San Francisco

Thursday night, late, we drove down to Medford, Or, and then Friday, we continued down to San Francisco. We drove back yesterday (Sunday), getting in pretty late.

I'm tired.

So, rather than put a bunch of photos up right now and organize a long trip blog post, I'm just putting up a few tasters.

Like... the Golden Gate.
And Memorial Stadium!
And the Campanile.

There was a purpose to the trip (a wedding). Otherwise, the trip would have been longer and less harried. The things you do for supposed friends, right?

And now, with the rental car returned and all our things brought into the house, we can slowly get back to normal.

That's it! I'm not going!

Every year growing up, my sister and I would wait for it. Sometimes, we'd place our guesses as to when it would happen. But every year, it happened.

In the days before the family vacation, my mom would get so fed up with the process that she would proclaim her disgust and declare she was no longer going on vacation.

The reasons varied. My dad hadn't packed. The house wasn't clean. The kids are not helping. Usually, it was a combination of all of these.

Of course, my sister and I thought this was all totally ridiculous.

That was then.

NOW, I find myself edging in on declaring the same thing. I mean, really, throw in a couple of distracting, time-consuming kidlets, and I am my mother, declaring NO to vacations.

Crazy pill, thee I have taken.

I think there's an genetic fear factor involved that my mother kindly handed down to me. It's called the fear of forgetting something.

It's a three-day vacation, Jess. Get over yourself. If you forgot it, buy it or mail it.

Breathing.

Buy it or Mail it. I have to remember that ... as I pack, get the rental car, print out instructions for the house sitter, remember cards and gifts and packages, pack the cooler, have two house keys made, walk a dog, and and and. Oh yes. WORK.

Watch, I'll get all that done and then forget to pack a dress for the wedding we're going to.

Buy it or mail it.

Quick Post

Sweetness defined: Reading Curious George to our Godson. Who, by the way, now says "Why hello, Auntie Jess! Where's Uncle Bob?"

Many happy sighs.

I'm running around like a headless chicken (sorry, girls, for the phrase) to take care of things before some things happen this weekend. More to come...

Waterproof Chickens and Garden Update

With the recent rains, our chickens have been looking more like drenched wet rats than birds. I've actually been a bit concerned. Though it's been a semi-warm rain, being wet = being cold = not fun.

My neighbor agreed to loan me his tarp this winter. It's HUGE. I got it Sunday evening, so yesterday, I set it up.

Believe me, hanging a tarp is not as easy as it looks. First off, it's butt-heavy. Really. Secondly, the tarp had been used recently to cover delivered piles of compost, so you can imagine the smell and grime. I went from clean to FILTHY in seconds.

But finally, great care has to be taken with hanging waterproofing materials so that no water pools. Pooled water is heavy and can collapse whatever structure the tarp is hanging on. I also wanted the water to run off outside the pen (there's one area in the bottom where it doesn't, but I'm ok with that), not inside.

So, for eg, in the picture below, you can see why I couldn't lift the tarp up to the top of the fence; it would have created a huge pool. Right now, all the water slides down to a single drop-off point on this side.
It was a crazy project, needless to say. The tarp is also HUGE (I think about 30'x40'), so I couldn't use all the tarp.
But, after the excitement of the invading blue thing, the girls are back to normal. I suspect I may not get any eggs the next day or two due to the stress, but we'll see.

The tarp also goes down on a couple of sides. The purpose? Keep out the wind. There are two and a half sides that are open, so hopefully, this will provide enough ventilation to be safe.

After a few days of being covered, I'm hoping their pen will dry out sufficiently so that I can put down lots of hay. Fluffy hay. This will help keep them entertained and help keep them warm this summer. Right now, it's pretty mucky and nasty in there. As much as I want to fix it right now, I can't. It has to dry first. Sorry girls.
In other news....

The sweet potatoes are actually coming in. The vines have been growing fairly significantly, so I finally poked down in the dirt by one plant. And there were tubers. AH! So exciting. B isn't a huge sweet potato fan, and they don't store long enough for ME to eat all of them. But, I'm planning on drying slivers for doggie treats. Not too much, just treats (too much carbs/starch= not great for doggies).
The potatoes and broccoli are gone. The broccoli needs a better place next year, if I do broccoli. They always get infested with aphids, and then I can't tell where the aphids end and broccoli begins. This was not a problem this year-- they got fed to my chickens, who loved both the broccoli AND the bugs.

The carrots are still growing strong. That's one thing I love about carrots; you can plant a bunch at one time, but they'll come in gradually. No need to stagger the planting time. So far, the best ones have been my territorial seeds. My goodness those are good carrots.

My walla walla onions are just about ready to be picked. They're still green on top, but with all this rain, I'm worried about mold.
My basil... um, needs to be plucked or something. It's a bit insane. I had been plucking the flower sprouts (keeps it leafing and not getting straggly), but I finally gave up at season's end. Now I have this to deal with.
Green beans. Yum.
Yin Yang beans. Yes, they actually look like the symbol. I didn't get too many, but I do need to pick what I got and dry the beans. I will grow these again, but next time: sunnier location. The filbert tree filled in a bit too much this past year.
Trifono Violetto: Purple pole beans.
Pineapple Tomatillos! They are really coming in strong. I love them.
See! Look how many!
Squash is still coming in, which is great. I've been drying it this year. This is my middle eastern hybrid.
The crookneck squash is also coming in strong....
Here's another one...
My tomatillos are finally ready. Not all of them yet, but some!
Gypsy peppers....
One. single. pumpkin. But that's ok; I didn't expect to get much more than that. I have a spot for pumpkins to buy them cheap, so I'm not worried.
Tomatoes. I have finally been getting some tomatoes, but not TONS. The rain last week has caused many to crack too... sad! But I found some cheap locally-grown, organic tomatoes, so I do have many in my freezer.

