Napa Valley In All Its Splendor!

Wednesday evening Jim was out riding his bike and took this photo to show me the silver lining in this February sky. It was as if his message was, "Our trip tomorrow will be blessed with a silver lining in spite of the storm that is brewing." We have always preferred the inclement weather to lots of crowds, so we do a lot of our traveling in the fall, winter and spring. So after 28 out of 30 straight days of rain, tromping around Italy last year....what's a little rain for the day, right?

A couple of weeks ago we went to Napa to watch the Super Bowl with our family, making a mental note at the time to return soon. That is exactly what we did on Thursday. Just past Napa is the little town of Yountville. In Yountville is this fabulous old brick building that houses a collective of great shops and upscale restaurants called 1870. It was a torrential downpour when we arrived and we were happy to have a sheltered place to spend a little time browsing and staying dry. They have a disproportionate number of art galleries which were fun to stroll through.


A beautiful glass shop caught our eye, with some very interesting pieces. The glass shops are not places where we buy anything, but we lke to visit them after spending time in Italy, where they blow glass near Venice. We gained an appreciation of the art form there. Wouldn't want it in the cottage or anything, but we can still enjoy it in a gallery.

Snapped some fun photos of painting in various galleries and really enjoyed the ones of the local area and the vineyard in full swing. Right now they are all dormant, awaiting spring.

Loved this immense painting of the cherries~
it took up the whole window of this gallery.

Well, ladies this is definitely worth a trip to this area. Loved this sweet shop and it requires a trip with girlfriends! It's not the same "oohing and ahhing" with the husbster. Although he did take all the photos for me and didn't rush me, sometimes ya just can't let your hair down with the guys. I really liked what they did on the store front glass doors. They are painted with tiny grape clusters and vines and it looks so pretty.

One of the window designs outside in the corridor.

Another fun shop downtown in St. Helena

Gorgeous old oak tree stripped bare right now but,
it will be amazing in a few months.

The window shopping was fun but the best part of this day was just being out alone together in the car. Driving around the area and taking in the sights and taking photos was superb. Taking pictures in the rain has its challenges, but the lighting is usually really good and the colors the most true.

The creeks were rushing with water from all the rain run off. It sounded like Niagara Falls, it was so loud. They got an inch and a half of rain this afternoon. It just could not do anything but run off everywhere and take the mud with it.

The beginning of Spring Creek Road near St. Helena. A breathtaking drive with nothing but beauty and solitude to surround you. It was so lovely and so green. The kind of green that only God can make.

Great lamp post!
I bet it is so pretty in the evening when the light is on
and the trees are ladened with leaves in the summer.

We passed a home with this pinkness
that I just could not pass by without a photo or two.

This may be the prettiest nature sighting
I have had since New England.
Seriously a Gift from God isn't it?

The vineyards resting before spring.

Love the symmetry of the planted vines.

Some lucky person's mailbox!

The color of the moss that grows everywhere
is highlighted nicely on this old bridge.

Caught a rainbow and remembered God's promise
just when we were beginning to wonder if there
would be a flood to cover the earth!

I want to just live in this picture.

Mustard's

We went for a late lunch/early dinner at Mustard's Grill. This is quite a famous restaurant in the area and always gets a 5 star rating for amazing food. They have these thinly sliced onion rings/strips that are made by the devil himself, I think. Needless, to say we passed on the bakery stop, in lieu of our trip to Mustard's, which happens about once a decade. Jim told me I was not allowed to look up the points...just begin again tomorrow. Bless his heart! And mine too after what we ate. No regrets! Pure heaven.

I know, Yikes!
Dear Weight Watchers...
We are living real life while trying
to be good most of the time.

It was raining so hard while we were at Mustard's. I had to borrow the flickr photo of the outside above, but this is the little pond in front with the cute, little man with the red umbrella. Very apropos for the day. I was standing in the pouring rain to take this photo while Jim made a dash for the car. Anything for you guys!

On our way home we stopped at the Robert Mondavi Winery. Jim ran in to check it out. Since we do not drink, I have no interest in the wineries perse, but Jim is curious about everything so he wanted to go in for a few minutes. (I am sure there is some kind of a winery tour in our future now!) I am happy to have him do this sort of thing anytime, I just bring my Kindle and phone along and enjoy the wait.

This place is nicely appointed and a neat as a pin.

