mike it sounds like you are having so much fun. and you arnt even at zuzus house yet. i need a vacation. we have a bluegrass museum here in owensboro. i havnt been but my son has a couple times. gatlinburg is a common vacation spot for people here because its so close. everyone loves it. of course i havnt been. dh and i went to the court house to get married so we never had a ceremony, and he always talks about going to this place in smoky mts to have one.

Gatlinburg is the mecca for weddings

Hey everybody,

I took yesterday afternoon off to explore the ranch for a couple of hours and do some photography, and thought I'd share some photos from "camp".

Here's the lay of the land. I'm sure this is commonplace to Zuzu, but to me it's pure paradise. Zuzu, you live in a beautiful spot of the world (even though everyone tells me it will be brown and dry in a few months). Still, it's like heaven to me!

Another view...

There's a very nice organic garden, and the produce is used by the kitchen staff to make the meals (the cooking is really good here!)

Views from inside the garden

Many hands make light work...

Of course, a few tools help too...

Some of the local wildlife...

These postings wouldn't be complete without a photo of at least one of the musicians, since this is a music camp after all. This is a young 20 year old fiddle player who was practicing by himself at the end of a dirt road down by the gardens. He didn't know I was there, and I caught him in pure concentration...

Great shots, Mike. The hat and the gloves are my favorites.

You're currently in the middle of the grazing grounds of those nationally advertised happy California cows. It's true that those hills will turn brownish-yellow between rainy seasons, but the evergreens stay green, so the landscape never looks arid. It's never seemed commonplace to me, though. I'm constantly aware that I live in one of the most beautiful locations on earth. Sue and my other shopping companions can tell you how I frequently stop in my tracks even as we walk through a parking lot to squeal in delight at the surrounding landscape. There's a view from the Safeway parking lot in Guerneville that reminds me of Ireland. When I'm there I often think of the people who pay so much money to go see the fabled 49 shades of green in Ireland when they could see the same 49 shades from a banal parking lot in a small town here.

And that's without the gray cold drizzly days so common in Ireland. and it's why we are looking for property up there!

I noticed some of the greens turn purplish in the twilight of dusk, when the colors and the mist intermingle.

GREAT photos Mike!

Thanks - I have great material to work with!

Well, the visit has now happened, and Mike is every bit as wonderful as you would imagine. We had a great day with Sue, most of which we spent laughing. Lots of gossip, lots of stories, lots of fun.

We went to some nurseries and then came back to downtown Sebastopol to poke around some of the stores. We bought plants, books, and candy -- all the ingredients for a perfect life.

And had two yummy meals, thanks Zuzu!
It's was a real nice day, plus I got to try out a couple of Mike's Canon lenses, just briefly but enough to know I want a nice zoom one!

While we were at Garden Valley Ranch, we all admired the picture of a rose called Cherries 'n' Cream. I said I had it, but Sue and Mike said it was new, so I bought it, of course. I should have had Fallon look up my list on HMF. The "new" rose came out in 2005, which is when I bought it, and I've posted photos of it in DG every year for the last five years. Here's one from three years ago.

Oh, well. It's certainly pretty enough to have two, right?

LOL, oh yes, it certainly is!! But even Ron said it was new when he walked by.
It reminds me of a McGredy, and what a beautiful vibrant color too!

Here's one from 2006 that shows how gorgeous the buds are when they're opening. Try to look past the bug damage on the leaves, please.