Thanksgiving in Sonoma County

Autumn Morning in West Sonoma County

Autumn is definitely here when the mornings are cold – even frosty – and the days are only brisk enough to encourage a hardy walk in the afternoon.   I love to snuggle in the covers knowing that I will have wonderful temperatures for doing fall garden cleanup.  This year I am planting a draught tolerant garden in place of the water hogging lawn in the front so a lot of the cleanup is just not happening.  Yesterday was perfect for walking 20 acres of undeveloped land in hopes of finding the perfect building site for clients.  Is there a time of year that I do not love Sonoma County?

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  The preparations are enough to know that something special is going on but the duration is limited to a couple of days at most.   Over the years we have celebrated Thanksgiving by hosting an extended family and friends gathering (often including those people with whom we worked that did not have local family) to intimate family gatherings of 4 to 6.  A few years ago it was only going to be the two of us and we did not know how to deal with that.  Solution – friends invited us to their traditional celebration.  It was great fun with meeting new people, helping in someone else’s kitchen and being introduced to “sock” golf.  It was so much fun that we have gone every year since.  This year our son, daughter-in-law and new granddaughter were included in the festivities which made the day as close to perfect as possible.

Practice Range for Sock Golf

“So, What is sock golf?”, you ask.  Sock Golf is a take off on golf where instead of a ball and club you have a sock with the toe filled with sand/dirt/rocks.  The goal is to get the sock into the coffee cans associated with a particular course.  Most holes are par 3 and they all seem to have a tree or shed or fence as an obstacle.  There is a technique to flinging the sock and, sometimes, it goes behind you or only a few feet forward.  There are penalties for losing your sock and landing in the flower beds.  If you hit a turkey, you are allowed to take away a stroke just as long as you do not hit a grapevine.  If a player is over 80, they get a two stroke handicap which comes in very handy.  The team with the lowest “best sock” score is awarded a prize after dinner.

Resting and Eating after Sock Golf

Once nine holes of sock golf are in the bag, the food starts coming out.  With about as many cooks are eaters, the kitchen is usually full.  My specialty to bring is the cranberry sauce which has become an expected condiment.  My recipe calls for dried apricots soaked in sherry and then cooked with the fresh cranberries, honey and sugar.  It is always a hit where ever I take it.  Tom took some of his cheeses so he had a number of great conversations about fermentation.  This group is largely drawn from Palo Alto, previous home of our hosts as well as us, so there is a broad spectrum of techical folks who want to get into the nitty gritty of what is happening scientifically.

The Spread for Warming Up to Eating - including Cheeses by Tom

Dinner was a group activity with turkeys, dressing, gravy, brussel sprouts, sweet potato salad, cabbage, green beans and mashed potatoes.  Great Russian River pinot and lively conversations topped off the meal – a good time was had by all.  We are so fortunate – even in these times of depressed housing costs and high unemployment – to live in a country, county and community that protects our surroundings and nutures our souls.  I wish everyone a heart full of thanksgiving.  My your table be laden with health and your bodies full of love.  Namaste.

One of the Two Thanksgiving Tables

Cheesemaking Continued

The cheesemaking at our home has continued throughout the year.  I have just been so busy writing about my own things that I have not given Tom’s cheese much attention.   It is time to correct that shortcoming and let you know what is happening.

Tom is spending his free time (when not trying to close tough escrows and keep his wine balanced during fermentation) making cheeses for the holidays.  Goat’s milk cheeses seem to be everywhere and in every stage of development.  The large Caerphilly shown here is on the table in the alcove of the kitchen.  The cheese vault fills the garage with pungent odors each time it is opened.  It looks like there will be many gifts of cheese this season – or I may reverse some of weight losses!

Last week was class #4 of Cheesemaking 101.  The topic was hard cheeses and Caerphilly was the selected teaching vehicle.  Caerphilly is a Wales originated cow’s milk cheese that is pale in color and crumbly in texture.  The Wales housewives would make the cheese as a convenient treat for their husbands to take into the mines.  The benefit of Caerphilly in the classroom is that the time to age is only about a month.  This is considerably shorter than the six months to two years required for a Cheddar.

Caerphilly

Waiting for the curds to develop

Each class begins with ripening the warm milk with bacteria, adding the rennet and letting the milk form curds.  Once the process has begun, the class is free to discuss what cheeses each has made since the previous class, taste some samples with an aperitif and generally have a great time.  This is the time of the class that keeps me coming.  The group is delightful and since each class is at a different home, there are always interesting things to see, hear and experience.  This class came with one of the best Manhattans I have had in years and spectacular art work (by the host artist).  Nothing like having the best of everything all in one location.  But then, this is Sonoma County and people who are making cheese!

