More Visitors

This past weekend, Camille and her boyfriend, Cody, came up to visit.  We scheduled it so that their plane coming from Southern California landed at about the same time as my flight back home from Las Vegas, where I had been at a meeting for most of last week.  The stars aligned, and my flight landed just 15 minutes before theirs.

Camille was busy with her iPhone everywhere we went and she sent me some of the pictures she took, so I could share them with you.  We did a lot of wine tasting over the weekend, and they helped with chores.

Camille and Cody

Camille and I (at Cooper Vineyards)

We were at Cooper Vineyards for their annual lamb and chicken BBQ.  The food, as always, was plentiful and good.

Camille loving on Finessa.

My favorite picture of Camille on Brett's tractor.  I love the background. 

Camille's favorite picture of herself on the tractor -- because Brett is smiling.

More wine tasting and parties -- Fiesta at David Girard.

Camille goofing off in the vineyard at David Girard.

Camille and Cody had to spend time with the goats. Of course.

I love, love, LOVE this picture she took of Lucy.

The view from the barn, looking towards the boys' pasture.

This Too Shall Pass

There is storm system north of us sending cloudy skies and breezy conditions to our valley.

The rain from last weekend soaked the ground and sunshine coaxed the seeds into sprouting; we have green grass springing up in the pastures.  Finessa has wasted no time in sampling it.

After breakfast and chores, Brett and I headed into Placerville to look for a mud room bench at the Antique Fair.  We wanted a small bench that we can sit on while taking on and off our shoes.  We found exactly what we were looking for, wedged it into the back of the Subaru and headed back to the ranch.  I wanted to ride before our lunch at MiraFlores winery.

We tacked up Winston and Mufasa in their stalls.  After all our work yesterday in the barn, it's finally horse friendly.

There are rings in the stalls for tying horses while they are tacked up.  Winston is good about being groomed and tacked up in his stall; we've done that at a few shows.  Mufasa doesn't like to be tied and will pull back so I used baling twine to create break-away loops.  You tie the lead ropes to the twine loop and that way the twine will break if the horse panics.

Mufasa stood quietly in his stall with one eye on Winston, next door, and the other on Brett.  The trust between Brett and Mufasa is steadily increasing.  They are so fortunate to have found each other.  Winston was a bit fussy, worrying about where everyone was and what they were doing.  We mounted and rode out to the dressage court, with Winston and I leading the way.  Winston walked into the arena without balking and we made a couple uneventful loops around the entire arena.  As I was getting ready to cross the arena and go the other direction, Winston decided he was done.  I understand that he was tired and no doubt sore from our work on Saturday but his behavior was unacceptable.  Once again, he plowed backwards dragging the arena rails and a pylon with him.  I know I should have smacked him with my whip and sent him forward and to work but, well, my confidence just isn't there.  I'm disappointed in myself.  Next time I will deal with it from the saddle.  And I know he will outgrow this and he will get fit.  He's six.  Its a difficult age -- kind of like the terrible twos.  Instead of grabbing the bucking strap, giving him a smart tap, riding out the inevitable buck and trotting off, I got him to walk forward by kicking.  Back in the arena, he threatened to go backwards again.  I kicked until he walked forward into a halt and then I got off.  The lunge line was hanging on the fence.  We worked on the lunge line, on transitions because they require obedience.  I hadn't planned to canter today but he ended up doing interval work -- canter-trot-canter.  He had to be prompt and he had to keep the gait going until I decided it was time to transition.  He has a bad habit of trying to make those decisions himself.  So, we did get some work done.  I will get braver.  He will get older.  This phase will pass.

Daou

When Brett and I were in Paso Robles last weekend, we checked out a winery my dad had recommended to us as having a spectacular location and excellent wine. 

The winery is called Daou and it sits high on a hill, with its vineyards spreading out below the tasting room and cellars.

The area outside the tasting room was beautifully landscaped with lavender and there were comfortable chairs strategically placed so you could sit with a glass of wine and soak in the view.

The wine was tasty too.  I echo my dad's recommendation.  Stop by and check it out if you are in the Paso Robles area.

Wine Blending

The purpose of our trip to Paso Robles last weekend was to attend a wine blending party at Gelfand Winery.   We were introduced to Gelfand wines (and the owner, Len) about a year ago by my father who lives in the area and makes wine -- and has gotten to know many of the local winemakers.  Gelfand makes awesome wines, in limited amounts.  He hosts a wine blending party every September to thank those of us who enjoy and buy his wines.  Usually, the weather is very hot -- like 105-110F.  We were advised to wear a hat.  Fortunately, the weekend was relatively cool with comfortable weather in the mid-80s.

My father came by the B&B where we were staying to give us a ride to the party.  His friend, and wine making partner, Mac was also along.  They were expecting 300 people at the party so we got there early to snag a parking spot close to the house and not off in a vineyard acres and acres away.

Upon arrival, we cozied up to one of the round tables with my dad, Mac, and two more of their friends.  All engineers, all well versed in wine.  Talk about intimidating.  I mean, one of the guys is flying off to South Africa next week to pick up an award -- for developing GPS technology.  And, they all know wine well.  Brett and I know what we like but we don't have the vocabularly... you know, nose of blackberries and leather, barnyard.... that kind of stuff.

Mac, my dad, and Mr. GPS

In the middle of table were the following: a carafe of water, a jar with instructions on the two blends, two graduated cylindars, and wine glasses.  They passed out bottles of four varietals: cabernet, zinfandel, syrah, and petite sirah.

We were to blend and come up with our "best" recipe for two wines.  Those were recorded on sheets of paper and turned in at the end.  From those sheets, Len comes up with the blend he will use for the two wines and then they are released.  Last year, one of them won a gold medal.  It's serious fun.

The first wine we blended was called SFR; short for Sh*t Faced Red, in honor of the first party.  This wine had to be at least 50% petite sirah with the remainder being whatever we felt was best.  We all thought the zin and the cabernet were the smoothest and that the other two were a bit too acidic -- pucker power.  The men all sipped and opined and sipped and took notes.  Brett and I sipped and nodded in agreement.   Our group came up with a straight forward mix of 50% petite, 25% cab and 25% zin.  No syrah at all.

The second wine was called Menage as in Menage a Bunch (there were four, not three wines) and we had to use all of them.  This took some negotiation.  Brett and I stayed out of it.  We went and got food; it's important to eat food and not just stand around in the heat drinking wine.

I also made a trip to the port-a-potty which I normally wouldn't mention.  However, these were like real restrooms inside -- clean, no smell, carpet on the floor, a sink with running water, paper towels and a trash can.  Port-a-potties!!

After we finished blending, eating, drinking and peeing, we headed out to the vineyards to find the car and head home.  The setting was beautiful and we had fun being wine maker for a day.  I'm sure we'll go again next year.