Road Trip Stop:Tillamook Cheese Factory

Okay, so yes - our road trip was back in May.
 But I'm only just now finally getting around to writing some of the posts I wanted to share about our trip!
No more excuses, just content.
When Lori and I were not staying with family and friends, we attempted to find the least expensive lodgings available.
Some of the places reflected that fact in an unfortunate way, but we wanted cheap, and you get what you pay for.
Lesson learned.
We were delighted, however, with our accommodations at
  Surfside Oceanfront Resort in Rockaway Beach, Oregon.
I want to go back and stay there again for more than just one night. We had a family suite, which meant we each had our own bathroom, the separate bedroom had another TV, and there was a full kitchen, too. I was able to stay up late and not disturb Lori in any way. For us, that was perfect.
We were able to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory while we were in the area.
 I took pictures of some of the large photos that were hanging up on the walls.
We had last been there in 1966! Our family took camping trips when we were growing up, and one of the longer ones {which was that summer} took us all the way up into British Columbia.
That trip included tours at not only Tillamook, but also the Olympia Brewing Company in Tumwater, Washington.
 (Daddy used to drink Olympia Beer. I just watched "The Graduate" last week and Benjamin Braddock was drinking it, too, in the movie!)
I didn't remember very much about the cheese factory tour we went on back then, other than huge long vats full of cheese curds, and getting a sample of their wonderful cheddar cheese at the end, which has always been my favorite.
We were only able to see their Temporary Visitor's Center, which  meant no tour this time. We still enjoyed the visit very much, and each of us made some purchases, and we also had some ice cream while we were there.
And, why not?

You have to know I could not resist a photo "op" inside this VW!

And here it is - and here I am:

Click here to read an article about what happened three years ago to their fabulous little orange VW mini buses that were being hauled with this rig:

I had to bring home one of the little mini VW orange buses - it was just too cute to pass up!
I hope to be able to go back there again after they have their Visitor's Center Grand Reopening in 2018.
And just in case you thought I was kidding about liking the cheese, this is what we happen to have in our refrigerator right now here at home:

We're cheese people, folks. Plain and simple.
I also bought a souvenir tee shirt for my husband's birthday, which was two days after we got home from our two-week trip. It was his favorite gift, so I'm glad I thought of it!

Back to the ice cream: I found the flavor Lori had tried at the grocery store when we got back home:

Yes, it IS as good as it sounds!
(The one I tried that day was Malted Moo Shake - also fabulous, by the way!)
And later at a different store, I saw this pint of frozen custard, and I had to try it, as well:

It was good, but I still mourn the fact that I can't seem to buy a peach ice cream at the supermarket like whatever we used to get when we were kids. It was probably either Safeway's Lucerne brand, or possibly Crystal.
 I think I'll have to try making homemade peach ice cream some day, and see how that turns out!
Some day... yes, but it won't be anytime soon.

My (Annual?) Visit To Apple Hill

I got to go up to Apple Hill earlier this month, and I can only HOPE that I will get to go again this season.
I didn't make it up there at all last year, and that really bummed me out.

 I was with my very dear friend Kim, who lives in Camino, and we didn't have a lot of time the day we went.
We had a quick lunch at Blondie's Coffee House and it was fabulous!
 What a delightful little restaurant it is!
(I wish I had remembered to take a picture.)
 The pictures I'm sharing today are from  Grandpa's Cellar, which was the most important destination for me that day.

The reason I wanted to go so badly to that particular apple ranch was because the  woman who runs the wonderful gift shop there is a friend, and also happens to be Lori's former landlady.

The shop is amazing!
It is, quite simply FULL of fabulous things - I swear you could go in there and do your Christmas shopping!
Something for everyone? Bim. Bam. Boom. Done!
Do you see that little salt and pepper set front and center on the table in the picture above?

Well, Kim and I both came home with a set!

Thank you, Heather!

We REALLY enjoyed our visit to the shop, and we will most definitely be back!

I've got to get back up there, and on a day with more time (and maybe money?) to spend.
I want to sit and savor a slice of local apple pie, and I want to come home with some apples.
I'm really looking forward to it.

So, remember - "Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me", and if you're heading up to to Apple Hill - please take me with you!
Because it's one of my favorite places in the world.

Ten Years As A Blogger!

This month marks the tenth anniversary of our blog here at Gold Country Girls.
With over 3000 posts now under our belts, my sisters and I would like to say thank you to every single person who has ever read (and, hopefully, enjoyed?) one of our posts.
We three do write about a wide variety of subjects, so it is my hope that there truly may be something for everyone here, if you were to go back and pore through our "archives".
 Please be prepared to sit a spell and linger for a while, if you do! There's an awful lot to read and a myriad of pictures to go along with all of the text.
I also wanted to ask our loyal readers to please "Forgive Me"!