As far as I can say, the best part of the winery stop was seeing this guy frantically walking around at a nice clip, looking for shelter from the rain. We went to see The King's Speech on the way home so were gone for 12 hours! Our longest day out yet! We were definitely blessed by the silver lining of this storm. Can't wait 'til you can enjoy the SSRP. (The Secret Society of Retired Persons!)

*************************

Today is another rainy day and Jim is working with his friend Dave on Dave's new shop hanging sheet rock. I am delighted to have this day to catch up on my posting and everyone's blog and to write to some of you that have been very patiently waiting for me to get back to you. Love to all. Enjoy your three or four day weekend if you live in the US. (And your regular weekend if you live in the UK, Canada, or other places you might call home.)

Around The Cottage...

Things are always changing just slightly around here. I am moving things around, I think I might be obsessed with accessorizing. Seriously! I think it is because we have had most of our furniture forever, so my way of getting a new or fresher look is in shuffling and adding and rearranging the accessories! So here are a few additions and fun things going on around here since Christmas.

The third Friday for the month is one of my favorite days. After our Friday morning friends' meeting, Maureen and I make our monthly pilgrimage to Room with A Past. A I have mentioned many times, I have found so many incredibly fun things in that monthly warehouse sale. Maureen has too.

She and I think (in our humble way) we have the coolest little touches in our homes and so many of them come from this place. One thing I truly love is the prices are so reasonable. Let's just say this treasure hunting is a form of recreation for us...it is pretty cheap, really and truly. We really enjoy it, it keeps us out of trouble and I'd much rather spend a few dollars here than at Target. You can find such unique things.

I adore the lace trim on this lamp shade!

I saw this darling little lamp about two nano seconds after we walked in this morning. I love accent lamps and this one is a treasure. $19.00 and it is looks fantastic on the hearth near the fireplace. Jim paid me the highest complement when I showed it to him. "Hasn't that always been there? It should have been, if it wasn't!" Woohoo...score! Hubbies like this are a rare find too!

I couldn't get the best photo of it because the light is bright but you can get the idea of where I put it anyway. It really adds a point of interest there and makes the room look so cozy~exactly what accent lamps are designed for in the first place. I brought my sunflowers out a little early I know...wishful thinking!


I haven't put my few Valentine's Day things away yet because I pretty much skip St. Patrick's Day and it is a little too soon for Easter. Besides Maureen made me this gorgeous paper Valentine garland for our dining room fireplace and I am enjoying it so much. All these beautiful hearts draping across and just under the mantel looks so pretty. Don't you just love it when a sweet friend gives you something like this? What a treasure!



I finally hung up the sign that Laura made for the bathroom. (Was held up by trying to figure out how to hang it without damaging the front.) I know you cannot really see the sign in this photo but wanted to show its proximity to the fresco. There is a good one below. I had intended to put it over the towel bar near the tub but I wanted to be able to see it easily so put it here in the little alcove for the loo. It is now lightly coated with a dusting of glitter and looks so beautiful with all the fun Italian things in the bathroom. So I pronounce the bathroom 100% done now, at last.

"We Enjoy The Sweet Life"

We loved the white towels in the bathroom during the holidays so I kept them up and just added orange hand towels for a little warmth and color. Here is Angelo my funny little angel with the glass eyes that really feel like they are looking at you! He came from the Hen House in Lafayette.


This angel that does not have a name yet, now hovers over the other glass towel bar near the tub. He reminds me of the Celine Dion recording of Sleep Tight where she sings...Sleep tight, May angels hover over you and spread their wings to keep you safe and warm." Hazie loves that song and likes me to sing it to her. Maybe his name should be Dion!

Call me crazy but...I love stuff like this!

One thing I have been working on is replacing some of the little things I have on my dresser top. Last month I showed you the funky, little decorated bottle I got at Room With a Past, today I picked up these fun hair clips for the mirror on my dresser as well. Mind you, they will never see the light of day in my hair actually, but they are so pretty! The stones are my favorite color and look heavenly on the dresser.

The little three-dimensional, sculpted, white wedding cake is something I will probably not replace because I love it. My sister-in-law, Marilyn and my brother, Gary gave it to us many years ago for an anniversary and the little wedding cake is just beautiful. It is a little reminder to keep the newness of romance alive!

In the same vein of keeping the romance alive
here is a sweet, heart-shaped, embellished wall hanging.
I have it hanging on our bedroom door knob.