Gene Bonino - Student

Dinner was a great salad and lasagna from Mary’s Pizza of Sebastopol.  Not only does Sonoma County have great cooks who make fantastic meals from fresh produce and local meats but there are plenty of restaurants who sell their equally fresh and local dishes for take out.  The dinner was delicious and the conversation was stimulating.  Nothing like having an artist with spectacular process and eager to discuss metaphysics. 

About the time Tom needs to get into the technicalities of cutting the curds I am ready to skip out and get home to my own interests.  All the participants were taking in the information that could lead them to becoming great cheesemakers.  I am looking forward to having Caerphilly for Christmas.

Tom Shula in Lecture Mode

Garden Tours Complete the Conference

Roses in the Garden

No Rose Conference is complete without Garden Tours.  At least one Garden Tour is essential and a large conference such as this one has four tours.  We skipped the trip to Huntington Library and Gardens because it was a long bus ride and we had seen the Huntington in July when we traveled to Whittier for a family wedding.   The gardens are lovely but my favorite aspect of the Huntington is visiting the library.  The ancient, hand painted books are beyond beauty with the crimson, gold and indigo inks used for accent lettering and illustrations.   I can see roses in many different places at an acceptable frequency but these works of art in the library are seldom available.

The other tours that we did not select to join were of Movie Star Homes and the Living Desert and Botanical Park.  I am sure that they were interesting and I probably missed something tremendous but we limited ourselves to one tour.  We chose the Private Home Gardens to see what the local rosarians were up to.  It was a spectacular display of roses in gardens that ranged from a courtyard off of a magnificent condominium to a large yard with hundreds of rose bushes.  I always find the different growth patterns and flower sizes of the local area interesting.  There are roses that I have not seen grown in our Northern California climate.  One mini-flora that seems to be very popular in Palm Springs is Memphis Magic.  While it is a mini-flora and not a miniature, I did not expect to find huge bushes of this rose.  The one pictured below is at least 3 feet tall and as big across.

Memphis Magic

For some reason, I thought that it would be too hot in Palm Springs for the wide array of roses that were seen on this tour.  As I mentioned, there were varieties that we don’t see frequently.  I really like Marriotta which is a mini and was a favorite both at the show and in the garden. 

Marriotta in the Garden

The talks, show and tour in Palm Springs were all delightful.  We were happy to be a part of it and look forward to another national conference in California.  Thanks to all in the Desert Rose Society for  being such wonderful hosts.

Marriotta on the Show Table

Arrangements at the Rose Show

Bouquet of Roses

My favorite part of a rose show is usually the arrangements and bouquets.  What is the difference?  An arrangement has roses embellished with other plant material or prop while a bouquet is just roses.  I am not sure if that is a accurate technical difference between the two but it is mine!   I love them both. 

In a rose show each arrangement classification is given a descriptive name to inspire the arranger.  Themes are selected to compliment the title of the Conference or Show.  In this case, the Conference name is You have a “Date” in Palm Springs.  The arrangements were beautiful.  My favorite (always a difficult thing to say) arrangement was a dried arrangement in a standard traditional design.  I prefer the traditional designs because they use more roses but there were many lovely modern designs also. 

Dried Arrangement of Marilyn Monroe roses and dried plant materials

 

You can tell from the names of these roses that hybridizers like to grab the public’s attention by drawing upon the fascination with celebrities.  Deidre Hall is a wonderful rose and yes, I must admit that I have been known to watch Days of our Lives in my past.  Is she still on that show?

Entry for "America the Beautiful: Across the Fruited Plain" - Roses are Deidre Hall

 

 

This Rose Show was a national ARS event so the quality of arrangements is fantastic.  We do pretty well at our local rose show that is held at the Luther Burbank Art and Garden Center the first Saturday of May each year.  Please come by and check it out.  While I am writing of local events, the Redwood Empire Rose Society holds pruning demonstrations at the center the first two Saturdays of the year from 9 to noon.  It is a great time to learn to prune roses and we have lots of fun.  Hardy rosarians are outside pruning in the rain, sunshine or fog.  Stop by and get expert training free of charge.

