Matanzas Creek

Our old friends from Berkeley came to visit today. It was cold and quite wet without really raining. OilMan made posole, a Mexican pork dish traditionally served at Christmas, and while it was cooking we took a quick walk through the drizzle down to the creek and then decided to visit Matanzas Creek winery. In addition to wine, they have a large field of meticulously groomed lavender plants. Even on a dreary day, it is a pretty place. They grow Provencal lavender which they package into culinary products--Himalayan salt, tea and mixed herbs--all combined with with lavender. They also have English lavender, which is used for its oil. There are little pots of lip balm (not sure I would want my lips tasting of lavender all day), body butter, soap and oil. I liked the elegant shape of these bottles as well as the shadows they cast on the wall.

Matanzas Creek is also known for its Savignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines. We tasted some of those and then went home, ready to tuck into our posole with orange salad and a nice glass of pinot grigio from a Healdsburg winery.

My grandmother's clock, which we had repaired in Petaluma a few months ago has taken on a life of its own, perhaps objecting to being dragged briefly to Berkeley, then carted back to Sebastopol and finally, yesterday, to Santa Rosa. I took it out of the box, set it on the table and wound it. I attached the pendulum which had somehow gotten separated from the clock and came straight here. It bgan ticking away very reliably but alas, it wouldn't chime the hour and the half hour as it should. After I fiddled with it for awhile, it began chiming non-stop. Even when I stopped the pendulum it kept chiming. We finally put a stick in it to stop it , but it looks like we'll have to take it back to Petaluma for an adjustment. "Add it to the list" said Oilman resignedly.

Our neighbor Bruce came to the door a few minutes ago with a box of homemade cookies from his wife Cindy. I used to bake for everybody I knew at Christmas, but haven't done it for quite a few years.Perhaps I'll have to start again. Cindy sent me a text a few days ago saying "I just accidentally ate 7 pieces of See's candy". "Tis the season....