Front Yard Landscaping Project

It all started with John cutting and installing slate tile on our front porch



Goodbye Blue Spruce -- No more lights on the tree at Christmas!

Goodbye green lawn



Goodbye bushes by our front windows --

jack hammer and pick-up were needed to complete the job.


After letting the lawn die out over the summer, John rented a machine to strip the dead sod out, then had to take the strips to the dump


Lots of rototilling, making mounds, and digging for the new sidewalk


The first of many deliveries


After the bottom soil was delivered for the walkway, John rented another machine to tamp it down.



Gayle had fun trying to figure out how to fit all those slate sandstone pieces in the walkway. After she put in the grout, she had to fix the mistakes with a drill and grinder



The good soil was delivered -- lots of shoveling work



Boulder rocks delivered to add aesthetic appeal.

Did we mention this was back-breaking manual labor?


John bought a roll of cardboard to put on top of the soil to serve as a weed barrier.
It needed lots of wetting down to get it to mold to the landscape.



Finally -- planting the drought-resistant plants!



John installing the drip irrigation lines -- not an easy thing to figure out!


We had to finish up in the rain, but finish we did!!!!

We can't wait to see what our baby plants will look like when they grow up!

Oregon & Washington, Summer 2009

What a great time we had on a road trip--without our trailer! We spent a couple nights in Ashland, OR on the way north. Dorothy and Jerry Brooks offered us their home to stay in, even though they weren't there -- our big disappointment. But they are located just a block from the downtown area. We were thrilled to see 3 plays, and enjoy their comfortable home at the same time.

We spent another couple nights in Portland, OR, at a lovely downtown hotel. We did lots of walking and utilizing their great transportation system to see many of the Portland sights. We had a wonderful meal on our last night -- right on the Columbia River.

Our main destination was to the Bellevue, WA area where my brother, Alan, lives. His wife, Sue, planned a 60th birthday party for him. It was great to meet so many of their friends, and to show a slideshow for the gathering of our growing-up years. The other goal was to get to Silver Skis Lodge on Crystal Mountain to officiate at Alan's stepdaughter's wedding. The weather had been sizzling hot the weekend before, but the wedding weekend turned cold. Our Hawaiian outdoor laua by the pool (for the rehearsal dinner) meant we had to wear jackets and gloves to keep warm! The sun peeked out (barely) for the outdoor wedding, but all in all, it was a wonderful weekend.

Mt. Shasta Work Project Sept 2009

John and I participated in a Care-a-Vaners work project at Mt. Shasta UMC Camp last September. We joined with 12 other retired United Methodists with our RVs for a week in the beautiful area of Mt. Shasta City. This was our first experience with Care-a-Vaners, but it won't be our last. Our main project was to close the camp up for winter. Most of us women took on the job of splitting wood for the caretaker's cabin during the winter, as well as guests who use the lodge. John and the other men loaded the logs from the mountainsides and dumped them by our log splitter. John also tackled other projects -- adding on to their tool shed, and organizing the tools, as well as running lines for the water pumps. We had a great time. We spent several days afterwards at Lake Siskiyou campground -- one of our favorite campsites. Beautiful weather; beautiful scenery.

wine country weekend

Once a year my friends, Jane and Dovie, come up from Palo Alto for a day or two in the wine country. We always have a great time, but this year was especially wonderful. We were celebrating Jane's retirement-- from the day before. We were distributing my new cards/fliers to wineries that have wedding venues. (If interested, see: www.gaylepickrellministry.blogspot.com)

We were "catching up" after our year away. It was a lovely time. The rain held off all day Saturday, and we were some of the few people going into several "out of the way" wineries. We had great interactions with the winery staff at each stop. At one winery, my friend and a former priest, Tony, who now pours wine several days and drives a bread truck a couple other days (what a great eucharist metaphor!) is always a joy to spend time with! (middle photo)

On Sunday, when it was raining non-stop, we went on a cave tour at Gloria Ferrar Cellars in Sonoma and learned more about making "sparkling wine" -- or champagne, but they can't technically call it that. John joined us that day, and as you can see, our last stop added a bit of "flair" with our drunken (statue) friend!

Amgen Tour de California Bike Tour

It was cold and rainy, but we braved it anyway and joined the throng of people who watched the Tour de California bike race here yesterday. They had predicted 90,000 would show up for this Davis to Santa Rosa Stage 1 event, so we went early and found a spot on the top of a parking garage. But the weather kept many away.

