MANY ROADS LEAD TO BARNS.

On Sunday, Jim and I drove around and took more barn pictures, a bit closer to home this time. We drove up French Gulch Rd. The reservoir holding Angels Camp's water looked peaceful and pretty enough to photograph.

And a lovely old barn stood near it.

Back in Murphys, right where French Gulch and the Murphys Grade Rd. meet is old Judge Kramer's barn. His granddaughter Gail, married John Kautz and it now belongs to the Kauz family. A small house sits on the property and I got a kick out of the basketball hoop attached even though the ground is uneven and rocky.

One block north of Murphys Main St. on Church, are several notable old buildings. This 1920's era garage for one.

This old miner's shack was occupied by a Miwuk Indian by the name of Gus when I first moved to Murphys.

This old miner's shack is of the same era, only painted. The rock foundation is partially gone.

Covered with vines, it still has appeal, unused, but still full of character.

This barn actually forms the corner of Algiers and Church Streets. Whenever I turn that corner I marvel that no one has hit the old barn.
As you can see, it stands right on the road.

The new owners have kept the old privy as well. The property, with a huge yard and house is now a wine tasting place, with room for picnics in the yard. It is entered from Main St.

I like the old weathered wood. The paint has been wearing off for some time.

We then drove out to Kautz's Winery, about a mile from town. This barn with what looks like a grain feeder on the back sits to the left of the road.

And another old wreck on the down slope reveals it's purpose. And old water tank, or fuel tank for  a tractor at work maybe? Hard to tell.

The vines exhibit a beautiful mix of colors at this time of year.

The vines cover the hillsides leading up to the nationally renowned Kautz Winery and Events Center.  At one point Jim and I spotted a herd of deer that had somehow gotten inside of the deer fencing.  We tried to photography them, but they ran as soon as we got out of the car. Photographing old barns seems worthwhile to me, but I haven't a clue what to do with them. I've watched a few of them topple in my years here, so I hope this preserves a bit of the past.

COMMUNITY CLUB AND ROTARY

 

Last night, I attended the Murphys Community Club Annual Christmas Party. President Jim Creighton started a short speech with a phone number: 728-1948. "That number is significant because it is the number of the Community Club, but also 1948 is the year the club was founded."

Just prior to that, my table companion, Cindy Neiman asked me,  "What does the Community Club do?" She and her husband are Rotarians from Copperopolis.

 I've been a member for 30 years and I realized that I didn't know how a Community Club functioned when I first joined either. Unique among small towns like ours, community clubs supply, as volunteers, the basic functions of government. They own and maintain the local community park; provide public restrooms, clean and stock those restrooms, place garbage cans and recycling bins around town, pay for street lighting, rent the park for weddings and other functions, mow the grass, maintain a stable playground and river bank, paved walkways,  and...well, everything a city should do. The area is high on volunteerism and people who visit have no clue that all is accomplished through the hard work of local citizens. And it has always been so.

The annual party was a combination of two area Rotary Clubs and the Community Club. Jay and Clayre Quick have been long time Rotarians, both having served as President at one time. They were given a special award from Rotarians for the many years of work they've provided to their club. But, Clayre and Jay have given years of service to the Community Club as well.

Jim and Peggy Lucas, active volunteers, were singled out for their efforts to Community Club.

As were the Friedmans. Bill Friedman solved a very knotty problem in an old fashioned way. The park was troubled with vandalism and Bill decided not to call the cops. Instead, he got them aside and talked with them about what they were doing, and taught them about the function of the park and what the local volunteers accomplish there. It solved the problem.

Tammie Lundin is a Rotarian who makes it a point to get to know everyone in the room. The Rotarians also have this reputation for doing good works in their communities. Just a great bunch of public spirited people who make volunteering worthy and fun at the same time.

 There are more pictures if you'd like to click on my link below. The dinner dance was held at Kautz Winery.

http://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/121110ComClubRotaryPrty#

HOLED UP IN CONROE

One of the advantages of traveling with a full time rambler, like my partner Jim, is that we can stop anywhere. The solar panels keep pumping up the battery and life is good. When it rains, and days are cloudy, as they have been for many days, its time to pull into a park and hook up to electricity. The weather is still cold and cloudy. Ramblers tend to stay as close to good weather as possible, but weather is fickle. We pulled into a park and hooked up to electricity and here we stay for a few days, holed up in Conroe, Texas. Time to recharge the batteries, wash the windows, do some housekeeping, shopping and laundry. All those mundane, necessary chores while I look out at the dreary weather and think of the benefits of rain. Watching a movie, catching up on my reading and the coming spring flowers.

