Check Out This Impromptu Singalong at Petaluma Whole Foods Market
The Heritage Music Theatre at Cinnabar Theatre in downtown Petaluma created a great guerrilla marketing event at the local Whole Foods Market. Imagine a fruit aisle stocker spontaneously bursting in to song from behind the pineapples and a bass player emerging from the cooler. Imagine yourself minding your own business shopping away when a half dozen singers burst into Woody Guthrie's stirring "This Land is Your Land" from over by the papayas and you get the idea. Woody Guthrie's American Song opens December 31st and runs through January 23 just down the block from the fruit aisle! For a taste, the video below is really worth watching to see the involvement of the shoppers grow as everyone gets in to this "Random Act of Culture." [tomatoframe width="480" height="390"]http://www.youtube.com/v/huSdqL1XlPQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"[/tomatoframe] PS If you want to check out the latest homes for sale in this town of spontaneously musical produce aisles, you can see them on a map by clicking the link on the right, or here....
A New Look in the Wine Country
If you don't live in Northern California you might not be aware that we don't have rain for about six months of the year, from April to October. Plant, animal and human life has adapted to drought conditions during the hottest months. But early October everything starts to look pretty parched and dusty. The hills are golden and brown, we have some of our best warm weather, but it is time for rain. Everything feels thirsty. Then the first rains come. Everything is transformed. We have probably had about four inches in the last few weeks. Now the hills are turning emerald green and they will stay that way till May or June. The trees and vineyards are turning all sorts of orange, red and golden tones. Every year I am surprised again about the incredible range of colors on our sunny days, from the emerald grass, to the colorful vines and the amazingly clear blue sky. I took this shot last week as I walked my dog. These colors inspired the new version of my blog design that you see today for the first time. After 3 and an half years, we were definitely due for a freshening, both of the design as well as some good new tools. Now it's back to writing about real estate and life in Sonoma County. Happy Autumn and thanks for visiting!...
Harvest Crush: a big Rush after a Long Wait
Wine country crush is underway, after a slow start and a strangely extreme summer season....
Don't Miss Sebastopol's Gravenstein Apple Fair this Weekend!
This year marks the 100th! Anniversary of Sebastopol's first ever Gravenstein Apple Fair in 1910. Billed as "The Sweetest Little Fair" in Sonoma County, it is a celebration of Sonoma County's long tradition of agricultural delights. Now many of the apple orchards have given way to vineyards, and Sonoma County apples have long been less competitive on the world markets than those from Washington State and China, but the early ripening Gravenstein apple is still a hallmark of the best in local farming and fruit! Thanks to Sonoma County Farm Trails for keeping this tradition alive! If you can't make it to Sebastopol this weekend, Sonoma County Farm Trails offers a great on-line and printed guide to year round food tasting activities and events at Sonoma County's many small farms and markets. ...
Finally the grapes are ripening
A snapshot of recent veraison in a Russian River Valley vineyard, Sonoma County, is another reminder of the phases of country living....
If You Lived Here You'd Be Home by Now–Scenes from Barrel Tasting Weekend
Today's rain should clear up and bring sunny skies and warmer temperatures for the second weekend of this year's Barrel Tasting Event sponsored by WineRoad, a group of northern Sonoma County wineries from the Russian River, Dry Creek and Alexander Valley appellations. If you are like me, perhaps your first exposure to the Sonoma wine country and our gorgeous back roads came from visiting friends during tasting events such as this. After many repeat visits, you begin to think, after a long weekend of wine tasting, gee, if I lived here, I'd be home by now....
Wine Country and Ducks, Part III: Ducks and People find Happiness in Sonoma County
These mallard ducks return every Valentine's Day for spring break by my pool in the Russian River appellation of Sonoma County. They know what Sonoma County humans know, according to a recent Gallup poll, which ranked Sonoma County as the happiest place in California, and the fifth happiest place in the US....
INSTANT VACATION! Whale Watching at Bodega Head on the Sonoma Coast
Make a whale watching jaunt to the Sonoma Coast at Bodega Bay an instant Sonoma County wine country vacation. Links and tips and an inspirational video....
Want to Get to Know Sonoma County? There's an app for that!
The new iPhone app from the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau is a handy tool for getting to know Sonoma County's wine, food, events and more....
Tropical Dreaming-a new design project in Hawaii by Wright-Simpkins, Inc.
Many of my friends and clients are entrepreneurs and small business owners in the community. From time to time in 2010 I plan to showcase them so that you can learn about some unique and vital services to Sonoma County and beyond. Christian Wright and Gerald Simpkins were friends and fellow Vizsla owners long before they became clients in 2003 when we found them an astonishing 1915 farmhouse on acreage in Sebastopol, since lovingly restored. We sold their charming cabin in Guerneville near the Russian River so that they and their dogs would have more room to roam, and also to be closer to their full-time home in San Francisco, where they ran a successful interior design business, Wright-Simpkins, Inc., serving clients all over the United States. Gerald and Christian have progressed along a path somewhat typical of second home owners in Sonoma County. At first they left San Francisco on Friday evenings and returned home Sunday afternoon. Eventually Friday reverted to Thursday and Sunday became Monday, stretching the weekend to nearly four days. Holidays meant two week stays whenever possible and they became increasingly involved in the community of Sebastopol and Sonoma County. The house had already had some extensive restoration by the previous owners and Gerald and Christian took it and the grounds to the next levels, so much so that the house and gardens have twice been featured on the West County Garden tour sponsored every year by Food for Thought in Forestville. In 2008, Gerald and Christian decided to move to Sonoma County full time, and sold their home in San Francisco. The recently opened a small studio and shop in Sebastopol at 2833 Old Gravenstein Highway on the way to downtown Sebastopol. If you care to stop by and visit, you might call first, to 707 829-9177 to make sure they are in. Oh, and in their spare time in 2009, they neared completion of a project in Kohala on the Big Island of Hawaii. If you, like I, are thinking of tropical weather these winter days, take a look! ...