Blues

Song - Walking Blues featuring Keb' Mo' - Playing for Change - Song Around the World

Blue glass window at the Hotel California in Cabo.

Blue sky in Chinon, France

Blue eggs in a nest in our front yard

Blue Atlantic Ocean in Nantucket

Blue wildflowers near Loch Ness, Scotland

 A proud little Bluebird...

And the blue waters of Fallen Leaf Lake (foreground) and Lake Tahoe

Soul Full

Last week Mr. B and our son Jon headed to Lily Lake which is above Fallen Leaf Lake and at the base of Mt. Tallac.

We had only been walking for a short while when we came across bear evidence!

Beaver evidence....

Much more fresh bear evidence....

and warnings.....

We decided to head out of the wilderness, have lunch on the deck at Fallen Leaf Lake and have a leisurely drive back to the cabin.

We spotted these beauties in a meadow....

Posted with Blogsy

Emerging From the Mountains

Song - Sugar Mountain by Neil Young

Lupine in a meadow near Fallen Leaf Lake

Mr. B, Mika and myself returned from the mountains on Friday evening.

An Evening Grossbeak

It felt like we were leaving too soon.

A female Tiger Swallowtail

After all, not everything on our list of activities had been done.

I mean we didn't even hike to Lemonade Lake or play Putt-Putt golf yet!!!!

"Mr. B can't we stay at least two more weeks?"

But I knew we had to leave, mostly because of several art commitments that I had in the Bay Area.

I cried a little.

My new "Electra"

Mr. B bought me a cruiser bike for my birthday and I had fun driving around the cabin.  At least until I had to go uphill.....without any gears.....so I ended up pushing Mika and my bike up the hills.  Andy and Mika took a spin over the weekend.

She looks like she is his co-pilot and on watch for bumps in the road!

Ashley chose to ride solo - It kinda makes you feel like a little kid again! Can't you just see it in her smile?

Butterflies were in abundance this year!

Now that I have settled in it is nice to be home and return to my own bed, my garden, friends and family but it's also quite a shock!

The clarity of Lake Tahoe near Zephyer Cove

Now the mountains at home are the mountains of laundry, dishes and "to do" lists!

Sunset from Sunnyside

As always, great memories of Tahoe!


I want to thank my parents and grandparents for having the foresight of treasuring this beautiful lake and spectacular wilderness!

            "How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!"
         --John Muir


PS - Mama Robin had 4 babies while we were there.  She was a busy lady feeding her little ones!

Make a Wish and Blow

 Song - Birthday by Paul McCartney

My 60th birthday was on Sunday, June 9th! I reminded Mr. B that I didn't like big parties and at the last minute I decided we would head up to Tahoe which is the place I go to fill my soul. It was the best decision ever!

Thank you to my two cousins, Patty & Kari who now own the family cabin for sharing it with us! They recently had a beautiful new deck added and it was lovely to sit out there in the early morning and late afternoons.

I went up on Thursday with our two pups and the rest of the family came up on Friday night. I left a little later than I had planned.....you know how that goes.....just one more plant to water, one more load of laundry, oh yeah I should pay a few bills, got to pick up the dogs Rx before we leave, empty the garbage, and paintings needed to be dropped of at the gallery, etc.

But as soon as I smelled the pines in the Sierras, I was ready to relax and play.

I did my meditation out in the forest early Friday morning while listening to the various song birds and the breeze gently fluttering the Aspen trees around the cabin. There were millions of Spring wildflowers sprouting up all around.

At 9 am it was already warming up, which is unusual for Tahoe. I did some sketching and walked the dogs and did a little reading.  By 3 I headed for the beach and stayed until 6. I brought some wine in an empty water bottle, which leaked out in my bag.  The wine was floating around in a supermarket plastic bag and for one sec I thought about re-pouring it back into the bottle (as it was a rather expensive wine and one of my favorites - Frank Family), but as my son said later that that would of just felt desperate!! So I settled on reading and swimming.

The "boys of summer" were there to great me.

I headed home and cooked dinner for the family who arrived safely at around 8.

Saturday we spent the entire day at the beach and most of us returned to the cabin that night looking and feeling like red lobsters.  Even those that used sunscreen, missed a few choice spots!

Ashley, Andy & Tyler with Mt. Tallac in the background

 Some guys next to us had buried a large beach ball and were doing flips off of it. So fun to watch and I was glad no one broke anything - like their neck!!!

Mr. B had make lakeside reservations at Sunnyside for dinner.  It was an incredible evening of food, wine, family and glorious weather.

Andy & Ashley at Sunnyside dock

Tyler hamming it for the camera

When we returned to the cabin late that night we walked out to a clearing to look at the stars.  Tyler and I saw a shooting star within a few minutes! Then we headed inside for a friendly game of Canasta that lasted until 2am!

Sunday we were all too "beached out" so we drove to the ranger station where they were having a festival around what is native to the Lake Tahoe area.

Apparently bats are native......

Then we drove up to Fallen Leaf Lake Lodge for lunch out on the deck.

But see that one little cloud up there?



Looks pretty innocent huh?

Just you wait!

After a yummy lunch we drove up to the falls and Lilly Lake.

The only photo I have of all of us together on my birthday and it came out blurry - sorry.

Can you see that a few more clouds are gathering?

Lilly Lake

St. Francis of the Mountains

The kids all headed back to the Bay Area from there while Mr. B and I went back to the cabin to read & paint and snuggle the pups.

Mr. B poured me a nice glass of Chianti Classico while I stared a new painting.  To see the progress click HERE


While on the deck, the weather had turned to large dark clouds even though it was still warm outside.  The rolling thunder was continuous through the afternoon and evening.

That evening we had a lovely dinner at Scusa, a wonderful Italian restaurant nearby.

Monday I set up on the deck to paint and got in a few hours before the rains came.  We had a cozy day inside the cabin and around 3 decided to head home.

I always have a hard time saying goodbye to Tahoe but I am hoping we will be back in September!

Before the rains

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." - Frederick Keonig