Being Domestic...

When Jess got back from her trip to Kentucky Lake for her friend Jamie's wedding, I got miserably sick. I'd had a bbq at the house earlier that night, and woke up at 3am nauseous, with an incredible headache. I thought for sure I'd poisoned all my guests with some off meat or something, and came to find out that it wasn't the case. I probably got it from the neighbors who had picked up a 24 our flu bug from their kid.

Jess spent the day nursing me back to health when I returned home from work after just an hour and a half at the office. Her tending to me in bed for a full day started our week in a very "homey" and comfy way. When I was feeling better Jess made me pancakes with bananas and walnuts. She doesn't like pancakes, and I can't remember her ever making them for me before, which made them were extra special. She even tried to make one really big one!

I think we got a little more inspired when we finally got a rain storm. We woke up on Thursday night to thunder!!! I went out to look, and sure enough the water was dumping out of the sky. We were so excited about it that we went outside and danced in the next rain storm on Saturday night.

The weekend continued. The cats have fleas. We've been locking them out of our bedroom and treating them with the "spot" stuff on their necks, but it hasn't been working too well. Not having a good vacuum probably isn't helping. We got this Dirt Devil "stick" vacuum off Craigslist a few months ago, and it sucks (a little) and otherwise doesn't do much of anything but make a LOT of noise.

I had the day off on Monday (for Admissions Day, the day California was admitted to the Union in 1850 when we'd killed-off or otherwise suppressed the Mexicans and Native Americans), and decided what better way to celebrate then to go to Sears to get a decent vacuum. I checked Consumer Reports and found the best one for pet hair, which happened to be on sale at Sears. (Oddly enough, Consumer Reports also said this Dirt Devil piece of $#!* was the best in its class for pet fur... Luckily, they didn't screw up on this suggestion). We got a whole new cat from the fur it collected (see the video below). I treated the carpets with flea powder while I was at it too.

And then there's the gas grill. We got it a couple of weeks ago on sale for 200 bucks! It's GREAT! Has a rotisserie and EVERYTHING! I've got this awesome recipe for rotisserie chicken. And I've made a couple other things too (the video shows one of my special recipes). Look for more meaty installments on the blog down the road...

So now I'm home alone again for a few days while Jess is in Canada visiting a client. I have yet another project up my sleeve... one involving apples and electric motors. More on that later, but for now, here's a video of highlights from this entry... Enjoy!

Why Wine Tasting is My Favorite Olympic Sport

Anyone who knows me understands that I'm a one-hit wonder when it comes to drinking. One glass of wine, beer, cocktail, whatever- and you get "just Jess" - no filter, no-holds-barred, fun-time girl. Everyone who knew me back in the South Africa days remembers my long ranting emails about the wineries and the bars and the crazy nights on the African plains. Well- I've gotten a little older, and wiser, but I definitely haven't lost the sheer enjoyment of riding through vineyards, tasting phenomenal wine with friends and having a fabulous time. I think it is my favorite Olympic Sport. Last weekend, our buddy from Baltimore, James Dull, came over to visit and we took him and my co-worker friend Caitlin out to "do Sonoma" and I think we out-did ourselves. Special thanks goes to Hubby who abstained (mostly) at the last three wineries in order to get us home safely! With Hubby in the driver's seat and me plotting out wineries on the GPS with James D's Wine Map- we started out around noon last weekend to one of the wineries we took my Mom to that we really enjoyed- Iron Horse- to start the day out with some sparklers and a great view. Take a look at that view!!!

Nowadays at every winery you pay a $5-$15 tasting fee, but that gets waived if you buy a bottle. SO- you can't just not buy something! We got a nice, not-too-sweet $20 Rose for a hot day- I kissed the grapes goodbye-

while James contemplated owning a vineyard!
and then we moved on unsteadily to Russian River Valley Winery to try to find some BALANCE!

The Russian River Valley Winery had a great GEWURTZTRAMINER!! (Caitlin says the name of this wine with "Gesundheit" force now since the winery barista taught her how to say the name!) and Caitlin and James D both bought a bottle. We had a fantastic time here with the staff person that served us up- I'm not sure what they call themselves- Tasting Room Hosts, Grape Baristas, Wine-o's... in any case- ours just called herself "a Drunk" and we all had a fabulous time in her company. We had another 5 tastings here (with James getting a 6th because as our host called it "you get an extra pour if you finish first." We were all just getting warmed up and so we took a quick drive down the road to a winery called Gary Farrell winery, which brought out the best and worst in us....

The view at this winery is magnificent. The wine is magnificent. Put them together and what do you get?



We were a little silly for such a serious winery, but we were having so much fun!

Here's me thanking James for sitting this tasting out so he could still drive!.....

Because by that point I was a little toasty!!

