day I walked into my sewing room and looked at my design wall and there was a project hanging on the wall that has been waited to be finished. I sat down and finished it. It just has to be quilted and the binding put on. Hopefully I will do that before I have to go back to work in two weeks. Here's a picture:

The binding will be the same color as the inside border. Now that I'm looking at it I feel really motivated to get it done!

I Left My Heart In San Francisco

Yesterday we got up early and drove down to San Francisco for the day. The weather was perfect for our little adventure, cloudy and cool at first, and then the fog burnt off and it warmed up to a perfect temperature of about 75. We started out about 7 am. because we wanted to hit Dynamo Donuts on 24th St. and they open at 9am on Sundays. We got there about 8:30 and we were second in line. By the time the doors opened at 9, they had a line down the street. We wanted to try the maple bacon donuts and we weren't disappointed.

Since there were four of us we ordered two maple bacon donuts, 1 Caramel De Sel, 1 Chocolate Spice, 1 Passion Fruit Milk Chocolate, 1 Vanilla Bean, and a Cherry Cornmeal. These donuts are very expensive because they use the very best of organic ingredients. Truthfully, for us it turned out to be more about the journey than the destination. The donuts were good but not so good that I would get up early and drive an hour and a half to buy them again. But it was fun!

Me and My Shadow 

After we left the donut shop we decided to drive around San Francisco and try to see some of the city we had never seen before. We ended up at the Embarcadero Center near the waterfront and had a great time walking around and taking pictures of interesting buildings and fountains.

I loved this sculpture and this building on the right. The next picture is the floor of the Embarcadero Center. I loved the pattern. If I was good at circles I would love this as a quilt pattern.

This is the Old Federal Reserve Building. It's now called the Bentley Reserve and you can have your events there including weddings.

Clock Tower on the pier, Flower Sculpture and Bay Bridge



Darling hubby and two youngest daughters

In front of the Bentley Reserve



Megs and her daddy

Interesting fountain and sculpture

After we finished at the Embarcadero Center we walked across the street to the ferry building where they have put in all kinds of shops and restaurants. We got salami cones from Bocolone, which is Chris Cositino's shop from Food Network.

Buying Salami

All that salami, so little time!



We walked around a little while and then decided to go to the North Beach area of San Francisco to have lunch at the Stinking Rose.

Neon Ravioli, Gnochetti w/ Asparagus, Foccochi w/ garlic

This Garlic Rose Relish was really good!



Foccaci Rolls, Garlic Rose Relish, and Oil

Lunch was really great and since we all shared we

didn't get stuffed. We had a great time in San Francisco

and I will be sharing more tomorrow.



Bagna Cauda



The Postcrossing Project

About a year ago, I heard about the Postcrossing Project from my darling daughter in Colorado. We were visiting her and I noticed a big map of the world on her wall with pins stuck in it. When I asked her about it, she told me it was a project that she was doing with my grand kids for geography. She home schools and she is always coming up with cool things that will teach the kids something. She had found this web site http://www.postcrossing.com and had decided to join. She thought I would enjoy it.

When you register on the web site, you can send 5 postcards to 5 random addresses that they give you. The cards are sent all over the world. When the person you sent a card to, registers that card on the web site then you go to the top of the list and someone sends you a random card.

I've often thought that we are getting so used to e-mail, texting on our phones, and being on the computer that we are losing our ability to have personal relationships. When I get a card in the mail and I see the other person's actual handwriting it makes me feel good. I've gotten cards from all over now and I will continue to do this for a long time.

The Postcrossing Project just had their 6th anniversary yesterday. I advise anyone that thinks they might like this to check it out.

Weight Watchers 5K Challange

Today was the Weight Watchers 5K Challenge. If you walked or ran the 5K, at the completion you got a nifty 5K charm to put on your 10% goal key chain. I wanted that charm. Really, really bad. I got up at 6am and had breakfast and then darling hubby and I were off to the challenge. We had about 50-75 people show up from our meeting and other meetings and we started off promptly at 8am.

I have to say that I didn't do much training for this event and I had some fear that I wouldn't be able to finish it, but it was so much fun. I walked with my friend, Corinne and we had a great time talking while we walked. Darling hubby drove to several points on the walk so he could cheer me on and before I knew it we had done more than half of the walk. Right before we hit half-way, we had a very steep hill to climb. We got through that and started back down. Darling hubby again drove to certain points and cheered us on. I was really surprised at how good I felt at the end. I had some pain but not much and I've been fine tonight. I stretched after the walk and took a warm shower when I got home so hopefully I won't be too sore tomorrow. Here's some pictures:

Pat, me and Corinne

Barbara and Sabrina

Right before we got started.