Lance Armstrong and our own Santa Rosan, Levi Leipenheimer, were expected to win, but a Spanish fellow was way out in front until the last minute. He is the lone rider in grey -- he did win yesterday. But there are many days this week they'll be competing--most of them in the rain. It's great California is finally getting rain. Too bad it had to be this week!

Fun with Friends

When our children were very young, four families used to get together on occasion. Some of us even had children in backpacks as we went on backpack trips. Other times we took car camping trips, and paddled in canoes, and took day hikes.

Our lives got busy and our children grew up. We haven't spent much time together as four couples in our "mature years," but we are hoping we've started a new tradition. We spent part of a weekend together at our home in Santa Rosa recently, going to Bodega Bay for lunch one of those days.

We decided it was a good time to say a big "thank you" to Sue, since it was near her birthday and she has remembered everyone of us on our birthdays every year -- and we are just a handful of people she regularly contacts on their birthdays! She had just retired from a nursing career. Part of the retirement "ritual" Karen created was of her smashing an alarm clock!

Pictured are: Jerry and Sue Angove (Jerry is a retired UMC minister -- he and I were on the UMC conference youth executive team in college days); Bill and Kate Johnson (Bill is also a retired UMC pastor who preceded me at St. Andrew's UMC in Palo Alto, and was a co-officiatant at John and my wedding; Kate and John were in meditation groups together); Stan and Karen Johnsen (long-time friends who even lived with my former husband and I for a few months and they were house-hunting in Palo Alto. Karen is a retired teacher; Stan is close to retirement as a physicist at Varian in Palo Alto.) One of Stan & Karen's daughters, Dr. Jill Johnsen, was just on a National Geographic TV special program last night about nanotechnology. Talk about our children speaking a different language!

It's A Brand New Day

Last evening we witnessed a beautiful golden sunset where we are staying at a friend's (Linda Carroll's) family beach house in Ventura. And this morning we witnessed a shiny new day. We couldn't help making symbollic connections. We finally saw the sunset on the Bush years, and the glorious beginning of this new hope-filled day. Even the porpoises seemed happy as they playfully swam along the coastline, and then we saw several of them riding the waves. What fun!

And what a day it has been!

We had the kleenex box handy as the President-elect became The President of the United States of America. Things are different -- a seismic shift has happened this day.

Barak Obama was definitely presidential today. His smile so genuine. His humility so real. His poise and grace so remarkable. His speech so terrific with great word images and thoughtful rhetoric. It was inclusive (speaking to all faiths, all nations, all ages, all men and women, youth and children, military and civilian, the powerful and the unknown.) It was personal (speaking about the condition of our society during his father's adulthood) and political (reclaiming a new direction for our nation); thoughtful and tough; historic and forward-looking. He appealled to all of us to become better human beings, and to the world to join in common humanity.

We are so happy we were a tiny part of helping this day happen!

Volunteering for the SF Chronicle's Wine Competition

I've learned a few things about wine this last week. I was a volunteer at the judging of the SF Chronicle's Wine Competition. All the judging took place in Cloverdale (about 45 minutes away), so I would leave before dark and get home after dark on most days.

This competition has a 25 year history, starting at the Citrus Fairgrounds in Cloverdale with a few local wineries. But it has grown so large that it is now the SF Chronicle Wine Competition. It is the largest American wine competition anywhere. This year there were 4753 wine entries -- that's a LOT of wine! The profits go to the Santa Rosa Junior College's Culinary and Wine Department. (I'm taking a couple culinary classes this term, so I helped support my own interests!)

I was part of a 4-person "back room" team. (We're the ones with aprons) We would pour 10 glasses of wine at a time for a panel of judges to taste. Our 3 judges (seated in white coats) were great. One was the "Wine Guy" on a local radio station; one was a wine consultant to local wineries; and one was--are you ready for this?--the executive chef for the Playboy Mansion in So. California! He gave everyone on our team Playboy pins -- just what I needed!!

