Well, we have been back in the states for about 2 weeks. I have almost got my body clock back on PST after those midsummer nights and long plane flights. And I also recently finished a photo book about our travels. I have added a link to the book for anyone who is interested.
Paso Robles, Round 1: Weather pleasantly mild, accommodations comfortable, diversions aplenty. We started our adventure with a craft beer session at Firestone-Walker Brewery. It was Christmas Eve day and the staff was in a party mood. The pours were generous and when it came time to settle our tab it was clear that the server had either lost count or was literally going with the flow. A gift! From there it was on to Sculpterra, a winery we had not visited before. It is a just a short drive west of town and the setting is spectacular due to the array of art installations. Take a gander at some of my favorites:
But what about the wine? I am happy to report that it was excellent; so good, in fact, that we joined one of their wine clubs. The line of wines – Viognier, Pinot Noir, Primitivo, and Cabernet Sauvignon – is named “Heroe” (Spanish for hero) and is dedicated to the production workers. The labels on the bottles feature pictures of some of the workers themselves, and a portion of the profits are used to fund health clinics in areas of Mexico where many of the workers come from. Win-win-win.
Following our tasting at Sculpterra we were REALLY in need of lunch so we headed up the road to Cass Winery – a destination based on a local recommendation – to try their renowned food. While there I noticed a pole covered with birdhouses. On closer inspection, it turned out the “houses” were actually old shoes. How clever.
One more winery – Tobin James – finished off our day. The wine there was good but not good enough to entice us to do another wine club thing. We did enjoy being served at the 1860’s Brunswick mahogany bar brought in from Missouri to help give the place a “James Gang” feel.
Pismo Beach: Timing was right for a stop at the Monarch Grove (migration is November – February). When we got there it was still a bit cool so our first sightings were of large clusters of butterflies hanging with wings tightly closed. As the sun warmed the area there was a gradual unfolding and lots of soaring. Park rangers had to place warnings on the ground requesting people to be careful where they stepped as many of the monarchs were making rest stops along the paths. It was quite a beautiful sight.
Solvang/Santa Ynez Valley: On a previous excursion to SoCal we intended to visit Solvang, noted for being the Danish capital of the United States. It didn’t happen then, so made a point of taking a day trip to check it out. Whoa – who would have thought the place would be so popular? It was Disneyland-on-a-school-holiday busy. But we did manage a Danish lunch, a short bit of walking, and a visit to a “I want one of everything on the shelves” bakery. Using uncharacteristic self-control I purchased only one small pastry to enjoy while we were traveling and a breakfast treat for the following morning. Both were as delicious as they looked. This doesn’t always happen (think Mexican sweet rolls~).
Leaving Solvang we made our way back north through the valley to stop at a variety of vineyards. We made 5-6 stops. (Funny how that number blurs after a while…) Tasted a number of Pinots but none were intriguing enough for us to purchase. One of the best parts of the day was enjoying the beautiful views.
Paso Robles, Part 2: Since we went east on our first round of tastings we headed west for the second round. We revisited a favorite: Villacana Winery and Re-Fined, their distillery operation. Still (pardon the pun) as good as we remembered. Next up was Halter Ranch, with its historic buildings, and then Whalebone Vineyards, where we HAD to buy a bottle of their “flagship” wine, Bob; we also spotted the vineyard cat nestled in the souvenir sweatshirt display.
Our route then took us to Pasolivo, an olive oil company, where we had tastings of both regular and flavored oils along with seasonings and salts. Wonderful – so wonderful that a tin of basil oil and a container of Dukkah made their way into our shopping basket. Following that stop was Limerock Orchards to taste walnuts and oils. Once again, our palates were smitten and we made purchases of walnut oil and a bottle of Asian-spiced vinegar (a bit hot, and just a tad sweet). Time for lunch, so we settled on Opolo vineyards.
The afternoon was complete with a stop at Turley, another favorite, where Bob treated himself to a couple of bottles of their old vine Zinfandel while I went for the salt cellar made from olive wood; then on to Rotta, the oldest vineyard in the area, established in 1908.
San Rafael: No wineries at this location, but that didn’t stop us from finding something great to drink. We used the Internet to guide us to a Happy Hour location and got lucky. If you are ever in that area on a Wednesday, head for Brick and Barrel. Happy Hour not only has delicious, reasonably priced, and generously-sized appetizers; but all bottled wine is half price. We were with our friend, Denise, who is a former science teacher; so our choice of wine was spot-on: Consilience (in science, refers to the principle that evidence from unrelated sources can converge to strong conclusions). As evidenced by our empty bottle at the end of the evening, we concluded it was a very good wine.
