Our New Home Town

It's been over two months since I wrote anything on this blog!  A lot has happened in that time.  All 200 plus boxes got packed up and moved to Fowler, CA.  I am now unpacking and trying to find places for all the stuff.  I took a break from that today and Gunther and I went on a photo "safari".  We took pictures of some neat old buildings and signs and we captured some of the agriculture that is so important to the valley.

 Welcome to Fowler.  Our new home town!  This sign is right at Golden State Blvd and Merced Street.

 Elaine's Drive-In and Cafe... The sign off to the side says that they serve "the best tasting hamburger in the world, we also serve Chinese food!"  And boy is it good Chinese food. I used to get Tomato Beef Chow Mein at Kowloon Kitchen in Clovis.  Since moving away I have never found another Chinese place that serves it until now.  Elaine's is every bit as good as Kowloon Kitchen!!  I am a happy girl!

 I was standing across the street at the post office to take the picture of Elaine's drive-in when I was surprised by the train.  I'm glad I got this picture.  The trains go by many time during the day and night. 

 Just five miles south of Fowler is Selma, CA.  Selma is the raisen capital of the world!  This vineyard is just a mile from our house.  This is what they look like at the end of January.  I will be posting a picture every month all year long to document the life of a vineyard. You can see those posts here at A Year In The Life Of A Vineyard  It will be interesting to see the progression.  If you look closely to the right of this row of grapes you will see the branches that were trimmed off. 

We have an orange tree in our front yard and if you look to the north up our street you will see this orchard.  And see the houses in the upper right of this picture.  We are surrounded by orchards and vineyards here in Fowler!  Agriculture is the bread and butter of the valley and it is so awesome to be surrounded by it.  Just two blocks to the west of our house is Simonian Fruit packing sheds. 

Across Golden State Blvd is this old brick building.  I don't know what it was originally but it really has some character.  I love the old tree in the sidewalk and the weathered wood and brick.

Here is a view of the same building from across the street.  The painted sign at the top says Labor Contractors.  I can't make out the first word of the sign though.  Maybe some research at the library will give me a history of this old place.

If you head south on Golden State toward Selma you come to the Freeway Lanes Bowling Alley.  In the sixties my mother-in-law bowled many tournaments here!  They even have karoake on Saturday nights!!

This is a California historical landmark.  This one commemorates a dispute over railroad and land rights.  Several people lost their lives including two deputy marshalls. 

Close up of the plaque.

 Further South on Golden State you come to Wells Fine Cars and Wells Used Cars.  I love the fact that these old signs are still standing even though the effects of time and weather are written all over them.  They are a statement from the past.  Golden State is actually Old Highway 99 and it used to pass through cities and towns all up and down the valley.  I imagine that when the new freeway was constructed and this place was by-passed it very well may have been the beginning of the end for Wells Fine Cars.

We headed back home to post this blog and wait for another beautiful sunny California day to venture out once again and capture the beauty that is our new home town!

Thank you to my Las Vegas neighbor, Susie Binney for the beautiful wreath for the front door!

Cathie

The Packing Has Begun

19 boxes packed! And all I have packed are DVD's, VHF tapes, framed photos and nic knacks. Oh my I have so far to go. Good thing I only work three days next week. I'm realizing that we have too much stuff! Moving in to a house half the size of our present home will be a real "cleansing" experience. I am going to find out what is really important and what is not.

Cathie

California Here We Come

We are finally moving back to California!!  The purpose of this little blog is to record that process and make the transition from big city existance to small town living.  Our new home will be in Fowler, CA.  Last year (July 2010) we purchased a darling little 1964 bungalow.  For the past year we have had a renter in the house.  Well, we decided it was time to come home! 

This is where we will call home!  So cute. The house is livable but we are planning on changing the carpet and replacing with wood laminate flooring.  The rest we can do once we are moved in and living here. The house has real charm and a homey warm feel to it.

The kitchen has some terrible wallpaper but that is easy to fix.  At first I thought we should replace the cabinets but the more I looked at this picture the more I liked the little gingerbread additions to the bottom of the cabinet above the refrigerator.  There is the same cute gingergread trim above the kitchen sink.  On the other side of the wall behind the fridge is the laundry room and the door from there leads out onto the covered patio.

This picture is a little fuzzy but you can get an idea of the patio.  The door towards the center of the picture leads to the laundry room.  The part of the house to the left that juts out is the master bathroom.  It also has a door that leads onto the patio.  The building that you can see at the left of the picture is the garage. 

The garage is huge!  The roll up garage door is twenty feet wide.  I think that my scrapbooking and crafting will take place out here.  I am going to have to share my space with Dewaynes wood working.

This is a view of the living room looking from the kitchen.  The far left door is the coat closet and the door next to it is the front door.  The mail slot is in the coat closet!!

Cathie