Christmas Morning

After we open the presents while drinking a sparkling beverage, The Mister was a sweetheart and made bacon and eggs. That's my new coffee cup. I think it's a "J" for joy, but I'll take "J" for Judy.

See Si licking his lips? Bacon stealer!

The theme this year is Yellow Submarine! We all live in a yellow submarine!

The Mister's stash.

The Mister's Yellow Submarine.

My stash.

Little green man.

That's an inside joke.

Sandy, our neighbor's cat, lonely and forgotten. We decided to save him this Christmas from the rain and wind, so The Mister put up the old pup tent we used to use for our indoor felines, you know for fun.

And it looks like he likes it!

So probably out of some guilt he buys Si an indoor pup tent for Christmas. Awwwww.

Silas really liked his fishy mat, although he smelled himself and subsequently sprayed the mat at a later time.

Look a solar power welcome kitty.

Merry Christmas!

Caption Blog

going into town

Valentine's Day wine

Cockpit at night

I'm a passenger.

Herringbone clouds

Gosh, I love this cat!

Watertank sunset

Cheers to the Five Year Mark!

A Nice Sauternes and Salad

Here's to Judy's Notebook, a five-year old blog about nothing in particular. Here's to everyone who has followed this blog, which I consider an anchor to my other blogs, which are many. Here's to everyone who has unfollowed this blog, just to prove I'm not spiteful, even though I am, traders. Here's to being a columnist to 25,000 people per week, then becoming a blogger to a few people per month, ouch. Here's to starting then stopping then starting then stopping then starting this blog. Here's to not dying along the way. Here's to all you crazy Snapple Rain affectionados. Here's to Googling Snapple Rain and seeing my photos in the number one and two spots on the Google images. Here's to my favorites bloggers, listed on the left side, the list may have changed over the years but I still love you all. Here's to trying new things right here like GoodReads or starting a book club or Twitter or Tumblr, which I still love, and thank you, you know who you are, for introducing me to these fun activities. Here's to my first post, not much really, but has totally reminded me of my wood rat, so sad, and how much work it was to live out at the ranch. And finally here's to Silas, who should probably have his own fan club, his own limo, and his own personal chef, oh wait, he does have his own chef, that would be me.

xoxo
Judy

Sculpterra

One of the advantages of living in wine country is enjoying the various wineries at leisure. No need to hop from one to the other down the road getting rather blotto in the process.

We just single out a winery for inspection. Is it inviting? In a friendly and free sort of way? Some wineries, as you may know, charge to taste. This practice made popular by the bigger well-to-do wineries reek of crass commercialism. I refuse to taste at these places unless they have a clause that if you buy something then the tasting is free. I almost always buy at wineries.

One sunny weekend morning we took to the backroads to visit Sculpterra. Mainly because I had seen a fellow local picture's on myspace and thought "How bizarre!" That is usually enough for me.

And indeed How Bizarre!

The gardens are full of very large sculptures of animals.

Since I kind of knew what to expect, we strolled around the gardens before entering the wine tasting bar. I would recommend the opposite course of action.

Also there was bee bushes lining the walkways, and the bees were quite happy doing their bee business. Millions of bees buzzing back and forth, all at knee level. I kept on telling The Mister, "This is bee hell !" He suggested a drink.

Inside there was more sculptures. These were for sale too.

Only $5,400 if I remember correctly.

This was a smaller version of the one outside that I didn't get a picture of, but there is a picture of it in this picture.

All in all, this was a fun winery, if a bit gimmicky. The grounds were limited, yet the wine was tasty and the shop was unusual. I would go back with friends and relatives, maybe enjoy a picnic and a bottle of wine on a cloudy day.

creekside brewery

Less gloomy day as we made our way to the "big" city. This pub looked shiny and new, so we got a few brews and some sandwiches. The balcony seating offered some lovely creek views too.

Thanksgiving Spread

As I was preparing the Thanksgiving table, a certain someone decided it was high time for a little attention. I laid out my fine gold table placemats and played around with different china before deciding that I wanted to do something a bit more playful, so I got out the red TV trays. (First glass of wine.) This I thought was genius.

Apparently Si thought it was pretty cool too, and lounged for a good long while.

The Mister said I think he wants his picture taken, so first photo is Si being the turkey.

The second photo is Si not looking at me as I'm yelling "Si!! Look at me! Come on! Look at me!"

And the third photo is The Spread. 

Tea Time

Chinopolitan

Chinopolitan, originally uploaded by Memeopolis.

Sometimes I wish I lived in a big city or any city really. Because I used to and it was fun. You could go to the movies. See your friends. Go out for a drink. Be out there. Be fun.

This photo by Amanda wins the spacey photo award, and it has clouds, and y'all know I love clouds.

Here's To You!

Cheers! 

  

2008 was an interesting year. I moved from an old ranch house (built in the 1940s) to a new ranch house (built in the 2000s), and I must say newer is much better. I have warmth and A/C on demand. I was always effen freezing or roasting in that old house, and I was always washing dishes. Now I have a dishwasher. I did loved that old ranch, and I plan to upload the ton of photos I took when I explored the place. 

  

Silas: The First Day of 2009

These photos were taken a few minutes ago. I've got serious love for the digital age. I was just reminiscing with my dude about the olden days when we would take (as in shoot) a roll of film and have it processed, and it would cost an arm and a leg and a small loan from the bank. And you would have to wait. I don't wait real well. I want it now. So you know I feel like kissing pixels these days. Thank you technology!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!