Wedding Day Photos!

I can finally post some photos from our wedding. I've been very busy these past several weeks as most of you can guess. We had our wedding to plan, a trip to Monterey for three nights following the reception, a trip to Leavenworth, WA, with John's family the following weekend, then our honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean. What a great time we had on the cruise, too!

It's been back to work since we returned the end of May. Sawdust has been flying in my workshop.

All photos by Ashley Forsyth.

The Ceremony.

I was blessed that my daddy could walk me down the aisle.

Plein Air Painting Group

We joined a plein air painting group

What We Did Today

Today was a fun day for us.  First of all we got to sleep in.  After breakfast we decided to play.  I spent the day painting some pictures and Mike welded some railroad spike people.

Before I started painting, Michael took me to the donut shop to see if I could find anything pretty.  All we came home with was a dozen donut holes that didn't last very long.

Yummy donut holes.

 Donut step one.

 Maple Glazed Donut.

 Cupcake in process.

 With a Cherry on Top.

Cake step one.

 Buttermilk Layered Cake with Pink Frosting.

 Frosting detail.

Mike welding the skateboarder dude.

Link: Skateboarder Dude.

Dancing Couple to be listed later.

To finish the day, I made a stir fry dinner.  Next time I make it, I'll have Mike video tape me and I'll talk.  He said I should have talked about what I was doing.  Next time.  I'll give my recipe, too.  I kind of make things up by what is on hand.  The gravy makes it though.  So yummy.  Easy, too. 

Running

Recently I signed up for a new 3 month long program

Tea Date with Jan

Today I drove to Auburn with my good friend, Jan, in tow.  About two months ago I'd made reservations for two to have high tea in Auburn at The Powers Mansion.  We made good time in my little VW Cabriolet, no traffic going or coming.  We left early enough in the morning that we had about ninety minutes or so to kill and did some antique shopping in Old Town Auburn.  Jan found a handheld antique dressing table mirror to add to her collection of mirrors hanging on the wall in her guest powder room.  I found a set of four cute little 70's cups for my new kitchen shelf.  Note:  The new kitchen shelf isn't made yet, it's my dream kitchen remodel we're going to be doing in the near near near future.  (I hope near.)  One other little treasure I found is an antique paint roller which I've never ever before seen the likes of.

When we arrived at the tea room, which by the way is also a bed and breakfast, it was very quiet.  The two owners/chefs were busy tinkering around in the kitchen preparing our things.

While they finished up in the kitchen we were free to roam around and take pictures and see what there was to see.  We had the whole place to ourselves and had some fun.

Our table was tucked in a private corner and decorated beautifully.

The table above was all set for the next guests to arrive.  A large party.

Pretty little things were for sale all over the place and I found two antique and hand painted dainty tea cups and saucers for collection.

Behind this door is where the magic happens.

I chose Creme Brûlée for my tea choice.

My pretty little tea pot.

Jan is having her tea poured.

After our tea was served we got carried away and started doing selfies.

Our first course consisted of a small salad, a cheese quiche and some fresh fruit.

Then came the three tiered tray.  Strawberry scones on the bottom, chicken salad and cucumber sandwiches in the middle and on top are three goodies, coconut cookies, a cupcake with sprinkles and pumpkin bread.  Everything is made from scratch and was delicious.

My scone with clotted cream and lemon curd.  Yummy!

Dena and Chris, (sorry, not sure who's who here) the two lovely ladies that make the magic happen.  Thank you for providing such a delicious tea and goodies for us.  We had such a fun time and will be back again!

Point Reyes Anniversary Trip

Last Monday we packed the 5th wheel and took off for Point Reyes National Seashore for a week of camping and fun.  It was our fifteen year anniversary.  Michael and I went on a 15 mile bike ride to Inverness and back around the countryside on a loop to Point Reyes Station on Tuesday mid morning after it warmed up some.  The weather was gorgeous the whole time we were camping except the temperature really dropped at night.  Freezing cold.  

Our friends, Gary and Janice, came over in their 5th wheel on Wednesday for four nights.  Mike and Gary went on a couple of hikes.  Jan has a bad knee and cannot walk too far, so the two of us stayed back at the campground and did our own little workouts each day with weights that we had brought along.

Here's some beautiful pictures that Mike took when he went on his hikes.

The Bolinas Ridge Trail.

This is the Tomales Bay Trail which begins at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area you can find on the map at the bottom of this post.

Thursday morning, the cutest birdie came and sat on a branch just outside my window as I was having my breakfast.

Saturday morning the four of us got up early to go take pictures (specifically of the tree lined avenue shown below) and have breakfast at The Pine Cone Diner.  Not in that order though, first we had to fill our bellies.  Nothing fancy, just a regular diner for eggs and toast and pancakes.

In black and white.

And in living color.

After we grabbed a bunch of shots of the tree lined street, we drove out to Drake's Bay and to visit the newly opened (that day was the first day) Drake's Bay Visitor Center.  Nice and clean restroom facilities, picnic tables and benches, a beautiful beach and even a small snack store stocked with lots of healthy type snacks and drinks.  The manager said she is going to eliminate all plastic bottles from the store, so you won't find regular drinking water in bottles.  There is a water fountain to fill up your water bottles if you wish.  I purchased a delicious berry drink along with some almonds.

 The pelican pictures were taken at the Inverness Yacht Club.

I'm going to do a small painting of this as soon as I get some time to paint again.

I met this lady on the dock, her name is Anne, and she shared some great restaurants with me. 

Last night we skipped our planned meal to eat at the camper, grilled cheese and soup and took her advice and went to Marin Sun Farms for a burger.  Here's another link with more information about the meat and the whole process of it;  Marin Sun Farms.

The burgers were fantastic, just like she said.  We even tried a sample of Candy Cap gelato which is mushroom ice-cream made from the milk from water buffalos which has a high fat content like rich cream.  Here's the link;  Double 8 Dairy and another link;  Double 8 Dairy.

Map showing hikes.