Our Second-to-last stop was not quite as momentous, but I did end up purchasing a stellar Family Reserve Pinot Noir at the Moshin Winery while the rest of the gang took a break...

Pork Rinds- what a great way to cleanse the palate in between tastings!??

Our final stop was ARISTA winery- where PANDEMONIUM

ensued! I can't quite remember the wine here, but we had a fantastic time in their gardens.

There were a few parlor tricks:

A Jess Sandwich:

Some gymnastics:

Disobeying the signs to stay off the rocks!

Some Girl-on-Girl action:

Some inappropriate behavior:

and A few "Strike a Pose" moments:


We had a fabulous time and then drove to Santa Rosa for an always magnificent dinner at our favorite restaurant "Flavor" in the square. It was an awesome day and we rode home under a beautiful clear sky with a full moon. I challenge any Olympian to have more fun than we did!! We hope to have many more great times with all of you- COME FOR A VISIT and we'll challenge you to a match in my favorite sport!

When the Wifey's away....

Jess went to Tennessee this weekend for a friend's wedding. Since I'd worked the previous weekend I had an extra long weekend to myself... I stayed here and enjoyed the Oakland scene. It started with a bbq on Saturday afternoon. The folks throwing said shin-dig were a couple whose fish tank I take care of. Afterwords I set out for Berkeley to see the Cal Bears kill the Maryland Terps in the first football game of the college season with one of my musician buddies, Brian (without a "y"). After watching the marching band do their Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute show at half-time and putting Bryan (with a "y") on the phone with one of the Maryland cheerleaders, Brian (without a "y") and I walked the streets of Berkeley for a while and took in some college town air... that special Berkeley air is nothing like the air at USC (the one down in South Carolina), unless your name is Michael Phelps...

Sunday I headed up to Sausalito with Jess' coworker Caitlin to visit one of my coworkers, Kevin, who met his girlfriend Keli while working for the National Parks Service together. The big Sausalito Art Festival was going on, and so the streets were really crowded and parking was impossible. We swung by Jill and Steve's place (Jess' cousins) and landed a sweet parking spot blocking their driveway. It took a few tries to parallel park squeezed between Jill's Mini and the neighbor's Porsche. Steve wasn't around, but I did get to say hi to Jill and their 9-year-old son Robbie.

Our last visit to see Steve, Jill, and Robbie in Sausalito was when Mama Mann was in town and we went to a neat French restaurant (on Bastille Day, who knew?!). Robbie and I ran around the piers looking at sea slugs and fish and crabs and other critters, and after dinner he showed me a cool claymation movie he'd made as a school project. He was also working on building a Godzilla replica to use for a new movie. It was really inspiring, and brought about this wacky idea for my own video to share with him... After seeing him again this weekend I had to post it for him! On Monday I added the sounds and "floating drumsticks")... Here it is Robbie!!

Catching up...

Two weeks after Mama and Dean's wedding in Ohiopyle, we had an opportunity to visit our family in NY and our friends in Baltimore...

It was a non-stop whirlwind tour. Jess had to be at a couple of meetings for work, and so I tagged along for the ride (considering her plane ticket was paid for and I had some catching up to do). On the plane ride from Oakland I sat next to a gentleman who happened to have worked closely with my new boss back in the 90's. He had some interesting, insightful stories. I was glad to be taking a break... I had more important things on my mind!!!

It was mom and dad's 40th anniversary the previous weekend (isn't it inspiring to know there are still people in this world who keep the marital institution alive and healthy?! GO MOM AND DAD!!!), plus the end of August is a big time for birthdays in our family. I also missed the previous weekend's family reunion in Vermont, and the annual summit of the Association of Nature Center Administrators was the following week. I had to cram as much into one long weekend as possible to make up for all the things I'm missing.

Jess had arrived in Baltimore on Wednesday. I got in Thursday night. Justin and Bridget picked me up and took me down to the Wharf Rat where there was already a small crowd gathered. I was worried right from the start that I wouldn't make it too long- everyone was buying me drinks!!! The evening progressed well though. I got to say hi to Ginny and Guy, Jamie and Tase, Gary, Missy, Chris and Abbey, James D., Andrew, Cherie, Lisa, Greg, Cricket, Caitlin, and BRYAN!!! There were others too, but for some reason my memory's foggy. We had a good time celebrating the eve of my 30th birthday! I got an awesome hat from Justin with the number "40" on it. It's good to have such a thoughtful and loving friend. It's ok... he's only 11 months away from his 30th...

In the morning, Jess had to work, so Justin came and had coffee with me and Cricket before we dropped Cricket at the train (stopping at the H&S bakery outlet on the way for donuts). I got to use the car for the rest of the weekend. It's a new Focus, manual. Very fun to drive (sorry about the new funny noises, Justin... that's just how us 40-year-olds drive).

