Farewell to a Good... (Well Most of the Time...) Dog

Tina here. A bit late. I didn't want to write this. We had to say goodbye to our thirteen year old Welsh Corgi Robbi (Duke Robin Hood of Kelsey) this past Saturday.

I really hate it that I am outliving my pets.

Oh Robbi, I hope where you are, over the Rainbow Bridge, there is plenty of room for your tongue!

One of Robbi's favorite things was riding shotgun on the ATV with Rich to the mailbox or just around the yard.

Robbi and Ishi were pals, and until Robbi grew ill they would wrestle, and Ishi would end up rather damp-mop-like. I think he misses that. Heck, I miss that.

Goodbye little swift cattle herder.

Wagons Ho! The El Dorado Roses Ride with Wagon Train 2016 from Pollock Pines to Placerville

Finally! Computer trouble all day. It took forever to load the pictures on here, and then they were all backward. The summer solstice was working against me.

The beginning of June I was lucky again to be able to ride with the Wagon Train. This time it was longer, we went all the way from Pollock Pines to Placerville.

My seatmates in the surrey with the fringe on top were the 2015 El Dorado Rose, Bonny, and her Court (Judy with Bonny above.)

I was told to be there at 9:00 am. Unfortunately, the rest of the group were told 7:30, so they waited a long while, since the Wagon Train headed out about 9:45.

I sat with Carol, on the right below. 

There is a lot to do to get ready, so as we waited we watched the wagon in front of us hitch up their horses.

In front of us on the surrey were two seatmates who are in third and fourth grades. They had a book they were sharing. They had just met the day before, but seemed to get along very well.

Annette (that is the back of her below) is the grandmother of one of the girls, and the other girl's mom was riding a horse a way in front of us.

Just like last year we had single riders who rode alongside and in front and back, watching over all the wagons and helping keep the pace.

We took several breaks, and the horses got water at each one. This stop below was at the Cedar Grove Grocery. I lived close to here for almost four years, so that was fun for me.

The day was perfectly glorious, in the eighties, breezy, it couldn't have been nicer.

After leaving Pony Express Trail we were on Carson Road and soon entered the town of Camino. We stopped right in front of the hotel for a break. There were many people there to great us.

Below Doc Davey Wiser and his wife bring their buggy to a stop for some R & R.

In front of the hotel were large plates of giant cookies, bottled water and other drinks. I chatted with our driver Annette's mother for quite a while. She has lived in Camino for about seventy years.

The people of Camino were very welcoming! All along the entire route the neighbors came out to wave, some could even wave from their windows! I saw several people I knew.

After our refreshments we moved on, passed High Hill Ranch where we had started last year, and came to our lunch stop at Boa Vista, where I think the tri tip sandwich and the blueberry turnovers were the popular favorites.

Then on the road again. In front of us was a small wagon, and the people riding in it had to sit on hard wooden benches, I was so glad to be in our surrey with padded seats and shocks! What luxury!

I had taken a picture of the house below last year. Since then, it has new owners and the yard is all cleaned up, and they were sitting on the porch waving. Not a lonely home any longer!

This is Ladybug, she was with us last year too but I didn't get a decent picture of her. Here she is sitting next to me ready to head into town. She was so good. 

We stopped for a while on Jacquier Road in Smithflat, I am not sure why, however, we stopped there last year also.  One of our single riders let his horse have a bit of appetizer along the side of the road while we waited.

Finally, after another break on Smithflat Road almost to Broadway, we began our trek towards downtown. I was getting low on pictures, so I waited to begin taking more until we were closer.

Kicking back in front of the soda works, above, and scooting by the Chamber of Commerce, below.

Again, my friend Marilyn, who I worked with at the Heritage Museum, was out to greet us. I threw her a kiss as we went by.

I always have to get a good shot of the Courthouse, I spent a lot of time there (working) and I love that old building.

This lady (I didn't catch her name) was a sort-of portable MC as we neared the bell tower.

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 Bell Tower now in view! It only took about six hours to get here!

When I was young we watched the much bigger Wagon Train parade from our doctor's offices, which were in this building above the theater. It was a great vantage point!

The bell tower was where the action was, and I spied some familiar faces in the crowd. My El Dorado Rose Court ladies, Anita and Suzanne were there sitting on a bale of hay. (I missed getting their photo), and below a family I well know, with little Dax getting his first gander at the Wagon Train.

The bookery workers and their families gathered near the door.

My final shot of the day was well dressed ladies on the balcony of the Cary House welcoming us to town.

It was a very fun trip, quite long compared to last year, but we rode in comfort. The surrey owner and driver, Annette, does not charge the Roses for the ride, and it costs her quite a bit to bring the horses and surrey to town for the trip. She is not sure if she will continue to drive it next year. If she doesn't, I doubt if I will be along for the ride, but I am very thankful I was able to ride along for two years!

It's A Southern Sort of Book Club Meeting

Good morning Tina here.

Last week I went up to Camino for a luncheon meeting with my book club group (a side line of the Placerville Shakespeare Club). We are called the Blue Stocking Sisters. A "blue stocking" is defined as a woman with considerable literary or intellectual ability or interest.  We mostly read the classics, and try to read at least one Shakespeare piece a year.

