What I did on my Spring Vacation

I take this picture every year as we head to wine country. Not only is it the Golden Gate Bridge and so beautiful I never get tired of it, but it symbolizes the start of what I know will  be a wonderful vacation.
We go to Sonoma every year--it is just my favorite place. It's beautiful, and tranquil, great wine, wonderful food, and an uninterrupted week with my husband!

The weather was unseasonably warm, which means I packed all the wrong clothes, but it was so nice to be able to sit outside and not worry about rain. You could almost see the leaves opening up on the vines. ( I forgot to mention that we've been home awhile--everything is all leafed out now).

Food and wine pairings are the trend in lots of restaurants. This is a shot of some of our food at Partake by Kendall Jackson in Healdsburg. We really enjoyed it and found it was the  perfect amount for a light dinner. Another night we did the same thing at Mayo Family Wineries in Kenwood. This is a great way to have some interesting food and try several different wines at the same time. And with the small portions, you haven't made a big commitment if you don't like it. I frowned at the beet salad placed in front of me, but found it wasn't bad. I definitely wouldn't have selected it on my own, but tried it, shared a bite with my husband and it was gone. (No, this has not changed my overall feeling about beets)!

There was even wildlife! At one of our favorite wineries the wine maker was telling us the story of a gopher snake they had in the tasting room a few days before, when we heard commotion in the other room. Said gopher snake, or a relative, had just wandered out from under the desk where a tasting room employee had just been sitting. She was a bit rattled and not as interested in  the snake as we were. After some picture taking and snake touching they released it farther out in the vineyard.

Have you ever seen a dog bed this big? These were the biggest dogs I've ever seen--and there were THREE of them! Looks like we missed a picture of #3, but he was just as big as these two. The spotted one had some major slobber going on, too, but they were very nice dogs!

There is nothing better than a fresh, small, yummy oyster! They taste briny, and fresh, and kind of hard to describe. It's like taking all the good aspects of the ocean that you have in your head and putting it into one lovely bite! We've been wanting to go to the original Hog Island Oyster Company location since we drove past it a few years ago, so we wrapped up the wine tasting early had headed to Tomales  Bay where we weren't disappointed. The view was great and the oysters don't get any fresher.

Sweetie's brother lives in the bay area, so we spend some time with them, and when possible, hit the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building, which I love. And since we were doing some cooking, there were reasons to buy produce! Here I am picking out multi colored baby carrots to roast--I'm happier than I look, it's that picture phobia thing...I also scored some wonderful strawberries and two great cheeses that we had for dessert. Oh, and the cookies, an oatmeal, molasses and peanut butter filled  peanut butter sandwich cookie that I just barely shared with anybody! I'm attempting a duplicate of that one! 

So there are some of the highlights of our vacation. There was no shortage of wine, we brought back more than was my original plan, and we added two wine clubs to the family. But each time we open a bottle, it gives us the opportunity to relive our trip and make plans for next year.

I don't have anything woolie to show. I finished a cowl, but haven't blocked it yet since it will be 6 months before I have a chance to wear it. I'm prepping a couple other projects and hope to start knitting the yarn I got on vacation.

I really need to stop "following" some of my Pinterest boards. Too much good looking food keeps showing up on my page. I'm making this for bee this week--I hope it's good!

And I hope my friends will forgive me if it doesn't end up looking this nice.

Since there were dogs pictured on the blog today, Daisy felt it only right for there to be a picture of her as well.

She wishes you a happy week. I'll try not to stay away so long. I blog a lot in my head...it just doesn't seem as interesting in type! :)

Julie