wine junket

desert to grapevines: the miracle of irrigation

This weekend we piled in the car with friends Jeff and Suzanne and headed to his parent's place in Sunnyside. Over the pass to eastern washington we went, thrilling at the hundred-degree heat. Honestly, to me that sort of heat is so novel that it doesn't bother me. I just drink a lot of water and don't move very fast.

absolute genius: a mango smoothie with white wine in it

The Yakima region is Seattle's breadbasket. West of the pass things are green and damp. When you move East then suddenly it's bone dry. Brown rolling hills extend for miles. Wherever the river runs there is irrigation and that is where all of our apples and pears and tomatoes and beans and hops and strawberries and cherries and broccoli and pretty much everything else comes from. And wine. Steep rocky hills are perfectly cruel to the grapevines and some of my favorite bottles come from my own state.

serious wine transportation: by semi

We spent Saturday afternoon walking from tasting room to tasting room. The air was roasting hot, sizzling on skin. You'd walk across a parking lot (think an open-air mall, just with all wineries rather than other stores) and into a cool dark room and there would be wine waiting for you. After luxuriating in the air conditioning and sipping syrah, or perhaps a white blend, or even in one case a fascinating merlot rose, bottles would be chosen and bought and slung over the shoulder and it was back out again into the hot glove of summer. Repeat. It was glorious and we managed to cram three cases of wine in the back of the car.

It was one of those weekends that technically was only 48 hours but felt much longer. Charlie finished a book he was reading, I finished a lace wrap I have been working on. Now I am getting ready to make some sort of jam out of the many pounds of apricots Suzanne and I picked from a heavily laden tree in their front yard. I love picking my own produce!

even a gentle pacifist can't resist the (actually quite beautiful) black powder musket that Jeff's dad restored

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With many thanks to Elisa, who gave us this beautiful owl print. It looks fantastic above the bed!
(and yes, that is a batman pillowcase)

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Eggs laid in the coop today: 4
Eggs laid this year: 512