Riesling has taken to “killing” various toys which she then presents to me for both breakfast and dinner. I can only imagine that this is her idea of a trade. :) These antics are ramped up significantly when, say, beef stew is added to her ordinary kibble. We decided to capture it on video for your enjoyment… how can this not make you smile?

You know how, most of the time, when you stop to look at birds they scatter or fly away? Well… sometimes they make a beeline right for you.

I actually had to back away from this character because my camera wouldn’t focus that close!

These American Coots were all over the Bahia property and me taking photos of them did nothing to curb their appetite for the clover flowers.

Ok, so what left… hmmm.

There were some introductions and funny dances…

The cake was cut and fed to the other party in a polite manner as captured by my brother’s iPhone which I don’t think he put down for the entire weekend.

I gave a nice toast (barefoot) and did not completely blank, cry or faint -  go me!

A certain groom had to wear a funny hat courtesy or his brother. Michael’s said “D.u.d.e.” and Lauren’s said “B.a.b.e.” She declined to wear the hat at the reception.

The first dance was lovely, “The Prayer,” as performed by two family friends.

Then my sister and dad enjoyed their dance while singing along to “Because You Loved Me”.

After this point, we let the photo booth take the pictures!

This post about embarrassing moments in bottle opening over on Dr. Vino had me thinking back to Eric’s mishap with a fancy and extremely hard to use bottle opener in Montana.

We managed to get most of the wine out of his shirt.

Shouldn’t the Problem Event Name be BlueScreenOfDeath?

I received a bunch of full size photos (Lauren, dear, you need to learn how to resize them. please.) from my sister last night showing her actual wedding dress and hair trial run. I can’t share any of that here, of course, but I can show you the name of the zip folder that was created…

That’s a mouthful! :)

On Sunday morning, my folks and I walked around Fisherman’s Wharf to see how they make sourdough animals, do a little window shopping and experience a concert by the Unauthorized Rolling Stones belting out a pretty good version of “Start Me Up.”

We also got a lovely look at the noisy seals from the second story boardwalk of Pier 39. They were relatively active considering they essentially lay around and bark at one another. I took this short one minute video to document the noise and a view of the Golden Gate bridge in the distance.

Three months into our relationship Leandra made me these cookies:

How could I not be smitten?  Neither of us are big on Valentine’s day, but we do like an excuse for a special meal. ToniteLeandra is making her famous cheese fondue that we’re pairing with a Veuve Clicquot champagne. A bit fancier perhaps,  but I’ll always appreciate cookies!

We’re all a bit tired from our trip up to NY, but Riesling is definitely the worst off: At this point she’s wishing for an early dinner and and an early bedtime for Christmas Eve. If she gets a new squirrel that would be fine too.

Merry Christmas everyone!

All the deli items at A Southern Season have little icons to let you know if it’s a sheep or cow milk cheese and little flags to tell you if that jamon you are buying is actually from Spain. (Some are from France!)

Well, Eric spotted this little gem behind the cheese counter on Sunday…

Cheese made from dinosaur milk!

OK, not really. :)

(I was going to put a link to the cheesemaker here but I can’t seem to find it…?)