The Last Hurrah: Goodby to Sis

Yesterday was the last day of my sister's visit. She had a two hour drive back home to her family (and civilization) looming ahead of her, so we decided that we better go for one last lunch and a quick trip to see Sandy at her Country Living store in Amador City.
We drove over to Sandy's store and surprised her. What a treat it is to see this store and talk to Sandy for a while . She was having a sale which was even more exciting. We had to restrain ourselves. Well, that lasted until I saw her new wool fleece.
Since I saw Sandy two weeks ago and bought her beautiful gray (natural) and purple fleece, she had dyed and packaged MORE  wool and I just couldn't resist these wonderful colors...

I went all weak in the knees and bought 3 packages of this gorgeous fleece. I can't wait to felt some of it.
We spent more time than money there but bought a few things (you know the old saying)... "that we couldn't live without."
One more look at this beautiful fleece before I pull it apart and rub it to death.

Don't you just want to jump right into it and lie there making fleece angels in it?

Sis and I said our goodbyes to Sandy, drove to Sutter Creek on the old highway 49 and  had a quick lunch at the Back Roads Cafe. I took some pictures of this corner of Main St. and Randolph St. Across from Back Roads Cafe is the Sutter Creek Inn (top left photo). I worked there, as a cook, when we first moved here. It's a beautiful old home and a lovely B&B.

Sutter Creek may have a bit of an attitude but I love it anyway. You see.... I'm from Jackson to the south. Its claim to fame, besides gold mining, was prostitution, so Jackson is kind of the "Deadwood" of Amador County and Sutter Creek knows it. But..., we have the grocery stores that they need, to survive, so they tolerate our history. It's a win-win situation.
Sutter Creek is a "destination" for folks and it draws visitors from all over. The new bypass had cut the traffic, considerably, through town and eliminated all the big trucks that use to crawl through it, so that has made it a lot nicer to visit and find a parking place.
After lunch we went into the Antique Gardener on Main Street.

This is a beautiful store that has grown in size since the last time I was there (at the north end of town) and offers all kinds of gardening supplies including plants in its lovely garden out behind the store. If you love garden things you won't want to miss this store when you visit.

I bought a card that has a version of one of my favorite sayings on it....

and was given a couple of postcards... that were free because they were advertisments for the store.

and a small trinket that I will show you later for reasons that cannot be revealed  for a week or so.

Then, I drove my sister to her car that was packed up and waiting for the road home in a shopping center parking lot in Jackson.  We gave each other hugs and said our usual "See you soon. Drive carefully. Love you." and parted company. It's a ritual of love.
We enjoyed our visit and the week went so fast, but I will see her in a few weeks when I do the traveling down to the Bay Area  to see my family.
But now... I must away... from this computer. I go a felting.... woo, woo!....

My Sister must have brought it with her.

My sister arrived yesterday. She brought everything with her.... She brought dinner, cashews, chocolate hazelnut Biscotti from Trader Joe's and sunshine with warmer weather. She even brought her own bedding which freaked out the dogs at bit when she walked up to the house but they quickly got over it and went crazy over their "auntie" being there.
As you can see..

They let her share the couch with them.....

And then Carl made it very plain that this was were he would be, on my sister's lap, for the duration.

I think that Cutter, at his most relaxed, said it all..... They love having Sis here. I've never seen him do this before. He was really loving all his little puppish creature comforts.

This morning it was 20 degrees warming than it has been in quite a few days, so after breakfast we went for a walk. We drove the car down our very long, steep driveway, parked it and walked along the main road that goes to the river. It was still cold but it was so beautiful and all the creeks were full and making lots of commotion as they moved toward the Mokelumne River. I love the sound of water moving over the bedrock and trees. It's a beautiful thing to hear.
As we walked along I took these photos to show you how astounding beautiful this place is that I'm so lucky to live in.

Even with the old graffiti....

Even with the no trespassing signs....

 It's a road like no other.You go from being kind of tired and worn out from what the world has to give, to stretching your arms out  as far as you can reach.... and your whole body smiles....

And you think you might do a little dance, or jog a bit. This is what a walk in the country will do for you. Honest. Try it. Any country road will do. This is just an old country road but it's a magic road. I've seen this happen before. You will hear the gray squirrel calling your name as it runs across the road in front of you. "Come and play. Come into the trees and join us..."

Sis chose to spend her birthday with us. I'm so glad. Tomorrow is the big day, but I can't tell you how many years it's been unless I get her permission. All I can say is that she's my little sister and she's wonderful.