ARS Fall Rose Show in Palm Springs

I promised days ago to get some pictures up of the ARS Fall Rose Show in Palm Springs.  Lots is going on in my life, real estate and family this last week so it has taken me a few days to get back to the keyboard.  My first comment has to be that it was a spectacular rose show.  For those of you who do not hang out at these types of events, a rose show is not something that just comes together without a great deal of effort on the part of the organizers and the exhibitors.  For weeks prior to the show there are preparations of what to include in the rose show and how to display all the entries.  The venue has to be large enough to handle all of the anticipated entries and provide appropriate light and room for observing.  Judges are often scheduled more than a year in advance.   A show program is developed which explains to exhibitors what is expected for each of the various classes - be they generic to a flower, a special exhibit of a rose or collection of roses or an arrangement. 

Then there are the exhibitors.  Not only do they watch their gardens for the sight of the perfect bloom but they have pruned, trimmed, feed and pampered these bushes for months.  Over a week before the show the seasoned exhibitor will be selecting which buds might hold the Queen of Show.  Any side buds are removed early so that the stem can repair where the disbudding occurred.  After all that work, they harvest their choices and pack them for transport to the show – at which time they stay up all night prepping roses and determining which ones will make it to the table.  If they happen to be arrangers, they have not only carried blossoms but vases, oasis, greenery – the list goes on.  These are people who need to sleep a couple of hours during the judging so that they will be able to recognize their blooms on the winner’s table.

Queen of Show - Cajun Moon

The honored “Court” of the show are those blooms judged to be the very best of the Section E Class 44 – One Hybrid Tea or Grandiflora Bloom without side buds.  The Court is Queen, King, Princess and 6 additional blooms of merit.  There are many other trophies and other courts but the One Hybrid Tea Bloom is considered by all to be THE winner at the Show.  The judging is done by groups.  A panel of judges is assigned to a portion of the show and they determine who gets first, second, third or honorable mention places.  From the first place winners (those that have been awarded a blue ribbon) the Court is determined.  Often (I am not certain if it is always) all the judges come together to select the Queen, King and Princess.  For a show the size of this one, there can be as many as 40 judges who have to agree!  I was feeling thankful that our little rose show in Santa Rosa only has around 10 judges.

Mini Wings - MiniatureRose

 This lovely Mini Wings specimen only received a red ribbon (second place).  I was stumped as to why as I think it is a darling rose and petals so  perfectly spaced.  It is a very new introduction and is not found in the 2010 Handbook for Selecting Roses (yes, this is my rose bible).   Once I was able to look it up on the internet, I learned why it only got a second.  This rose is to have between 9 and 16 petals.  The specimen is not “representative of the variety” which is the criteria on which it is judged.  So while I am fascinated with this bloom, if I bought a shrub, it probably would not come out like this one!

Another post on the arrangements will be added later today.  It appears that I may have found a limit to the pictures I can put in one post – maybe not – maybe I am just blogging challenged right now!  Check back later for some fantastic arrangements.

Roses and Golf in Palm Springs

Often in the winter Tom and I travel to Rancho Mirage in the Coachella Valley to escape those few cold days in Sonoma County and get in some dry golf.  This usually occurs in January or late March but this year we decided to come in November.  The impetus for this timing was the American Rose Society Fall Conference and Rose Show.  We managed to get in a few rounds of golf.  I certainly did not play well enough to give details on those outings.

Baldo Villegas in one of his many bug t-shirts!

The Conference was another thing entirely.  We had a wonderful time.  My dear rose friend, Phyllis Saccani, was with us for the rose activities.  Thursday we attended two very interesting programs – Beneficial Insects and Other Friends of the Home Garden by Baldo Villegas and The Common Polyantha Families by Jim Delahanty and John Bagnasco.  Baldo is an entomologist for the California Department of Agriculture and a great person to know if you have unidentified bugs in your garden.  Tom does not usually attend the talks but even he was fascinated by Baldo’s descriptions of bugs and how to live with them.

You might be asking, “what is a polyantha?”  Of course, I am going to answer that question.  Polyanthas are a class of roses that have been used to hybridize many of the miniature roses because they have a naturally smaller flower.  There are many rosarians who do not feel that a polyantha is worth much more than a hybridizing tool but a growing number are beginning to see the wonderful landscape value of each.  One of the most famous roses around “The Fairy” is a polyantha - another is Mlle. Cecile Brunner, that lovely little pink climber that can take over the side of a house.  So many people call Mlle. Cecile Brunner just Cecile Brunner that it is listed both ways in many books.  I am very partial to polyanthas for some unkwown reason.  They flower constantly and have a very pleasant growth habit.   A wonderful addition to any garden.

