Part I: Flying

Hello Friends,

It's been a while since I've been around these parts or blogland in general, over two weeks - which feels like a long time to me. I guess it's because - and this may sound weird - so much and very little have happened in that time. Let's catch up, shall we?

Part I: Flying

Just after my last post, Sean and I took a trip on the Vespas that we'd been looking forward to for months. We rode our scooters up to Lake Tahoe to join up for a scooter rally with a local club. This was to be our longest ride together, and the farthest away from home on the scoots.

We were a little nervous about the trip, safety on the road is something I take very seriously.  There's no protection between you and the road, or other cars when you're traversing the roads, highways and streets on two wheels. You've got to be on your game and keep your head on a swivel.  The road to Lake Tahoe is a long way over some pretty high mountains. Luther Pass has an elevation of 7,740 feet, and Carson Pass is 8574 feet! 

Here I am with our scoots, packed and ready to roll. You'd be surprised how much you can pack onto a Vespa. We each had three days worth of clothing and other necessities (hello, flat iron & flip flops) and we weren't even fully loaded. What a great feeling to know I can set out on the road prepared for several days journey on my scooter. I love this thing, I tell ya.

The ride up was fantastic! Very little traffic, it was hot, but not miserably so, and in the mountains, riding a Vespa feels like flying, they are so smooth, and quiet. You don't hear the machine, all you hear is the muffled sound of the wind blowing around your helmet. It's amazing.

 We took Hwy 88 from Lodi to Lake Tahoe. It's a very windy road, through some gorgeous scenery - my favorite kind for scooting. After you've ridden for a while, you gain an understanding of leaning on your bike so that moving in and out of turns and is pretty darn fun. Straight roads bore me to tears.

We had a great time at the rally, the folks we met up with are terrific, funny, generous people who just enjoy each other and riding. The theme of the rally was Luau At The Lake, so there were lots of tropical touches, like this backdrop thingy, I had to include this silly picture of Sean and I.

As a guest, of the club I didn't feel comfortable taking a lot of pictures of the group, and while you're riding you can't, but here are a couple from our stop at CalNeva when we road all the way around the lake which was fabulous. I'm looking forward to riding there again, just Sean and I, so we can stop along the way whenever we see something interesting, and there's lots to see.

I think there were somewhere around 35 people on all different types of scooters riding together around Lake Tahoe. What a gorgeous ride, and what a great time!

This place is really neat, and has some very cool history if you're into Frank Sinatra & Marilyn Monroe. 

Another big reason for this trip is because it coincided with our nephew's 11th birthday. He's getting so big, starting 6th grade in a couple of weeks. Crazy how fast that happens. 

I was happy to get to spend some time with him. I miss them all so much since they moved to Tahoe. This boy is such a special kid. Kind and smart. Adventurous and fun (and funny!). Brave and sweet. Athletic and bookish. He has the best laugh, when he laughs really hard his whole face crinkles into a humongous smile. I love him so.

Every time I see him I trap him in an vice-like Auntie hug and hold him tight until he wriggles free, giggling and squirming. I'm sure it's totally embarrassing, but I won't be able to do that forever, he's not going to stand for that kind of thing when he's 16, or ever after, so I'm getting all the squishes I can while the gettin's good. 

His birthday party was held on Pope Beach, just north west of South Lake Tahoe. 

It's a beautiful beach, could it be more lovely?

 It's also a great place for families.

 My little niece is getting big too. Such a funny girl, this one, she has the cutest, quirkiest sense of humor. 

My sister-in-law, Apryl makes the neatest pinatas! She's made one just about every year for J's birthday.

They take a real beating before the loose their goodies.

And then it's every man (or little girl) for themselves to grab for the plundered booty.

This little skull cap was all that was left of the pinata :)

It was a good time.

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.

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Until we got some sad news.

A friend of ours was killed the night before. Hit by a careless driver who made a left turn in front of his motorcycle and smashed into him. The accident was one block from the hospital, which didn't matter, the damage was too great. Carl passed away in the operating room as surgeons tried to save him.

The rest of my time in Tahoe that weekend is a bit of a blur. We finished up at the scooter rally on Sunday morning, had lunch in town, then got on the road mid afternoon. Our ride home was subdued, and extra cautious. It was not lost on me that we were doing exactly what Carl was doing when his life abruptly ended, taking a ride on his bike, enjoying the summer...

