Memorial Day and Bear Season

In my younger days (school days) Memorial Day only meant a long weekend to play in the newly arrived summer weather. After meeting Viet Nam vets, and understanding my own fathers role in WWII, it took on a far more important meaning. Be sure to make that phone call, or send that emial to the vets you know, thanking them for their sacrifice and service. It means the world to them.
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Neighbor Pam Herrenkohl (and new Board Member) reported on her Facebook that she got a call from Lane Cox on Banner Quaker Hill by Gas Canyon Rd that a bear was in the garage! Pam and family raced over to cajole him out of the garage, but he/she had already made a hasty retreat. Oh yes, it's bear season again. Remember, our bears are shy and will happily retreat if you just make some noise. Don't leave pet food or any other food outside, keep garbage inside your garage until Thu. morn, and never ever take a shot at them. It could cost you a year in jail and $1000 fine. By the way, there is no "bear relocation" program in California. If a bear is deemed a real problem, he/she would be killed. So, be a good citizen of the woods, and don't make it tempting for the critters to visit your home, possibly dooming their existence. That means CLOSE your garage doors and make sure your other doors are not open when you are cooking something yummy. Even a vegetarian bear can't resist a fresh pie coming out of the oven, or an easily tipped garbage can. FYI, the last time a black bear attached a person in California was in like, Eighteen eighty (1880), in Santa Cruz mountains.

Tailgaitors, so over, Lumberjacks, in like Flynn, BIG CONCERT COMIN UP

Union article says Tailgaitors in Brunzwick Basin is gone (not a surprize, since 95% of their menu was deep fried). Who deep fry's everthing in this day and age? Anyway, a chain called Lumberjacks is going to take a shot at that place. You know, that is the location where the Scott Thorpe shooting spree ended back in 2001, and I'm pretty sure that building has really bad ju-ju from the incident (manager was killed first week on job I think.) Oh, I said "shot." Really, no pun intended. LJ's has 4 locations, Redding, Yuba City and Sacramento (2). Good family friendly comfort food and a great salad selection, with kids menu's, at good prices. Good luck, bad ju-ju and all.
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The Nevada County Land Trust is having their 8th annual "Stars" concert at the North Star House on Sat. Aug 28th. The main act is Legendary Mavis Staples of Staples Singers, an amazing R&B and Gospel singer, and local Lorraine Gervais and Burning Sensation Band warming up. This is a great opportunity to tour our own Julia Morgan creation (1st woman architect of California, 1st woman to graduate from UC Berkeley with civil engineering degree, and designer of Hearst' Castle and Asilomar Conference Center. ) They are creating a concert area and lots of parking at the North Star, for a wonderful evening under the stars. Lot's of good food and wine. Early birds (before 5/31) get discounts on tickets. It's a great night. Call 272-5994 for info.
ps: THE Saturday Farmers Market, formerly at the Fairgrounds has moved to this location. Check it out!

The Traveling Red Dress

To my lady friends reading this blog: please read the bloggess "The Traveling Red Dress." Link on your right. Just F'ing inspiring. Love ya all. Click on the link showing all the pics. How great to feel that great about yourself.
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Like a some of you, I've asked Dixie why she has seemingly abandoned her blog. She says she is just happy "flying under the radar" for now. Still basking in her 50 lb weight loss (you look mah-va-lous) and enjoying her jobless status. House clean, check, body makeover, check, daily exercise, check, happy home, happy husband, happy dog, check, time with the kids and grandkids, check, check, check. A bit of travel, check. Volunteering, check. Catching up on reading list, CHECK. Still, wishing you would share some of your thoughts Dix. See you for coffee and gossip soon? Was the Lady Gaga wig your Red Dress?

Women's club & Election

The Cascade Shores Women's Club has found a great way to earn money. A team of members has volunteered to work the June Primary election. Over $400 will be earned for the club, which as you know puts on parties for the children and families of Cascade Shores. Kudos ladies (of which I am proudly one). Their post will be at the Firehouse on BQHill.
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Just got back from 5 days on Oregon Coast. Same weather there! I watched the movie 2010, about massive global warming/drastic weather changes. Fact or fiction? You tell me. This is the coldest, wettest May in my memory!
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The Tour of California brought great atmosphere in Nevada City. Sure, we only saw the bikers for about 1 minute, but the coming together of volunteers and shopkeepers and well wishers was amazing. Great crowd. We had front row seats in front of Gold Country Real Estate by the National, and everyone was in a great mood. We rode a motorcycle thinking parking would be impossible, but really, not much different than hot summer nights. Thanks Lance! The bikes made their destination Sunday. Michael Rogers and Team HTC won the race. Lance crashed in Visalia during stage 5, while defending Levi Leipheimer. He had to drop out after receiving 8 stitches under his eye, and sustaining a severe elbow contusion. He should be back in shape for the Tour de France. Levi finished in the #3 position, 25 seconds behind Michael Rogers. Good stuff. For sure they put Nevada City on the map, and on alot of peoples radar. We should see a huge bump in tourism from this. Should be a great turnout for the Father's Day Bike race too.

