Diversion

Back to the farmers market.

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Photoshoot

Something I've been doing to earn a little extra income is photographing some musical events near home.  Last weekend the Hidden Valley Music Center hosted an event featuring the Monterey Flute Choir.  Over the past year I have photographed several of their concerts and my photos can be seen on their Facebook page.

The group has many fine musicians, some of whom are involved with other musical groups.

Through their generosity in inviting me to photograph their concerts I have been gaining a great appreciation for flute music along with improving my photographic perspectives.  

The Hidden Valley Music Center was a beautiful place to work.  The lighting was wonderful.

A favorite shot from a previous shoot.

In bocca al lupo.  m & v

Meet ups at the Farmers' Markets

I haven't posted a Farmers' Market shot in a while.  I do love the local FMs.  Aside from the food v and I enjoy watching people and listening to the music. We meet friends at the markets and head to side street coffee houses for long conversations.  Well, and then, of course there is the food!  On Tuesdays there are several stalls featuring exotic looking vegetables that are used in Asian cooking.  It's fun just pointing out something unknown to us and have the stall keeper give us tips on how to cook it.

San Luis Obispo to the south of us has a huge Thursday Market on Thursday evenings. Once a year my childhood friend comes up from Southern California for a workshop held at Cal Poly SLO and we meet up with her for the Thursday market.

So, we've had our FM fix for this month...at least the first one.

In bocca al lupo. m & v

Nevada City Weekend

We've been on the road for nearly a week!  This has been business and pleasure with the lines blurring to the point of indistinguishability.  We started by visiting my oldest friend (as in longest duration) down in San Luis Obispo (some nice B&W shots on Biondography just click the highlighted word here).  After a lovely cool night in Morro Bay we turned inland and headed to Grass Valley/Nevada City for a concert of the Nevada City Concert Band.  They put on monthly pops concerts at Pioneer Park, click here for their website. Oh My Gosh! I'd forgotten what hot feels like!

v and I had the honor and pleasure of being invited to photograph last weekend's concert "California Dreamin'".  I used to listen to the Boston Pops concerts on A&E every 4th of July.  It was a "new" tradition of my father's and mine after he developed dementia. I have a friend who is actually visiting Tanglewood this week.  This band, the NCCB, is as much a pleasure to listen to as the Pops band in Boston, truly. Lucky people of Nevada County.

The rehearsal was creekside in Pioneer Park.  A great place to stand barefoot and try to keep cool!

Something else v and I are working on, and I've been hinting at, is greeting card design, or note cards if you will.  We are going to start peddling them soon.

These are a couple that we've had printed recently.  In keeping with our "local" philosophy we are happy to have a printer three blocks from our house who is willing to do small orders. If we can figure it out we will start having designs available for sale on line in the coming weeks and months.

In bocca al lupo.  m & v

(mystery night? m-e?)

A New Endeavor

Step 1: going to print tomorrow.  One of several designs we're trying out. So, does anyone know what this is?  Comments in any language are more than welcome. v is multilingual.

We are embarking on the unknown here, we're excited and having fun regardless. We are probably moving incredibly slowly...if only we knew more.  Good thing we are very fast learners! And that we have so much support from our friends.  Courage, you know?

In bocca al lupo.  m & v

Some Changes

Today is our anniversary.  We spent it quietly.  Since last time I posted we have been to doctors and had tests for v.  He's been very tired and very pale but very upbeat, it's the way he is.  Instead of spending our usual Tuesday at the aquarium we spent a long day at the hospital in Monterey.  That hospital is amazing. It doesn't look like a hospital at all, it looks like a five star resort complete with world class artwork everywhere.  The staff are amazing as well, kind, knowledgeable, efficient, and attentive.  

Wednesday we had to go back to the hospital, early, for a scan.  We still haven't heard anything.  It's hard not knowing.

Our friends and our neighbors are wonderful.  They stop by to keep us company.  They bring us comfort and support.  They keep us from feeling that peculiar isolation that comes with illness and fear.  They keep the shadows at bay.  

I have a new challenge in the kitchen. v has acupuncture treatments as well as conventional Western medical treatments.  Our acupuncturist treats him holistically and has advised that he not ingest spices.  At first I thought this is not a problem, until I spoke with her today and "no spices" includes herbs.  And shock of shock: No Garlic!  No pan frying.  Thank God today was the Farmers' Market.  I loaded up with root vegetables to roast and I have been roasting all afternoon.  Julia Child came to the rescue for chicken breasts. Throwing out all the herbs except lemon and salt shortened the prep time for the poaching. One of our friends gave us a huge basket full of pears from her tree and they stewed in simple syrup with a splash of strawberry balsamic. And we can still have our grilled sweet peppers drizzled with a little olive oil.  I'm thankful for this time of year and the bountiful harvest at the markets.

In bocca al lupo.  m & v

Farms

Last evening v wasn't feeling good so we took a drive.  We found ourselves driving along the highway that cuts through the lettuce fields of Salinas.  It was just after sundown with a rim of marine layer threatening to envelope the fields.  One man was out walking along the rows checking the equipment and possibly monitoring the irrigation pipes where the plumes of water are rising from in this picture. I don't know why I had it set on sepia, but somehow that is fitting for the Salinas fields.  So many fortunes have been made from them and not just from the dirt itself.  John Steinbeck came from Salinas, a museum dedicated to him and the the farms he wrote about is on Main Street.

