WONDERFUL WEEKEND WANDERINGS...

It was a beautiful weekend.

  The lilacs and the Lady Banks roses

 are brightly

 gracing the garden and...

...we drove down to Santa Cruz

 and the kids took us out

 to a delicious dinner 

and treated us to a basketball game,

 all in honor of

 the Captain's birthday.

Santa Cruz is home 

to the D league of 

the San Francisco Warriors. 

 They have erected a structure which,

 from the outside, 

looks like a huge tent,

 but on the inside

 has the appearance of a big league stadium

 with all the amenities

 that you would expect 

associated with the NBA.

  Most people are season ticket holders

 so it is like a community of friends

 that come together with each game. 

 Even the dog 

pictured above

 is a big fan.

Our new sofa was delivered

 and it is everything 

I had hoped it would be. 

 The color is perfect

 and it is very comfortable...

...are you old enough to remember

 that comfortable object 

that you and your family sat on

 in the living room

 when you were young? 

 It wasn't a couch...

it wasn't a sofa...

sometimes it was a divan...

but usually it was known as

 a chesterfield. 

 This new sofa of ours

 brings back those memories.

I borrowed the Captain's lamp 

from his library 

(or as he would say, "Like I had a choice?")

 and we both like it in here,

 so now I have to come up with

 a replacement for him.

I have had these two lamps

 on the master bath vanity

 and really never turn them on anymore so,

 I brought one into

 the new space...

...and fancied up a shade for it. 

 I really like the feel

 of it here.

I was so happily surprised yesterday

 to receive this beautiful package

 in the mail 

from my good and dear friend,

 Kerin, of Mill Hill Meadows.

  She had wrapped up this bag

 of the best smelling chunks

 of Blueberry Pound Cake

 for use in a tea-light warmer

 and two of the

 sweetest little birdies...

...to add to my collection. 

 They seem to feel right at home

 as they parade across

 the mantle piece...

...all of these thoughtful gifts

 were accompanied by a beautiful

 "dream" card 

that I appropriately tucked 

into a corner of the guest room

 along with other

 special momentoes.

Thank you so much, Kerin. 

 I so appreciate 

your kindness and

 your friendship.

We found this chest

 in a shop in Lodi. 

 We loved the lines of it 

and its usage

 and knew that it would be perfect 

in a special spot. 

 The colors are not in tune

 with what is planned for the room 

so there will be a drastic change coming

 and then the whole room 

will be revealed.

Hope you all had 

some wonderful weekend wanderings

 as well.

...Judy...

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GHOST STORIES...

West Main Street

Grass Valley, California

Grass Valley was originally known as Boston Ravine,

 later officially named Centerville 

and when the post office was established in 1851, 

it was renamed Grass Valley,

 for unknown reasons.

Pelton Wheel

Many of the first settlers

 were tin miners from Cornwall, England.

  They were attracted to the California gold fields

 because the same skills needed for deep tin mining

 were needed for hardrock (deep) gold mining. 

 Many of them specialized in pumping water out of very deep mining shafts.

Holbrooke Hotel

Grass Valley, California

Grass Valley has eight designated historical landmarks,

 one of which is the Holbrooke Hotel.

  The Holbrooke is the oldest hotel

 that has been in continuous operation

 in California's Mother Lode 

and the Golden Gate Saloon 

is the oldest continuously operating saloon west of the Mississippi.

The original building was constructed in 1852

 by Stephen and Clara Smith 

as a saloon called The Golden Gate Saloon.

  The following year,

 a single story annex, 

The Exchange Hotel,

 was added at the back of the saloon.

  A fire in 1855

 burned down the saloon

 but it was rebuilt with fieldstone and bricks.

 The Exchange Hotel

 also caught fire in 1862,

 after which it was renovated into a two story structure

 and in 1879, 

it was named the Holbrooke Hotel

 after the owner, D. P. Holbrooke.

  Currently the hotel has 27 rooms 

and is 19,400 square feet in size,

 which includes a restaurant along with the Golden Gate Saloon.

 The bar in the saloon

 was shipped around Cape Horn.

Several notable people have stayed at the hotel including

 Black Bart, "Gentleman Jim" Corbett, Lotta Crabtree, Bret Harte, Jack London, Lola Montez and Mark Twain,

 and five US presidents:

  Grover Cleveland, James Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison

 and Herbert Hoover.

The reception area of the Holbrooke

 Throughout the hotel's history

 many reports of otherworldly spirits

 have surfaced.

 According to the hotel manager 

when she goes downstairs by herself,

 she never feels alone

 and many visitors to the hotel

 have reported a presence in their rooms.

  Hotel staff have reported signs of ghosts

 in the hallways and in the rooms of the establishment,

 tugging on the feet of guests

 and unplugging electrical sockets.

 One such staff member reports 

her hair being pulled in Room 10,

 and a guest recently complained

 about a ghost sitting on top of them

 as they slept.

 A pet was reported to have problems

 in one of the rooms,

 the dog was uneasy all night. 