MARIA'S in Grass Valley/Crime in the Shores

Is it just me, or does the new expansion/paint at Maria's on Main St. look like it belongs in Knotts Berry Farm? So much for local construction fitting into the Gold Rush Historic genre.
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Noticed that there is a Quiznos being constructed on Brunswick by Safeway/Blockbuster. Love their totally fattening Cream of (fill in the blank) Soups.
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A recent home burglary in Cascade Shores ended in the arrest of 4 young men on Hydraulic Ridge in Gas Canyon. Lots of household goods, bedding and electronics were stolen. Being burglarized is always such a huge personal violation, but when you find out it was a neighbor who ended up busted with the "goods" your sense of violation and fear of retribution is even more painful. We enjoy such a low crime rate here in the shores, we are perhaps lulled into an exaggerated sense of security. In this case, the front door was actually kicked in to gain entry. I can only guess that this house was chosen due to observation of the home as only occasionally occupied, which gave the thieves the confidence to take their time looting, even bringing their dog along for the caper. Shame on them. Fortunately they have been found out and hopefully will be appropriately punished. Neighborhood watch is incredibly important. Please be sure to report any suspicious activity in your neighborhood to the sheriff, and try to write down descriptions of vehicles & license plate numbers if you see anything that seems wrong. Lock your stuff up. Consider installing an alarm system. At least make them work for it! Don't be a easy victim.

Home sweet home

Just got back from a week away, and managed to avoid the news for most of that time (just too busy!) Tuned in to CNBC, local news, ect, and seems like all hell is breaking loose. Anyway, wrote a poem for your entertainment, or suffering.

Oil spills in sacred waters
floods in Tennesee
A bomber threatens Time Square travelers
A vendor stops to see
Dow is down a grand today
Greece is going bust
Earthquakes rocking foreign lands
L.T. succumbs to lust
The news I fear is never good
Despair it seems sells well
Wish someone would write a daily post
In which the news is swell

Hope you had a good week. Thanks for checking in.


PS: above sign we spotted on Quaker Hill Rd by the logging site. Now that's funny! Wonder if it works? Some folks must really hate loggers . . . .

December in April!

Isn't April supposed to come in like and Lion and go out like a Lamb? Nay, nay. Just made it back from town (saw Oceans at the Del Oro). By the time I hit Brunswick and NC Hwy, the hail was 2" deep, and all the 2 wheeled vehicles were a slippin' and a slidin'. Made the curve around Meeks Lumber and found a total cluster ____ at Ridge Rd and NC Hwy, with Rangers and Sheriff's Dept. attempting to control all the sliders, and folks chaining up. Pulled into Zion Thrift and watched the chaos for awhile, and jumped back in. Found the Pine Street bridge closed due to condition. Snuck around Pioneer Park (Broad St. intersection clogged ) up Red Dog to Pasquale intersection to find 2 cars in the ditch and the plow TRYING to clear Red Dog, with a line stopped to await. When we got to moving again, everyone was slipping and couldn't get traction to get going again, so more in the ditch or sideways . . . I wheeled the trusty Suburu around that cluster, onto Pasquale and made it safetly into the shores, while only a few passed me trying to make it out (good luck when you hit the Y). Hubby had the fire going, and there's a spicy casserole in the oven. Life is good. Hope you made it home safe. Snowing here, after a good hail storm earlier. I like the snow much better than those ice balls!
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Oceans is a beautiful movie, plays like a Natl Geo documentary. It is a wonderful reminder of the unimaginable beauty of the 2/3 (or 4/5) of our planet that we never see. Just wondrous, like a secret world right under our nose. Great movie for the little ones, well really for the whole family.
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Hope you're enjoying SOCAL Dixie. Lucky dog!