This day we were discussing our reading of "Gone With The Wind"by Margaret Mitchell.

We met at the home of one of our members, which sits on a wooded piece of property in the heart of what we in El Dorado County call Apple Hill. Her home was absolutely gorgeous. Tall slanted ceilings met high above with skylights in the center. As you walked in the front door a two-sided fireplace met your eye, and beyond was a cozy room with plenty of seating, and two antique stained glass windows drew your gaze immediately. Along every wall and in every nook were Hawaiian and oriental nicknacks. This family spends part of each year in Hawaii at their second home.

Janet and Bernice were the hostesses. Mother and daughter. They recently have begun living together in the house that Bernice (the mom) has lived in for over fifteen years. The stained glass windows were found by Janet's father (who is now deceased) in an antique shop in Southern California, and they were in pieces. He painstakingly restored them, and they grace this wonderful home, one letting in light from the east and one from the west. They are incredible!

We were seated around a table with a beautiful magnolia blossom strategically placed so we could all get a good sniff.

As we settled in and soaked up the southern scent, we were offered our choice of sweet iced tea, an Arnold Palmer (iced tea and lemonade - non-alcoholic, if you add bourbon it is called a Tipsy Palmer), or a mint julep with a touch of Kentucky bourbon from a very old bottle that Janet found way in the back of Bernice's cupboard, forlorn and forgotten. (Guess what I had? It had a bit of mint in it.)

One of our number, Pat, always loved the movie Gone With the Wind since she was a child, and her daughter helped fuel this passion with gifts such as almost every book about the movie ever published, and these two delightful dolls shown below, dressed in two of the most iconic costumes Scarlett flaunted on screen.

I think the little Madame Alexander Scarlett is contemplating a sip of Pat's mint julep, while the taller one feels she might be too young to imbibe. Below Pat shows one of the costumes from her 1939 movie book.

We had a wonderful lunch (I wish I had thought to take photos) of a succulent ham, juicy fruit salad, buttermilk biscuits, potato salad to die for, and a chocolate pecan pie that just about left me speechless, served on vintage china, with the prettiest silverware which sported a single rose wrapped around the stem.

Out of the many tchtochkes (a Slovic word meaning trinkets) my favorites were two frames filled with
mysterious long feather items. They turned out to be hatbands crafted in Hawaii, and collected and worn by the same gentleman who rescued the stained glass windows. I saw at least sixteen different ones framed, and apparently he had more of them. They were very beautiful, although I am concerned about what happened to the birds.

The time came to say farewell, and after that meal and the julep, I thought about a nap when I reached home.

                 

Ishi and Robbi apparently had the same thing in mind and acted on it.

Next week I will once again take you along with me on a trip with the Wagon Train.

A Corgi Makes a Visit to the Museum

Good morning. Tina here.

Last Sunday I worked at the El Dorado County Historical Museum again. There was a Gold Panning event going on and we had 124 visitors! That is only about 120 more than the usual Sunday. It was a lot of fun, and I met a lot of interesting folks.

I "guarded" the back door which opens into the fairgrounds and overlooks the old stone gate. I had a hand held counter which kept track of our visitors.

I was kept busy clicking!

Early afternoon we had special visitors. A darling little female corgi who is a precious service dog, her owner and his wife.

She was the sweetest thing. A corgi owner myself, I couldn't resist visiting with them and hearing their story.

She is four years old, and her name is Jasmine. They call her Jazz. The pups from her line all have Disney names.  Her owner trained her himself and he did a great job! She is trained to help him in several ways, and can even bring him medicine if needed.

She is so cute everyone wants to pet her, so she is trained to sit and allow pets on occasion. I was lucky and got a close pet and lick of my own.

I hope she comes back to visit again soon!

Best Wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving

Good morning. Tina here. It is "Thanksgiving Eve" and I just want to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving.

I hope you enjoy a lovely day with family and friends, and partake of a delicious meal.

I am offering my thanks that all my pets are still with us. Robbi is still unable to walk but he is a champion at dragging himself around after my hubby, he still has his joie de vivre. We may not have him long, but we have him for a while! Chessie is so skinny you can see his skeleton, but he is still loving and can take over a human's lap like no other. Luna hides in the attic but is healthy and still likes to chow down on those gophers, and Ishi is fluffy and has taken to sleeping with me as my soft little bed warmer.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

When a Dog Gets Older... Robbi's Tale

Good morning. Tina here.

I've introduced you to my Corgi, Robbi, before.

His full name is Duke Robin Hood of Kelsey.

He is eleven and a half years old, born in January 2004.

One of Robbi's favorite things is to bark at the deer in our yard.  We have a lot of deer who live in our yard.

They don't really care.  In fact, once Robbi chased a doe who had her fawn with her and she turned on him and butted him hard. It hurt his back, and he had to go on a visit to the vet and get some pain pills. He seemed to heal up and be okay afterward.

We are not sure if that had anything to do with what is wrong with him now.

He is losing the ability to stand on his back legs, and has to drag them most of the time behind him. He has a hard time on slippery floors and climbing stairs.  He doesn't seem to want to play with Ishi like he used to.

My husband has ordered a wheeled contraption, which will be custom made to his weight and size, to help him get around. I will keep you updated on his progress.