virginia is for lovers

Lovers of wine, that is!  AJ and I opened this bottle of wine last night, compliments of our friends that live on the eastern shore of Virginia.  It was fantastic!  CA and the west coast are about to be unseated as the best wine producers - even Jersey is making outstanding juice!

Thanks, KJ and Chris!

walla walla wine weekend

Walla Walla is ground zero for wine making, tasting, growing, and drinking in Washington State.  And its home to some pretty good food as well.  Its been on our wish list to go, but the long drive (4.5 hrs) and the price-tag associated with a weekend in wine county has kept us in Seattle.  But the Sutton parental units treated us to a fantastic 3-days in the sun, surrounded by good company, food, and wine!  All had a great time - below are a few pics highlighting the weekend.

our loot

AJ and Ron-meister

AJ loves her winery pets

Wine Tasters!

Wheat fields among the vines

AJ and Pops at Tero Winery

Walla Walla store front

Why don't you have another?

All 21!

garden watch 2011

Things are looking good at The 20th Avenue Garden.  We've had a stretch of 80 degree weather and sunshine that the plants are seemingly responding to.  Adrienne has put in lots of effort to have another successful gardening year - and its paying off.  Not only is the garden a fantastic place to hang out, but it significantly trims our food bill in the summer!

What you see: asparagus, corn, kolrabe, peas, chamomille, sage, nasturtiums, leeks, lettuce, and about a thousand other things that are mysteries to me....

New planter boxes with tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, and sunflowers!

chamomile

rogue morning glorys

nasturtiums and buddha

tomato beginnings!

lupine beginnings!

peas

cherry beginnings!

leek flower

this is what summer should be

We have skylights over our bed.  As soon as we wake up, we immediately know what kind of weather we're in for - today we were greeted by a blindingly bright blue sky.  I looked over at AJ and she had her pillow over her face trying to squeeze out a few more Zzzzs in an almost iridescent room of light.

But you can't sleep too long!  Must take advantage of such weather anomalies!  We started the day by kayaking around Lake Union.  This is an awesome spot - its about 2 miles from the house, easy boat access, lots to look at including the COOLEST little houseboat communities.  We made up our mind that our next home will be one of these.

Next stop - laying out in the backyard (for AJ) and prepping dinner (for JJ).  I cooked a birthday dinner for my better half tonight, so The Blondes came over to celebrate with us.  On the menu: rum-infused watermelon slushees for an app, brussel sprout and tofu salad as the main dish, carrot french fries with blueberry ketsup as a side, and pineapples and bananas for dessert with ginger/agave syrup.

This was followed by the typical backyard fire and lingering twilight with good friends.  This is what summer should be!

AJ modeling a stunning spray-skirt

Kayaking in Lake Union

Gas Works Park

JJM with Lake Union and the I-5 Bridge

Houseboats

Pride Week - the Space Needle is flying the rainbow flag

Batch Three Tasting - not bad!

JJM cooking birthday dinner

Appetizer: Watermelon slushees!

Dinner

Amigos!

the longest day

Last year, Adrienne pointed out to me that the longest day of the year had already come and gone, and we still hadn't seen any sun.  This was a keen and depressing observation on my wife's part...are you telling me that by the time the sun FINALLY comes out for summer, the days are already getting shorter?!  That's a bunch of b.s., if you ask me.

This year has hardly been better.  Grey days and rain are still the dominant weather pattern, and its a week before July.  We're handling it a bit better this year - first, we expected it this time; second, that Indonesian sun is still a recent memory; and third...well...I guess its still memories of that Indonesian sun.

BUT!  This year, on that longest day of June 21st - the official beginning of summer - the day was full of sun and 79 degrees!  It was awesome.  We welcomed summer by eating from the garden, drinkin AJ's favorite wine, grilling tofu, and having a fire.  We sat outside until there was no more light left in the sky - it was 11:15!

our bedroom...

...is done.  With the completion of AJ's home-made curtains, we have now FINISHED!  Out with the yellow paint, track lights, leaky windows and dirty white carpet...in with the earthtones, hand-crafted lamps, airtight and bright new windows, and organic wool carpet with a cork yoga studio insert.

Take that, Sunset!

Before...

After...

Before...

After...

Before...

After!

sew like the wind!

My wife excels in nearly all she does - brewing beer, cooking, gardening, swimming, personifying Jersey. This is not news to anyone who knows her.  Today, she finished the curtains for our bedroom - another talent in her repertoire...seamstress.  See below for her handiwork.

The raw materials

Sewing like she's never sewed before!

Attention to detail...

My task while AJ sewed...

The finished product!