Blissful Moments

Song - Sierra by Boz Scaggs

I have been "unplugged" for the last three weeks up in Lake Tahoe......

I was busy watching wildflowers grow......

....and big puffy clouds move across the sky......

We had warm weather, lightening storms, hail and brilliant sunshine.
 

 

There were ice creams to enjoy at Camp Richardson....

....and a 40th Anniversary to celebrate at Sunnyside.

 My mom came for a few days and enjoyed dipping her toes in the lake.

 After beach time I would return to the cabin to paint, read or enjoy a wild game of Canasta!

Mr. B enjoying a glass of wine with lunch at the Beacon.

An Osprey was spotted on the way home from Angora Lake.....

.....and a Red-Breasted Nuthatch near the cabin.....

....as well as Flickers in the late afternoon.

And chubby cheeked chipmunks ran to and fro getting ready for Fall.

 

And Mr. B got in lots of walks and swims in the lake.

BUT my very favorite part of all.....

...was a visit from this little cutie - my grandson Henry!

He got to dip his toes into Lake Tahoe and.....

...took a warm bath in the cabin's deep kitchen sink!

You know the saying "Go Jump in the Lake"!

Henry's dad and uncle did!!!

 I spotted a mama bear across the street from our cabin.  She had three little cubs stumbling along beside her.  I couldn't get a clear photo of the cubs as she was being protective......

....but later in the day Mr. B found them down another street in the forest.

And that's what I did on my summer vacation.  How about you?

"Laughter is an instant vacation."

--Milton Berle

Sisterhood

Song - Sierra by Boz Scaggs

Fall was definitely in the air up at Donner Lake this past weekend with warm days and crisp nights.  Leaves were dropping and swirling on the forest floor.

It was our 11th annual Girls Weekend and on Friday we headed up to the Sierra's for a few days of sisterhood, visiting, reading, shopping, relaxing, food and music.....oh......and quite a few laughs!

However this year things didn't go quite as planned. As Ellen and Barbara almost got locked up in the Truckee Jail!!!  This jail was used continuously from 1875 to 1964 and besides the two prisoners above, it has held notorious criminals such as Baby Face Nelson, Ma Spinelli and Machine Gun Kelly!  However, after we bailed these two out, we just went next door for a good cup of coffee.....

In historic downtown Truckee we did a lot of shopping and a little sightseeing

and we had a wonderful lunch together........

 ...at Moody's Bistro. (we were supposed to be mimicking the lady in the poster behind us but some of us - certainly not me - got confused)!

In the afternoon we relaxed around the cabin and then Ellen gave us a short but delightful talk on her passion of raising honeybees!  So many questions about the life of this very important little critter!

We played a late night game of Scrabble.....

I erased some of the words because of your delicate ears.....

But I promise....there was absolutely NO drinking involved!

"Just remember if we get caught, 

you're deaf and I don't speak English." 

 --Annonymous

PS - The menfolk seemed to adjust to their womenfolk being gone from the homestead just fine!

The Sierra's

Song - Sierra by Boz Scaggs

Maybe it just

 wasn't

 meant to be a "traditional" vacation.

Playing Indians with my brothers & cousins

Every year since I was about five years old, I have always spent part of my summer in beautiful Lake Tahoe.

There is something so familiar and relaxing in those magnificent mountains, bright blue sky and clear lake.

But this year something was.....well.....amiss.

For starters, Mr. B developed an abscessed tooth and sinus infection and had to return to the Bay Area for a root canal and antibiotics.

But near the end of our vacation he was in fine form and even swimming his annual laps in the chilly waters of Lake Tahoe!

While Mr. B was gone there was a spectacular lightening storm with nonstop rolling thunder, a little rain & even some hail

Friends who were going to visit had to change their plans at the last minute but others came to visit and play.

Andy & Ashley

Some others were uninvited guests and tried to sneak off with our dinner!

Oh yeah, and there was the tragic Rim Fire near Yosemite that sent all of it's smoke our way.

 

Some days the smoke stayed over in the Carson Valley.

So for over two weeks we had little visibility not to mention ash falling on everything.

But the smoke did make for beautiful sunsets! 

And an eerie light most days.

You know the kind of light that happens when there is a eclipse?  

Well sort of like that only orange.

So not too many days were spent on the beach or taking hikes but I did manage to do a lot of painting, reading and even got in some Canasta hands!

Mr. B and I also happily celebrated our 34th Anniversary on the outdoor deck at Sunnyside!

One evening we went to the Ranger Station's Amphitheater to see McAvoy Layne do his incredible interpretation of Mark Twain. 

And there were more Bald Eagles than I have ever seen flying over the water, searching for fish in Lake Tahoe and then returning to their nesting grounds high in the trees near the beach.

All in all, we made the best of the situation and are glad to be breathing fresh air again!

 "At last the lake burst upon us--a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft three thousand feet higher still! As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole world affords." -- Mark Twain