QUALITY FAST FOOD.

Restaurants really have to be good to make it. Sidewinders, in Angels Camp, just got new owners. I had to make a bunch of copies and I had errands ahead of me in town and hunger drove me to a quick lunch.


I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich, believing it would be served on a cheap hamburger bun from the waitresses description. To my surprise, a quality roll, a tender, tangy grilled chicken breast with crisp condiments. A condiment bar allows you to add whatever. Very tasty. Sides are by choice, I could have chosen coleslaw, beans, or other items rather than cottage cheese and fruit.


A rarity for fast food, fresh flowers on every table.


Angels Camp has a couple of these old buildings with stone walls.


The stone is not only beautiful, but cool in hot summers. Sidewinders has a basement and plenty of room and charm. Though you order from the counter, they bring your food to you and the owner, Stacy Piersons was attentive and service oriented, checking to see if all was good. Really nice. It was fast, good and comfortable. Just what I needed.

BEADING AN HEIRLOOM

Not many people engage in work that is expected to last  one thousand years. My friend Sharon Sargent took up beading about twelve years ago. On this piece she spent two years, (not full-time) making Ruby, a wall hanging. Beads so small I had to get a magnifying glass to see them.

Sharon estimates that she could have done it in a year if she had devoted full-time to the piece. She has two daughters and will begin another similar wall hanging with a green color theme, in 2012.

The beads look huge through the camera lens. But, I could not see the individual beads with my naked eye.  A piece like this, glass beads woven so perfectly the wall hanging moves like a fine silk fabric;  a treat to behold and touch. Native Americans do marvelous bead work but nothing I’ve seen with beads this tiny. An amazing feat. I’ve visited museums all over the U.S and several in France, Spain, Portugal and Germany. The Louvre has at least one tapestry that I can remember, 900 years old,  made from cloth with fine metallic threads enhancing it.  Sharon’s bead work will easily, with care, last for a thousand years, most likely more. I am truly in awe.  Not surprising,  it took every prize in a recent exhibit.

Handwork is something I respect since I’m a quilter and rug maker. I’ve enjoyed the results of my projects, but I do not have the ability to stay with something as difficult as working such tiny beads. Now that I’m an avid RVer, I see Bert and Sharon, old friends, just once a year. Sharon and I were members of a stock club years ago and she was our bookkeeper. She was just as precise with the books as she is with her beading. Reminds me of that old adage, if your are going to do something, do it well. That’s Sharon.