Whenever we drive past the miles and miles of fields that comprise the Salinas Valley v is always in awe of what he calls the generosity of the land.  The fields are in production from February through December, each yielding multiples of crops.  Strawberries, lettuce, celery, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, fennel, artichokes, asparagus, kale, radiccio...just on and on.  Once you drive south along the Central Coast stretch of Hwy 101 you pass miles and miles of grape vines.  River Road just south of Salinas boasts numerous Wineries.  Twenty years ago River Road boasted cattle and scrub.  Cattle ranches still exist throughout the warm hills and canyons trailing off the big Salinas Valley. What a bountiful land our California is and always living under the threat of "progress" and pavement.  Redevelopment over development should be the focus.  Look to the empty and crumbling infrastructure in any city or town before sealing the fate of open land under asphalt and cement.  Crops don't grow out of either, and our world is getting smaller, people are getting bigger.  Where do we expect our food, not to mention our air, to come from?

In bocca al lupo. m & v

End of the Day

Another long day of business with v and Fog's End Distillery.  We are rewarded with such beautiful scenery on our drive home, I just had to pull off for this.  Happily sales are up and the Giants swept the Dodgers. This last is for v, he's very loyal, there are radios stationed anywhere he may be working or relaxing. 

Business took us to Santa Cruz and a drive past the historic Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.  I really have to take the time to photograph not only more of the Boardwalk, but many of the beautiful neighborhoods and beaches throughout Santa Cruz so I can share them on future posts.

A long and tiring day, but so beautiful.

In bocca al lupo. m & v

Market Day

It's Tuesday.  We have spent our day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium introducing people to sea stars, hermit crabs, sea cucumbers, and gumboot chitons.  We've helped people find our giant octopuses, pointed out wolf eels, and encouraged one and all to limit their use of plastics, especially single use plastic items.  Witnessing the wonder alighting the faces of all ages and cultures is an unending joy for us. 

Tuesdays aren't just about the aquarium, however.  Tuesday is market day in downtown old Monterey. We hop on the trolley and take a short ride to the wharf where we take a short walk through beautiful gardens and past old adobes to Alvarado Street where the farmers' market is in full swing.

In the early days of Monterey, during the colonial period, men would sit on the balcony above this courtyard and watch Grizzly bears battle with bulls.

It's just a short walk away from the walls of this garden and past the Portola Plaza Hotel

to the beginning of the market.  The market can speak for itself.

From end to end we are surrounded by the adobes of old Monterey.

As they say at the market: Buy Fresh! By Local!  The number one best thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint (and that of your food) is to buy local product.  Cuts down on shipping and the energy used to keep vegetables cool.  Reduces packaging as well.

In bocca al lupo. m & v

Fog's End Distillery, Gonzales, Ca.

Our neighbor has a distillery in Gonzales which is toward the southern end of Monterey County.  It's just a small town along Highway 101 established a hundred years, or so, ago by Swiss-Italians who found the region reminded them of their homeland in Northern Italy.  They established farms and dairies and many are still in operation and continue to be family owned. It is Ag Country.

Craig, our neighbor, is a retired Deputy Sheriff.  He was young enough, when he retired, to begin a new career and he decided he'd become a distiller.  He is virtually the only distiller in Monterey County, his product line now includes five lables: California Moonshine, Monterey Rye, White Dog, Primo Agua Ardiente, and a kit called Fog's End Hand Craft Your Flavor which is sold with oak sticks to add to the bottle and age at whatever length of time the home crafter prefers.  

Fog's End Distillery is a one man show.  Craig does it all, the brewing, the distilling, the bottling, the sales and the marketing. He drives out of our neighborhood in the wee hours of the morning to be at the distillery by 3 a.m.  He puts in many 18 hour days, sometimes more. He is meticulous, surgery could 

be performed on the premises it is so clean.  V got involved when Craig got his idea for the kits. He needed the sticks cut to specific proportions and v's got a nice little woodworking studio just beyond the garden.

A year, or so, ago Craig was featured on a cable television show called Drinking Made Easy.  Business began taking off.  The kit was a hit! V was making sawdust and Craig was shipping cases.  So it has now evolved that v has taken on some of the sales and marketing. He has many connections with the restaurant trade in the area and is also well known in the theater community. His showmanship and natural Italian charm makes him a natural salesman.  

Aside from really wanting to see our friend and neighbor succeed, we are very excited that this is a local, artisanal,  product! Buying a Fog's End product reduces our carbon footprint on the Central Coast and all over California. Less carbon is dumped in the ocean.  How good is that?  If you see it please try it. Many area restaurants and bars are stocking it. Nepenthe and Post Ranch in Big Sur serve it, Mission Ranch in Carmel and the Clement Intercontinental Hotel in Monterey have it on their list as well. I'm excited that chefs are developing recipes using it. 

It's just nice to see such a mild mannered, soft spoken man like Craig, succeed. 

Thank you, Craig and v for letting me get in behind the scenes to take my pictures.

In bocca al lupo. m & v