Sunday at Winter's Hill Winery

This coming Sunday, my friend Ann and I are taking over the tasting room at Winter's Hill Winery in the Dundee Hills.  How's that for a scary proposition?  Ann says she's coming in full costume.  As for me, I am not so sure.  (For those arriving in full costume, the tasting fee will be waived.) However, costume or not, it will be fun.

Tim from Little Cannoli Bakery will bring some of his cookies and share with us.  When we got married, Tim baked our cakes and cookies. He is phenomenal...ahhh, those little lemon cookies!  I am looking forward to his shortbread cookies with a glass of pinot noir!  After work, of course.

Emily, from Winter's Hill, took the bluebird picture below.  Unashamedly and with her permission, I am stealing it for this blog post.  Love the juxtaposition of my favorite bird with my favorite wine.

Winter's Hill Winery Bluebird

I know, I know, this is blatant unfettered promotion. I admit it. I have no excuses, but would be great to see friends.  I can't promise you a bluebird on Sunday, but I can promise great Oregon Pinot Noir. 

See you there!?

Frosty mornings, beautiful sunny afternoons

Perfect fall weather.

I love frosty cold mornings and warm October afternoons.

Fall Color

The rains are coming tonight.

Perhaps the last opportunity for the bread to rise outside...

.... for the clothes to dry outside.

Perhaps a harbinger of things to come.

Can a woolly bear forecast winter weather?

I always thought the fuzziness was an indicator of coming winter weather.

I just read that the indicator is the width of the middle orange stripe....
The wider the stripe the harsher the winter.

Did you know that there is a Woolly Worm Festival this weekend in North Carolina?

Just life....nice, normal, nothing too exciting.

It has been awhile since I posted, but here are a couple of updates regarding the previous post. The barrel with who-knows-what in it is going to a hazardous waste pick up in another week.  I did a little bit of research on the metal tag that is on the can and found out just enough to make me very wary of trying to open it.  It will soon be out of here.

The latest update on the tree protectors is that they will get a third life.  Their first life was protecting grape seedlings at Winters Hill Winery.  Second life was protecting our Conservation Restoration seedlings.  Right after my previous post, a neighbor called who is putting in a large hazelnut orchard.  Wondering if he might use the tree protectors, and promised to pass them on from there. So I am feeling really good about use, re-use, re-use, re-use.  Eventually they can be recycled at the plastics-to-oil refinery that is in the local area.

Fall is definitely here.  The garden is finished.  Picked winter squash yesterday, only a few tomatoes & carrots left. Finished off the beets in some chocolate beet cupcakes.  Good, but not so good that I kept the recipe or would want to share it.  Picked the last of the sweet peas, amazing to have sweet peas in October.  Saving pea seed for next year, not sure if they will revert back to some earlier pea variety, but always fun to play plant biologist.

Our walnut harvest is still a few weeks away.  The local grape & hazelnut harvests are just beginning.  This is the time of year that every one waits for and works for.  I understand why harvest time is a traditional time of celebration and festivals.

Our table grapes are ripe and bountiful.  We don't leave the farm without a box or two of grapes in the car.  Someone, somewhere along the way is always happy to receive them.  There is so much more than we can possibly eat.

Dark blue, yummy, seedless table grapes.

Busy, cleaning out the beds, getting ready for the wind, rain, and cold that we know will be coming. One last hurrah on the rose bush, probably the prettiest rose of the entire year.

Dogs and I have been taking an amble up the hill every morning, a nice way to start the day. 
A few amble pictures....

Moores Valley

Black walnut tree

The moon in the morning

Thanks for taking a peak!