Jeri & Clay Jennings - Rose Rustlers

Friday we attended three more talks – Rose Rustling: A Tradition of Preservation by Jeri & Clay Jennings, Old Roses for a New Millennium by Gregg Lowery (who is the owner of Vintage Gardens and lives right outside of Sebastopol) and Rose Identification by Cass Bernstein (who is also a Sonoma County resident).  Rose rustling was begun many years ago but has totally swept the nation in recent years.  A rose rustler is someone who combs the countryside and old graveyards to find roses that were planted over a century ago and then works to identify them.  What is remarkable is that there are hundreds (probably more like thousands) of rose plants that have survived abandoned without care for decades.  They are found in ghost towns and at foundations of homes ravaged by fire but are still thriving.  Maybe they are not as beautiful as if they were watered and pruned and fed but they are alive.  The real prize for a rose rustler is to find a rose that is no longer available.  Most of these roses end up with Gregg Lowery at Vintage Gardens and in the Sacramento Historical Cemetery.  I must give a plug for the Cemetery which holds one of the largest collections of antique roses displayed in a non-formal rose garden setting.  The spring bloom is spectacular and fall is not bad.  Check it out at http://www.oldcitycemetery.com/roses.htm.  The combination of these three talks was fascinating.  I love the old garden roses (OGRs) as these antiques are called and I look forward to their wonderful scent each spring.

Tomorrow I plan to post about the Rose Show.  Just to whet your appetite, I am including this picture of a winning entry.

Fourth of July in an English Box

The End of the Golf Season

View from the 4th green towards the 3rd fairway at Sonoma Golf Course

Golf is somewhat of an obsession with me.  I would never have believed it had I been told that this would come to be the case – but, alas, it is.  Tom is not out on a course as often as I but he certainly watches more of the Golf Channel than I do.  We enjoy playing, watching and analyzing golf.  So in the final days of Indian summer we volunteer to marshal at the Charles Schwab Cup Tournament.  If you do not know what this tournament is, you are not alone.  There are avid golfers who do not know.  Each year the Charles Schwab Cup is the prize for having the “best” cumulative season on the Champions Tour.  Okay, you ask, “What is the Champions Tour?”  The Champions Tour is the “old” guys tour – over 50.  Some of them didn’t look all that old to me!  

Nick Price and Barbara Shula - photograph by Nick's caddie

The Charles Schwab Cup Tournament is the year end tournament and the culmination of the Cup competition.  The winner of the tournament is usually a different player than the winner of the Cup so there is still reason to play even if a player is not in the running for the Cup.  It is a smaller tournament as only the top 30 money winners are invited to participate.  Tom and I each captained the marshals for one hole.    I captained a par 3 hole and Tom captained a par 5 hole. Marshals are the people you see on TV who are holding their hands up and asking people to be quiet, looking for the arrant golf ball and making life easier for the players.  It is quite a bit of work but a lot of fun.  The people in contention for the Cup this year were Loren Roberts (who ended up winning), Fred Funk, Bernhard Langer and Jay Haas.   Loren Roberts took the Cup and John Cook won the tournament.  Okay, that is probably more than you wanted to know about all of that but I needed to set the stage for my pictures.  Wednesday is the Pro Am where each player pairs with four amateurs for a round of golf.  While many of the workers (and I am sure some of the players) hate this day – it is my favorite.  That is because some of the players are very relaxed and enter into conversations.  Two of the friendliest players are Nick Price and Jay Haas.  Both welcomed a photo session.  “Chuck” Schwab was the photographer one photo.  He was having a great day out with Jay Haas.  Nick Price is not only a player but is a network commentator for the PGA Tour.

Tony Broome, Barbara Shula and Jay Haas - Photograph by Charles Schwab

For the last seven years this tournament has been held in Sonoma County at the Sonoma Golf Club on Arnold Drive between Glen Ellen and the town of Sonoma.  In those seven years, two million dollars was raised  for local charities.  Next year the tournament is moving to Harding Park in San Francisco.  We hope to work that tournament as the tour would like the same crew but we will have to wait and see if the City of SF has other plans.  It is usually the last week of October.  Thankfully we had incredible weather this year – no rain, pleasant temperature.

So our golf life has continued.  Yesterday we played a brisk 9 holes at Northwood Golf Course in Monte Rio.  Tomorrow we are leaving for Palm Springs and plan to get out at least twice while there.  I am certainly looking forward to improving my game this year.

Living with Chalean Extreme

Since May of 2008, Tom and I have been doing exercises that are beyond what we had ever considered prior to getting into the range of senior citizenship.  Yes, we have been late to the game but Tom ordered P90X from a Beachbody infomercial.  Our journey began.  Since then, we have done P90X three times, Slim in Six, Turbo Jam and a variety of one off routines from Beachbody. 