The judges were great to work with, though. Their job was to rate the wine in each category for gold, silver and bronze awards, or no award, obviously without knowing which winery they're rating. The best of class awards are then entered into the final day's judging when all 50 judges taste all 100 best of class wines. Five sweepstakes are then awarded: sparkling, rose, white, red, dessert wine. All the awards are announced on their website: http://www.winejudging.com/


This year was a real shock. The only award for a Sonoma County wine was a dessert wine from Geyser Peak. (Sonoma is noted for lots of wines, but not necessarily dessert wine!) None came from Napa area--another big surprise. The sweepstakes were wines from New York, New Mexico, and two from other areas of California. Quite interesting. The public can taste all the wines at Fort Mason on Sat., Feb 28. It's expensive to get in, but I get a free pass for myself and a friend. (John is happy to be my friend!)


The pay for the week? A case of opened wine bottles that had been used each day in the tasting, and the last day, we each received 3 cases of unopened wine. All of the wine is better than what we're used to drinking, with a couple bottles in the "above $45 category". So the bad part? Our cheap wine just doesn't cut it anymore!!!


It was lots of work, but it was lots of fun, too.

Thanksgiving Marathon

This time we didn't actually "go" anyplace. We had all the Pickrell family come here -- all 20 of them -- for several days during the Thanksgiving holiday. It was the best! Food, games, sports, food, laughter, sleep (some on air mattresses in the garage!), games, wine tasting, sports (have you ever played round-robin tennis?), food, laughter... a real joy!

My 2 brothers and wives (one from Redmond, WA; one from Visalia, CA) and all of their children and spouses came, including a niece from Colorado. Susan Davenport and Scott Siebert, the newest newlyweds, represented the Davenport family. Unlike many families, we love being together for an extended period. I kept the food flowing; John had constant garbage duty! In spite of the effort, it's my favorite time of year, and I love every minute of it.

One evening my two kids (Jason, the firefighter; Kristen, the helper) made a fire-house type Mexican dinner. It was terrific!

Can't wait until next time!

We Won!

What an incredibly exciting evening on Election night! John and I were out on the streets with flashlights, knocking on doors until 30 minutes before the polls closed that evening, trying to get out every last Obama vote in Colorado! In fact, we did get two people to get to the polls in their area during that last hour! Even though the media indicated he would get the electoral votes from that state, we have been disappointed before. I was very nervous that the election might once again be manipulated/stolen in various states! We were glued to the TV that evening with the Chappells. When the words "President-Elect Obama" flashed on the screen, we couldn't contain ourselves. Cheers, tears, relief, HOPE -- it all came to a wonderful conclusion!

John and I had lots of time to process our experience during the 1200+ mile trip home. We feel we were part of something very important, even though we were just two of the millions of people who volunteered time, money, and energy to this campaign. But the shift in values and leadership is monumental.

The Chappells were wonderful hosts, and certainly made a contribution by taking care of us! We left them early Wednesday morning, just as the wind and cooler weather arrived. We drove through lots of wind and snow flurries, but luckily nothing that stuck to the ground so we didn't have to try out our new tire chains. Coming back into California was beautiful today with snow on the mountains in the Truckee area, the gold color of the trees and sunny blue skies, then the beauty of our Sonoma County -- it was a grand conclusion to a very memorable trip. It's good to be home.

Thank you for your interest!!!

Fun in Colorado!

Ron and Ruth Chappell have taken such good care of us!  We've eaten wonderful meals in their home, as well as enjoyed a couple of meals out.  There are tons of wonderful restaurants in the Fort Collins area.  We really do like this area, especially the 70-80 degree weather we're having. We brought snow clothes, not shorts, but we're not complaining!  There is often snow by Halloween, so it is definitely unusually warm for this time of year.  Much better for "getting out the vote" by hitting the streets.

We took one day off so the Chappells could take us to Colorado Springs to see the Garden of the Gods.  Very interesting rock formations -- similar to the geological wonders of the Utah parks we were in earlier in the year.  

Then there was Halloween.  We were glad we weren't knocking on doors as Obama campaign volunteers along with the Trick or Treaters.  Instead, we were with the Chappells and their grandchildren eating pizza before their parents took them out on the streets.  

We're still enjoying what we're doing with the Obama campaign.  Apparently I'm being assigned to be a precinct captain on Election Day, in charge of the precinct volunteers.  I have no idea what that means yet, but will be trained to take on that duty sometime soon, I'm sure!  We're working with young staffers (see 3 people in front of blue car) and many great volunteers.  We're excited that Obama has a good lead in Colorado now.  All we can do is hope and pray the election polls are somewhat accurate!