A Taste of Wine

Food!  Family!  Celebration! and WINE!

It has been a busy and eventful time with graduation, travel to far away places, and the most recent excitement, a visit by the latest of our 10 year wedding anniversary celebrants!
We had a feast to prepare.  Getting ready to share a bottle of VERY special wine... a bottle that JQ had left here for "safe keeping" a while back, waiting for a special occasion to open it.  Difficult to understand  how he dared? ;-) well, this was it!  Their tenth anniversary!

With  cactus in bloom in our neighborhood,

our tomatoes ready to turn red, yellow, crimson or orange....

our roses blooming in abundance,

spreading delightful scents in our court yard while we awaited the arrival of the Seattle duo.  Preparing  for the event!  Salmon was on the menu.

What an experience it was, swirling this Clos De La Tech Pinot Noir from 2008 around in the mouth. Yum...  JQ had purchased this bottle  from his (and David's) former boss T. J. Rodgers, CEO of Cypress Semiconductor and  part time wine maker and  wine aficionado ...... even the bottle is  an "event" with it's integrated circuit embedded in the seal!  The cork branded with the year it was made at both ends, the bottle numbered, this one was numbered 169 of 629!

JQ has another good friend who "does wine"!  Steve!  A friend from the San Jose University and SIGMA NU days.

Steve and his wife Laura are the proud and absolutely passionate owners and wine makers at  EmmaLily Vineyards in Morgan Hill, not far from our house.  We were invited to pay them a visit while JQ and his beautiful wife were here.

Such fun!

Much to learn!

With Steve pouring,

talking about blending,

aging,

complexity,

sharing with us various Cabernet Sauvignons, Steve and Laura's chosen blends,

explaining the process.  Not an easy or simple one, let me assure you.

A true  labor of Love, Passion, and Patience!

The end result something fabulous for us to enjoy.  We purchased some of this delectable wine!  Wine to enjoy.  Wine to share!  Looking for another special occasion!  Or - Looking for no reason at all!
These particular bottles will be exceptional of course!  We will be sipping Laura's Love and Cosmo's Passion with a special sense of intimacy....

We,  David and I  - love WINE !

A Graduation

Last weekend a few of us headed south,  AGAIN!
There has been a lot of traveling lately.
Now we had a graduation to attend.

After spending all those days driving to Texas, completing an average of 750 miles a day... what was a little jaunt to South Cal and the University of Redlands?

That is where the Graduate has spent the last four years earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Sciences ............ and being a track STAR !

Living the life of a college student with all that entails;-)  Learning book stuff and learning life stuff. Joy, fun, pain and agony in hopefully, the appropriate doses.

After over-nighting at Casa Quist where they always graciously put up with us all, Ralle too, the big bunch of us, less the  usual photographer / breadwinner (who was at home making sure the "presses kept running"), load up and head to Redlands on a Saturday morning with two dogs and two young children.  Future University graduates.  The kids that is.

Not the dogs!  Although Ralle just earned his Therapy Dog Certificate and that is almost like getting a BA degree at the Canine U!

Redlands University grounds are beautiful!

It is a scorching hot day and those 650 some students, in the black robes, black hats with those yellow tassels, must have sizzled!

The mother of the future graduates (Annika), kindly took care of the dogs during the major part of the ceremony and the speeches, trying to hang in the shade, the trio caused quite a stir on campus.  With a super cute Havanese and a Great Pyrenees, she was at one point  approached by a policeman who said: "I have heard there is a bear on the University grounds" and he had been looking for it ;-)

With the ceremony over, we had a very happy graduate to hug!  His parents presented him with the keys to a car.  That made the graduate even happier!

A family celebration followed in the evening.

A new life starts.

Best wishes to the Graduate.  Well done!  High 5 or should it be High VI? (as we are college educated and all.)

With Vi'Skaly's Ralph Lauren to Texas and Back!

This is an enormous country!  Taking the Beautiful One, aka Ralle, or Vi'Skaly's Ralph Lauren from California to Texas and back, was approximately the same distance as driving from the southern tip of Sweden to the most northern border, up there where the Sami lives,  at least 3 1/2 times!

 After  a period of rather intense training, with Ralle running along with David on the bike,  to become extra "buff" so to speak,  then finally a visit to the groomer, we load the car up and we are on our way to Texas!

After months of preparation and planning..... not to forget the extra training, this trip high on my "Bucket List" actually started!

Somehow I did not think it was really going to come true.

On a Monday morning after Ralle had been bathed and "fluffed" by our now favorite groomer +Cristina Campbell at +Bel Amour Pet Spa we climb into the car and go pick up Maria,  the copilot!

 Taking off for Texas!

The drive included dodging tumbleweed,

waking up to snow in Flagstaff, Arizona

there is rain, sleet and sand storms with

winds so severe even Ralle rushed back to the car!

aaaah, spare me!

From Flagstaff to Amarillo.... then

Oklahoma City with crazy traffic.

Maria's turn to drive.  We average 750 miles per day!  Hollister - Flagstaff-Amarillo-through parts of Oklahoma....  then we arrive, Tanglewood Resort at long last!

He is a true trooper spending so much time in the car!  Yes, he is a seasoned traveler undoubtedly since making the trip from Sweden to San Francisco!  What a fabulous boy he is!

Here we are Pottsboro, Texas at the Tanglewood Resort,  a beautiful place nestled close to a lake.  It is a great setting with nice paths and places for dog walks.

We check out the trails.

We check out the accommodations.  Ralle is happy!

We have a date with our  Fabulous +Brigitte Doxtator of +Oneida Acres who graciously helps by putting the "finishing touches" on Ralle along with, of course Denver!  Whiskers are trimmed along with eye brows, a bit of a comb out. We are being helped by Andrea (above) and "the other redhead." (below)

and a toe trim!

Man......... after that a boy needs a rest!

Ralle is stoked and excited and with fabulous assistance of +Angella Alexis

who expertly, sweetly and oh so kindly takes Ralle into the ring!

He is in his essence.  He likes being noticed!  He likes the clapping of hands and the cheering.

He looks great and fabulous to me.

Wins some nice rosettes a blanket, a trivet and some other goodies.

We gratefully say Thank You to the Doxtator's for their engagement and guidance and without Angella we would not have been so successful.

There is a great sense of  camaraderie between the dog owners cheering each other on.  True caring for the lovely breed!  It was so fun and so exciting to be part of this big event there were 158 entries in the show plus 9 entries in obedience and 8 dogs in Rally.

Our boy was entered in Veteran Sweepstakes 7 years & under 9 years as number 63-came home with a purple ribbon, a fleece blanket embroidered with a 2013 logo and a trivet.  I might add that there was a lot of BUZZ about Vi'Skaly's, Ingela and Pernilla.  We also had the pleasure of meeting Keith Savage and having a nice chat about what else... Ingela and Pernilla;-) and our mutual acquaintances and dogs on the other side of the big water.

With the "loot" stashed in the car we drive the return trip overnighting
 only once.  A marathon so to speak.

The scenery is amazingly beautiful and exotic in many places, boring in others.  The deserts where  one thinks only rattlesnakes and scorpions live, can seem endless.  Yet there is something so awesome about it all.

It was a road trip like no other and I and Ralle are grateful to Maria for taking the time off from work to come with us on this journey and so thankful to all the other participants who made this memorable trip so special and so successful.

Yea .....  Ingela and Pernilla, Brigitte and Denver.  We LOVE you!  And most importantly Hurrah to Ralph Lauren the STAR!  He is a true gentleman this Ralle Boy!