If the Strike don't get you, the Ash Cloud will

I could say "all set" to return home tomorrow. Flights, booked many moons ago to keep the cost down resulted in a 2-leg trip via London Heathrow. We have the the flight San Francisco to London confirmed (but the cabin crew strike will probably commence while we're half-way across the Atlantic - an interesting thought - and the ash cloud is, at this very moment, creeping towards SE UK). The leg Heathrow to Paris also confirmed after the original was cancelled due to the strike but now we'll miss our train to Brive so that had to be rebooked.

So it's not so much "all set" as "emergency rations being packed in our hand-luggage, check-in bags contain items capable of being lost forever without too much pain".

Looking forward to "doing art" again soon(er or later). Also, looking forward to the Correzien pace of life again and Real Food. There are many things I like about America but its culture is truly one of Conspicuous Consumption.

Now we need a bit of luck, then we'll be back on Wednesday....

 

Mike

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Wine and Music in California, Islands and Spitoons in Washington State

The wine tasting with music affair took place last week in downtown Morgan Hill. You had to purchase a ticket which entitled you to around 20 small 'tastings' of the local wineries' products. On registering you purchase at a table on the pavement in front of the local theatre, you were issued with a list and a commemorative wineglass with which you ambled around the small downtown area, sampling the wines which were dispensed in a variety of shops, cafes, restaurants etc. Each sample was noted by crossing it off your list. Meanwhile, several musical groups and individuals were doing their stuff on the pavements or in the shops. An entertaining afternoon in the sunshine.

 

We flew up to Seattle last Monday to stay with my neice.  After poking around downtown on Tuesday where we found a few galleries in the cold and rain, we took a much more adventurous drive yesterday 80 miles to the north to visit the San Juan islands which are just south of the Canadian border. A ferry from Anacortes took about an hour through a maze of mostly deserted rocky, pineclad islands to Orcas, the largest of the group. What a beautiful place, Click on the link to save me wittering on about it, but suffice to say that is well worth the visit.  Noted an interesting sign in Anacortes as we returned from the ferry port: "Need Medical Services? Call Anna Bohnker".

 

This morning we drove up into the Mount Baker mountain park area to the east- part of the Cascade mountain range. About an hour later we left the freeway and soon arrived at a tiny village called Roslyn.

The link gives you a taste of this extraordinary place.  Originally a coal-minig village it now still boasts "The Brick" tavern - oldest in Washington State, opened 1889.  And it looks it. Bar furniture imported from England around 1900 and still in use, including a spitoon gutter with running water at the feet of the patrons - you can see it on my picture here.

Needless to say, Fleur dumped her handbag in it without looking as we heaved ourselves onto our barstools... the barman politely told us it wasn't actually in use at that moment.

On the art front, managed a tiny watercolour and a pen drawing of my neice's 2 teenage daughters so far.  Could do better......

 

Mike

Posted via web from The CA3 Newsblog

Your CA3 roving reporter in downtown Morgan Hill, California

je fais mes excuses a mes Amis francaises. Tout est en anglais... The art scene here not too evident yet- if you don't count music. I've seen some gallery stuff in nearby Los Gatos, a wealthy town on the highway south of San Francisco, on the way to Santa Cruz. The standard of work is not as good as you'd expect, despite eye-watering prices. I managed to lock the hire-car key in it's boot after parking there yesterday morning. An interesting hour followed on the phone to the carhire insurance peolpe who were about to organise a tow-away (oh gawd!) as no-one could tell me how to open the boot without the key or dynamite. Luckily I found a hidden button tucked away behind the steering wheel and so saved a disaster. The music scene is lively. Spent yesterday evening in a wine bar, entertained by a jazz quartet. This afternoon there is street jazz and wine- tasting nearby. Sounds interesting. Hope to sketch there, or at least take lots of pictures. Mike

Posted via web from The CA3 Newsblog