The woman above really got into her picture taking of a tub of spring tulips.
This was taken in the cascades, Washington state.
Tulips at Kautz Winery in Murphys, California
My neighbors pasture with baby blue eyes, Murphys.

Ocean City, Washington, Roady hanging over the boardwalk.

This salmon berry at Lake Quinault, Washington.

DIRTY LAUNDRY? NYET!

Today is laundry day, one of those little things one must do between having fun. I'm soooo enjoying Washington State, but one has to do the laundry. Blogging is a volunteer job and one ends up blogging almost everything you do, but, no one wants to see my dirty laundry. So, I cruised through my photos and decided to choose five favorites. Above is a dancer from Lima, Peru. It was a dinner show and I didn't get her name. (2008)
This is Betty Coleman, 89 years young. She stands in front of one of her husband's paintings. Robert (Bobadoc) Coleman is one of my favorite artists and Betty is one of my favorite people. She is holding a bouquet of bottle brush she just picked. She is from Angels Camp, CA. (2008)
I'm charmed by the pose of this lovely lady with her creamy white shoulders and lace capped sleeves with her back to the artist. I want to know who she is? Who painted her portrait and why from that pose? I delight in enlarging this photo each time I come across her while perusing my albums and I sense a woman of mystery. This portrait hangs in the Astoria Heritage Museum in Astoria, OR. (2009)
This woman made me chuckle as she laid right down on the cement to get the right angle on that flower. She didn't object to my taking her picture taking a picture, but I didn't get her name. This photo was taken at Kautz Winery in Murphys, CA. (2008)
Tiffany, my hairdresser from Angels Camp always wears a smock. I would never have known she had a tattoo until we talked about tattoos and she readily removed her smock and showed them to me. Isn't she a beautiful woman? (2009)
I hope you enjoyed meeting some of my friends and chance encounters.

QUYLE KILNS, A CLYMER PRESS, POTTERY, WATERCOLORS, ART GLASS, AND OTHER TREASURES

A trip to the Mother Lode Community of Murphys wouldn't be complete without stretching up Highway 4, just above town, to Quyle Kilns. Pottery isn't the only attraction at Quyles. Pam Quyle's showroom has watercolors, glass art, jewelry, the work of other potters, pounded copper, and various other wonders. Pam is a most congenial and knowledgeable hostess and central to the showroom is a George Clymer Printing Press, one of a huge collection on the property.
Clymer, an American Mechanic invented the Columbian Printing Press, basically, an iron, lever operated, and more efficient replacement for the wooden Gutenberg Press. He chose to decorate the press with eagles and serpents and other additions to set it apart from competitor's presses.
Besides the Clymer, photos above show an unusual color glaze and a second firing glaze batch ready for the kiln.
Delores Quyle, Pam's sister, and her husband, Stewart Mast, have fine wines and a tasting room nearby. You can't miss being entertained and enchanted by the talents of the Quyle family.

COME AND ENJOY THE FLOWERS

Some people really get into their photography and I enjoyed watching this woman's technique. Tulips are ablaze where the daffodils have finished. At Kautz Ironstone Winery, you can Tiptoe Through The Tulips. Come up and enjoy the flowers.

JAMESTOWN STEAMTRAIN

It tickles me how much the locals love their old locomotive steam train here in Jamestown, an old gold rush conclave four miles west of Sonora. Free to locals for opening weekend, we were entertained by a fiddler and regaled with wonderful gold fever stories told by a docent conductor. The huge nugget at Kautz winery was pulled from Jamestown, or Jimtown, as it is lovingly knicknamed. The train was loaded and the locals don't care that they have to stop at crossroads for the slow moving engine. They don't mind the two long, one short and one long blast of the screaming steam whistle as it warns its approach to the crossings and wakes up the whole town. The kids on board were delighted and recognized that this ride is something different, something special. Right out of the movies, in fact. Over 200 movies and/or television episodes were filmed here in part, using the train and environs. We decided to watch "The Unforgiven" , after spending the day in Jimtown and riding this special attraction. The working steam train and round house, are the only ones that exist west of the Mississippi River. Don't miss it.

DAFFODIL DAYS

Kautz Winery hosts Daffodil Days each spring in Murphys. Millions of them pop up along the vineyards and roadside leading up to the winery. Buckets and barrels of flowering bulbs surround the tasting room and patios. The cool spring has been especially beneficial to the daffodils, encouraging them to hold their blossoms longer than usual. There is still time to see them before they fade. The celebration includes a competiton for best showing of daffodils. The blossoms are picked and displayed in vases at the winery and will remain for the rest of the week for viewing although the judging was finished on Sunday last. Its positively amazing how many different and exotic varieties of daffodils are grown and admired. Come see!