Hilmar Cheese Co. at Hilmar, California

As I mentioned yesterday, last weekend my mother and I rode the Amtrak, to visit my daughter in Turlock. We really enjoyed the train as it was the first time for both of us. We also did quite a few things while we were visiting, one of the best was visiting the Hilmar Cheese Co.

Hilmar Cheese Co., is located in Hilmar, CA a few miles from Turlock. In 1984, 12 dairy families got together to create the Hilmar Cheese Co. You can go here to get more information on the history, I'm not the greatest of historians, I prefer just being a humble visitor and photographer, so let's look at some pictures.

The picture below is of the entrance to the visitor's center. As soon as you walk in you are standing in the gift shop; and it has so many beautiful things, cheeses, jams, jellies, cooking supplies, various dressings and marinades and candy. I saw so many things I wanted I could fill up a year of Iwanna wishes at this place! There is also a Deli where they serve pastries, signature sandwiches, gourmet-style pizza, home-made soups and salads and ice cream. They have a full espresso bar and proudly serve Starbucks Coffees, Yum!

Let's go inside shall we?

I wish I had taken pictures of the gift area, but I was just overwhelmed by all there was to see and completely forgot about taking pictures, sorry :-(

Below is the cafe/deli. There was cheese everywhere and the best part was that you could sample every little type of cheese they made and it was so good. In the glass case there in the front under the chalkboard that says "Tri-tip Tacos" (yep people, this is California and we have Tri-Tip Tacos!), is a glass case filled with different types of salads. Macaroni al fredo salad, pasta salad, potato salad, all kinds. If you could see to the left of the picture and around the corner you would find another glass case filled with pastries which is where I scored my delicious Scone.

I have to admit that I let my daughter buy me a lovely Orange-White Chocolate Scone that I carried in my own two little hands all the way back home on the train to enjoy with my morning coffee at work the next day. It was sheer heaven. I love Scones and need to find that recipe. This one was as big as my hand and about two inches thick.

Here you can see their espresso and coffee bar. We had just had breakfast at the Hot Rod Cafe in Turlock (wish I had thought to get pictures. Next time, as it's a very unique little place as well) so we weren't too hungry. But April, my daughter had slept in and missed breakfast so she had a grilled cheese sandwich that was made with fresh Hilmar Cheese Co., cheese and it was so ooey-gooey wonderful that it was like a little bit of heaven in your mouth!


While I was there I had to visit the ladies room. And check out the tile work, isn't it so cute and so fitting?

A close-up, please feel free to click to enlarge and see more detail.


I just love the little cow tracks!

Once we were done with our shopping I had to go outside and take pictures of the outside of this gorgeous place.

This is the the west side of the Visitors Center. You can take a self-guided tour through this place and go through the whole process of cheese-making, but unfortunately on weekends after 11am the second floor is closed for private parties and there happened to be one when we visited, so we didn't get to take the tour, but you can do a virtual tour here. I took the virtual tour because I'm always interested in how things are made and it was interesting to watch and to see how there is no waste; even the water left after processing the cheese is taken to a water facility to be processed and used to water the crops which are grown to feed the cows!

I was a little confused by the fact that they say in the tour video that a cow must be a mother to produce milk. Ok, that makes sense, but then it goes on to say that the cows are milked three to four times a day? So what do the baby cows drink if all their mothers milk is milked out to make cheese? Anyone?

This is the same spot as the previous photo and I had to have a picture taken in such a beautiful spot. We were sitting in what was a little grotto, it was so pretty here and great photo-ops!

Here's another beautiful photo-op, so of course you know what I had to do right?

Why take photos of course. Here is my daughter April and her grandmother and my mom Tomasa.

And here I am standing by the waterfall.


There were a lot of lovely plants, but I especially loved this one. Anyone know what this is?

Here's a closer look.

And here's a parting shot taken from the car window as we leave the parking lot of the Hilmar Cheese Co. Visitors Center parking lot.

Hope you enjoyed the visit and feel free to go and take the virtual tour. It's a little sappy, but still educational. And if you're ever in the area, be sure and stop by and have a grilled cheese sandwich, mmmmmmm!

Fabulous Quilt Giveaway

Sweet Jeanette of the blog Sweet Jeanette is having a quilt giveaway. She's posted pictures and it is gorgeous! I hope I win it, but if I don't win it I would love to see it go to you. So please click below and go enter. And while you're there, snoop around her lovely blog. I guarantee you will love it!

All Aboard! Our first time ever on the Amtrak!

