Weekend in Sonora

By Rachel Dickinson

The February weather in Northern California for the past couple of weeks has been on the warmer side. This last weekend, John and I visited his grandparents’ place in Sonora.

The drive to Sonora was nice—the sun was shining and everything was green. After we got off the freeway and headed east, the drive wasn’t too busy with traffic. Along the way, we saw lots of cows and a few horses grazing in grass. We also saw a few orchards that were blossoming with white flowers as we traveled along the highway. We passed through a few gold mining towns, which I definitely would like to visit sometime. They all have historic buildings and I imagine they have a lot of stories to tell.

Upon arriving at John’s grandparents’ place, we saw lots of plants in bloom. The warmer weather was perfect for early spring flowers to blossom. I took a few photos of these lovely flowers and loved how much their vivid color stood out with the sun shining on them. John’s step-grandma and grandpa have beautiful flowers growing around their home. They were also working on growing all sorts of tulips.

On the property, there were a lot of animals roaming about, including chickens, goats, and cats. One of the goats gave birth and the babies were only five days old when we got there! I loved how different their fur turned out. John even got to hold one of them!

I enjoyed this ceramic tile that said “All Things Grow with Love” on it. With just a bit of love, you can see things blossom and bloom.

One of the indoor activities I worked on this past weekend was beading. John’s step-grandma is an avid beader and has tons of different types of beads. On one of our last visits, we made beaded bracelets and earrings and she inspired me to purchase some beads to work on at home. This weekend, I brought some of the supplies I bought to their home to work on some beading projects. I was able to finish four pairs of earrings and a bracelet.

We also had a lovely home cooked dinner with vegetables, pork chops, and a salad, and we talked the evening away with homemade wine from John’s grandpa.

This weekend was a great way to relax and recharge from the busyness of the week and spend time with family. We can’t wait to visit again!