The Wine Makers Wife

tea

With the weather turning to dark evenings and brisk winds I find that I am moving yearning for all things cozy. Words like gingerbread and scarves entice me to fall deeper into the season. After work yesterday I drove to the library and borrowed a sack of cozy mysteries, their main characters have to own tea shops or have a faithfully terrier companion. While reading Shades of Earl Grey by Laura Childs I got the urge to have high tea. In the past I spend a great deal of time in down town eugene Oregon, haunting two wonderful tea shops. The sort that are tucked into the downtown area, have a neighborhood vibe to them and invite you to hang out all afternoon should you be caught in the rain. Searching for the shop on-line I'm getting the impression that the shop closed... However Savoure, a former tea shop turned on line retailer... also seems out of commission, as savoure.com goes nowhere!

Well... this is sort of cramping my post... the recession must be hitting Eugene terribly hard.

If you have a cozy tea shop in your neighborhood please comment, as I'd love to know more about it. No matter where you live!

I'm thinking of planning a tea lunch excursion to either of the two shops below. Both are in San Francisco. Might make for a lovely day trip into the city with my mother and aunty.

LoveJoy's

Crown & Crumpet

juice feast 1.0

I've been introduced to Bella Foster's water colors and can't get enough of them. They have nothing to do with this post, what-so-ever.

For three weeks now I have had the flu, and Sunday I landed at urgent care with a sinus infection. I'm clammy, cranky, and only mildly interested in the world around me. Where's my bed? Blah.

Today is November 3rd and day 3 of my juice fast. So far so good. I've been juicing basic things, like lemons, swiss chard, apples and carrots. A little celery for hydration and beets for sweetness. It's important to get dark leafy green in there, and have that be at least 60% of your juice. The nutrients and chlorophyll are imperative to have as they help alkalize your body. Alkalizing foods help minimize your chances of cancer cell growth in the body, as the cells tend to produce faster in bodies with more acid in their systems. 

My Brevelle Juice fountain makes about 32 ounces at a time, which I split into two servings. So I use my juicer twice a day, for four servings of green juice.  Am I hungry? Yes and no. As I'm super sick, I'm not feeling very hungry. But on the flip side, once I heal, and my energy has increased I'm sure I'll be more so. I can either make more juice, and cut it with water, or ignore the hunger pangs. Hunger fades after a little while anyway.  Juice feasting is really up to you and your goals. Mine is to revitalize my body with nutrients and to slim down before a planned pregnancy. So if I feel the need to have more juice I'll make mine a little heavier on the greens than the pineapple and mango juice.

 I've not been drinking wine, but I have been allowing myself caffine in the form of tea and coffee.

pans in the fire

 

is that the expression i mean? You know when you have a few things you are waiting on to see if they come to fruition?

Remy has decided he'd like to try being a therapy dog. he's got a pleasant temperament, and mild energy level. the local organization we are applying to is Furry Friends based in san jose, ca. the process entails filling out our background information and having a vet review remy to be sure he is deemed a safe and friendly dog by a professional. we do not need to go through the american kennel club test called canine good citizen, which savess us a bit of time and money. in november we attend an orientation class which covers a typical volunteer day, introduces you to your team captain and co-volunteers. we will also touch base on etiquette for visiting with patients.

 

we are volunteering because we can. remy can handle it, and it will make me feel great for giving back to the community. i've selected to volunteer once a week for an hour, as it's about all the patience rem can muster for good behavior with out needing to run around and "woo woo": his howl to initiate play. i have elderly grandparents who i adore and make an effort to see each week, and when they have had surgery and are recovering the hospitals ship them off to local convalescent homes. these places are usually incredibly dire and lacking in privacy... i just feel so forlorn there, i cna't imagine what it would be to stay a fortnight or worse, longer. so if we can spread some joy then we will!

