February Made Me Shiver

I'm talking about reflections of everything my family and I did this year. I was going through all of our photos, trying to pick out only 6 for the year. I got it down to 12. I had to cut photos of people who came to visit, sorry to Karen and Cynthia, they were great photos next to the Lucy statue inside of the gift shop at Snoopy's Home Ice. I try to bring all of my out of town guests there, it's such a special place. It's where Charles Schulz worked on Peanuts, and he built the ice rink. There's now a new Schulz museum. Come and visit, I guarantee a visit there.

So, here's some of the highlights of the things we did this year.

*=photo sent in my Christmas cards - if I ever send my Christmas cards

December 2007
1* Owen jumping on the trampoline while a hot air balloon lands behind him

January
2*My brother got married at our house.
Trampoline gets wrapped around a tree in a wind storm the day before the wedding.
Friends Karen and Rob visited from Phoenix
3*Mike's 40th birthday celebration at Yosemite

February
4*Amgen Tour of California - kids ride in the kids race

March
Disneyland, Legoland, 5*Priscilla's 100th birthday celebration in SoCal.
We got to visit with 55 visiting family members from out of town
Also visited with my Uncle Norman and Cousin Jeannie

April
-6*Boys start hockey class and continue once a week, for the rest of the year
Bryce and Owen perform in the school talent show

May
-7*Cub Scouts and more Cub Scouts - marched in the Santa Rosa Rose Parade
Mike and I drive to San Jose to attend a Sharks playoff game

June
School's Out for Summer. Boys go with Mike to Kids Kamp. Melanie goes to YMCA Preschool camp

July
- family camp at Camp Masonite Navarro. The camp is northwest of us, and camp was during the time of all the wildfires. They fires were becoming contained, but there was still plenty of smoke in the air and firefighters all over.
*8 - Camp is only a few miles from Husch Winery, and Mike and I got to enjoy some nice wine tasting on the way home.
-Sonoma County Fair

August
Cynthia came to visit - same weekend that Mike and Bryce went to Cub Scout Camp
I got to meet Jon Provost in Napa, after I read his book. Who's Jon Provost? The actor who used to play Timmy in Lassie back in the 60's.
Surprise visit by Tony and Cindy for my and Melanie's birthday
School starts again - Melanie's first day of Kindergarten
Howard and Nancy came to visit, they like to visit for our dad's birthday, 86 this year.
Trampoline is replaced, thanks Howard and Nancy!! It's now secured in the backyard with a safety net.

September
Dad moves to the Veteran's Home in Yountville, California, the heart of the Napa Valley. I now go there every other Sunday. When he lived in Petaluma, I went every Sunday. Yountville is a 1.5 hour drive each way, Petaluma was about 25 minutes from our house.
Bryce starts taking violin lessons through the school band program. All three kids take piano through Move Over Mozart after school.
Owen loses his 3rd ever tooth.

October
My goodness, what did we do in October? Trip to the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco with Fred, LaVerne, Jon, Regina, Mike, me, Bryce, Owen and Melanie. We all had a great time.
Went to a few pumpkin patches, too.
Went to Fort Ross.
Owen loses his 4th ever tooth.

November
I'm sure we did something. Can you tell, my mind is a blank!
10*Thanksgiving at Fred and LaVerne's
Owen loses his 5th ever tooth.

December
11*Family cooking class at Ramekins with Fred, LaVerne, Jon, Regina, Mike, me
Uncle Norman passes away at age 92, we will miss him, but we will never forget him.
Will Owen lose another tooth? He looks like a new person!

*12 - kids playing

Mike continues to play hockey twice a week, and World of Warcraft in between
I continue to roast coffee beans, go to the farmers market every week, and cook.

I need to thank our babysitter, Megan, because the kids really love her and she is the best.

Somehow, we manage to keep our sanity.

Blessings to all of our friends and family because it is you who really keep us sane.

Happy New Year!
Love,
Bonnie

Gandolf's Fine Chocolates

I read an article in Martha Stewart's Living magazine that she wanted to hear from readers about their favorite purveyors. I had no doubt who I wanted to write about.

You were limited to 500 characters, so here is what I wrote:

My favorite purveyor is Guy Daniels of Gandolf's Fine Chocolates at http://www.gandolfsfinechocolate.com Each chocolate is a work of art. The first bite through the outer crust of chocolate explodes in your mouth to reveal the inside of creamy truffle. Since Guy uses only the finest ingredients, the flavor is intense. I see Guy every weekend at my local farmers market. I hope you visit his website, or if you are in Sonoma County, stop at the Santa Rosa Farmers Market on Saturdays, all year.