There are many brightly yellowish ones though, so there is still some hope.
But see? Cracking.
I do have lots of yummy yellow pear tomatoes though. Mmm.


And I have harvested a few big bertha tomatoes. YUM!
My rhubarb are still producing... I need to freeze or use these soon.
And I have a few patty-pan squash.
The scarlet runner beans did not to great this year... They did not do well when they were stressed during a heat spell. Wimps. I have some beans, but not a TON.

And the rattlesnake beans are pretty much done for the year.
I do have four new baby rhubarb to plant though! Less than $2 apiece. I'm very excited.

See? Aren't they cute?

And finally, here are a few shots of my garden helper. And by "helper", I mean she never hops in garden beds, and she keeps stupid cats out of the yard. :)


Happy dog.

Slugging through the puddles

It's been pretty rainy here the past few days. Though it's been a clean rain (dirty rain comes later on in the year... can't really explain it), it's still been dreary. As the house got muddier and muckier with paw and foot prints, I got more down.

I normally love the rain. But with such a tiny space, you do begin to feel like you're constantly tripping over things and people. The onset of rain also means no friends over, since it's a bit too small a space. The weekend was not made any better by my learning on Friday that the position I wanted has been offered to another candidate. No word yet on whether they accepted, but. Still disheartening.

B says not to feel upset, that good things will happen, and we should be grateful for what we have. "We do have a lovely home," he said. "Moving is not going to solve other problems."

It's not that I want to move. I just had expectations and goals for myself, and it's frustrating to have to still keep climbing that mountain to reach them.

So the rain came down this weekend and I poked around the house. I'm not really quite sure if I even accomplished anything. Sure, I blanched some peaches and tomatoes and made peach sauce. I dried the last of the pears. I dried some squash too. It still feels like a bit of a time loss though.

Don't worry, I'll snap out of it. I am already snapping. Things are what they are, and I can do this.

Sending wine to make folks happy

Monday and Tuesday was spent helping get a wine shipment out at Abacela.

But first things first. IT.WAS.GORGEOUS. This is an older photo from the net; there's a small gazebo at the top of this (steep!) hillside, and the hillside in the near distance and the field close up have been developed with more grapes.

And the grapes. I stole this photo from Abacela's youtube archives, but the grapes look the same. Harvest will begin at the end of the month.

And, of extreme importance, is the most recent news:
Beating all other white wines by TWO POINTS(!), Abacela's Blanco Dulce was awarded 94 points by Wine Enthusiast. This wine goes for $30. Compared to many other award-winning wineries, that's quite the steal for an EDITOR'S CHOICE wine. I should also add that shipping is pretty darn reasonable.

In the same issue, Abacela's Viognier was awarded 91 points (and, ahem!, only $20), and their Albarino was awarded 90 (and that's only $18). The Albarino has received SIGNIFICANT press coverage this summer, and was even featured in Sunset Magazine here. Of course, their top pic for where to find Albarino? Abacela.

No, I'm not getting paid for the above comments. I just like that you can get good wine... good, amazingly-ranked wine at prices that won't make you have to forgo eating for a few weeks to afford. Many wineries get a medal at a local fair and raise their $20 pricetag to $65. This makes GREAT wine unaffordable to many. I may not drink an $30 bottle of wine every night, but I can keep a few in my cellar for use. At that pricetag, I smile, not cringe, when I open the bottle. **

** side note: I do have a bottle of Abacela's $45 2005 Tempranillo Reserve in my cellar because it's liquid velvet. We'll eventually share it with friends who equally admire wine, and will be used to commemorate something.

On to the shindig happenings of Monday and Tuesday...

Gorgeous bottles waiting to be mailed to happy recipients.
The purpose of Monday and Tuesday was to get all wine club shipments out. Wine club is where you agree to purchase releases. Releases generally happen 4 times a year, and the wine price is usually $75 max (other wineries have different limits). This shipment sent out three bottles, and the total, with shipping, came to approximately $54. That's not too bad for three bottles of well-ranked wine. Wine club members also receive 20% off wine purchases, and they get to go to special events. More info here. I should also add that shipping was pretty impressive! $11-$15 for three bottles. NOT SHABBY.

We sent out right at 500 boxes. Each one carefully packed with wine molds so the bottles would not break in transport. Special care was also done to ensure that wines were not sent to locales with hot temperatures right now. Those will be sent a bit later, when the weather is cooler and wine can be shipped with greater confidence of arriving in excellent condition.
So, here are the wines that were sent out:

The 2008 Dolcetto, which, I must add, recently received a silver medal at the World of Wine.

Tasting notes.

Next up: The 2007 Cabernet franc, which has been recommended by judges in recent competitions too.
Tasting notes for the Cabernet franc.

And finally, the 2008 Garnacha, which recently won a gold medal at the World of Wine
Tasting notes.
It was quite the careful production. Every box was checked to make sure it was well-packed, sent to the right person, and contained the right wines. And, the wine bottles themselves were checked.

But, oh(!), hours spent in the WINE-PACKED WAREHOUSE.

With Autumn beginning to make an appearance, I particularly drooled over this wine.
Oh, Abacela's Port. Amazingly delicious and made in true port form. They recommend to cellar for 10 years for the most fabulous of tastes. That person has more restraint than I do.

And yes, this is ALL PORT.

By the time the days were over, all the wine had been sent, and I drove the way home with the Garnache, Cab franc, and dolcetto carefully packed away. YUM.

But I may need to order more port for fall.....