October 1 was our first day of Chalean Extreme.  Tomorrow we are completing our 4th week.  Every muscle in my body is screaming – “What are you doing?”  They had better be burning fat, too!  This has been a great experience.  The advantages that I see for Chalean Extreme (CE) over P90X is the huge time commitment difference.  The X is a minimum of an hour every day and many are 90 minutes.  That is really tough to get into the schedule – and I need to work out in the morning or it is less likely to happen.  I got razzing about showing up a meetings with wet hair and having difficulty walking up stairs.  CE is mostly days of 35 minutes of workout with a couple of the cardio days with a total of 58 minutes.  Much easier to fit into the day.  Believe me, I cannot do anything else after the workouts are over.  On the other hand, my body seems to recover quicker to being able to do the list of life’s daily chores.  I can manage to work in the yard as well as do my regular activities with just the feel of sore muscles and not the exhaustion that drives me to the sofa.

I am, also, finding that it is easier to maintain a low calorie diet with CE.  It may just be the mental state I am in right now but I don’t have that craving for food that I sometimes experienced with P90X.  We are just completing the BURN stage of CE and I expect that the PUSH stage is going to be more intense.  My abs are screeching, “How can it be more intense?  I am dying here!”

If you want to check out any Beachbody product, you can visit my Beachbody website at www.sonoma-rose.com.  I am a coach and I would love to help you get fit!

Efren Carrillo’s Fiesta

Fiesta at the Guerneville Veteran's Building

Friday night was a big bash in Guerneville.  A fiesta in support of Efren Carrillo, 5th district supervisor for Sonoma County, brought out the town.  Well, more than the town since we were there from Forestville and we even saw some Sebatopolians and Santa Rosans.  I believe that all the living past 5th district supervisors were in attendance – all looking much less stressed than when they were in office.  There was a contingent of activists sporting T-Shirts asking that the landfill remain in the hands of the county.  (There is a proposal that the landfill be sold to a private company who would then get all of the garbage from Sonoma County.  It is a long story and can be read by googling “Mecham Landfill Sale”.)  Generally the 300+ people were there to thank Efren for representing the community in the multitude of issues that effect us – use of the Russian River, building codes and land use are just a few that are on the minds of Russian River residents.

Sveta Lynch with the Kitchen Help

The event was held at the Guerneville Veteran’s Memorial Building.  Food was provided by  class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=”by “>Taqueria La Tapatia, the almost famous Mexican restaurant of Guerneville.  The kitchen staff was a mix of politicos and fun loving people.  Oh, maybe they were all some of each.  The margaritas were small and the wine was plentiful.  The beverage people all seemed to be my old cohorts from the Frank Howard Allen office in Guerneville.  The Mariachi band was loud and authentic.  It was great to see everyone having a good time.

Efren Carrillo helping in the Kitchen

The Q3 Real Estate Report is Out

Every quarter we wait for the quarterly report to see if the numbers agree with how the market seems to be from an activity perspective.  It is always interesting to read how the number crunchers interpret the data.  For Q3 there is a mixed bag for Sonoma County.  As a whole, year to year comparisons are that the prices are down and the activity is slightly down.  But that is only part of the picture.  For Sebastopol, Forestville and Guerneville, the volume is up 38% from Q3-08 to Q3-09.  2008 was a very slow year in Forestville but 20 homes were sold in the last 3 months.

The buzz in the news is that there is not going to be that huge glut of foreclosures this next year.  The number of foreclosures in California have leveled off instead of escalating as predicted earlier in the year.  According to information on California released by MDA DataQuick on Tuesday, 50,013 homes were foreclosed upon in the three months ended Sept. 30, down from 79,511 for the same period in 2008.  They report an increase in default notices but the banks are attempting to keep people in their homes if at all possible. 
 The bottom of the market is being bought up by investors and first time home buyers as quickly as it enters the market.  While looking at properties in San Jose yesterday, we had to juggle around other Realtors and their clients while looking at homes priced for multiple offers.  This is happening throughout Northern California.  This is making the purchase of a home for first time buyers difficult as any reasonably nice single family dwelling is receiving cash offers.  An FHA borrower cannot compete against all cash.  The strategies to get into contract are more than price and it takes real perseverance to be successful.

Meanwhile, we are seeing a renewed interest in higher end properties.  This is good news for everyone as it signals an increase in comsumer confidence.  I am certainly feeling more confident about the real estate market – but that could pass!

Look for the Q3 Market Report for Sonoma County within the next week.  If you do not receive one, email me with your current address.  If you would like to get the Q3 Market Report for another Northern California area (like San Francisco, Contra Costa or Santa Clara counties), just ask.  I am happy to send them along.