June 1999
June 28, 1999 Well, that was fun! The weekend, that is! I didn't make it to SB, but I guess we have a three-day weekend next week for the 4th of July, so I can go then. Anyway, I went to the Atascadero Wine Festival (formerly Cabernet and Cousins) on Saturday! It was great! They have the festival to make money for the Charles Paddock Zoo. It's similar to the Paso Robles Wine Festival, but much smaller. It's getting bigger, though: this year they had several wineries, a few food booths, and a band (Mighty Croon Dogs, I believe. They played the PRWF, too). They only give you eight tasting tickets, and, unlike the PRWF, you can't get more, but I lucked out and picked up a glass that had an extra strip of tickets in it, so, I got to try a sample from nearly every winery! I remembered to bring a notebook and pen this time, so I could write down all the wines I tried and the wineries they're from. Most of the wineries had labels, too, so I now have quite a collection. Some wine labels are just so beautiful! I'm planning on using them to decopauge something! (I'm sure I spelled that wrong, but I don't have a dictionary in front of me, so I'll have to fix it later!) Anyway, it was great! I even went to the zoo this time, as you get free admission when you go to the festival. I've lived here four years, and this was the first time I'd been there. It's small, but quite nice! There's some monkeys, wallabies, exotic birds, a couple tigers, a black bear, and some local animals such as farm animals, an owl and a couple turkey buzzards. Well, I'd better run! Talk to you soon!
*** June 21, 1999 Sadness! I've just learned that after 15 years, my favourite store, Stampa Barbara, is CLOSING! I loved going down to SB once a month for my stamp-fix! Yes, we have Stamp Luis Obispo here (hi, guys!), but Stampa Barbara was just HUGE! And I love the Stampa B. designs! Sure, they have their on-line store, so I'll still be able to get Stampa B. stamps, but it's just not the same! You can't smell the ink and rubber on-line! You can't hold them in your hand, turning them over as you contemplate all the fabulous cards and pictures you can make with that particular image! And, unless you have a ruler nearby, it's hard to see which size image will go best with your other images! Sigh! Well, he's (Gary Dorothy) not closing the store until early August, so I'll have time to run down there one or two more times! Maybe I'll try for this weekend! I really need a SB fix, anyway! Haven't been to Borders in forever (sure, Barnes and Noble is great, but, I just need a change of scenery!), or The Limited, or Nordstroms! Yeah, That's it: this weekend, I'll go shopping! Ciao!
*** June 17, 1999 Well, this weekend is Father’s Day, and, once again, most of the family is gone! Those of us who are left are planning on having a pic-nic in our backyard. Since we won’t have the kids around, we can have a healthy pic-nic, and avoid the temptations of chips, hot dogs and other fattening stuff! I’m making a veggie tray with red peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and cucumber with a pesto dip, baked “fried” chicken, and a red potato salad with tomatoes and herbs. I’m thinking of finishing that off with a strawberry-rhubarb sauce on fat-free vanilla frozen yogurt. I’m going to pick up a most of the veggies at Farmer’s Market tonight. It’s a great place to get really good, fresh veggies, most of which have been grown without the aid of chemicals, so they’re really healthy, but VERY expensive! You sure pay for the good stuff!Gee, can you tell my family is into the health food kick?! Personally, I’m trying to get back on my low-carb diet. I started it a couple years ago when I was on phen-fen, and lost a lot of weight, but have recently slacked off a bit. I really need to take off a few pounds, so it’s back to a starch-free, sugar-free lifestyle for me!!! I’m also trying to get to the gym more often, as I have a bad habit of talking myself out of going, and instead browsing Barnes and Noble, having a cup of tea and reading magazines! Naughty girl!
Well, tonight is Farmer’s Market - one of my favourite activities! The San Luis Obispo Farmer’s Market is a great show: they block off about four or five blocks of the downtown area, and many of the restaurants have bar-b-ques. There’s all the farmers with their fruits, veggies, nuts, aloe vera plants and products, olive oils, plants, and cut flowers, many merchants will bring out a table with some sale items, different organizations have booths set up, and there’s lots of entertainers and local bands playing. I love to go because I can browse through many of the shops which normally close at 5 or 6, but stay open till 9 for the market crowd, and I love to just sit and watch all the people walk by!
Well, I’d better run! Have a great day, everyone!
*** June 12, 1999 Finally, I think summer is here! It was beautiful today, but very hot: 90°! Mom and I headed for Pismo Beach, where it was much cooler, but still gorgeous! It gave us a chance to try out Fiona's new soft top. The verdict: it's great! I love the large metal ring on the zipper as opposed to the strip of leather the old one had. I also invested in a rear window protector this time, which also works great, so hopefully, this window will last a long time!
Pismo was great, as usual! There's not much to it, but there is the beach, and when you have a beach, what else do you need? I really needed a beach fix, and feel much better for having got it! We really wanted to check out the new Promenade we'd read about in the paper. We went expecting this thing to be at least a couple miles long, but found it wasn't even a quarter mile! Very disappointing! Well, I need to hunt down some information on this boardwalk, and see if I had the information right! Gotta run! Have a great day everyone!
*** June 1, 1999 Happy June! I feel so much better after having enjoyed a three-day weekend! Of course I didn't get paid for it, as I'm just a lowly temp, but I really needed the time, at this point, more than the money! I know I just spent a small fortune last week on my car (installation of new soft-top, smog check and related repairs), health insurance, car insurance, and license, but I really needed that day off yesterday! The whole weekend was pretty good: I picked up Fiona on Saturday, wrote out an enormous cheque, but that's okay, she's fine, now; mom and I finished the "patio" on the far side of the yard on Sunday, and it turned out real nice; and yesterday, I stamped my little heart out - yea! - and I finally finished my cherub (used a "copper patina" painting set on it), and also redid that chair-shaped picture frame (using the same technique). I’m almost done with all my projects: only have the bird bath, the aquarium, and the plant stand left. Then I can start working on Christmas cards and gifts. Sure it's early, but it'll beat waiting until the last minute! Cheers!archives
