My dear friend Dot Ferneyhough is one of the craftiest person I know. I often compare her to Martha Stewart since she sews, knits, does embroidery & all kinds of needlework, makes jewelry, creates beautiful note cards…you name any crafts and Dot has done them all.

Today Dot is writing a guest blog about Mountain Honey Stitchery, a local fabric store and alteration shop in Truckee where Dot works part time. Here is Dot’s post:

What to do when winter in the mountains is not what you are used to? Ski passes are burning a hole in our pockets and all the storm brought was a piddly amount of snow and rain.

Mountain Honey Stitchery

Well, for those who love to sew and quilt and do projects with felts, why not go visit Mountain Honey Stitchery, near Truckee Airport. Besides a place to buy fabrics, sewing notions, you can get your clothing articles altered and repaired. Tuxedos can also be rented for your weddings or high school proms. Many choices and they start at $70! By not having to go to Reno you will also save money on gas & support Truckee local business at the same time.

Selection of Fabrics

Many tuxedos to choose from

Just over a year ago, I walked into the sewing store to buy a zipper. A tall young lady asked if I sewed. She is Anne Henry, the new owner of the sewing store, formerly known to locals as Donna’s Stitchery. Anne named her store Mountain Honey Stitchery. Since that first meeting, I have hemmed hundreds of jeans, altered evening dresses, jackets and skirts, sewn on patches and repaired zippers. For that torn ski jacket, or broken zippers, or wedding dresses alterations, Mountain Honey Stitchery can do it all.

Go to her website www.mountainhoneystitchery.com for more details.

Guest Blogger: sewdotknits

It does not look like we will have a White Christmas this year at Tahoe. The 2011-2012 season started out full of promises with a snowstorm in early October that gave us 10-14 inches of snow. Sadly we have not had much precipitation since and now I look out into my yard & see just a few patches of snow here and there.

However I am optimistic that we will have epic snow coming up and there will be awesome skiing days ahead. Speaking about great skiing, I have some amazing discount lift tickets for you at Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley. Instead of the normal daily rate of $92-96, you can now purchase $50 discount lift tickets to be used for the week of January 29-February 3 (Sunday-Friday). All proceeds from the sale of these tickets will go toward funding Arts For The School. Arts For The School is a non profit organization that brings professional artists to the community & students in the Lake Tahoe Truckee area.

There are only 200 discount lift tickets for Squaw Valley & Alpine Meadows available so if you would like to purchase some, please contact Ann immediately.

Here are some pictures of skier & snowboarder to inspire you for the upcoming fun season. Don’t forget to purchase these discount lift tickets for Squaw Valley & Alpine Meadows. You will save money & contribute to a worthwhile cause.

Skier on powder day

Snowboarder having fun

This spacious Squaw Valley condo rental has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and can sleep 9-11 people. It is conveniently located near the entrance of Squaw Valley ski resort and only 2 miles from Squaw lift lines. Staying at this comfortable Squaw Valley condo rental means you will bypass all the busy holiday traffic and get on the lifts at Squaw Valley ski resort within minutes with no wasted time. Just think of the extra runs you can enjoy…especially on powder days.

Squaw Valley condo rental

The complex also has year round hot tub and sauna for you to soothe your hard working muscles after the full day playing on the slopes. The good news is this Squaw Valley condo rental is only 5 miles from Lake Tahoe North shore which makes it a premier year round vacation rental. Nearby Alpine Meadows is a friendly family ski resort with some of the best ski and snowboard conditions.

Interior of Squaw Valley condo rental

This fully furnished condo has a well equipped kitchen for your convenience. However if you feel like dining out, a short drive to Lake Tahoe or downtown Truckee offers a selection of great restaurants.

Check out the availability of this resort rental, especially if you want to book for Christmas and New Year weekends on the rental website calendar.

Good news for First Time Homebuyer in Truckee, the Town of Truckee is launching another round of first-time homebuyer down payment assistance to help Truckee residents and employees purchase their first homes. Annual Income qualifications apply.

Eligible participants must submit their applications no later than September 8, 2011 at 5pm. Application packages can be picked up from August 9, 2011 at 10183 Truckee Airport Road which is Truckee Town Hall.  You can also access applications on Town of Truckee website.

Submit your application to:

JoAnn Anders
P.O. Box 1583
Cedar Ridge, CA  95924

Make sure your application will be received by the deadline of September 8, 2011 at the address above. Truckee Town Hall will not accept any application package.

Applications for Town of Truckee first-time homebuyer down payment assistance will be randomly selected to determine eligibility on September 9, 2011

“First-Time Homebuyer” eligibility is defined as Truckee residents or employess who have not owned a home in the last three years.

This is a tremendous opportunity for Truckee residents or employees who otherwise may not be able to qualify for a regular mortgage. The down payment assistance loan varies around 2-3% and the amount can go up to $90,000 based on qualified income.

Call Ann Nguyen for more information on this great opportunity.

Every summer Truckee-Donner Recreation & Park Districtpresents a free SUMMER MUSIC SERIES every Wednesday at “Salty” Gebhardt Amphitheather at the Truckee River Regional Park. This is a fun event for the whole family. The concert starts at 6:30pm and ends around 8:00 pm. My family likes to pack a picnic basket and gets there around 6pm with some low back chairs and some throws in case the weather gets chilly later on. We usually see a lot of friends and have a chance to catch up with each other for a while.