I picked up this little candle cup today for a song.
Maybe $5.00. It is mercury glass and apple green
and I got it for this spot in our dining room.

It looks very pretty in the sunlight
and also lit at night.
The tall green decanter is also from
Room With A Past from days gone by.

I really like this lady's art work!
Maureen and I run for this booth
every month now to see what is new.

I showed you this last month and it has finally come to rest in our hall way next to the door to the brick patio. Perfect little spot for it. It proves my point that if you love something and it speaks to you, you will find a spot for it, even in a cottage. You just have to take something else down maybe, but if you love it, it can resurface later and be just as much fun the 2nd time around.

Surrounding yourself with people and things you love in your home just makes life so much more enjoyable. And it truly does motivate you to keep things maintained and tidy if you care for what you have and find your own, unique kind of beauty in it. What does your home say about you? It should be a window to your heart and your soul.

This 'n That and Ressurection In The Kitchen

Good Morning Friends,

I haven't posted for a few days because I have been rather busy. I had the tax appointment yesterday which took some prep yesterday morning as I gathered and organized the last of the documents, condo information on our rental, etc. It was well worth the effort and I am glad that is now done for another year. If you live in our area and need a referral to a great tax person, just let me know. I just love the lady we go to and she has become a friend after a lot of years.

The other thing that has kept me busy is concerns over various things plaguing the kids right now. You already know about Hazie and Connor and Zach being sick. Piper and Chloe also started getting sick. They are all on the mend and for that I am grateful. But I have been worried about Jen and all the stress she has been under.

What I haven't told you about yet is that Laura and Robert are trying to find a home to rent in Rhode Island before he deploys and they had one all lined up that they were just thrilled about and the owner reneged on an offer she made last week. They were going to hold the home for them until June and changed their minds hoping to rent it before then to someone. However, the house has been on the market for over a year and no takers, so we are hoping that things will eventually work out. But they have to now continue searching just in case and Laura is pretty upset about it. They were to sign the rental agreement yesterday and the rug got pulled out from under them. You know how it is, you just want everything to work out for your kids and sometimes it is not in the cards. And sometimes it just requires lots of patience and above all faith. So yesterday was impossible for blogging.

Tuesday we were working and that schedule is pretty much exhausting. 10 hours starting at 1:30 pm to get there, working 8 hours and then driving home arriving at 10:00 pm. I am not a night person, but I am working on it. Combining that with everything being very new and so much to learn and a two hour class every Tuesday night and I was beat. It was so hard to concentrate also as Hazie was very sick that day. I read the other day that stress is not a situation, but a state of mind. So I am just trying to keep it on the bright side in my mind. Things will work out, they always do.

So that was a long way around telling you that I resurrected an old recipe from the 70's for our dinner party on Valentine's Day. I was trying to think of something that would look really pretty on the plate along with steak and baked potatoes oh, and also taste yummy. You know me, decorating comes first. So I remembered this old recipe called "Carrots El Supremo." Doesn't that name even sound like the 70s? LOL!


7 cups of sliced cooked carrots. I like to keep the carrots a little al dente so they are not mushy as they also go in the oven for 30 minutes to heat before serving. Don't you just love how the colors of vegetables turn so brilliant as they begin to cook?

I like to put them in a large bowl to mix all the ingredients and then put them in another bowl for baking. Here I added some sliced green onions and some salt and pepper.

You then mix in a slight cup of mayonnaise that has two heaping tablespoons of horseradish stirred into it. It thins the mayo and I found I did not need the entire cup. I was trying to make it as Weight Watcher friendly as possible and it turned out it is only 3 points for a half of cup, so that was good. You can reduce it more with light mayo but I didn't.

Mix in the sauce and then add 6-7 saltine crushed crackers that have two tablespoons of butter melted and stirred into it. Cover the top with the cracker crumbs and, voila! Done. Heat for 30 minute at 350 degrees. Easy peasy!

We had forgotten how good this recipe is. We have resurrected it, dusted it off, and plan to make it more often. I think it needs an updated name though don't you...any suggestions?

Well, we are heading off for our fun day trip now. Going to Napa in the rain in our cozy car. Should be interesting and fun. Bringing the camera along, of course, so will report in on it later!

Have a wonderful day and try the carrots sometime when you want something pretty, healthy and yummy on your plate!