i think i have a fetish for stanford shopping center during the holidays. i loathe parking at malls during the holidays, detest wading through crowds, detest dealing with the high end pretentious clientele the center attracts, and yet i usually work as a seasonal hire each year on top of my full time job. yay me.  first it was Kate spade which started out great and then i had a melt down on the 26th of december when a customer snapped his fingers at me. though i do work in hospitality at my winery, the head of hospitality- i can be a bitchy little thing. god help me. anyway, then i worked at my winery part time, and that was a little better. this year i'm interviewing at crate & barrel. my aunt kate works there... and i could use the extra cash now that we are making house payments and stating starting our business. this moola would be spending money, pure and simple. i'm pretty much on call here at the winery, but i could work nights and one weekend day. i never see my husband anyway, so little would change there. we shall see!

i just adore the romanticism of the holidays, chilly evenings, a fun days work, being on the inside of a beloved company, gorgeous decorations and poinsettias...

___________________

p.s. for tomoko: thanks for my scarf!! I adore it, got loads of compliments on it today! I listened to Super fly on the way up to work and really like the main vocalists voice, she has quite a range. Capsule is AWESOME, my new favorite CD. I read somewhere that they were considered a poor man's pizacatto five- that's crap. they are so much better and forward thinking in their arrangements. thank you!

juice feast 0.1

Wow, three posts in one day.

For a year now I have been dabbling in vegetarianism, raw foods, organic foods, and juicing. I discovered a woman on You Tube who I found to be extremely motivating, passionate and informative about eating a raw food diet. Please check out Therese at RawDownUnder. While vegetarianism isn't for me, nor is a strict raw food diet, I have felt the benefits of juicing raw fruits and vegetables. Being able to introduce vitamins and essential nutrients into the body with little energy to digest it helps the organs rest- well, let me back track. 

Angels Stokesis a raw foodist with a very in depth website. Her personal journeyand transformation is truly remarkable. "By consuming only liquids, which are absorbed directly into our system, we give the body a huge energy break from digesting foods. It can then use that saved energy to clean out old matter, especially from the small intestine. The average person holds 5-10lbs of toxic old matter in their intestines, and Feasting is an ideal way to release it, giving the body a phenomenal chance to rejuvenate and restore. Far from being a time of 'deprivation', this extraordinary healing programme is an experience of abundance and massive nutritional intake...we lose weight, skin becomes radiantly healthy, illnesses are healed, scar tissue rejuvenates, and we detox our whole system on a massive scale."

Juice Feasting is great for anyone feeling that their bodies can use a full reboot of the system, cleanse, rebuild and re-set for a new level of wellness on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual (if you are a spiritual person) level.

I have challenged myself to a 25 day juice feast, starting November 1st, and begin easing back into a more healthful lifestyle (and solid foods) on Thanksgiving. I suffer from mild anxiety and depression from a chemical imbalance, migraines, dry skin, lack of energy, and eczema on my scalp. Imagine if some of those symptoms could be alleviated by a healthier lifestyle... If you'd like to learn more about juicing please check out the links above. I'll be updating on my progress in the days to come.  

a typical day

setting up the kithen for a luncheon, we have VIPs today. too chilly, on top of the mountain, to sit on the deck this afternoon.

 

 

kathy is making forbidden rice with an orange reduction, fresh green onions, cherry tomatoes and toasted pine nuts.

 

 

 

another present from japanese visitors, i'm such a lucky girl! i love the boxes!

 

 

woo, gourmet snack pack with candy stars!! 

  

 

the barn tasting bar

 

 

left over humbolt fog from a tasting appointment this morning. we had swiss guests.

 

 

tasting room, sorry we're closed today

 

 

co-worker used to be a rock star. really. i have no idea what the case is doing here, i think it's empty.

 

time to clean up

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

houston, we have a problem

 

oh, hi blog. how are you? ... it's been a while, huh?

this is not the image i wanted to post. i had all these photos picked out from J.crew of "bridesmaid" dresses that i think i'd be adorable in, but i couldn't manage to load them to typepad. boo. ANYWAY- Lisa & Ben are getting married, in maui mind you, in march. which means i need to start thinking about what to wear, and how to fit into it. Lisa's theme is a hot pick, black, grass green type of look. though she has no bridesmaids, she has a gaggle of girls whom she would like to stay in keeping with the green theme. grass green is not my fav color, but I'm so pale, I suppose it doesn't matter what color i wear as long as it isn't flesh toned. 'lest i appear naked in all the wedding photos.

having said the above, i have exactly 4 months to slim down for the beaches of Maui.

 EEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppp!!!!!!

so today starts my attempt to loose 40 pounds by march... i have a few things going for me, in that I don't have a sweet tooth, and i like vegetables. but i have a dreadful aversion to sweat. so what's my plan? i'll get back to you in a bit....

un-done with laughter

sweet pea blues, flu med induced commentary and last but not least: storm troopers

In Cheynne's unending quest to educate me in classic film, we are going to the Stanford Theater tonight to see a double feature. Arsenic & Old Lace and His Girl Friday, all Cary Grant. All the time. I've never seen either of these movies so I'm really looking forward to it. And I'm so getting a jumbo soda and popcorn, woo!

In other news, I have a sinus infection.

The latest pic of my niece Nanaka:

 

Don't you want to smooch those cheeks????

 

What about my niece Sophia? Is she not the most adorable little pea you've ever seen?

I've been wanting to play with DailyBooth and post videos on YouTube... but I'm conflicted. Putting yourself so directly on the internet is frightening. DailyBooth is like twitter but with pics. Anyway, fun little sites. My favorite author is William Gibson, who writes abut - what i call - the "near distant future". Never a specific year but you can guess his mysteries take place in 2060 or even 2040... Just enough neo techno futurism to really hook me without leading me down the path of outright sci fi. On YouTube there is a channel called  "mememolly", and I can't figure this chick out. She's like video poetry, and british, and very pretty, but not her real self... and I don't understand what she's refering too, half the time- as I think she's deeply inbedded in YouTube subculture that is way beyond my comprehension. In other words, she's a YouTube nerd, yet I cna't stop watching her vids. Gah.
 
if you read my blog, and I think you do, then you can read between the lines. Elin, my Swedish friend, emailed me months ago and said how she has been doing just that and can tell that I really want to start a family. Ack! Do I?I suppose she is right. But I'm conflicted about that too. We have zero dollars, live apart, and well that's probably enough right there. People always say "oh there is never a "right time" to have kids" but I beg to differ. I want to be responsible, send my kid to private school (since we live in the 'middle of no where Caucasian ranch land'), and lord knows how we'd pay for college.... I don't think now is the right time. Not until we have thought about this subject a little more.

and because i'm on cold medicine, going on 8 days, my thoughts are quite fluffy and shallow... so I leave you with Danny Choo, as he best demonstrates how my synapses are firing today.

 

weekend in october

Rosie had an accident as a chick, almost a year ago. She was scalped by a neighbors dog. Knowing what I do about chickens now, I could have killed her quickly, and put her out of her misery. Instead, my mother drove me and the chick (both traumatized) to the vet. They stitched her right up, after deducting the price by half for me. I wrote the doctor a thank you note for saving my chicken. At the time, Dr. Boltz said to me "Don't worry Mrs. Teeter, Rosie will grow up to be a fine chicken. She'll have no trouble laying." I remember that those words struck me as something to laugh about later. And here we are!

 

We caught Rosie, making a nest in a bag of wood shavings, laying an egg. She simply will n ot lay her eggs in the nest boxes provided. She tries to find the coziest, must tucked away plce possible. Be it a potter geranium, bucket of dried leaves, or bag of fresh wood shavings. I went to pet her chest and try to move her off the bag and she opened her mouth like a mini dino and hissed at me. Sheesh. Such a little raptor. Ok fine, stay on your pile of shavings, see if I care.

Bella and Giada are scratching around to find grubs seeds. They seem to be adjusting well to their new home. Bella, on the top left, is not friendly. She won't nip you, but hates being touched. Giada on the bottom right lays green eggs and is the wine maker's chicken.

Georgina is my favorite, she's the most kind and curious. She finds her way up the stairs to the deck and peers into the sliding glass door and see what we humans are up too. She'll tolerate a little cuddling and ear rubbing for six minutes, and then she needs to go on about her business.

