More serendipitous art: Floor Patterns

This is a section of the floor of the Attico consignment shop, in Sebastopol, which is in the building that was once the local Ford dealership. I seem to photograph the floor there every time I visit. Serendipitous art. 

Miscellaneous: Feeling grateful

A fairly typical meal at home. Asparagus grilled with olive oil and sea salt. Pasta with a sauce made from leftover fish, sautéed onion and Swiss Chard with white truffle oil. A salad of lettuce, arugula, and spinach, all from the garden. Soon, the tomatoes, too will be from the garden. A rosé of Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc from Washington. In a few months, the rosé will be from our own backyard vineyard. The three salt dishes were made by local potter John Chambers. The asparagus sits on a plate made by Gina Kuta, another local potter (both live and work in Sebastopol). Just outside of the frame is a large bouquet of flowers just picked from outside the kitchen door in a pot thrown in the 1950s by my late mother. 

I feel very lucky to live here and to have all the things that I enjoy every day. I take none of it for granted. 

Food I'm Eating: First Homemade Pesto of the Year (July 12, 2014)

Two events mark the true start of summer: Picking the first homegrown tomato from the vine and making the year's first batch of homemade pesto. Cherry tomatoes are already ripening here. Full-sized tomatoes will require another couple of weeks it looks like, but I've just finished making the first pesto of the season. Fresh basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, raw garlic, and salt. Nothing else. Basil gets my vote for most useful of all the herbs. It can garnish tomatoes and it makes pesto. Even a small garden can grow enough to provide pesto all summer long and then, frozen, for most of the winter as well. Presented here in a cup made by local (Sebastopol) potter John Chambers.

Wines I'm Making: Hard Cider Success (March 31, 2013)

Success. Yesterday I opened the first bottle of the hard cider I've just finished making--my first attempt. It was a great pleasure to hear the whoosh! as I lifted the bottle cap and to see a rush of bubbles rise to the surface of the liquid, indicating that the in-bottle, secondary fermentation had gone as planned. I was a bit skeptical two weeks ago when I dosed the cider with a little sugar and sealed it up to wait for a silent fermentation to work its magic. I had feared something overlooked, some mistake would result in a cider as flat as when I put it in the bottles.

I giggled. I was reminded of my first real chemistry experiment. We precipitated a bright yellow lead compound out of colorless liquids. Magic, indeed. I felt the same giddy pleasure looking at my cider that I felt then, in high school chemistry class, when the classroom experiment worked just the way the teacher said it would.

I suspect this batch will disappear quickly and that I'll want to do it all over again. In the fall, I hope to use real pressed apples rather than store-bought apple juice (albeit of a very good quality; after all, we're only a stone's throw from the apple orchards of Sebastopol).  

The cider has a good apple aroma. Delicate apple flavors on the palate. Quite dry with a light carbonation that adds interest. Overall, subtle and delicious. Exactly two months start to finish. The first related post is here. For more, use the search box to search for "cider."    

Found Art: Battered Trash Can, Sebastopol, October 23, 2011

Even a battered trash can be beautiful. I saw this black plastic trash can at Analy High School, in Sebastopol. Painted white, an interesting pattern has been etched away through use. Found art.

For more found art, see my blog Serendipitous Art.