You can see this at Martha's.

Lassie and Other Hollywood Tales

Sat. June 19, 2008 at Dreamweavers in Napa CA. Napa is about 50 miles from Santa Rosa.

I was so excited to be going to this show! I listed to the best of John Denver all the way there, songs like Country Roads and Thank God I'm a Country Boy.

The event had hors d'oeuvres and wine. Here is Jon speaking to a fan in the lobby.

The wine was Eagle and Rose Estate, 2003 Skyhawk Sangiovese, it was superb! They were also pouring a 2005 Skyhawk Sauvignon Blanc which was a little too sweet for me, especially after enjoying the Sangiovese, but most of the people there were drinking it.



In the lobby, they also had a large flat screen TV showing an episode of Lassie. It was wonderful to see, especially the music and the credits at the end. That's what I remember the most of the show.


Jon and Laurie are the cutest couple.

I enjoyed talking to Laurie all about the book and how much I enjoyed reading it. She was so friendly!

Jon does have the bluest eyes!











Jon purchases some of his posters from eBay.













Jon told a lot of funny stories on stage, surrounded by wonderful posters of his films, adventures, and Lassie.

He also answered questions from the audience.

He was very entertaining. He seemed so comfortable and at ease on the stage.



I sat in the front row and was mesmerized the entire time, Jon is quite the storyteller and was very amusing!




Jon was signing autographs in his book, the lady behind me in line was kind enough to snap my photo.










I think Jon and Laurie were disappointed that there weren't more people there, but for me, it was perfect, since I got to converse with both of them and enjoy some fantastic wine.

The book was so good, reading it makes you feel like you've been friends of the family for years, and Jon and Laurie certainly treat you that way in person.

I drove home to the tunes of Dan Fogelberg.

Timmy's in the Well - Part II

I am so lucky, I am going to meet Jon Provost this weekend. He is giving a talk in Napa and I'm going.

I find when I read an autobiography, I end up really wanting to meet the author. When I read Maya Angelou, I know why the caged bird sings, I ended up reading all of her books, books of her friends, and books that she read. I felt I wanted to meet her. When I read Me and a Guy Named Elvis, I just wanted to meet the author, Jerry Schilling. I think that feeling fades after a while. Now, I can't imagine meeting those people.

Jon's book, written by Jon and his wife Laurie, was so fantastic. I feel lucky that he lives in Santa Rosa and is giving this talk in Napa, and that I am able to go.

The timing is just right.

I must have heard Jon and Laurie on the radio promoting the book some time last year because when I visited my Amazon.com wish list, the book was on there! It has been on my mind since then to check the book out of the library.

I finally did check it out about a month ago, and I went to Jon's website and signed his guestbook. Signing the guestbook signs you up to be on his mailing list that may inform you of personal appearances. I received an email about this appearance. I had some questions so I emailed him and he replied.

Look for Timmy's in the Well - Part III, when I report on this talk and meeting Jon in person.

30 Minute Mozzerella

I have a new hobby - I'm going to make some cheese.

I remember when I started my other hobby, home coffee roasting. I swore I would never do it, but here I am a year later, still loving my first and only true hobby.

I found out about home roasting from a friend, and never for a moment doubted that I had a new hobby, even though I had never done it before and didn't have any equipment.

Reading what I could, I procured the equipment and finally, about a month or so after declaring my new hobby, I put my order in at Sweet Maria's for green beans.

A book on my bedside stand that I read in between autobiographies, is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which in a way, is an autobiograpy, I read a recipe for 30 Minute Mozzerella, and I knew I had a new hobby.

I went to my local beer/wine/cheese making shop, The Beverage People, and purchased the two ingredients needed to make this cheese. Coincidentally, the 30 Minute Mozzerella was the feature recipe in their current newsletter.

I plan to make this cheese on Friday, the 4th of July! All I need now, is a gallon of Clover milk.

Timmy's in the Well

I love to read books. Sometimes I read two at a time. My husband loves to read, and my kids do, too. Even my cats love to read the newspaper.

I realize I can write a little bit about what I read.

I just finished reading Jon Provost's book, Timmy's in the Well. Jon played in Lassie as Timmy from when he was 7 to 14 years old, from 1958 to 1965. He now lives in Sonoma County.

I originally heard part of an interview with Jon on the David Glass show on KSRO, the local talk radio station. I wanted to read the book right away. I finally checked his book out of the library. It was a good story. It had a lot of quotes from his friends, family and other child stars. I got confused on who was who, sometimes, since I can never remember actor's names and who they played. I have a short memory. I would have liked a reference list that would list the name, and the relation that Jon had with the person. Maybe that's something I can do.