 It wouldn't rest or lay down 

and the owner said 

he felt a cool breeze

 all night.

The card room

This past week

 the Travel Channel has been investigating the hotel 

for their show, "The Dead Files". 

 They will try to substantiate

 whether these paranormal claims 

are true or not

 and if they are,

 whether the spirits are

 friendly 

or 

unfriendly.

The Golden Gate Saloon backbar

The hosts of the show,

 psychic medium Amy Allen

 and former NYPD homicide detective, 

Steve DiSchiavi,

 will explore and then meet

 with the owners

 to discuss their findings.

 Amy Allen sees ghosts 

and she will come at night

 to walk the whole hotel

 and nobody can be in the building

 except for her

 and her cameraman.

From left to right:

Susan, Sandy, Judy (me) and Cheryl

These ladies

 are members of the

 C..ute - S..ocial - S..ecurity - J..unkies.

We are all retirees

 from the Grass Valley School District

 and we've formed our club,

 using the initials of each of our first names.

  We meet for lunch, once a month,

 at different establishments around town.

  Here, we are pictured, in the dining room 

of the Holbrooke Hotel.

  We were hoping a rich ghost

 would show up that day

 and pay for our lunches,

 but

 no 

such

 luck!

The front entrance to the hotel

As of yet,

 no air date has been set for the show,

 but I will let you know

 when that happens.

  Just be aware

of a little tap

 on your shoulder!

...Judy...

The stairway leading up to the rooms.

You never know 

who you will meet

 on your way

 up to bed.

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HAPPY SPRINGTIME...

"It's cherry pink and apple blossom white

When your true lover comes your way..

It's cherry pink and apple blossom white

The poets say... ".

Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White

Written in 1951 by Mack David and Louigay

Performed by Prez Prado

...but it's finally here...

Happy First

 Day of Spring

...Judy...

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SECOND - GUESSING...

"Every time I decide to repaint a room,

 I obsess over barely perceptible subtleties

 to select the perfect color. 

 The moment the first brushstroke 

of the new shade hits the wall,

 I panic - my heart stops 

and I'm sure I've made a horrible mistake.

  A week later, I love it!"

 So said Peggy Kennedy,

 one time editor of Victoria magazine, 

in her March, 2001 editorial,

 but those thoughts and choices

 could have, just as easily,

 been mine.

I was so ready for a change in this room,

 but change can be very unsettling.

  Decisions needed to be made but,

 because of what the final outcome 

of those decisions might be, 

I did not feel up to the challenge.

  I so wanted to 

get it right.

The paint store that we do business with

 has a decorator on staff 

so I decided to ask for help

 with my color choice.

 We already had our new sofa on order

 and knew that we were painting 

all the trim work bright white.

  The existing carpet color is burgundy

 and that would have to stay

 and we also wanted the room to tie in

 with the parlor.

   With all those elements decided, 

I needed help with the right wall color.

My first gut reaction

 was a shade of blue. 

 I am very fond of blue

 as it is a very soothing color to me. 

 I took a pillow in with me 

that had the exact match that I thought I wanted,

 plus a piece of the parlor wallpaper.

  The decorator was very convincing

 that the color would be too dark

 and suggested to match the gold flower in the wallpaper. 

 Since decorators know best, right?

 I thought that would be the perfect choice.  Once we held the swatch up to the walls,

 it was apparent 

that the room would look very washed out

 because of the amount of light 

the room receives.

I went with my original gut feeling

 and picked out three different shades of blue. 

 We came home with a pint of each color

 and painted patches on the walls.

  Because of all the burgundy

 surrounding those patches,

 the colors all looked very different

 than I thought they would,

 and I became even more confused.

  I then went back to the store

 and chose the darker shade

 that I had first been drawn to

 and invested in two gallons of paint. 

 I say 'invested' 

because paint

 is not cheap now-a-days!

Benjamin Moore's Bedford Blue

Because of the lighting and time of day I took the photo the color looks a little more green than it really is. 

So, in Peggy Kennedy's words,

 I love it

 and it didn't even take me a week

 to find that out!

Here is a picture of the new sofa 

as it sits in the furniture display room. 

 It was a leap of faith

 to pick this out also! 

I think hope 

that it is a little more to the brown side

 than the gold it shows in the picture.

 I thought it was when we first saw it.

 We are having the carpet cleaned tomorrow and then the sofa will be delivered

and I only hope that

 I will love it 

in one day also!

I also changed up the parlor mantle

 to reflect Friday's beautiful beginning

 of spring.

As we were having coffee 

in the parlor this morning,

 I thought that maybe my display was a bit much,

 as I just can't seem to get

 the "less is more" concept down,

 but when I voiced my feelings

 to the Captain,

 he just rolled his eyes, and said,

 "Yeah, you probably have

 one too many daffodils 

in the pitcher"!

So,

 I guess 

if he is happy with me,

 and with what I do,

 maybe I should not 

second-guess 

myself

 so much!

...Judy...

HAPPY SPRING TO ONE AND ALL

AND

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

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