Picnic in the Vineyards

 

Last Friday the Geek and I met with our friends P and B for a lovely picnic in the vineyards. We had thought about that for quite some time and finally we could settle on a date that worked for all of us. We chose to go to Navarro Vineyards in the beautiful Anderson Valley.

Navarro Vineyards is a family owned small winery that has been making wine since 1974. Most of their wines is not available in stores, but can be  purchased directly in their tasting room or through their website. We have been drinking their wines for several years now and we have yet to find a wine of theirs that we don't like. The winery is located in Anderson Valley in Mendocino County, away from the crowded Wine Country hype in Sonoma and Napa Counties. This results in no tasting fee, more affordable wines and less crowds, so reservations are not required. There is ample space to sit and sip some wine or have a decent picnic with a bottle or two of their wine that can be purchased in the tasting room.

We had our picnic right at the edge of the vineyards under the wisteria cover.

Our table was covered with a lot of tasty food that the four of us had brought from home.

I had baked a whole wheat bread, which was delicious with red pepper aioli and smoked ham.

You can see that we had a wonderful time!

Let's see what kind of drinks we can find for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday: a bottle of Rosé of Grenache, a bottle of Pinot Gris, several re-usable bottles of water and grapefruit juice and a glass bottle of Gerolsteiner sparkling water (I simply refuse to buy sparkling water in plastic bottles which leaves only German and French sparkling water). The food we had included meatballs, smoked salmon, several cheeses, bread, red pepper aioli, tuna bowl, chocolate and vanilla pudding, blueberries, peaches and tomatoes from my garden. It was a feast!

Navarro not only has vineyards, but also beautiful gardens with mainly drought-tolerant or native plants. I found some inspiration for my garden. Roses right next to a vineyard is something you see often here.

We stayed in the vineyards for three and a half hours. We decided to drive back along the coast, via Highway 1 - THE ONE, as my husband would say. It certainly is THE ONE for us - one of the most beautiful roads that hugs the California Coast in an often spectacular way.

We stopped at Point Arena Lighthouse, at 115 ft (35 m) the tallest lighthouse on the west coast of the US. It is also the closest location in the lower 48 to Hawai'i at a distance of about 2,350 miles (3780 km) (you always wanted to know that, right?). The first Point Arena Lighthouse was constructed in 1870, but was damaged in the Great Earthquake of April 18, 1906. The current lighthouse that is built to withstand earthquakes began operation on September 15, 1908. It features a 1st Order Fresnel Lens (built in France) that is made up of 258 hand-ground glass prisms. These prisms are all focused toward three sets of double bulls eyes which gave the lighthouse its unique light "signature" of two flashes every six seconds (that was before the installation of an automated aircraft-type beacon on the tower balcony in June 1977). This is probably more information than you ever wanted...

This is a very windy, often cold location, but oh! so beautiful. I never get tired of it, and I have been here many times in the past 22 years. The geology is interesting and just like at Salt Point, I wish I knew more about it. The Coast Buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium), a California native, is found in abundance here.

This is also close to where the infamous San Andreas Fault (the bad boy of 1906) dips into the ocean.

I leave you with a last picture of the lighthouse and the interesting fence that was built just a few years ago. Before that, there was a white picket fence. For this fence, older growth mica schist hand split flagstone material from the Mojave desert was used. From a distance it looks like wood, but as you apporach it looks more like a thick jagged stone wall.

May a light shine throughout your week.

Lovely Mail

 

Today's post will only be a short one after a very quiet Christmas. I want to show you two Christmas cards I received before Christmas. The first one comes from Erika and I truly love her design - the beautiful green color, the silver star, the tiny peppermint candy embellishments.

The second one arrived after its long journey from Scotland. Can you guess who sent it?

Of course it's from Elle. The cat at the back of the card says it all...

And this is the front - such a beautiful Christmas-y scene, like a sunrise or sunset in the snowy forest.

I love both of these cards and am very touched that you thought of me, Erika and Elle. Thank you so much again!

But I cannot leave without showing a drink since this is for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday. This delicious bottle of red wine got dressed in a gingerbread man costume before it arrived in my home. I hope it still counts even though it is hidden?

To everyone in the T gang - have a happy, healthy and peaceful 2023.

Where France Meets Germany

 

Our last stop in Alsace was Colmar, a beautiful city of about 70,000 that considers itself to be the "capital of Alsatian wine". It has a well-preserved old town including an area that is crossed by canals of the river Lauch. It is picturesque and therefore attracts many tourists. We were there on a Sunday and it was crowded.

This is where France meets Germany which is a mere 23 km (14 miles) away from Colmar. This results in a unique mix of the two cultures.

While Colmar is a lovely city, it's a bit of a let down after having visited the picturesque towns and villages of Riquewihr, Ribeauvillé and Kaysersberg (and there are many more). It is probably much better to visit Colmar before going on to the other beautiful places. 

I was quite taken by this decoration across one of the small canals.

Colmar also has its share of unique signs and gateways to hidden courtyards.

Looking down, we noticed these plaques in the ground. Of course we had to research it right there and learned that Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was born in Colmar in 1834. He designed Liberty Enlightening the World, commonly known as the Statue of Liberty (its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel who is so famous for the tower of the same name).

After strolling along the Quai de la Poissonerie (fishmonger's district), we eventually arrived in the area that is known as La Petite Venise (Little Venice), probably the part of Colmar that draws the biggest crowds.

Tourists can take guided boat rides here which many of them do. It can get pretty busy on the canal. Look at the swan swimming in the water - I think it's already obvious that he is not too pleased.

 

And he sure wasn't! He started to attack the boats passing by - you couldn't really blame him. There were so many boats going down the canal, what was a swan to do? This is his territory.

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Why do people have to get into everything? Isn't it enough just to look at this beautiful scenery?

We left Petite Venise soon after. We strolled a few more of the streets and alleys, found an ice cream place where we had a short break while enjoying this delicious cold treat. 

All over the old town I noticed these big purple pots that were planted with olive trees. I wouldn't mind having one of those. Purple was quite a bold color for this place, but it was a good choice.

We then left Colmar and went back to Germany. We stayed in Freiburg, less than an hour to drive from Colmar. I will tell you about this university town next Tuesday - this place has a special meaning for me. For now, I only show you my drink that evening in a local restaurant - a rosé wine called Weißherbst, typical for this area. With this I salute Elizabeth and Bleubeard for their T Tuesday!

Misty Morning at the Lake

For Rain's TADD I don't have any art to show - my art today are the photos I took yesterday morning when I walked around the lake. I finally had taken my big camera with me - the last few times I was here I saw so many birds, but couldn't really capture them with my cell phone. I have a good camera in my phone, but it certainly is not THAT good.

It was a misty morning like we have so often here, when the fog from the coast is hanging low. Since temperatures are much lower on those mornings and the moisture in the air is higher, I prefer them to a bright sunny morning (that's something I like in the winter). It is very typical weather for our area.

The sun was just peeking through the fog and the trees.

It is so beautiful when the mist hovers over the lake. I sat on my favorite bench for quite some time, journaling and just enjoying this delightful morning. The birds that I was hoping for, though, kept hiding - as if they knew that I brought my camera! Only the mallards were kind enough to make an appearance in a very safe distance.

Slowly, the fog started to rise. Isn't it beautiful how the water sparkles in the few rays of sunshine?

And then the fog just burned off - the entire process in the following three pictures took less than ten minutes (maybe this fits the "movement" prompt in today's TADD?)

Life on the lake became busier.

Eventually I left the bench and continued my walk. I had given up hope to see any herons this morning - usually there are Black-crowned Night Herons and Green Herons here, who are favorites of mine. But it seems today they weren't in the mood to show themselves.

Instead I first heard and then saw this lovely woodpecker. I always have difficulties identifying woodpeckers; I believe this is a Downy woodpecker, but I'm confident that David will correct me if I'm wrong.

Then I heard the distinctive call of the Red-shouldered Hawk, but I couldn't see it. It kept me company for a few minutes until I suddenly saw him (her?) flying towards and landing in the top of this tree (I'm even worse in identifying trees). But what was that? Right behind it was a second hawk, landing right beside No. 1. I felt like winning the lottery.

I took a million photos until they were tired playing model for me and took off. I felt quite elated when I walked on - what a wonderful sight these birds had been.

There were unmistakable signs of autumn - my favorite season is just around the corner!

There was some rustling in the underbrush - our state bird, the California Quail.

On a shady trail sunlight lit up the pale-yellow flower heads of fennel. I love this kind of light.

And then, when I least counted on it, there it was standing by the side of the lake, waiting for its morning snack - a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron! I love love love these birds.

This was such a wonderful morning. 

So today, I went to the farmers market in the morning. Wednesday and Saturday mornings are our famers market days, with the market on Wednesday being much smaller than the one on Saturday. Even though there are by far fewer vendors, I tend to prefer Wednesdays for the simple reason that there is much more time to talk. I learned so much about the different kinds of garlic, e.g. that you have to use much less of "Red German" than it states in a recipe because it's quite strong - and it is the one I always buy. It has such fantastic flavor.

This time of year is simply the best - the abundance of vegetable and fruit is incredible. Look what I brought home from the farmers market this morning:

Even Kibeau approves!

Unfortunately, the "mushroom guy" wasn't there today. He has the best selection of mushrooms - however, I still mostly buy cremini and shiitake and sometimes chanterelle. Recently I made (crooked) vol-au-vents with my creamy mushroom sauce - looks odd, tastes delicious. A glass of dry rosé from a local winery is a fine companion. Bon appétit.