St. Helena: Joined forever friends, Mark and Trudy, for an afternoon of wine tasting and New Year’s Eve dinner. We met at Hall/Napa, which they had not been to, just so they could see the beautiful grounds. (I wrote about Hall in a post last year…) Then it was into town to taste at Clif, not a vineyard but a tasting room for wines they make elsewhere. Remarkably good. Yup, you guessed it – another wine club.
Next it was up the road to Markham and finally Mumm/Napa. Mumm is our favorite tasting room of all time. It doesn’t hurt that my drink of choice is champagne. The whole place was in a festive mood with party favors being shared (hats and horns) and extra pours with the tastings. It was a perfect way to conclude our journey and the final day of 2015.
July means Reno is celebrating Artown, and of all the amazing cultural offerings (500+!), the Midtown Art Walk is one of the best. Last night the streets were crowded with people out to enjoy the music, food, beverages (adult and otherwise), and exhibits. This year more than 90 merchants and close to 100 artists contributed to the event. One of the best features on the walk this year was the People Project. Over 50 life-size statures were placed throughout Midtown. Local artists “dressed” them to reflect the various businesses that they adorned.
Here are a few that caught my eye:
An equation for a fabulous celebration: California (CA) on my birthday (Bday) was filled with family (F), friends (F), and food (F). Actually the formula probably should read CA + Bday = F x 4 as there was so many food opportunities.
On our first evening we headed into San Francisco to meet up with family and especially to get in some cuddle time with my niece’s new babe. Dare I say he is a perfect child? Yes, he is. Walked from their near The Embarcadero digs to a fabulous restaurant, Fog City. As my sister had been before she guided us through the menu and made some incredible selections. I would let her take me anywhere…
On my actual birthday we took in a baseball game. My sons surprised me with a birthday greeting on the big screen. Found out that the money from the sign purchase goes to the A’s outreach program for local youth. A’s didn’t win the game (in fact we witnessed some pretty hapless playing), but the kids who benefit from the fund will be winners. Weather was a bit chilly by the latter part of the game so we were happy to retire to the club area for burgers along with a nice view of the game from behind glass.
While in Rockridge we did some window shopping (quirky little retail area within easy walking distance from our VRBO; when is the last time you saw 3 independent book stores in a 5 block area?) and one evening we headed for Tomatina’s in San Mateo for dinner with dear friends from the coastside. Then on to St. Helena to reunite with a former colleague/friend/one of my favorite people.
Following lunch we stopped at Markham Winery, mainly to see the latest art installation: “iPhonic art” – all photographs taken and processed with i Phones; and a retrospective of Rolling Stone covers by Baron Wolman. And you can be sure we did not skip the wine tasting.
It was warm and humid, but that did not stop us from getting in some great adventuring in “the District” during our recent visit back East. But, since time was limited, we decided to go for a robust mix: modern at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gallery and ancient (Asian) at Freer and Sackler Galleries. Here are some highlights:
At this point our visit was abbreviated because there was a security evacuation. It was actually quite interesting and a first-time experience for us. Most visitors to the museum looked around waiting to be told what to do (though, in addition to a piercing siren and flashing lights, the system was sending out a loud message to exit the building), some visitors seemed to be ignoring it and even going about their gift shopping, and the guards were in various states of moving about quickly even if a bit flustered, trying to determine how to put all of those protocols they have been practicing into use. (In an ironic twist, my Bob has just mentioned that being a guard in a museum had to be on of the most boring jobs in the world…) We were good citizens and left the building promptly but we did see an opportunity to go across the street to the Sculpture Garden. That lasted only a short time because the evacuation area was extended and they cleared a full city block. I read in the WA Post the next day that there was a suspicious power outage in select government buildings and they wanted to be sure there was no outside threat. Nope – just the usual suspect: PEPCO, the local utility company.
A few of the sculptures I managed to capture before we were asked to move along:
Since our time at the mall was cut short we decided to tuck into a cool spot – an air-conditioned movie – in one of our favorite venues: E Street Theater. To compliment our art-based agenda we saw The Woman in Gold and highly recommend it. I do not, however, recommend using the attached parking garage (though finding street parking is neigh on to impossible; gotta love DC). We paid $25 for our 2 hour stay; more than we paid for our movie tickets. Yikes. On the other hand, if we had chosen to use the Metro, which I actually prefer and have had great experiences with, we would have spent about that same amount to park and ride. Life in the big city…
Unless it’s Reno: the biggest little city. Glad to be home.
