Napa part deux

Finishing up posting our Napa trip. We did a awful lot in a short time. Back at Star Mt. and a completely different world. Awaiting the mixed case of wine we apparently decided we couldn't live without.

Morimoto was great, very pretty, and we both had the tasting menu (7 courses) which gave us a window into the wide variety of fresh, fresh seafood he has to offer. He only comes to visit his Napa restaurant once a month - busy with his Mexico and Hawaii places.

Oooh the vineyards, the restaurants, the over eating! 

Napa

Well, here we are in a little piece of paradise - Napa. It's been quite awhile since we've been and the growth is dramatic even with the big slow down in economy. There's even been a castle constructed while I was away. Castello Di Amorosa - 850,000 bricks brought over from Europe. Goodness what the rich will do for hobbies...

















This is a fast trip considering you could stay a month and not see everything.






Flowers from the girls, champagne from the hotel, darling room with outdoor patio- what's not to like! Went to an old favourite Mustards Grill - still fantastic, and Bouchon for our anniversary dinner, also fantastic. Big time chefs certainly deserve their reputation. Morimoto tonight- Mr. Iron Chef, I'll let you know how it is.






More wineries today, and yes, of course we've bought some wine. Will use the handy dandy shipping place just down the street to send it back to Star Mt. I thought we'd resist- ha,ha.

Animals, property lines, and Miss Penny

Animals out everywhere - great to see. The deer are back, at least the first wave. Coyotes, grouse, elk, deer, fox, and our bluebird couple are hanging in. With all the constant noise and people with the basement construction, thought for sure they would abandon plans for a nest.

our house in the far background and our half-owned cabin

view of castles on property edge

Great discovery we made - new survey done on our property (all part of the fun refinance the mortgage process) and lo and behold, the property extends much further up the next hill than we thought (for those who are familiar - the cave hill), in fact our property line goes right through the middle of one of the old mining cabins to more than halfway up the hill. So, we own half a falling down cabin - whee! We hiked around that stake and marched on to the other end, with Mark finding a dirty bottle. So what, you ask? I asked him to take it back to the house - silly sounding I realize, but as it turns out - it's a very old bottle made by a company, that before Prohibition, was the largest wine producer (New York no less) in the US.

A quart size glass wine bottle of Virginia Dare made by Garrett and Co. with embossed design made sometime between 1900 and 1919. Apparently everyone knew this name and how and when this bottle got here is unknown. Clearly connected with the miners I think. Prohibition killed this company, as it did most wine producers at that time.

This is the latest photo of Penny sent by Mommy. I could die over this- is she not all that?

Next post will be from Napa Valley! Our 40th (OMG really) anniversary is next weekend, and we elected to go to one of our favorite places (outside of Star Mt.) FUN...

irobot, goats, and basement

Spring marches in, the aspen trees are starting to leaf out - of course early by about two weeks. Snow is gone except on the high peaks. Don't think there will be a big change in the river levels when the high snow melts, so much less this winter - they're already pretty low.

Say hello to our newest member of the family - I call her Scooba girl. A 13" diameter power packed cleaning whirling dervish. Yes, craziness abounds here - we have purchased a floor cleaner irobot. After a little hiccup getting the thing to start, I'm happy to say so far it's amazing, and watching it zoom around sucking up dirt, putting down cleaning solution, and then drying is pretty entertaining. The floors are a lot cleaner without the real elbow grease it takes to get them truly polished. It's a bit noisy but that's a small price to pay to have shiny floors. I'm going to use the way out of this, so we'll see if the electronics hold up.

On my way into town had to stop to take a photo of the goats and kids. This is a cashmere goat farm that we pass each way back and forth into town. There are huge amounts of goats but they're normally at the far end of the farm away from the road. I never see the kids - oh that kid is holding a kid - ha ha. The farm has no sign, and I've been curious about their story, and not too long ago found out the owner is a woman who moved here in the early 90's, sells the cashmere, and supports the local 4-H club in a big way. 50 or 60 kids every year adopt a goat to learn all the ins and outs. Unfortunately she doesn't sell the cashmere locally - boo.

More basement photos. We're almost done! So, let's see, if someone comes to stay, I might need to purchase, say, a shower curtain, more pillows (bed coming), a rod in the closet to hang some clothes, okay minor stuff...

Sleet, daffodils, elk, and renovations

Gorgeous days here, although a snowy,sleety day happened mid-week. Didn't last and everything melted. We brought up the remaining outdoor furniture on the deck and sat out for a bit late afternoon. Too early to put out hummingbird feeders, too early for hanging baskets, but not too early to grill out, have a glass of wine, and enjoy the view.

My daffodils are blooming away in front, but all the other bulbs haven't even peeked out of the soil yet - only just got rid of the snow you know... The first little wildflowers have started popping out on the hills. The wildflower season will start quite early this year we predict. Did you know that the Crested Butte area has been named one of the top 5 in the world for wildflowers.Whoop! Could be that our rancher will bring the cows in early too, no need to rush that as far as I'm concerned. It's usually early July, but all is dependent on when the poisonous (to cows anyway) larkspur die back - must remember we get a terrific tax break and free fertilizer because of them.

Mark had good luck fishing today, catching some large size ones. The zero streak is over. He said nobody else was around either - what's up with that on this gorgeous day?

Elk are around pretty much every dawn and dusk right now. Small groups, large groups (my largest count so far - 51) which is great fun to see. The elk population is very healthy here, and finally the deer population has recovered from that nasty, nasty winter of 4 years ago. (no deer yet on Star Mt, should be mid -May but maybe early this year along with everything else).

The basement renovation is flying.Walls up and painted, bathroom half done, some flooring in. Estimate is two weeks til completion. I've put up a teaser photo of one new hall, more to come once the electrician, tile guys, and carpet guys are done - we think it's going to be a really nice addition.

Finished another book - A Dying Light in Corduba by Lindsey Davis. Historical fiction based in Rome - murder mystery, naturally, and a wonderful mild history lesson with every one. This is my fifth one and there are 19 in the series. Love that, nothing worse than finding an author you like and then realizing they wrote one book.

Had to throw in a little series of Penny photos. Playing with her Daddy...  It's only been a week,, but I miss her a lot!