Troy Graduates Middle School

 

Our oldest grandson Troy has graduated middle school!  He is looking forward to high school.

Troy with his proud parents.

And his proud grandparents!

A Guided Tour Through Sonoma Valley

 

One of our close friends asked if we'd like to see a few of her favorite places in Sonoma Valley - we said of course!

So we flew in on a Friday afternoon in preparation for meeting her bright and early Saturday morning.

We needed lunch after the trip so we stopped at V. Sattui in Napa Valley.

Always a favorite of ours - both for the wines and the deli! 

We almost got skunked though as it was much busier than expected and we hadn't made reservations.  We might have to start making reservations there...here is my wife, thankful we got in!

We took the rental car to our hotel for the night.

The next morning!  What a beautiful drive through Sonoma Valley!

We were having so much fun and the views were so nice that we pulled over to take a few photos - something we very rarely do!

What a beautiful day!

St Francis Winery and Vineyards

 

Our friend introduced us to a new winery!  St Francis!  We went there before noon and before the crowds arrived.  Here is my wife in the main tasting room.

Very nicely done!

We had signed up for the wine pairing and being that it was the week of Earth Day,  the food was all vegetarian and most of it grown right there on site.

Cheers!  Thanks for introducing us to this magnificent place!

Jimmy is the winery gardener who grows the food.   He happened to bring his dog to work that day.   Jimmy also gave us a tomato plant grown right there on site!

Here was the pairings we had.  Delicious all!

The two favorites of everyone was the charred asparagus and....

...the strawberry tartlet!

Sigh!

 

We made a surprise stop in Sonoma!  A little shop called Sigh....

...and unknown to us, our friend had arranged a meetup with Cathy, a woman my wife had worked with when they both worked for a company that owned a Sonoma newspaper.  They had a great visit!

A few drinks being made at Sigh.

Domaine Carneros

 

Next stop:  Domaine Carneros!  A favorite of all three of us!

Well, actually the next stop was Etude but I failed to take any photos there for some reason.  Then we went to Domaine Carneros!

Just watching the act of pouring the champagne - excuse me, sparkling wine - is relaxing and fun.

And the bubbles!  Oh, the bubbles!

It's time!

I think we all three picked the Ultra Brut as our favorite.

Time for some cheese and crackers~

A view out to the patio from our seat.

The Grove at Copia

 

We finished the day at The Grove at Copia.

It is a Culinary Institute of America (CIA) restaurant where they train future chefs.

A very pleasant way to wind down a very pleasant day!

Our Yard - Spring 2024

 

Our yard is pretty happy this year.   This New Zealand Tea Tree (leptospermum scoparium) looks really good - I've only witnessed more bloom once and that was about 5 years ago.

A close-up.  The red is gorgeous.

Just down the street, a neighbor has this bush...it is very happy this year.

Just awesome.

And though my phone can never capture the color quite right, our bougainvillea is having it's best year ever!  The red is even more impressive in person.

Our front, the colors and textures make it a pleasant event to take out the trash.

By the front door we grow strawberries - looks like we are about to have a bunch!!   It is a lot of fun to reach down, grab a few, and pop them in our mouths as we walk to the car.

Star jasmine is about to flower!

This part of the yard is still developing.   I've nicknamed it the Enchanted Garden.

The orb on the left we picked up while wine tasting outside of Santa Barbara.  Every few months I buy and throw down some marbles to liven up the gravel a bit.  And the reclining fairy is a new edition from a few months ago.

It is fun to watch kids run up to take a closer look after they notice the marbles from the sidewalk.

Not sure what we'll add to this area next, but we'll stick with the theme we have going.

My Oklahoma redbud is doing okay this year, but I've definitely had more blooms in prior year.  I discovered the roots had broken through the bottom of the container and were growing under the shed, so I cut them off at the base of the container.   The tree is not happy about that.

We've had a drainage problem at this corner of the yard for awhile.  So we decided to dig it out and add in a few drains.  We discovered that at the far end of this photo it was mostly clay and large rocks - not good for water drainage or growing grass.  

So we hauled 2,200 pounds of clay to the dump and are replacing it with much better topsoil.

In the process we also discovered a leaking irrigation line which was contributing greatly to the moistness in that corner.   We should be good to go now~