video chat

This is what happens when Blake and I get bored late at night.

Sometimes I think we really are related.

(At the very least it proves we're getting our money's worth out of our Macbooks)

weekly gratitude

thank you slippers for keeping my toes warm for the first time this season

The last few days have been entertaining.

Did I say entertaining? I meant draining. Because as it turns out my car, my quirky little 1990 MB 300CE (luxury automobile anyone? HA) has decided to snuff out for the last time. Oh, that things called the "Control Unit" for the "Ignition"? Shot to hell. And it looks like the smarties of the early 90's decided to only make that particular piece for that particular car and... That's it. So now it looks like it might be time to think about a new car.

I'm hoping for a Honda or a Toyota so that I can barter with Shamoo should I ever need work done on it - whiskey & baked goods for car repair... Sounds like a good deal to me.

The ordeal has brought to light things I am extremely thankful for however...

1. Thank you Caitlyn! Holy hell girl, thank you SO much! Saturday and Sunday and that whole "getting-to-and-from-work" deal? Totally made possible by her. Even though she lives almost 20 miles away ("away" here meaning that much closer to the winery where we work) she backtracked up to Portland to get my stranded behind all weekend. So grateful for friends that don't hesitate when you're in need!

2. Thank you for HARVEST! We are finally knee-deep in grapes at the winery and I know everyone is breathing that sigh of relief to see fruit coming in. I'd venture a guess that we're about 3/4 of the way done but there's still a bit more to crush. Yesterday I got to go down to the cellar as they were bringing in about 28 tons of fruit from the Prince Hill Vineyard and our Cellar Master Jerry gave me the rundown of those beginning steps in the winemaking process. It was so much fun to watch! Mad respect for those guys and gals in the cellar (affectionately known as "Cellar Rats" - affectionately people!). They make our jobs "upstairs" a hell of a lot easier (and our lives a whole lot tastier) with the wines they help make. And of course none of it would be possible to begin with were it not for Mother Nature cutting us a little break so we could get some clusters off the vines and into the presses!

3. Thank you Charles M. Schulz and Vince Guaraldi for It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! I've been listening to the audio to it since the beginning of this month and tonight as I type this I'm finally watching it in full (and ooooh, Theoooooo it's almost time for this!) which means I'm sitting on my couch, cuddled into a blanket, drinking from my spooky-boo jack-o-lantern mug and acting like a little fool dancing along to the piano.

Enjoy this clip (a couple of my favorites) and click here to watch the whole thing!



HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

head full of doubt/road full of promise

Love this lyric from The Avett Brothers.

(via)

andrew jackson jihad

This is my "Have A Happy Weekend" post for a few reasons...

1) Dean & Robin showed it to me and I'm still laughing
2) It's delightful and irreverent and if you don't find it charming (sorry for my word choice there Robin) then it's the most efficient way to weed out the readers who don't share a taste for animated homicide
3) My car broke down yesterday and had to be towed and my mechanic called today to tell me that it's basically toast unless I want to throw $3,000 at it (yeah, time to stop putting bandaids on it and just get a "new" car apparently)... OK, that has nothing to do with it, but it takes me back to my first point in that this makes me laugh and that's what I need right now

Sheesh.

Still smiling though.

grace ("she passed away 30 years ago!")

A wildly inappropriate title (though I'd be willing to mail cookies to the first person who can name that reference) but let's overlook that...

I found this on Pinterest and just... Loved it. It is so true. Except for the whole "bragging" part, because of that whole not-supposed-to-boast thing, but still. The effect is there.

I'm a big proponent for Love, in case you hadn't figured that out yet. I'm one of those folks who may or may not be right in believing that Love conquers all. But really, would that be so wrong? And seriously, if I (and this is just for my life, I'm not pushing it on anyone else) believe that Love Is All and God Is Love (and therefore God Is All), what's the harm in that? I'm putting faith in the most primal, basic, pure emotion/feeling/action/realm of existence there is. 

John Lennon got it. Robin gets it. I try my damnedest to get it. Why is Love so hard to believe in? I want so much for others to believe in Love as much as I do, but I fear the worst sometimes and worry about getting written off as a Pollyanna. Of course then again, who cares? One can only live and believe the best way one knows how. 

I read another quote, a Swedish Proverb, on Pinterest that said:

Love me when I least deserve it, because that is when I really need it.

What a groundbreaking thought, no? 

It's a thought near to me at the moment and I keep mulling it over in my addled brain. But seriously, loving someone when they "deserve" it least (though everyone deserves Love) is the definition! It's that unconditional Love that makes life worth living. 

And that's exactly how I want to live my life.

Loving.

Unconditionally. 

pumpkin patch-ing

So a couple weeks ago we decided it was time... Time to pumpkin patch. Trip-planning however is not really The Camaraderie's strong point so we didn't get out there until late afternoon (and in separate cars because carpooling is another thing we were having issues with) (sidenote: Robin, Dean & I are officially exempt from the aforementioned issues - we're practically perfect) but who cares? We were on a mission. 

In any case, there was much fun to be had, vegetables to investigate and (most importantly) apple treats to be consumed. Oh, and cheese to be bought (black pepper garlic havarti anyone?). But first, there were photos to be taken...

Blake said this photo is obscene? Your thoughts? 

Matty's face is priceless!

Dean was having a moment with the goose. Dangerous pastime for a butcher. 

"Advertising Face"

Dean, Shamoo & Jared... I like these guys. 

Seriously, every time I turned around Robin had a new apple treat

Why must you disgrace this poor vegetable?