The news of Carl's death has shaken me, angered me immensely and set my mind drifting, I'm planning to write a bit more about it in my next post. 

Please take care out there, friends. Please look twice for bikes on the road. Like I said earlier, for those of us on two wheels, be they Vespa, Harley-Davidson, or anything in between, there is no buffer between us and the road apart from our safety gear which doesn't stand a chance against cars and trucks. And even if we're doing everything right, some don't make it home from a ride.

I know this subject is heavy, and not my usual blogging style, which I prefer like to keep light and bright. But this is me real life, and something that has affected me which I feel I must share.

oxo,

Lisa

Salsa!

Hola Amigos!

Happy Friday! This week seems to have flown by and while I haven't gotten much done in the way of stitching, I've been up to my eyeballs in fresh produce. Oh salsa, how I love you!

Last weekend I decided it was high time I visit a man of local legend to procure the main ingredient for some killer home made salsa. Tomato Bob, as he's known, grows tomatoes right there along side his house just outside of town and sells them at a little stand in the driveway. They are glorious, big, fat, red, juicy, delicious globes of goodness. I bought two flats.

I may have over estimated how much salsa I was prepared to make... two flats is a LOT of tomatoes. Fortunately, it won't go to waste in this house, my husband, if left to his own devices would subsist on chips & salsa for breakfast, lunch & dinner.

I don't use a recipe for my salsa, it's all according to taste, but it's pretty basic and goes a little something like this:

Tomatoes

Onion, red & white

Garlic

Cilantro

Jalapeno Peppers

Serrano Peppers

Lemon Juice

Salt

We like it with some heat, but not enough to make you run for the garden hose. Everything gets a rough chop, then gets a whirl in the food processor a little at a time until it's the consistency we like.

I ended up making TWO very large batches of salsa this week, the picture below is my biggest melamine bowl, I included the bag of chips for scale. I made TWO of these bowls, plus a little extra to give away. That's a lotta salsa!!

I think we've got enough to last us through this weekend, next week's another story. 

Now... where's my cerveza?

Have a grand weekend, friends! If you need me, I'll be in the hammock out back.

oxo,

Lisa

p.s. These pictures are all from my Instagram feed this week. I've just started using this thing, so I'm still learning, but here's me, come on over for a peep if you like. Are you there too? Do tell!

Summer Lovin'

Hey Y'all,

Last weekend I stumbled on to a deal that I couldn't refuse and didn't want to. I've wanted a hammock for so long, so very long! I know it's might sound silly, but it's really a dream come true.

I've made myself a little nest in the backyard and have spent as much time out there as I could carve these last few days. Gently swaying with my nose in a book, watching the leaves flutter overhead, or sometimes just listening to the sounds of the neighborhood.

 It's the little things that make me the happiest, so I'll mostly let the pictures do the talkin'.

I picked up that pretty table cloth a while back at an antique store, it's hand embroidered, I think it was about $10. What a steal.

Hey look, a visitor! Boswell likes the hammock too.

Pleased as punch.

Couldn't ask for more.

Neither could he.

So happy.

A few things: the hammock & stand came from World Market, the pillow and green blanket are from Ikea. The Mexican blanket was a gift from my husband a few years ago. The cute doggie from BARK.

If you need me I'll be out back, knock loud.

oxo,

Lisa

Summer Stitching

Hi Everyone!

Well summer's just about in full swing around these parts, picnics at the river, camping, concerting, nature walks with the pooches, and as much scooting as possible, but how about something for those warm summer nights when all you want to do is sit very still in front of the air conditioner? I have just the thing for you, the Wild Olive Summer Stitching Club! Click over read all about it, it's really, really cute, here's what we've done so far...

I love the sweet little faces which are Mollie's signature, and this embroidered hexie project looked like the perfect, not-a-lot of hassle thing to do for the summer (along with a few other things, because you know I've always got several crafty pokers in the fire at once), and at the end of July, I'll have a summery little mini quilt to hang on the wall, just in time for my birthday, yay!

Here I am, all set up! I used Mollie's color choices as a reference and picked a similar, though not exactly the same pallet for myself, I like bright, bright colors.

These are the first two embroideries, I stitched them both in less than an hour, a small time commitment with big pay off at the end.

 Hello, little sunshine!

What up, shades?

See? Cute, easy & fun! Have you guys already seen this, who else is participating? Did you know there's a Flickr group in which to share your stitcheries? Yup, right here!

Hope to see you there!

oxo,

Lisa