Last weekend my mom and I went on a road trip...and I didn't have to drive! I was so excited because I always drive. We took off to visit my daughter April who lives about three hours North of Shafter. She generously bought her grandmother and me tickets to ride the train! It has always been a wish of my mom to ride on the Amtrak and she didn't think she ever would. It's like one of those "bucket list" wishes. Something you want to do before you kick the bucket.

We left Saturday morning at around 8:30 from the Wasco Amtrak station.

Here I am happy and relaxed to be going somewhere I didn't have to drive to.



And here's my mom. You can so tell how excited she is!


It was so much fun. There wasn't a lot to see as the train doesn't take the same route Highway 99 takes, it's kind of on the outskirts so you just see farmland, but it was still nice. I was surprised by how many people ride the Amtrak. We went from Wasco, CA to Modesto, CA. The train stopped in Corcoran, Hanford, Fresno, Denair/Turlock, Merced then Modesto. I think I got the order right.

Fresno station was by far the most interesting. Before we got there we passed by a few little encampments of what I believe were homeless people. They were living under several different bridges and they had tent cities set up. Outside of almost each tent was a couch or some arm chairs and people all sitting around drinking morning coffee. It was surprising for me to see that. We usually see homeless people walking around in Bakersfield with their shopping carts and their other worldly possessions, but I guess I just never stopped to wonder where they go when the sun goes down. I wonder if there are tent cities in Bakersfield that I'm not even aware of. It makes you think, doesn't it? I tried to get a glimpse of them on the way back but I had forgotten exactly where they were.

We arrived safe and sound at the Modesto station where my daughter was waiting to pick us up. Ok...maybe not waiting because she was late :-) but eventually she got there and she took us to breakfast.

One thing to remember when you ride the train...take some snacks. My mom and I didn't on the way up and we got hungry. They do have a food car, but I'm sure you can imagine it was expensive. My mom did purchase some chips and soda's, but on the way back we were well stocked! We had a great time and I'll be sharing some of the things we did in later posts, but I just wanted to share this story of my mom's first time on the Amtrak...I'm glad I was there to share it with her.

Giveaway at Between Naps on the Porch

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is having a give-away for Tassels from The Tassel House. Please click here or on the button below to head over and enter. You'll also get to see lots of lovely Tassels! Good Luck!

It's Fall Y'all and I'm late to the Party!

Wonderful Rhoda from Southern Hospitality is hosting a "It's Fall, Y'all" Fall Decorating party and I am sooooooooooo late to the party. I had technical difficulties (my Internet went out) and I had my party dress all ready to go and I just had to sit here...frustrated *sigh*.

But now my link to the world is back up and running and so here's the little bit of decorating that I've managed to do. It's been 100 degrees and above around here so I've not been in a "fall-y" mood.

First off. . . Castanet Casi! She's my Spanish Senorita plate dancing skeleton doing a lovely flamenco. Ole!


Here she is with Mr. Pumpkin Head. I think he likes to watch her strut her stuff, considering that big ole smile he has.

And here's her sister, Tango Tome. You can tell she's a tango dancer because of the rose she's holding in her hand. Once she starts dancing she will hold that rose between her teeth! And those are some choppers huh? Ole!

My leap-frogging Scarecrows. I bought these cute little guys last year after the Halloween season and I'm so glad I remembered they were all wrapped up and hidden in my linen closet.

Here they are again making friends with Sammy Scare Crow on the mirror.

My leaf plate, a thrift store find sitting nicely in another thrift store find...a plate holder.


Same leaf plate, with a much lighter background as I turned the light on.


Leaf plate with the candles lit and the leap frogging scarecrows in the background and some pumpkins scattered here and there.

What's fall without corn stalks?

I'm going to take down the plates on either side of the mirror and put the orange and black plates up, but I need to get a couple more plate hangers.

Another view, I like the way the color of my wall looks a pretty pale yellow. In actuality my walls are white.

Night time shot with the candles all lit up.


And that's it. Just the beginning I hope. I'd like to do a table scape. But ya'll head over to Rhoda's, Ya Hear! Lot's of folks over there have done some really beautiful decorating, you'll be amazed!

Thanks for coming by and please take a button...they're free. Feel free to become a follower as well and Happy Fall, Ya'll!

Iwanna Wednesday - Technical Difficulties

Due to Technical Difficulties (internet connection problems), the Iwanna Wednesday program regularly scheduled for Wednesday (duh), has been rescheduled for next Wednesday. Please bear with us until this problem is resolved. Thank you!

A Southern Daydreamer ~ Outdoor Wednesday

I'm joining A Southern Daydreamer's Outdoor Wednesday again with my post about the Hippy Bees ~ Revisited. Be sure to read my post then click here to head over to visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for all the other Outdoor Wednesday participants.

