Twain Harte TimesTwain Harte Information & Photo Gallery

Ever noticed how slow I am at posting in the spring & summer? In the winter there is always the snow to talk about, or the wind, or power outages… It’s so exciting to wake up to fresh snow.

To be honest I’d love to post more in the summer, but I’m just too darn busy. It takes time to put on a decent picnic and we have a lot of picnics during the summer. My husband is a new grill enthusiast and he likes to use his Char-Griller Duo every chance he gets. He even put on the smoker a couple weeks ago (which sat in the garage waiting for him for only 2 years or so). I can’t wait to use it!

I used to work at Laszlo’s Gourmet Smoked Fish in Old Town Sacramento. Let me tell you, that it is the best (bar none) smoked fish I have ever tasted. His smoked salmon is absolutely amazing and if you make the trip, don’t leave without trying the smoked prawns!  I’ve had people who don’t even like fish try Laszlo’s, and most have loved it. It’s a special treat, and we love it so much we still make the 3+ hour drive (each way) several times a year to Old Town Sac just for the fish. Yes, really.

Anyway…We finally moved the bird feeders around. I’m going to get out my fancy bird baths and plant some flowers, too. My husband’s father has a bit of a green thumb and an absolutely amazing garden, so we’re taking his advice this year and waiting for Mother’s Day before doing too much. As soon as Shawn has the time to get the camera online, we’ll be all set to go. I can hardly wait, but in reality it will probaby be late summer or even this fall before he has the time to work on it.

Why can’t technology be easy? They keep promising easy, but never quite seem to pull it off. Even the updates on our computers - talk about complicated! If you forget something, you leave yourself wide open to viruses and worse.  I’ve got Shawn to do my updates for me… you can, too.

“The boys” (that’s what we call our Shih Tzu puppies) just love the birds. When the birds start singing they tip their heads to one side and listen as if it were the only thing in the world. The Stellar Jays sure have been active lately. It seems to me they should be having their babies soon. So, I have been making sure they have plenty to eat and drink. In return, they sing to me almost all day long. It’s so wonderful to open the windows and hear the birds singing. It just makes me want to sing.

Our cat is due to have kittens any day. Fortunately, I already have three spoken for… I hope she has that many. She is as big as a barn and I find myself checking on her regularly. She wants to go outside and she’s not very happy about being stuck in the house.

It’s been a hard day today. Shawn’s brother would have been 40 today. He passed away Easter of 1995. Shawn really misses his brother a lot. Rest in peace Jay.

I’ll try to write more often. Anyone know when the birds have their babies?

Related articles

• Singing Birds (witsblog.org)
• Raining in May brings birds out to play (greatpoetrymhf.wordpress.com)
• Start Birdwatching Today: When Should I Go? (leesbird.com)

The Historic Morgan Chapel Church, build in 1890, will host it’s annual Christmas Service this Sunday, Dec., 11th at 3 pm. Morgan Chapel Church, part of the Tuolumne Methodist Church, only holds two services per year: an Annual Christmas Service and a Palm Sunday Service.

Join us this Sunday for old-fashioned Christmas carols and a short sermon, followed by homemade refreshments. Morgan Chapel Church is located 3 miles south on Ward’s Ferry Rd off of Tuolumne Road on the right.

Related articles

• Fort A.p. Hill to Host Christmas Candlelight Service (fortaphill.wordpress.com)
• Hire Some Little Helpers This Christmas (prweb.com)
• Christmas Carol Service…… (thismummybusiness.wordpress.com)

Buy Raw Local Honey

Just as Twain Harte went directly from Winter to Summer this year, could we jump from Summer to Winter, too? The first day of Autumn fell on September 23, 2011; here it is only October 2 and already our first seasonal storm is being predicted.

This Season’s First Winter Storm Watch

October 02, 2011 05:00 pm

Mark Truppner, MML Reporter

Two cold fronts will sweep across Northern California this week.

Breezy winds and rain showers will spread across the region Monday and Monday night. Snow levels may briefly drop to around 8500 feet by Monday night. Only a light dusting of snow is expected.

Temperatures Wednesday could drop to 40F at night, which could cause a dusting of snow even in Twain Harte.

Today was a lovely day with temperatures in the high 60′s and low 70′s, most who attended Oktober Fest were still comfortably sporting summer wear, with more of a layered look. The evening air gets pretty nippy this time of year. Oktober Fest appeared to have a nice turn out. We headed out too late on Saturday and we didn’t realize that they shut down at 5 pm, bummer.

We made it down to the park today around 3:30 pm, which is pretty late. I am happy to have made the effort to attend. We purchased a bottle each of Chipotle Lime Grill Marinade and Apricot Ginger Teriyaki Glaze from Yosemite Sierra Specialties - we can’t wait to try them out. We also picked up a 2# jar of Mountain Wildflower Raw Honey from Blossom Trail Honey. Did you know that…

Buying Local Honey

For allergies, buying local honey is far better for you than getting honey from out of the area. The reason for this is that you want to infuse your system with what you are allergic to. But, using reason, remember that flora have only certain boundaries. They are more limited to where they grow by region and elevation rather than locations that are close to one another. For example, if you are allergic to orange blossoms in southern California, you will have the same allergic reaction to them in the central valley. Also remember that any honey that is pure (straight from the comb) and raw (neither unheated nor pasteurized) helps to build up your immune system, which will also defend you against allergies. [Learn More...]

Honey is a natural sweetener that can be used many ways and it has so many health benefits. If you use honey, remember to seek out local honey, to make the most of the health benefits — the reasons are more than just economics. If you don’t use honey, consider picking up a jar and start using it in place of sugar. Just one word of warning about honey, Blossom Trail Honey reminds us…

Feeding Infants Honey

Because of the presence of botulinum spores in honey, children under one year of age should not be given honey. Older children and adults generally destroys the spores. Infants, however, can contract botulism which can cause sickness or death.

Did you attend Oktober Fest 2011?

We would have hung around a little longer but the music was so loud you couldn’t hear anything, so you couldn’t talk to the vendors comfortably. We really struggled to stay as long as we did. The music was so loud, it was even drowning out the singers. Someday perhaps they will figure out that louder does not equate to better.

What did you enjoy the most?