Seems like there are a lot of people I know that are having babies right now. Just today I finished putting the binding on a third baby quilt; and I have one more to make. Also finished a knitted blanket and have made good headway on a second. Favorite part: choosing the fabrics. Love to come up with something personal for each family.
A beautiful day in Reno! Took a walk to view the installations at the first annual Sculpture Fest. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!
Saturday started off in a spectacular fashion. As a volunteer for Historical Reno Preservation Society (HRPS) I was invited to join a small group of fellow history lovers for a private tour of University of Nevada Reno’s Mackay School of Mines, and more especially the Keck Museum. By the end of the morning my head was bursting with new information and admiration. Our guide, Garrett Barmor; museum administrator, started us off outdoors at the foot of the statue of John Mackay, one of the big four magnates of the Comstock Lode.
A few photos of the beautiful lines and shadows within the building:
One of the most voluptuous displays is in the lower level of the museum: the Mackay silver. John Mackay had this made as a gift for his wife. The work was done by Tiffany’s, and they also designed a custom monogram. Interestingly enough, the monogram is the same font Tiffany’s used for the New York Yankees logo.
On the the lowest level, which is actually housed within the foundation, we were fortunate to get to tour an area that is closed to the general public. There we got to see the seismic isolators that were installed to insure the preservation of the original building in the event of an earthquake. At one time the building was shut down because it did not pass earthquake standards. It was slated to be razed, but locals (largely HRPS) rallied to encourage the Nevada Board of Regents to find a way to retrofit the structure and make it usable once again. They did!
For those of you in Reno, UNR is holding “Day at the Museums” on May 2, 2015. All eleven of the school’s museums will be open. Most are free admission and there will be hands on activities, scavenger hunts, food trucks, and special offerings for kids. For those of you outside of the area here is a link with more information: http://www.unr.edu/keck. Enjoy!
Since this was our first opportunity to check out this much-talked about city, we consulted travel sites, talked to current and former Texans and settled on an itinerary that included their top suggestions and also appealed to us. We were fortunate to have friends join us for what I believe was one of the best days of sightseeing (because we were with them – thanks, Nick & Robin!).
Our day began at the LBJ Library. It was very well curated. They did a wonderful job putting events in context and did not shy away from the controversial or unpopular aspects of Johnson’s life and tenure as president.
After time at the museum gift shop we followed a recommendation from a LBJ Library staffer and headed to Hoover’s for barbecue – a natural choice for Texas dining. It is a local spot and quite popular. The creamed spinach with jalapeños was a unique side dish.
After lunch we went over to the University of Texas campus to go through the Blanton Museum of Art. They had an outstanding exhibit titled “Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties”. It was a perfect companion event to the LBJ. No photos were allowed in that set of galleries so I have nothing to show in the blog. You will have to take my word for it: Fabulous!!!
We followed up our museum visits with a walk along South Congress Street, called SoCo by locals. It is a very hip area and the weather was perfect for window shopping, a purchase of locally roasted coffee from Tom’s, and happy hour at “The Snack Bar”.
We ended the day with a late dinner at Stubb’s – another barbecue restaurant. We got there at 9p and the joint was jumping’. We were lucky to get a table. I recommend the beef brisket. Servings are generous and I was able to take some home to enjoy with our breakfast eggs.
We stayed in a VRBO and had a car, so were happy to provide transportation for arrivals. Picked up son, Alex, and daughter-in-law, Melissa, from their morning flight and went directly to breakfast at Magnolia Cafe. It was on our list of recommended restaurants, and those folks were spot-on. Since A & M couldn’t get into their lodgings until later that day we went out to see the Lady Bird Wildflower Center. (I must say they were troopers – straight from a VERY early flight to sightseeing.) In spite of the intermittent showers we got to see some interesting flora and fauna.
That evening, after a Happy Hour at The Four Seasons, we went out to dinner. Happily, it had stopped raining and we were able to enjoy outdoor seating at a quirky restaurant called Fabi + Rosi. It bills itself as a neighborhood restaurant offering European dining. We loved it!
And then the wedding itself. The bride (who was marrying Melissa’s brother) had chosen a unique location – a ranch about 22 miles outside of Austin. How her planners got everything coordinated was nothing short of amazing. They actually created the entire venue in a pasture, even cutting a road for the shuttles that delivered the guests.
