We Arrive in Yountville

The flight to Sacramento was good. I read Alice Munro short stories and Chip watched This American Life on his iPhone.

This afternoon we took a walk and had drinks at a local bar.

Dinner tonight was at Bottega in Yountville. The Bottega Napa Valley is owned by Michael Chiarello of Food Network fame for his shows Easy Entertaining and NapaStyle. He also has a "lifestyle" and cooking store/catalog called NapaStyle.

The Bottega menu reminded me of L&M (R.I.P.) in Oxford. Our apps were fabulous, especially the grilled octapus. For my entrée, I had the parpadelle with bolognese. This dish was my favorite on the L&M menu, and I was excited to compare the Bottega version to the L&M version. Let me tell you, L&M rocked this dish!!! The Bottega version is good, but not as tomato-y and delicate as the L&M version (if only I could still GET the L&M version). Chip had the wood-fired quail and said his dish was more tender than any quail he'd ever ordered.

Dessert was a berry tart topped with basil ice cream... Divine...

Update: I almost forgot... Michael Chiarello was there. In the kitchen and walking around doing table touches, speaking to some of the guests. I thought that was pretty cool (even if he didn't come speak with us).

- Posted from my iPhone with BlogPress

Best Wishes, Leah!

Me and Allie

Casey and Me

Me, Allie, and Leah

Casey, Leah, and Me

I had a great weekend in Oxford! My dear friends -- Leah and Brian -- are married and are now honeymooning in Disney World. The entire wedding weekend was just perfect. The rehearsal dinner was delicious, the ceremony was short and sweet (loved it), and the reception and after-party toast was so much fun. Leah and Brian, congratulations and best wishes in your life together!

The past few weeks in my garden I've been preparing the soil in my two new 3x3 Grow Beds. The sugar snap pea seedlings are about an inch tall. I'm sure I planted these peas later than I should have, and I really hope I still get a good crop. I built the trellis myself out of bamboo and nylon netting. Eventually I will get some pine straw to place on top of that ugly cardboard.

In front of the peas I planted 4 squashes: 2 Eight Ball Zucchini and 2 Early Summer Golden Crookneck. Those are just putting on their third leaves. I prepared the other Grow Bed this past weekend, and I plan to put in two Big Mama roma tomato plants and two Black Pearl cherry tomato plants. I also have some Sweet Cal Wonder Orange Bell Pepper seeds from Seeds of Change that I want to try out. I'm a big fan of the red/orange/yellow bell peppers, but I can't stand the green ones.

Last night for supper, we made use of some of the Swiss Chard from my garden and frozen corn from my Granny's garden. I made Peppers Stuffed with Quinoa, Corn and Feta Cheese from Deborah Madison's book Vegetarian Suppers. They were delicious, and I'm looking forward to leftovers tonight. I subbed Swiss Chard for the spinach.

These are my first two Molineux (background) and Golden Celebration (foreground) blooms, and Knockout is in full bloom. My first rose bouquets of the season.


We leave on our Napa Valley vacation tomorrow morning, and I really cannot wait to step on the plane. I hope to get in some iPhone posts while I'm there. We'll see... I'd hate to make you all jealous by posting endless photos of chilled glasses of weekday wine and scrumptious plates of fine cuisine. Vacation, here I come!

April Bloom Day (One Day Late)

Blooming in my central Mississippi garden:

• Bridal wreath spirea, "Eleanor Tabor" Indian hawthorn, and azaleas are winding down their blooms
• Knockout roses
• Homestead purple verbena
• Iris
• H.F. Young, Henryii, and Franziska Marie clematis
• Catmint "Walker's Low"
• Pansies

First iPhone Post

My purple irises will all be blooming soon.




This is my first post from my iPhone. I couldn't get mail2blogger to work with yahoo mail (photos displayed as broken links), so I purchased the BlogPress app for $2.99. So far, I like it! This app was just what I was looking for.

- Posted from my iPhone with BlogPress

H. F. Young Clematis Blooms

My newest clematis has four beautiful blooms. Here is H. F. Young, aka Horace Young.

Height: 6-8 ft.
Spacing: 36-48 in.
Hardiness: USDA Zone 4a to Zone 9b
Bloom Color: Blue
Bloom Shape: Single
Bloom Diameter: Large - 6 to 8 inches (12 to 20 cm)
Bloom Time: Late Spring - Early Summer
Sun Exposure: Full Sun, Sun to Partial Shade
Pruning Groups: Group 2 - Repeat bloomers; prune immediately after flowering

Spirea and Indian Hawthorne Blooms

This post will be quick because I have a lot of work to do today!

I've been a busy bee in the garden lately. I haven't had much free time on the weekends, so I've been sneaking in garden chores after work thanks to daylight savings time.

First on my list? I cleaned out the front porch beds. They are now ready for spring. The Mexican petunia had to be cut back. The lantana as well. And I had to clear out all the weeds and old leaves. When I took these photos, the spirea, Indian hawthorne, Carolina jessamine, verbena, and creeping phlox were all in bloom. Before the clean-up (March 19):




And after the clean-up (March 22):