 For what?
For my lack of regular posts, of course!
I have been devoting all of my time to working on my business selling vintage goods, and also to the long-neglected task of organizing all of the things I want or plan to sell, and also to putting my house and storage areas in to some sort of  order, rather than the disorganized chaotic mess it has all been for far too long.
This has left me with little to no time for blogging, as I am also now working at Mountain Treasures at least one day a week here in Sonora.
Writing this blog is still important to me, but it does require a fair amount of time, and that is what has been lacking.
I fully intend to start posting more often, and I will be trying my very hardest to do just that!

On a completely different subject, I wanted to share with you all today a photo of our Mother that I found when looking through old family photos at Tina's while I was at her house for a visit last month to celebrate her birthday.
(Oh, and that vintage sheet music above is Tina's too - I loved it and had to snap a photo of it!)

I did not remember Mother having one of those great, colorful embroidered burlap bags, but the proof is in the picture.
 (I do wish I knew what color it was, though! I'm sure it was colorful, not that you can tell in this black and white photo.)
That's not a very good picture of our mom, so here's one of my favorites of her school teacher photos, taken somewhere around the same time frame, so that you can see how pretty she was:

 Didn't she just have the loveliest smile?
Yes, she really did. We miss you, Momma!
Okay, so back to those beautiful embroidered bags - here are some much more colorful photos of some that I have found.
 We'll start with the most colorful:

 And next we have this lovely one in aqua and white:

 And one in brown and russet tones:

 And last of all, a cool sort of zig-zag pattern in pink, black and yellow:

I love them, but I don't use them, so I'm planning to offer them for sale - just as soon as I can find the time!
 (The one in the first photo has already sold.)
So, that concludes the colorful part of today's celebratory post.
And thank you again, dear readers, for sticking with us for the last decade.
And if you have just found us, PLEASE comment; the comments make us so incredibly happy - because it makes us feel as though we are actually connecting with people out there in this big wide world.
:)

Antique Nasturtium Studies

Tina here, with a post to share some of my collection of original nasturtium paintings which I have collected over the years. These five are special since they have all been painted as "studies" which must have been presented in either a magazine, book or some form of class pamphlet for the budding artists to follow. I thought I might have a copy of the original study somewhere but I have not come up with it, so if I do in the future I will do my own painting and share it and the study with you as a new post. I have been wanting to try my hand at one of these anyway so it would be fun!

This lovely framed painting above appears to be an oil and it is in it's original frame. It is not dated. It is signed M. Weiserfluh. As you will see, the paintings all have the same blue bowl, and similar placement of the nasturtiums, but each artist has added his own touch, and some have added an extra bud or bloom or leaf here and there. That is what is called artistic license. One of my art teachers, Jim Estey, a teacher from high school, college, and later a friend, gone now, printed out for his students an actual "artistic license" which he had laminated, and I have always carried it in my wallet since with pride.

This watercolor above right now is not framed. It has it's own plastic cover protecting it from the elements in my dining room. This artist, only known to us as "KB.N" dated this 1916, so it is 101 years old. It sports extra nasturtium buds, leaves and a flower.

Please excuse my feet and slippers, I couldn't seem to get my photo program to cut and paste for me!

This is another watercolor, and again unsigned or dated. It appears to be in it's original frame, which all my framed paintings in this post are. Each of these paintings are at least 14 inches wide and about 9 inches long, a perfect size to hang over a window or a door.

This lovely gold leaf frame has seen better days and needs a touch-up at the corners that it is waiting patiently for me to give. It is another watercolor, and sticks pretty much exactly to what I think is the original study. It is one of my favorites of the five, and very well done. The artist is Ira Skipper, and it is dated '12. That is 1912!

 Last we have another unsigned oil. I am so sorry when I see a beautiful work of art that has gone uncredited for all these hundred years. I guess these artists just thought of these as their practice pieces and they weren't important to them. But here we are years later and they are antiques and I now collect them and hope to find more, and would love to find more information on the original artist who set up the study and perhaps even grew the nasturtiums which tumble out of the blue bowl.

Until next time, hope you enjoy these last few weeks of summer.

What's Penny Wearing? #148 One Of The Cutest Vintage Aprons EVER!

I was so delighted when I found this vintage apron at a thrift store:

I love everything about it!

I love the colors, I love the patchwork-style print, I love the polka-dot waistband, pockets, ties, and trim:

I love the fact that the fabric is so nice and crisp and clean that it does not appear to have ever even been worn:

I love that it fits me!

I love the fact that if you wear it over a blouse, it can essentially be considered a jumper.
When I found it, I intended to sell it, but the fact that I could wear it myself has proven to be somewhat a deterrent, as far as THAT goes, let me tell you.

Green, blue, flowers, patchwork print, polka-dots - what more could this vintage-lovin' girl want, I ask you??

Well, this is actually pretty darned cool, too:

Just last week, I bought a vintage Better Homes And Gardens magazine (October 1974) at a vintage shop, and when I came home and looked through it, I found the advertisement shown above.
It appears to be just like mine, quite possibly in the "blue" patchwork version.
Made by Sofwear Designs in Houston, Texas.

(Oh, Houston - our hearts are aching for all of you down there in Texas!)