And now we are back home thinking about our next outing: Virginia in May. Another wedding, gatherings with friends, and helping Alex and Melissa move into their new home. The beat goes on…
It is Spring Break, and that means less encumbered days (no Kindergarten duties) and more time to tend to the various creative undertakings I have on my plate. The week started delightfully with a Sunday afternoon class at Reno Bead Shop. I am not a serious jewelry maker (though I do love my fabric beads) but have been yearning to learn more about wire wrapping so I could do a wider range of embellishing. Five students of various skill levels (me being the least experienced) gathered round as the teacher had us snipping silver wire, choosing stones, and – in my case – looking around frantically for which tool to use. I was reminded once again of how critical a good teacher is to a student’s success. Easy sounding instructions: “Hold the three long strands of wire parallel to each other. Now, using one of the short wire pieces you have cut, wrap the wire around the strands held parallel being careful to not let the parallel wires overlap each other. On each rotation use your tools to squeeze the wire closely around the strands and then crimp it to make a square.” Huh?!? I was gripping those wires so tightly that my hands were shaking. And having the teacher say it was not about perfection did not help. I wasn’t aiming for perfection; just completion. But after a few false starts and some heartfelt encouragement and guidance from our instructor I did get the hang of it. (Another student next to me, and a seasoned jewelry maker, thought we were using wire that was too thick. Thinner would have been easier, but it kinks more. I will keep that advice under my hat for when I do this on my own.) By the time I was done I had a finished product that pleased me enough to put it on a chain and wear it out in public that very evening.
Being the first week of the month, it was also time for my Creative Connections group to meet. Our challenge for this session was about stretching. We were to make something we had never made before, or use a technique we had never tried before, or both. I had recently viewed a tutorial that showed a quilt-as-you-go lined bag made with a new product called In-R-Form. Since I had this inviting roll of 2-1/2″ strips at hand I decided I would make the bag. It sewed up very quickly. I like the way the In-R-Form keeps the bag stiff enough to stand up on its own. I can see this as a perfect knitting bag. The balls of yarn will roll happily around as I pull the strands into my project and they won’t jump out or get tangled,
This project was also a practice for the yoga bag I want to make. The one I am carrying now is an embarrassment. I can only get away with using it as yoga types are so nonjudgemental and understanding. But they may be wondering how I even keep all my stuff inside as it looks as if the bottom is ready to drop out. BTW: the Creative Connections group liked the information on the In-R-Form, which only one person had heard of. Nice to share something truly new, and it is payback for all of the wonderful ideas and insights I have gotten from other group members.
And I almost forgot; while sewing the handles of the bag I encountered a glitch with my new sewing machine. The bobbin thread was getting tangled and the automatic thread cutter was not working correctly. When it happened my heart sank. How could my new machine be giving me trouble? I was having flashbacks of a former machine that was a mechanical nightmare. I took a deep breath and walked away. When I was less put out I sat back down and did what could only be called the unthinkable: I got out my tools and dove into the workings of the machine to investigate. I didn’t have to look very long, fortunately, because I spied the problem (a small tangle of thread had gotten caught in the arm of the thread cutter). Now my heart wasn’t sinking but soaring. Love that feeling of having gone into the unknown and come out wiser than when I started; a real confidence builder. But…I don’t want to be doing any machine repair for a long time.
Our next month’s challenge for Creative Connections it to make something from the silk scraps we were “gifted” with at the last meeting. I contemplated and have decided that I will resurrect a couple of the felted bags I made during my Virginia purse binge and use the silk to make linings for them. I think it will be just what they need to get them to completion.
Speaking of challenges, I was surprised to get one I had asked for but really didn’t expect to get. (Be careful what you wish for???) The Modern Quilt Guild, of which I am a member, does an annual fabric challenge. If you are chosen you have to
It sounds very similar to the Creative Connections challenge, but with multiple constraints. I have received my “inspiration” samples and been busy collecting ideas for what to make. One of the members of my knitting group turned me onto a great book that got the juices flowing. The author is an amazing quilter and does her piecing without a ruler. This is so unlike most “quilter thinking” that I think I just have to try it.
With all of that going on I have also had some time to make progress on other projects:
And finally, while shopping with a friend I saw a pillow that definitely needed to brought home and put on the kitchen banquette. Every time I see it I start to sing. When you read it you will understand:
