Wine Tasting - Livermore Edition

After our walk at Shoreline last weekend, we drove up to Livermore to do some wine tasting.  Not quite the same as Napa, but interesting just the same.  I confess that I continue to be surprised at the differences between wineries.

Our first stop was Nottingham Cellars to pick up a few bottles.  I didn't get any good pictures inside the tasting room -- except for the one with the barrels in the back.  We weren't invited back to the barrels.  *sigh*

Next up was 3 Steves.  Great name, and a great location. 

You can't really see the vines yet .. they're just starting to grow for the season (is that the right terminology -- probably not). 

Next was Boa Ventura.  A rather interesting place, in a barn, with a chocolate lab running around greeting people.  Lots of wines to taste here.  A family business, with the kids drawing pictures on the bags.

Last up for the day was Cuda Ridge.  "cuda" stands for Barracuda -- the car I think.  Apparently, the owner has a purple 'cuda. 

I found it interesting that at three of the wineries we went to, the owners were behind the counter pouring the wine and talking to the customers.  Much more personal than Napa.  I guess that's because it's a smaller community.

And our final stop was for a snack before heading home...

Weekend Update

I've been so busy, what with going to wineries and playing candy crush that I haven't taken the time to post about all the goings on.

Last Saturday (March 22) our walk took us to Shoreline .. I'm not sure of the official name of the trail.  It was a decent walk, but not particularly interesting and probably not worth repeating.

This past Wednesday's cocktail was a Raspberry Mojito.

Another good one.  I think this is my husband's favorite, so far. The ingredients were:

Black raspberry chambord
Lime
Mint leaves
Sugar
Rum
Soda water

I think that's right.  The recipe called for 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, but according to my expert tasters, we needed more (so I upped it to 2 teaspoons).

Week 12 - March 22 - 28

Saturday - Biker??

 Sunday - Aunt Sarah's Quilt

Monday - oops  

 Tuesday - clouds

Wednesday - Happy Birthday Robin!!

Thursday - Flowers
 

Friday - Run or Dye packet pickup

Lands End

A couple of weekends ago, we drove up to San Francisco and walked along Lands End.  Lands End is a park in San Francisco within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.  It is a trail just west of the Golden Gate Bridge and by the ocean and the mouth of the San Francisco Bay .. at least I think that's how you'd describe the location.  It was a beautiful day and the views were stunning.

We started out by the Sutro Baths and the Cliff House.

Apparently, the Sutro baths were built in the late 1800s ... and they were pretty big .. apparently at the time they claimed to be the largest in the world.  I didn't read all the history but they were abandoned and in the 1960s they burned down.  Not much left of them now.

The rest of the pics are of the walk.

The entrance to the trail (though we started at the other end and turned around here).

The Golden Gate Bridge ...

The USS San Francisco -- damaged in the Battle of Quadalcanal.  There was a nice little memorial there to the men who served and and to those who lost their lives.

 

Some other views of the Sutro bath ruins with the Cliff House in the distance.  After our walk, we went to the Cliff House for a drink and a bite to eat.

 

 

 

Some flowers we saw along the way ...

 

 

And my artsy picture for the day ...

 

 

I am really enjoying these Saturday walks.  We have been to some very interesting and beautiful places.  What a great way to explore.

Week 11 - March 15 - 21

Saturday - The Cliff House

 Sunday - Spooky (the other cat)

Monday - Missed Day

 

Tuesday - The Devil Cat

 Wednesday - Bellini (no champagne glasses here)

Thursday - a brooch (??)

Friday - Michelle's painting

New Beginnings ... March

I was going to post this on March 10th, but I did't.  The bottom row on my laptop locks up sometimes which I find super frustrating and that, along with laziness, has kept me from this post.


This month I started a quilt for my grand nephew, Jones.  He isn't due until June but I'm hoping to get this finished in time to give to his parents when I see them in May.

I don't want to show too much but needed to prove that I had actually started something new.  So March's new beginning is the Jones quilt.

If you started something new this month, please feel free to link up and share.

Cocktail Wednesday

So, I'm a little late with the cocktail updates -- I had to get these in before tomorrow when we have a new one... 

Two weeks ago, the cocktail was a Lemon Drop.  I'd never had one before, but was assured by those who know, that it would be a good one to try.  I went with this recipe.

My ingredients, modified only slightly:

1 1/2 ounces vodka 
1/2 ounce orange liqueur (Triple Sec)
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Ice cubes
Sugar for dipping
Twisted peel of lemon

Yes, the bottle of vodka really is that big.  Vodka, Costco style, and because it's such a bad picture you can't really tell that we're at the end of it ..

Again I used my fancy plastic martini glasses.  I thought this one was good, a 4 out of 5.  It was a little strong for me.

Last week's drink was a Shamrocker.  The recipe was from here.

Since no one in my house is a Tequila fan, I modified it to use vodka instead.

• 1 part vodka
• 1 part melon liqueur 
• 1/2 part triple sec
• Splash of orange juice

Not my favorite.  Maybe it would have been better with the tequila.  However, it's really pretty and I used my new glasses.