My first stop was Charlotte's house for breakfast. She's the widowed wife of Peck Bond, the man who got me started in keeping my first bee hives. Jess and I have unofficially adopted Charlotte as our surrogate grandmother. We were very sad to say goodbye to her when we first left Baltimore. She's now sold her house and will be moving to Florida by the end of this month. It's a hard thing for her to uproot at her age, and she's struggling with the transition. We had a great talk over some eggs and sausage and muffins with her homemade blackberry jelly. I sliced up some peaches I'd picked up at a farm stand on my way. We'll have to visit in Florida!!

Onwards to see my old boss and mentor, Bob Stanhope, for lunch and a peek at his retirement projects around the yard. He and his wife Sally now have two grandkids, and are quite busy with the closer one in Pennsylvania (the other is out this way in Portland, Oregon, and we're hoping he'll come down for a visit here in California on their next trip). Bob is an incredible naturalist, and he interprets his garden and yard just as if they were the Dundee Creek where we used to take kids canoeing all summer long and teach about the Chesapeake Bay. He's got a story for every tree and shrub he and his family have planted on their one-acre piece of Maryland countryside. While we were touring the yard a squall came through, my first rain in almost four months!!! I soaked it in and loved every second of it.

Bob has been researching his grape varieties and is in the process of putting in new vines. True to form, he cooked-up the most delicious crab cakes I've ever had (his recipe is fantastic, and ALWAYS made with Chesapeake Bay blue crab... in fact, he's so particular about that detail of the recipe that unless the Chesapeake Bay starts getting cared for like it really needs, I think Bob's crab cakes might just become famous as the last on the planet to use crabs from the Chesapeake Bay). He counted the lumps in the one-pound container - 136, coming from the back fins of 68 crabs. I enjoyed every last morsel of my two cakes, along with a fresh ear of local sweet corn and a few slices of fresh tomato from Sally's garden, my only East Coast tomato of the year. Over lunch Bob told me he is jealous of my new job, and excited for me. That's really saying something.

On to Jess' company picnic, where we ran through an inflatable obstacle course and jumped on a moon bounce, and then to Annapolis for a concert cruise with Bryan on the Severn River. The rain that afternoon had left behind clouds that lit up with streaks of heat lightening all night long. The highlight for me was when Bryan called the folks who live in the mansion on a bluff over the river which he sometimes house-sits (and invites friends to... we've stayed there with him a few times, the place is incredible... he calls it the "Playboy Mansion" ...Jess and I call it "The B&B"). They flicked the lights of the whole place on and off for us to see from the boat (it was only a highlight because he'd told us about this party trick a while back).

Bryan's date, Lauren, was hilarious. She had Jess and I in stitches all night. She's a great balance of funny and active and outdoorsy and smart and witty and pretty. They met as leaders at a summer camp in Edgewater. She's a keeper.

Back to the hotel in Baltimore, and in the morning we were on our way to breakfast with Justin and Bridget before getting on the bus to NY. We swung by the old house on the way and took note of the overgrown garden and "tag" on the back fence, which are in the process of being taken care of now. I'd been waiting for the fence to get tagged for a long time, so I wasn't terribly surprised to see it. No profanity, just some kid's name. They're not the brightest in that neighborhood.

Breakfast was at George's. George's wife made our wedding cake, so when Justin suggested we go there for breakfast I thought it appropriate seeing as he and Bridget are getting married in October. We didn't get to talk much over breakfast because George had some catching up of his own to do! He sat with us and told us all about the recent changes in his life. His mother recently passed away, and he had gone through a lot through the ordeal. He also missed seeing Bryan, who when he was living at the State Park was a regular at the bakery. George said he thought of Bryan like a son.

We stopped to pick up a banjo from Missy for a friend of hers out here in Oakland, then to the bus station where Justin and I threw a football with Shamus O'Leary (ok, that wasn't the kid's name, but he was a geeky, carrot-topped youngster who was on his way to visit his girlfriend in NY... and needed a friend to talk to). We hopped on the bus with Shamus, and off were went.

Once in NY we hopped a ride with Aunt Liz and cousin Aimee (AKA "Cuz"). We got trapped in traffic, but eventually made it to Long Island where the folks had prepped for a party with the family and the boys. The whole crew showed up and we had a great time playing Anniversary Trivia. At the end of the night I had an epiphany and began brainstorming a new product: Meat Bouquets. (we made our first prototype the following week... more to come soon)...

That night we played Spades with mom and dad. Jess and I lost miserably. In the morning we had plotskies for breakfast and I decided to give myself a haircut. Failing at the attempt, the ladies took me to the salon with them where I got my hair fixed. Lunch at Emilio's and then out to the beach to see the high surf from the hurricane that was passing out in the Atlantic.



It was a beautiful weekend. Hot and humid!!! What a welcomed change from dry and cold!!!