I have been reading a lot of autobiographies lately. The one I read before this one, and I really enjoyed it, was Me and a Guy Named Elvis. It was by one of the guys from Memphis who was friends with Elvis throughout his career. Another fascinating story.

Another fav: Ernest and Julio Gallo wrote an autobiography together. One chapter by Ernest, the next by Julio. They were almost 100% done with the book when Julio died, so his death is included in the end of the book.

Maybe one of these days, I'll write more about my impressions of the books I read, but that is all for today.

Everybody blogs, why can't I ??

I guess I just have to try.

I do plenty of interesting things.
Cook
Shop
Work
Roast my own coffee beans

I subscribe to interesting foodie blogs and wine blogs.

I have an interesting family.

Ah well, maybe next time!

Early on one frosty morning

It has been so cold in the mornings this past week or so. It's not normally so cold this far into April.

The vineyards that have frost protection have been running them every day. We hear the womp-womp-womp of the windmills At first, they sound like a helicopter flying overhead, but unlike a helicopter, the noise does not vary, it's just steady. The vineyards that use sprinklers to rain water down on the vines to raise the temps to above freezing are beautiful to watch. They are like a symphony or a ballet of water droplets dancing in the light of the dawn, their partners the lovely grape vines with their fingers of new green leafy growth, warm and happy reaching up to touch the droplets.

We were also jolted by a small earthquake this morning. My alarm went off, I still have it set to 93.7, and the past couple of days I awoke to annoying songs from the 80's, not the smooth jazz I enjoy. I hit the snooze button and ka-bam! The house groaned for only one second and I felt the lateral movement of the bed for one quick motion, east to west. The earthquake woke me up. I always get energized by an earthquake, full of adrenaline for the potential danger. The cats ran into the bedroom and jumped on the bed.

Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.

Testing Posting a Photo

I am testing posting a photo.



This shows a small girl looking for seashells at the sea shore.

This worked very nicely.







It was a cold day that day!!

I'm a Complainer

Think of the song, I'm a Believer, but I'm a Complainer. Today's complaint, my local Smooth Jazz radio station has changed format, now, they are Smooth Nothing. A big, beautiful, baritone used to announce " Smooooooooth Jaaaaaaaaahzz, ninety-three seven, Ahhhhh....", now, he says "Smooooooooth". That's it. Smooth Nothing! And that's how I feel about their new format.

I emailed the morning announcer and he actually answered back with a thoughtful reply.

Me: I'm finally going out and getting an iPod, I didn't need one before, I loved KJZY, where the J still had meaning. Your new format, well, it gags me. I'm taking your numbers out of my pre-programmed buttons. How many more times can I listen to "What a Fool Believes"????

Rob's Reply: Hi Bonnie, Thanks for the e-mail. I will forward it along to management. All I can say is that it was a decision that was not made lightly. In the last month or so smooth jazz stations in Washington D.C., Houston, New York and Denver have all completely changed formats....in part because the smooth jazz audience, as great and as loyal as they are, just don't show up in the ratings well enough. We decided to make some changes to try to reach a wider audience, but we also still play some smooth jazz. We also still have seven hours of mainstream jazz on Sunday nights. So in a lot of cases we're still playing much of the same music, but we are putting a heavier emphasis on the vocals than before. Reaction has been both good and bad so far. I do want to thank you for putting your comments in writing. We definitely want to know what people think, and it's easy for me to forward your e-mail to the people who need to see, so thanks.
Rob Singleton
KJZY

I replied one more time:
Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. I'm really not as nasty as I sounded in my email. I just wanted to make a point that I really loved the old way, it was so relaxing for me. The new way makes me tense, it's hard to explain. I grew up with and still enjoy JamesTaylor, the Doobies, etc., but not on my smooth jazz station. Good luck with the new format. I think I'll go find some old KJZY Samplers. Maybe I won't exactly delete you from my presets and hope to hear Al Jarreau or Acoustic Alchemy or Diana Krall when I do tune in.

I still have my alarm clock set to this station, and again, they played an oldie but goodie, it's stuck in my head. I should have written that I also have to find a new station for my alarm clock.

Complaint mode off - for now!

I want my kids to write, so should I

It is so important to write well. I have given journals to each of my kids. I want to have journal hour, but who has an hour to spend journaling? I think we will have journal moment. 3 minutes to sit down and write a sentence or two together every day.

I have created this blog, The Bonnie Blog, to see if I can commit to writing down a few things, we'll see!