Black Bear diner for dinner

Im not sure what day it is…. the days are just rolling into the next one and my head is still fuzzy from the time change.  Weather still not great but it’s certainly warmer than home.  Haven’t been in the hot tub yet…

But im having a really nice time.   I love this house and feel very at home here but I miss Randy, Alex and Nick and Barney our dog.

This is the entrance hall. It’s having some renovation work done to it but still gorgeous

The left hand  picture is the entrance hall here in Carol and Barry’s house.   Being renovated currently but you get an idea of the beauty of this house .Look how high the ceiling is.   Today Carol took me down into the basement which is  the complete length and width of the house. It’s fantastic.  I bet when it gets hot here in the summer it would stay cool down there.   We have stayed here before but I didn’t even know the basement existed.     They also have an iron gated wine cellar which houses Barry’s wine.  He grows the grapes in his vineyard and he bottles and stores it.  

You remember I mentioned about not seeing any people walking around etc.  Well if you have another look at the picture of Carol and Barry’s house you will see there is no pavement outside.(or sidewalk as they call it ).    It seems some neighbourhoods have chosen not to have them, which may explain why nobody walks around here!    Not all the neighbourhoods are the same.   I’ve seen some where they have pavements but still not a lot of people walking around.   People just seem to use their cars to get around in these parts

Today I saw one weird person of the San Francisco area.   It’s not that warm here yet but he had no shirt on, very tanned body … and a long black skirt to his ankles.  He didn’t speak to us but was mouthing a  conversation he was having with himself.  It’s said that California is the land of fruits and nuts …this is true.. ..I should have taken a picture of him !

I forgot to tell you about the final step in my visa process when I arrived at SanFrancisco airport.   At border control I had my fingerprints and photograph taken (again).  I guess this is to ensure the same person that appears in front of them is the one that applied for the visa and they can’t be too careful.  I was then sent  to another department with my sealed US Embassy envelope for my final interview.  The staff here were incredibly kind and polite.  I think I looked a little lost, arriving completely alone, after an 11 hour flight, clutching my documents and they again asked my reasons for arriving in San Francisco with an immigrant visa.   It’s as if they try to catch you out with your replies but my reasons have never changed and I was moved on fairly quickly.   So I’m now officially an immigrant on a visa in the United States.  I will receive my Green card and Social Security number within a few weeks and this will allow me to work here if I want.   I’m not a citizen unless I apply to be one and at this stage I don’t know that I ever will.  A decision for another time… but at least I made it.  The process was by no means easy and has taken over 8 months, involved more paperwork and photocopying than I thought possible but hopefully worth it to me and my family.

We found some hobby shop type places today and I was keen to look at their buttons and embellishments to see if they had different ones to home.   Eventually and all being well I would like to launch my Lovely Letters in the US so I’m interested in finding someone that can cut my letters like my man in the UK.    Some of these stores stock the letters ready to paint but they are three times the price I buy my letters for in the uk.   I was shocked at the prices of buttons and embellishments I use…much more expensive than in the UK although some unusual things which definitely interested me.   I think if I want to continue with them I will be buying off the internet for most of my stock and I will definitely find someone to cut the wood.

 

This evening we went to the Black Bear Diner.  Barry had a huge Bobs big bear burger deluxe which as you can see from the picture is huge !    Look at the portion of garlic fries !   Carol and I had Chicken Fried Steak which comes in its own dressing / gravy and was really nice.  It’s all the side orders that come with it… salad, jacket potato, steamed vegetables, cornbread roll…oooh and the dressings..

I’m hoping to open a bank account here before I go home.  This should make things easier over the coming months.   Later in the week we are travelling up to Washington to see Carol and Barry’s son and his family.   This will be a 13 hour drive through Oregon so that will be three states visited during this trip.

Dont forget to listen out for my live update on Martin’s radio show CO9 on Saturday morning 9am til 11am .    It will be around 2am here when we broadcast so that’ll be interesting !

http://www.internet-radio.com/station/co9/

Thank you so much again for reading my blog…. I’m loving updating you on this journey and feel there is actually people with me.   I love to read your comments and they remind me of all the special people in my life and how incredibly lucky I am to have you along for the ride.

Heres some more pictures taken since I arrived

  Carol baking a pot pie….which isn’t a pie of marijuana.

I have some strange things in my garden but this one is amazing…I’m coming back when it’s dark as I’ve heard it all lights up at night !

 

Until next time …..