MEN OF WORTH AT CAMPS.

We call ourselves girls, as in girl friends, girls night out. I guess when we are 90 we'll still be girls. Girlfriends are the best, we decided.  Barbara Grogan, Madelaine Krska and Patti Johansen, are from north county. It was touch and go as a fire had the road between San Andreas and Angels Camp closed for a while. They got through and we gratefully hoisted our drinks, and nibbled on appetizers on the patio while the band set up.

We moved inside to listen to the music and chat. Madelaine talked to Bob Leemans during a break. Men Of Worth will be playing Camps for over a month of weekends, so if you want to catch them, go for it. Their singer is in his eighties and still has a powerful voice. He is a former musical arranger for a host of Hollywood greats, now retired and living in Sonora. We didn't dance, but others took to the floor.

Barb, Maddie and Patti are old friends of Laurie and Bob Leemans.  Laurie decided to attend her husband's gig another night. Barbara and I did a fair amount of people watching. A table near us had a couple who couldn't see any one else but each other in the room. We chuckled a bit. Been there done that in another life. Before leaving Barbara got a hug from Bob.

Patti took advantage of Mark Twain's sculpture at Camps Restaurant and Bar entrance,  and hugged him before we left. The sculptor captured Twain's  rascally personality.  It was nice to step out with friends and get someone to commiserate with me on my car.

We left just as the sun was setting. No matter how busy life gets, friends, music and time away, the perfect solution to off-set the day's tribulations.

THE THREE M'S AGAIN.

Living on the road is a wonderful  adventure. Yet, returning to Murphys every July for my family and friends reunion is a must. While home, I normally catch up with old friends and check out my favorite haunts, like the galleries around town, eat my favorite foods, go to my favorite restaurants, do a bit of partying.  This time, its been  strictly business. Rescuing over 4,000 pictures from my antiquated Mac alone was quite a chore. Finished it yesterday.

Paper work, off loading stuff from storage, I currently have four ads in the newspaper and on Craig’s list.  Sprucing up the yard and maintenance on the house are never ending affairs.  In seven days, I fly to Washington. It only seemed fitting to catch up with my two best girlfriends. So, last night, the Three M’s got together for dinner and drinks.

Michal Houston, Madalaine Krska and myself. Here we are at the Murphys Hotel for cocktails. The bar was noisy so we repaired to the courtyard for dinner.  Perfectly pleasant at 8:00 p.m. and still light out.

Michal is an avid traveler and is headed for Hilton Head, South Carolina.  Then, France. Mad is not retired yet. I needed some fun time and we all look forward getting together. We will meet again in October.

LEMONS AND LEMON LAW

This lemon is 8" tall to the top of the stem, a marvelous specimen from Danville. Being raised in Upper Michigan, lemons were expensive and rare in our part of the country. When I first moved to Murphys, I planted a Myer lemon tree on the south west corner of my house. It grew and produced lemons for 11 years before a hard freeze backed it off to the ground. It didn't actually kill it, but it never came back with vigor. As a mix for drinks, condiments, flavoring...so many ways to use them. Favorite recipes come to mind. The juice with baking soda makes a good cleaner. Now, my question is, why do they call a failed auto a "lemon". I drive a truck purchased under the lemon law and it runs just fine, thank you.
I don't recommend you plant a lemon tree in the mother lode, but, mine did very well by me.