"Paul Bunyan Zucchini" 

We really wanted to do the Corn MaIze, but it was too muddy

I like people like us. 

First toast of many that night

Jared's wagonwheel tattoo (Mike & Dean have one too as tribute to this song)

My favorite pumpkin beer of the season! 

Oh, hi Shamoo!

Dean and Mike are horrible. 

All in all, an excellent night with The Camaraderie. 

Let's do it all again sometime, shall we?

wessex boy

If Frank Turner isn't one of the most genuine, badass (and yes, adorable) (sorry Frank, I can't help myself) men strumming a guitar and singing it out into the universe, then... Then I don't know what. It's late and I'm congested. "If/Then" scenarios can't be held to too high a standard at the moment.

Just enjoy the music.

Also, thank you to everyone for the sweet comments on my last post. It just warmed my soul and made me really grateful for love and the kindness of friends (both real life and blog friends - equally amazing in their own way!) Much love in return. 

weekly gratitude

thank you saltwater & sand for letting me stomp around barefoot in the sun

This week's post is a couple days late, but what schedule am I really on here? The universe will forgive me.

I've been home in California for the last five days spending a truly bittersweet long weekend with family. A couple weeks ago Blake informed me that he was going to visit my ("our") Mom and that I should come too (why yes favorite son, I would love to!). This actually made for perfect timing because for the last few months my grandmother's health had been declining even more rapidly than it had the last few years. But more than needing to be there for her, I knew I needed to be there for my mom who has been her primary caregiver for longer than anyone can believe.

In short, timing is everything and being home this weekend had me exactly where I needed to be...

Yesterday morning my grandmother passed away at 83. My mom and my uncle were both with her and  it was as peaceful and painless as any of us can hope to go. Strangely, it was not as sad as one might think - this was a long time coming and ultimately, the release her soul deserved after being essentially trapped for far too long. She is at peace, and now, finally, so is my mom. She can get a full night's sleep without worry of how she's going to find the strength to take care of her ailing mother for one more day.

This was not the end of my grandmother's life... It is the beginning of my mother's.

And so, there is much to be thankful for...

1. Thank you family. Thank you for being a family who can smile and share joy, even in sadness. Instead of mourning, we can celebrate a life that was and toast to the peace that can now settle over a generation. I love you all more than I can ever do justice to in mere words.

2. Thank you Blake. We were still at my mom's house when she called from my grandmother's to tell me the news and without a word, without being asked, there he was to wrap me up and be the shoulder (or chest rather) I needed to cry on. Thank you for letting me curl up in a little ball and take in the change that had just occurred in my life. It may not have been a glass of water and a fluffy pillow, but sometimes a Blake is just what you need.

3. Thank you Mom. Thank you for being amazing and strong and beautiful and YOU. We've all said it before and we'll undoubtedly keep saying it - we don't know how you do it. You have spent the last thirty years living a life that was not entirely yours and now that life you so deserve is not just within reach, it is YOURS.

On that note, I'll let Ayn Rand present the final thought here (though no, I've never read this book... This quote is just too wonderful)

‎"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplacable spark. In the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the not yet, and the not at all, do not let the hero in your soul perish and leave only frustration for the life you deserved, but never have been able to reach. The world you desire can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours." - Atlas Shrugged

-- And also a thank you to Brigette, Jared, Robin, Dean, Gary and Vince... All of you rallied (even if you were hundreds of miles away) and sent your love and prayers when we needed them most. Thank you. All of you. --

california dreamin'

So after a week or so of not-a-lot-of-great-sleep, I started my day yesterday at 3:50am, waking up just in time to go get Jared, get him to the airport, grab a quick breakfast at McD's (I'm sorry, I'm a Sausage McMuffin whore) and be back in bed by 5:15am... Only to then wake up again at 7:30am when I got a text followed shortly by a phone call followed then by  my alarm screaming at me because it was time for me to go to the airport.

Long story short (was that short?) I'm home in (truly) sunny California for a few days. My grandma hasn't been doing too well and mom needed a little respite so taking a cue from Blake (clearly the favorite child in this family) who was already planning a trip to Benicia here, I decided to fly down as well.

So until Monday, life will be filled with family, pseudo-siblings and of course, a whole lotta Abba.

What else is there in life?

pinning...

Pinterest was a bad idea.

Welcome to my new time-wasting experiment.

RHM

This is my happy place 

Hazelnut shells 

Happiness: brewed 

Hand-thrown clay pint glasses 

Want

I could subsist on baguettes and balsamic vinegar alone.

Pint glass

I want this jack-o-lantern!

The world's most decadent roast beef sandwich in creation

The aftermath

WWII vet sippin' coffee and eatin' apple pie... Don't get much more American than that

Kinda creepy... Kinda cool 

Upper left corner, freshly harvested chanterelles!  

The precursor to our vineyard exploration? Lunch at Red Hills Market. I always describe this place as "my favorite place that I wish was in Porltand, but I'm really glad it isn't"... Because I would never leave. I'm already there a borderline embarrassing amount of time throughout the week with Jodi and Caitlyn before and after work (yes, when we walk in the guys who work there - and love us, clearly - pretty much know to get three hot roast beef sandwiches in the woodfire oven).

Of course rarely do I have the monster camera with me at work so last Thursday became the day to take all of the photos I've been eyeing in my mind the last few months. I even got lucky with that shot of the mushrooms when the farmer himself walked through the door and saw me taking pictures of everythingunderthesun and offered up his bounty for the shutter!

Pretty tickled with a few of these. Is it wrong to love a camera so much? I don't think so. At least I hope not.