Bee Poo!!!

I have lived on this earth for quite a few years now, and something I saw yesterday truly amazed me.
Did you know that bees poo while they are flying?

I was lying on the couch, looking out my window, watching the bees flying in and around the bright orange trumpet vine flowers—happily pollinating, happily being the busy bees that god meant them to be.
And then one of them just----let go of a bit of poo---what looked to be---proportionately speaking—kind of a lot!
And so, another wonder of mother nature, witnessed right outside my window!
I really have never given much thought to the bodily functions of bees, but now, my mind wanders and comes up with all kinds of crazy scenarios about our little insect friends.
It reminds me of that old punchline---”be glad that elephants don't fly!”
I was just glad I was inside, not outside and directly under that bee!

A Pain In My Glass

So, for a few weeks, I have been working at a glass sculpture studio in San Francisco, helping fabricate some amazing glass sculptures that are going to be installed at a new restaurant in SF.
So far, this has been a great experience, not at all a "pain in my glass"--but I just liked the title!
The sculpture is constructed of glass tubing which is "woven" together with wire filament--enough to hold it together, but not enough to distract you.
Then they are fired in a huge kiln, so that they warp and buckle, creating an undulating shape.
It is essentially several large glass rafts---but they will be hung from each of the four sides of a skylight, not drifting on an ocean.
And of course, all the engineering in the sculpture will make sure it is "earthquake safe"!
Check out the work here: Nikolas Weinstein Studios.
This will give you an idea of what the project is like, but, it is not exactly this.
You will just have to swing on by the Bar Agricole when it opens this spring!

Bottling the Vino---08 Vintage!

A couple of weekends ago, at my sister's vineyard, we bottled the '08 vintage---2 varietals---zinfandel and sangiovese. Wow---it was a lot of work!! In two days we bottled 180 cases of wine, and lived to tell the story!!
Now, there are several jobs to choose from in the bottling process---dumping the cases and getting the bottles out---filling the bottles----corking the bottles---adding the foil over the corks---applying the labels---and last but not least, putting the bottles upside down back into the cases and getting them ready to finish the aging process and recover from their "bottle shock"----that peculiar affliction that stresses out wine after it's been bottled.
Check out ayraelvieux.com and you can get some info about the vineyard and winery. My sister and her husband tend all of the vines themselves, and the wine that they make truly is a "labor of love"!!
Last year for the '07 varietals, we made a small quantity of "half bottles" like the one that I am pictured with---the "snack size" bottle that fills about two glasses---perfect for one wine lover or two glasses to share over dinner--with no wasted wine!
And believe me--you don't want to waste it 'cause it's yummy!!!

Lookie-Loo Shopping for Houses

Boy oh boy--yesterday afternoon was fun---my girlfriends came to my town, we had brunch, and then we went shopping for houses!



Too bad it is so not an impulse-buy kind of item!!
But we did find a dream home--so cute--a "cape cod" style with 2 stories, sweet dormer windows in the 2 main bedrooms, and super cute little slanted closets, and in the bathroom--the original frosted glass shower door--it had a bird motif.
Built in 1949--such a nice house--and the yard was so lovely, and a great little artist's studio in the back.
Everything a gal could want!
:)

Ahhhhh---here we are--me just spewing forth with random thoughts and you---wondering what the hell I am going on about!
Still early in the am here in California--I think even the birds are still sleeping....
Why is it so difficult to accomplish certain things--like finding the rest of my paperwork for taxes, starting on my homework for my class, paying my bills, weed whacking the back yard?
I must be lacking in motivation---ie. coffee--I need some stat!
:)
Gotta make it quick though--I have a brunch date with my girlfriends!