We neglected our old dwarf lemon tree, so the wine maker planted a new one. But the chickens like to scratch under it... Their old coop was next to a gigantic lime tree and they spent most of their days lazing about underneath it. I think this little one reminds them of our old home.

The Wine Maker took me by the hand and gave me a tour of all our fruit trees. He scratched his nails against the skin of this orange and then put his fingers under my nose. "Look, it's an orange tree!" I breathed in the deep green scent of citrus and was reminded of finding oranges and walnuts in the christmas stocking my grandparents always bring.

We auditioned Halloween costumes this weekend, too. Remy insisted he wanted to be a Pirate.

But he didn't like the outfit as much as he thought he would.

So we tried something more seasonal.

Momma I hate this hat. Take it off!

 

get out the decorations!

This should be the front of my house on Halloween this year. How hard would it be to try and re-create this wreath? A little spray paint, funky ribbon, skull and you're nearly there! I'm going to attempt it. What this really is: the front of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland in Anaheim California. Cheynne and I took a little "girls only" road trip this weekend to see all the Halloween decorations at the park.

So, I think I have swine flu. Apparently that is the only virus going around at the moment, and I'm in my bed today. My throat hurts and my ears have been burning hot and bright red. Wah. Anyway, here is the front of the Mansion with Jack Skellington's count down clock to Xmas. Do you know about "Nightmare Before Christmas"? It's a Tim Burton animation about Jack Skellington, Pumpkin King, ruler of Halloweentown. He happens upon Christmastown, and decides to change Christmas into another Halloween. He kidnaps Santa Claus (Sandy Claws), then takes it upon himself to deliver some alternative gifts to unsuspecting children.

Yeah, it's a musical.

This is not Jack. We actually waited in line to take photos of ourselves with Disney Cast members dressed as Jack and his GF Sally. Something like this.... But I refuse to post the picture here for a number of reasons. First of all, I was traumatized. Second, Cheynne has no filter, she just says whatever she wants and she said a BAD WORD when she asked the characters to pose with us. Third, the picture of us is silly because I look sheepish and am trying to back out of the photo, and fourth, I look fat.
EDIT: Oh OK, FINE. But I photoshopped it.

In Disneyland the characters are always on, I've never seen them out of character. Not even that one time when The Wine Maker caught a case of Tourette's and teased the Little Mermaid about her seashell bra. I almost died. The girl playing the Little Mermaid, -who- by the way, could not walk on her own because she was wearing a tail and had to have Prince Eric carry her everywhere- arched a sassy penciled eyebrow and made a comment about the wine makers shorts, in a clever way.

We've not been invited back to Ariel's Grotto restaurant since then.

Cheynne is weird. Nice girl, religious, ex-ballerina, studying to be a nutritionist, has a boyfriend in jail, and a lot of tattoos... she's very sweet. But she's different, and people like to stare at her. She attracts attention, and thinks she was born in the wrong era. So she wanted to pose like pin up girls with these Disney characters and used a word that is synonymous with a gardening tool, and I'll say no more.

Oh look! An adorable photo of me with giant candy corn.

My halloween costume wig has arrived in the mail. We are dead serious about our annual Family Halloween party, and we do not disclose our costumes to anyone else until we arrive at the party. The Wine Maker had been accepted into the family long ago but a few reasons really sealed the deal. He's sweeter then I am, he makes Chardonnay, and he sews his own Halloween costumes. Someday I'll do a post on all his grand prize winning costumes, but for now I'll make my point in saying that he and my aunt Kate are always neck and neck in votes for the winning costume each year. In fact, this year he claims he can't make it to the party because of work. But my Aunt Kate thinks this is a ruse. That he will be there but incognito and now she needs to work twice as hard on her costume.
 

I laughed her off and said he really wasn't that clever! But last night the wine maker called me to inform me of his grand master plan. His best costume to date. Something about being there without really being there and a cheesy costume that is so stupid in concept that it's really brilliant.

Sometimes I worry about the wine maker living alone during the week....



Andrea shared Bakerella with me a few weeks ago, and I can not get enough of her delicious recipes. On my to do list today is to come up with a fantastic Halloween party appetizer recipe... got any ideas?