Each week TRUCKEE SUMMER MUSIC SERIES  features a different band with diverse music styles such as country, latin, rock’n roll,blues…These bands are sponsored by local businesses and they give an outstanding performance year after year. Near the front of the stage is a clearing that allow people to get up and dance. Quite often, you will find a large crowd moving to the lively music.

TRUCKEE SUMMER MUSIC SERIES kicks off the 2011 season this Wednesday June 15 and here is the full schedule:

June 15   Bourgeois Gypsies                               Original Swamp Pop & Countrified Blues

June 22   The Duckheads                                    Country/Alt Rock

June 29   Fearless Chicken                                 High Energy Original Rock’n Roll

July 6      Jo Mama                                             Latin/Swing/Funk

July 13    Dead Winter Carpenters                       High Energy Roots-Infused Amerigrass (You cannot sit still when they play)

July  20   Thom & The Tiki’s                                Island Style Music

July 27    Blues Monsters                                    Blues

Aug 3      Drop Theory                                       Funk, Rock, Fusion

Aug 10    Emily Tessmer Band                            Music from Memphis to Motown

Aug 17    Deja Vu                                              Rock’n Roll Oldies

Aug 24   Montana                                              Santana Tribute

As you can see this is a fantastic line up so make sure you grab your chairs, blankets and picnic basket and come join us at this excellent TRUCKEE SUMMER MUSIC SERIES. I am hoping to attend most if not all the concerts this year. Truckee will have many more fun events throughout the summer that I will make sure to talk about in my future blogs.

Originally posted at: http://activerain.com/blogsview/2350183/truckee-summer-music-series-

Truckee High School Football varsity team has big shoes to fill this year since Truckee High School Wolverines won back to back State Championships for the last 2 seasons.  They beat Moapa Valley 27-7 last year in Las Vegas to cap off back to back undefeated seasons, first time in school history.  The back to back Championships are the first for Truckee since the 2004-2005 seasons.

Truckee High School Football stadium

Here are the area stats for January-July 2011 as compared to the same period for 2010. For Tahoe Donner, the median prices were slightly down for single family and condos/townhomes prices are down as well. The median price for Serene Lakes was up, although number of units sold was down. Almost all other median prices listed were down from the previous year.

For more information on selling or buying homes in the Lake Tahoe and Truckee areas, please contact Ann Nguyen for up to date information.

Mortgage rate for the weekend of July 29, 2011 courtesy of Katie Rice and Victoria Conway of the Rice Conway Group:

This year Lake of The Sky Garden Tour will return to Truckee on Saturday July 30th from 10am-4pm. If you are an avid gardener or love looking at beautiful gardens, this is a not-to-miss event.

My front garden

At the high altitude of Lake Tahoe & Truckee, there are many challenges to gardening.  A few that readily come to mind is our short planting season. This year we received a snow storm in early June and sometimes we start getting snow in October so to cultivate a garden with gorgeous flowers and beautiful gardens is no mean feat. Also we have a lot of wildlife such as deers, chipmunks, squirrels who delight in tasting the first tender buds or tasty flowers…and that is enough for me to contemplate giving up on my gardening hobby sometimes.

Shade plants in my back garden

That is why Lake of The Sky Garden Tour becomes such a treat for me every year. You will marvel at the hidden gardens and exquisite flowers nestling along rocks walls or garden paths. A few gardens will also have soothing water features with lively fishes and exotic plants. There will be 8 gardens on tour this year including one lakefront property at Donner Lake.

Tickets for2011  Lake of The Sky Garden Tour are only $20 and you can purchase them at all local nurseries or Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce. Tickets can sell out quickly and may not be available on tour day so make sure you get some soon if you don’t want to miss this enjoyable event.

Following on the heel of Martis Camp Home Tour success last year, this year Excellence In Education Foundation has partnered with Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors to bring you the third annual Luxury Home tour. This tour will be on Saturday July 23rd from 10 am-4 pm. If you had been wanting to view some of the most exclusive homes in Lake Tahoe, Truckee area…now is the chance. You will glimpse the latest trends and design ideas in luxury homes. Come and admire the award winning designs ( rustic, modern, green building ) along with the amazing craftsmanship of these distinctive homes in Martis Camp.

There will be 5 homes on Martis Camp Home Tour this year:

• 10754 Avoca Drive: Four bedroom home with lovely views of Martis Valley &Sierra Crest is a showcase for a marriage of contemporary & modern elements with a touch of “retro”.
• 8130 Valhalla Drive: This spacious home is designed to accommodate a large & extended family with outdoor dining area and separate in-law suite.
• 8197 Valhalla Drive: Contemporary 5-bedroom home brings the outdoors to the indoors with the use of transparent walls of glass and weathering steel. Very unique design.
• 8395 Valhalla Drive: This Austrian lodge inspired home boasts over 8000 square feet and features separate formal living spaces. You will get transported back into Old World Europe architecture.
• 8825 Schroeder Way: This 5800 square feet home has a rustic Tahoe mountain home design with the extensive use of reclaimed wood on floors, walls and ceilings.
  

  2011 Martis Camp Home Tour

Not only will you have a rare opportunity to view these five luxurious homes but you will also have a chance to help raise money to benefit local schools by purchasing tickets for the tour . Tickets for the Martis Camp Home Tour are $40 in advance and $45 the day of the tour.

 If you have questions or want more information on the tour, you can contact Ann at anguyen@dicksonrealty.com

7/26/2011 Update: Once again the third annual Martis Camp Home Tour is a resounding success. The event raised over $44,000 for the Excellence in Education Foundation which will go to supporting our local schools and students. Thank you to all who came to this worthwhile fundraising event!