The Hippy Bees ~ Revisited

I've received quite a few (two) emails asking about the Hippy Bees? Did the Bee Whisperer kill them?

So I thought I would update everyone with the story of the bees and photos.

My bee whisperer showed up the day after he said he would, but this time instead of arriving on his white horse (big white truck) wearing his Knight in Shining Armor outfit (jeans and a tshirt), he came in his small politically correct green car (I don't mean the color green but the gas saving, energy saving, save the planet "green" car). And he wearing his Young Republican outfit, dress slacks, white shirt and a tie!

Ack! I was shocked, but then he smiled and all was right in my world once again. My muse was still...my muse!

We went into the backyard and he's checking out the hives and he can't believe how much bigger they are. He tells me he will be back around 8:30 or 9pm with a ladder, his Bee-Man suit and the poison because there is no way he can save them, the hive is just too big.

He comes back about 45 minutes later with a posse of Bee-men (ok, one - one bee man). His posse is an expert bee keeper and he comes out and says, "Yep, those are a whole lotta bees!" Don't you love experts? So they Ooh and aah at the bees and they decide it's going to take about three times of spraying the poison and then the tree trunk will have to be filled with some type of air foam that sprays out of a can and fills in big holes so that the bees won't come back. I'm all for it...I sure don't want them to come back.

So the Bee Whisperer comes back at about 8:30pm with his ladder and full Bee-man regalia and he asks me to turn the back door light on and go inside. I do, cause I really don't want to be anywhere near those bees when he irritates them.

I watch by the window and he keeps telling me not to come out...and I keep telling/yelling at him, "Don't worry...I won't". And he places the ladder on the tree and climbs up about 10 feet and starts to spray them.

And oh my gosh! Did those bees ever get mad, all of a sudden they fly towards the backdoor light where I am standing by the backdoor, safely inside and I can hear them buzzing. It sounds like a chain saw and the sky is filled with them.

My Bee Whisperer finishes his job, loads up his ladder takes off his suit and comes to the front of the house to the front door and advises me that it might be a good idea not to go out back tonight at all and maybe not tomorrow either and he will be back in a couple of days to spray them again.

So I kept an eye out to see what was going on, safely, through the window for the rest of the night until I went to bed. I could see tons of bees all over my back patio. I finally turned out the light and went to bed.

This is what I saw the next day. . .

A pile of dead bees near the trunk of the tree... click on the picture and it should enlarge.


You can see little bee carcasses all over the cement there by the tree trunk, they were like that all over the patio, you had to sweep them out of the way to get to the trunk.

The Bee Whisperer is definitely going to have to come back again, because even though those are a lot of bees on the ground there are still a bunch in the tree.

Here's a shot of before the Bee Killing . . .


And here's a shot of the hive today. As you can see there are a lot less bees, but there are still some there. More than likely the queen bee is still there and these bees that are left are there to protect her and won't leave.

So my Bee Whisperer is slated to come back tomorrow. Hopefully he can get them all, but I will keep you all updated.

Bee Happy!

Thrift Shop Treasures

Whew! I just barely made it.
For what you ask?
Well of course for Rhoda's final "Today's Thrifty Treasures" event!

She's going to be taking a break now that fall is here and yard sale season is almost a distant memory.

I barely made it because I just got off a train and raced like a bat out of "H E, double toothpicks" to my computer to write my post to link up to Rhoda.

I just got back from visiting my daughter in Turlock. My mom and I rode the Amtrak! That was the first time for either of us and I'll post stories and pictures later, but let me tell you...I found lots of treasures. The ones below though are from last weekend.

Hey...Happy Easter! I know, I know...it's almost time for Halloween, not Easter, but I just couldn't pass on this! Isn't it adorable! I can't wait for Easter now!


And I finally found a real cloche. This one is pretty small, you could probably fit a cupcake into it. I still want to find a beautiful, ornate stand for it. But it was a great buy and they are hard to find in our area!

And I found this gorgeous bird cage. Still don't know what I am going to do with it. Any ideas? For now I moved the Russian Nesting Dolls and my daughter Tea Cup from the upside down hurricane/cloche and displayed them in the bird cage so the photo would have more than just an empty cage.

I found another beautiful birdcage today at a Thrift Shop in Modesto, but unfortunately because we were on the Amtrak I couldn't bring it with me as I already had my suitcase full and it wouldn't have fit anyway.

So that's it for today. I found lots of goodies this weekend as well; including many pumpkins and fall display items, but unfortunately I've had no time to clean them up and get them photographed and posted. I'm going to have to find another wonderful hostess like Rhoda to get me through the winter months. Anyone?

Be sure to go see what treasures everyone else found. Just click on the button below.