Over The River And Through The Woods
7:14 p.m. - 2004-08-17


On Saturday we drove through back roads to Placerville, the home of our favorite bookstore, a nice little cafe, and bead store. He was driving and somehow missed the turn to Placerville in a little town called Ione (which is also his mom's middle name). We drove and drove over hill and dale and eventually came to a nuclear power plant, Rancho Seco. I don't think I have ever seen a real nuclear power plant before in real life, though I have seen one on Mystery (PBS) and in movies. It looks very ominous, looming over the bucolic landscape, a harbinger of possible doom. After a bit, we decided we were getting nowhere fast, so we turned around and headed back to Ione. We could tell from the grumbling coming from the back seat, that one of us was hungry, so we stopped in Ione for a snack, then the two of us and our peckish passenger made the proper turn and headed to Placerville. I headed to the bookstore and Melissa hit the bead store, while he went to the Thomas Kincaid gallery to see what our early Kincaids are worth (since they were painted before TK got all full of "light"). After our respective adventures, we went to the cafe that Melissa discovered on her jaunt a few years ago to a friend's wedding in Tahoe. Though the marriage was ultimately doomed, the cafe is still going strong. You can get a half sandwich and a really tasty salad of the nut/crumbled-white-cheese/raspberry vinaigrette variety. From there we went on to Sacramento and home, though the traffic was very heavy all the way home.

The next day I went over to Beverly's to get some crochet hooks. Since they didn't have what I wanted, I drove to Michaels and found the Boye hooks I prefer. I am inspired by the lovely baby afghans EG was making, so I guess I will start up another one to have on hand for a baby gift. EG was using that Caron Simply Soft, and it does make a lovely finished product.

Eric's birthday is coming up this next weekend, and Jason says he is going to make pot roast and strawberry shortcake. I think I am on tap to make enough mashed potatoes to feed the crowd, which I am sure I will find out all about on Wednesday. Jason's leg is pretty much over the dog bite, and he is busy with sketching and painting. He has gotten some new paper and is doing portraits of whoever steps into his house. He uses the digital camera to take a photo of the person, and the next time you see him, he has finished a head study. The one he just finished of Jellie is pretty good.

I have been making turquoise and jade and am once again pining for a buffer. He says it would be better to get one than to jury rig one with the drill, as I have been doing, so I am going to look online to get one.

Melissa went out tonight to see Jenny-of-the-doomed-marriage and was not thrilled that they were going out for sushi, but I will be interested to hear what she ate. Also, she promised to get me the scoop on all the Jenny history and happenings, to which, since I forked out for a wedding gift, I feel entitled. And I also slaved away making that Renaissance Faire costume for the wedding, now that I think of it.

Time to go do some serious lounging and reading.