Napa Valley Wine Country

(Click on images to view full-sized)

Napa Valley - wine country in winter

Over the weekend we headed up to the wine country. The weather was misty & moist & moody, and just a little rainy. It was a lovely backdrop to fields of blooming wild mustard and vines that are bare and ready for pruning.

We attended a special gathering at Rodney Strong Vineyards in Healdsburg -- their annual "Wine and Chocolate" pairing event. There was food and music too! One of my all-time favorite wines is their "Symmetry" meritage. Every year is a good one! And the same goes for the cabernets from Ladera Vineyards in Angwin... although we didn't visit this time... it is in a different area of the Napa region (I just couldn't blog about wine and not gush a little about Ladera)...

A few days before our wine country visit, friends had shared a DVD of the movie "Bottle Shock" (view a trailer of the movie by clicking here) So -- we thought it would be fun to head over to "Chateau Montelena" -- the winery featured in the film. And, sure enough, there was "the" bottle on display from the chardonnay which had won the 1976 blind tasting in Paris - and totally SHOCKED the French. We were disappointed that there wasn't a chardonnay to taste on the day we were there, but the other wines from this very old winery were excellent.

If you want to read this article from Time Magazine, click on the photo to make it bigger. Funny to read that, in 1976, the wine was considered rather expensive, at $6 a bottle!!

Trial Run

The living room walls and windows have been removed, and the new space is taking shape. The photo above is taken from our "old" dining area, looking toward the "old" back porch, and living room. The framing at the far end is the wall of the walk-in closet, which will be accessed from the master bedroom. The post on the left will remain - it is necessary for support. (That post is the subject of much discussion!)

The photo to the right shows the current view from the back yard... There will be glass doors on each side of the windows, and siding has been ordered. (A rainy day here, today).

Friends were coming over for dinner and a movie, so we decided to move the table over and see how it felt - to sit in our new space... and it felt great! The lighting is not connected, but we were all happy to dine by candlelight! And since one dinner guest also happens to be our electrician, it was a wonderful opportunity to discuss light fixture placement...!

Foundation

The digging is done, and the foundation is poured!

Check it out:

There is room for a crawl-space, and they dug a trench for a sturdy foundation footing...

The forms were created... and it was calculated that we need a paltry 3 cubic yards of cement for our little project...

So we were all surprised when they showed up today with the father-of-all-cement mixers -- an 18-wheeler!.. Talk about overkill...!!... Hmmm... and a special treat... we had a cement pump to "deliver" the stuff into the forms... guess everyone has had enough wheel-barrowing! Easy!

Next week they will begin constructing the floor. They will create an access hole into the crawl-space, and soon the porch ceiling will come down.

It will be a couple of weeks before the old walls come down and we have to live amongst the mess. For now, it is real nice to observe the process from inside looking out...

Bye Bye Patio

The back patio is gone -- reduced to mountain of concrete and dirt! A lot of dirt is coming out of the hole... And six tons of concrete!!!! All of it has to be hauled out by wheelbarrow.... it was piled onto the driveway & under the carport... it overflowed onto the grass and into the garden... Dirt was everywhere - good thing we are having dry weather for a few more days!

From the driveway, the Bobcat can reach it...... So far, three trailer-fulls have been hauled away....

(this photo was a couple of days and a couple of truck-loads ago... )

Here we go Again!!

This came about rather suddenly. We have begun another remodeling project! HooYay! It is something I have been imagining for a few months... and the opportunity arose to get it started, so... HERE WE GO AGAIN!! We will be losing our back porch, but gaining a better living/dining room layout... as well as...(drum roll, please...) ... Closet Space!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!

before:

This morning was filled with the sound of jack-hammers and digging. The old cement has to come out, then a couple of feet of dirt will be dug up and hauled away... to create a "crawl space."

The weather cooperated, it was mild and sunny - and the workers got a LOT done today. Just two guys did all this work in eight hours... amazing!

(Bet they'll be sore tomorrow!)

We plan to re-use the large windows across the back - (they are nice dual pane safety glass...) - so they were protected with plywood sheets. The old walls will stay in place for much of the construction... Plan is to keep the mess away from the indoor areas for as long as possible...

Here is what things looked like at the end of the day today..... (Rosie would have been thrilled to explore this...)

LUVS 2 FISH

My brother Lives to fish. Even as a toddler, he carried around a fishing pole... Our Dad was the same way, so, I suppose it is genetic. And, because I adore him, it makes me very happy when he comes home happy with something like these beauties! And... ummm... just to be clear, most of his fishing is "catch and release".... he condones barbless hooks and that whole "ecologically correct" bit....
Sorry -- but -- in my opinion, well......why catch them if you don't intend to eat them.???...?...? That won't ever make sense to me... 'cuz I just plain don't "love" the act of fishing... I like catching!!... and I'm not at all good at catching trout, so it is a real treat when I get to enjoy the fruits of my brother's labor! These are some of heftiest he's brought me. They were cleaned and already headless when they arrived... (not as photogenic as they could have been...) The top fish is a Rainbow Trout, and the lower is a Brown Trout. These were caught near the town of Burney, from the Hat Creek (I imagine it is more of a river, than a creek...) on land accessible only to members of a private fly fishing club... it is supposedly a very beautiful location... to go fly fishing in the snow...

The best thing to do with freshly caught fish, is cook it right away!! So when my brother showed up today to give me freshly caught fish, I dredged it in flour, with salt and pepper, stuffed in some Meyer Lemon slices, and sauteed it in a mixture of butter and olive oil. (If it was summer, and my herb garden wasn't frozen, I'd have stuffed it with Lemon Basil!)

This was my BRUNCH, today. Just for me, as I am "home alone" without the hubby or daughter. For a few days. Too bad for them, huh!?!! haha...

Thanks... big Bro... for sharing!!!

YYY

Something HOT!!!

It was a good year for growing peppers.... Mine were mostly chili peppers... and ... as much as I love the heat, we were running out of ideas for eating them. I had a garden full-of-them when the frost struck the other night. So, in the morning I went out and harvested frozen peppers.... a basket full of them, and I needed a plan... FAST... I went online, and found a very helpful group of gardeners here who have brilliant ideas for using up an abundant harvest...(of anything!!).... Isn't the Internet amazing!?!

Here is a link to the recipe for pepper jelly - I just chopped up everything I had, and used the proportions and directions in the recipe... Four cups of mixed peppers made about 6 jars of jelly. (I removed a lot of the seeds, and inner membranes -the spiciest portion, because these guys packed a LOT of heat on their own...think pepper-spray--gasp!gasp! gulp!!) ... besides chilies, there was a cup of cider vinegar, and a box of pectin... Boil that all together, add 5 cups of sugar - then boil one more minute. Really simple, except ...,,, you have to use the sterilized jars and boiling-water-bath, and all that precise safe canning detail... but it was worth it... And my hands stopped burning, finally ...(heh heh!)...aloe vera helped with that! Well, I had been wishing for warmth... and this is what I got!

Anytime we want a little heat, we'll just open a jar of this stuff. A very nice balance of spicy & sweet. Here is my favorite way to enjoy it ... poured over cream cheese then spread on a cracker. (Over Brie is good too, but I kinda like my brie "neat" - haha!) I am going to try it as a dip for egg rolls, and I hear it is good brushed on grilled chicken.... And it won't be long before I try making an adult-only PB& J.... something for a cold morning :-))

Next summer I think I will plant Habaneros!