Celebrating New Years at California Wineries

 

We decided to do something different this New Years and spent New Years Eve and New Years Day visiting wineries in California.

Here we are in a wine cave amidst barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon.

We had a delightful dinner and dessert.

Gorgeous barrels.

An old wine press.

We discovered another excellent wine at dinner.

The vineyards are in winter mode.

Mustard plants that grow in the vineyards help reinvigorate the vines.

Loved this wine cooler!

Celebrating New Years at California Wineries, Part 2

 

The rainy weather kept many people away, but it made for a quiet peaceful day.

The most we saw was a light sprinkle in the vineyards.

Barrels on display.

A panoramic view of one winery.

Those columns are solid marble with no seams at all - each is one huge piece!  Note how the veining in the marble matches all the way up.

A newly built circular tasting room.

It had a wide variety of wines to taste.

We rented a car for the trip.

It worked out very well.

Uric Acid / Purine Levels in Various Foods

 

I recently found out that the level of uric acid in my body is too high.  Speaking with my doctor, I was instructed to cut back on meat as that is a common source of uric acid.

My curiosity piqued,  I decided to build a table of uric acid levels in all common food types that I eat.

Green items are low in uric acid (desirable).

Yellow items have a medium level of uric acid.

Red items are high in uric acid - mainly just meats and beans.

Click on the table to enlarge for better clarity.

Samantha Fish 2025 - part a

 

We went to see Samantha Fish at The Sound in Del Mar, California last week.  Here is my beautiful wife relaxing before the show.

Samantha did not disappoint!

She puts on a high energy show.

Her guitar playing and voice are superb.

She started playing and singing in Kansas City as a teen and has come a long way since then.

She had the same band that she had when we saw her last year which is a good thing - they are great!

The light show was also first rate.

Samantha Fish 2025 - part b

 

We had great seats in the first row of the balcony which worked out great for photos.

The Sound is a great venue.  Lots of seating is available - for this show it was all seating but in some shows the main floor is changed to general admission.

There is also food available - tacos and burgers.  And of course a wide variety of beverages.

A few good closeups of Samantha.

I couldn't pick my favorite.

So I'm posting all three!

For some reason Google won't allow me to post all the photos at once so I split it into three posts.

Samantha Fish 2025 - part c

 

Switching to a red guitar for this song.   The person who handed her the right guitar for each song looked just like Willie Nelson from a distance.  Didn't know he was moonlighting.  :)

In any case, we highly recommend listening to her music and attending her show if you get a chance.

If you are at all into rock and blues, she's the real deal.

Wrapping up the show, she interacted with the audience.

Handing the guitar pick to a fan.

Showing the setlist she played that night.

My cell phone even captured the songs from the balcony!

Her warm-up band was Robert Jon and the Wreck.  They were a pleasant surprise!  We will be buying some of their music too!

Samantha Fish 2024 in Del Mar

 

Looking back through my blog postings, it appears I forgot to post photos from the Samantha Fish concert in 2024.

So, better late than never!  She played at The Sound in Del Mar, California.  It is a relatively new venue with (important to us) seats!  Not standing room only.

We had discovered Samantha Fish a few months prior on YouTube and were really excited to get a chance to see her in person.

She didn't disappoint!

This woman and really play.

And sing!

A reflective moment.

Then back to jamming!

Very enjoyable show.

From beginning to end.

Her warmup band was Cedric Burnside which we also really enjoyed.

And there was even a pre-warmup band: John Spencer.  It was a bit too punk rock-ish for us but the people who sat next to us had traveled down from LA just to hear this band.