Southern Sonoma Country Life

Lesley's Christmas Trivia at Aqus Tonight

Christmas is Christmas in Lesley's book. Not 'the jolly holidays', 'festival of winter', or any of the numerous alternative titles given to secular or more non-religious goings-on at this point in December. You can bet your bottom dollar that tonight's (Thurs, December 17th - 7pm) trivia tournament at Aqus Cafe down at Foundry Wharf will be chock full of Chrimbo teasers. Test your knowledge of everything from the history of the Christmas cracker to what tasty morsels went into a traditional mince pie. Do you know your Saint Luke, Chapter 2, verses one to 11? Get out your Christmas sweater and sharpen your pencil...this could be your shining moment!

The North Wind Doth Blow - Christmas Bird Count for Kids at Petaluma Wetlands

Originating in 16th Century England, the Robin in: "The North Wind Doth Blow and we shall have snow, and what will poor robin do then, poor thing?" made for one of my favorite winter poems as a girl growing up in chilly East Anglia. In fact, I've had a soft spot for cheerful Mr. Robin Redbreast ever since. It was to my delight when I first spotted a North American robin in the vineyard a few winters ago.

Just about the time that my childhood home would light up in warmth with a roaring open fire, heavy curtains drawn against the bitter December weather, the plight of the perky robin seemed to represent all of our feathered friends who had remained in the region to brave it out for the winter months. 

We're quite crazy for birds over here in Petaluma and its not just the old codgers amongst us who are keen birding enthusiasts. Thanks to the wonderful folk at the Petaluma Wetlands Alliance, a committee of the Madrone Audubon Society and the City's Parks and Recreation Department the first ever Petaluma Christmas Bird Count for kids; a half-day of bird watching and related activities has been designed for kids aged 9-15 during winter holiday break.

Rain or shine, December 29th, 2009 - from 9am to 2pm, check-in is at Kenilworth Recreation Center, 175 Fairgrounds Drive in Petaluma. Sign up by December 28th for kids to participate in Binocular Boot Camp; birding in teams of six, each team accompanied by grown ups experienced in birding in assigned areas including Shollenberger Park, Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility and Alman Marsh.

There will be a guest presentation by Bird Rescue. Young participants need to bring binoculars, a bird field guide, a brown bag lunch, curiosity, hat, warm clothes and water proof footwear! A $5 registration fee will be collected at check-in. Parents are responsible for all transportation to and from sites and are welcome to walk the sites themselves, though observing the groups in action should be at a distance, so as not to cramp the style of the team leaders and the kids themselves.

Sounds like a great way to fit in some outdoor fun in a healthy and informative way over the holidays, don't you think? To sign up your 9-15 year olds, call Al Hesla at 707 765 9411 or Mary Edith Moore at 707 763 3577.

Twelve (Local) Wines of Christmas - Eleven Pinots Piping

 

Far exceeding twelve wines of Christmas in actual fact, and many more than eleven pinots piping, Pinot lovers were spoiled for choice at the annual holiday gathering of Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance at La Dolce Vita Wine Lounge.

News from the group is that Whole Foods here in town has a new wine buyer who is extremely keen to create a Petaluma Gap dedicated wine range in the store, showcasing the wonderful vintages being produced in our perfect winemaking microclimate of cool climate hillsides and foggy inland valleys. There's talk of a tour next year for restaurant owners and chefs, deli and store owners to be taken out for the day to visit all of the wineries within the Petaluma Gap to get to know the fabulous production taking place so close to home and to increase the visibility of locally made wines on wine lists and store shelves around town.

Of course, Jason at Vine and Barrel on Kentucky Street and Sahar at La Dolce Vita (both Petaluma Gap members) have long since carried the flag for locally made wines and if you are shopping for a range of superb Petaluma Gap wines for Christmas, please do make a point of stopping in at these independently owned wine emporiums to make your purchases. Jason and Sahar will wax eloquently on the backgrounds of the wonderful local wines that each of them carries, making your local wine buying experience all the more meaningful and helping to support all of the fine men and women out there toiling in the vineyards and putting Petaluma on the wine country map.

With lots of bubbling energy amongst new members, from high end production to enthusiastic garagistes a'plenty, the 2009 holiday gathering offered all sorts of bright new ideas for expanding the group's visibility within the community and beyond.

Why not try a newly released sparkling wine from Keller Estates this holiday season? Check out marketing director, Michelle Keller's winery blog for up-to-date happenings up there on the scenic hill of rolling vines off Lakeville. Meanwhile, Azari Winery over on Spring Hill Road has a fab first release Pinot available by the bottle or glass at La Dolce Vita.

 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Last thing to go up in our house is the Christmas tree. I like it to stay fresh and not too dried out until the New Year, not being one to switch from harvest theme to winter wonderland the day after Thanksgiving, it always astounds me to see so many beautiful Christmas trees out on the curbside on Boxing Day, December 26th.

Mind you, decking the halls is not as warm and fuzzy as it ought to be, is it? Let's be truthful. By the time the everyday stuff has been rearranged and dusted off, stashed under beds and in already overstuffed closets, it's an endurance test of holiday mettle for the truly festive spirited. Do the lights still work? Hang on, where are the lights? Have we finally outgrown those hideous faux velvet santa hats the boys liked to wear for school? How much is too much to spend on switching out all the candles to red and gold and white? The doormat looks a bit sad and soggy and is covered with sticky green pine needles. One step at a time. Breathe.

Today qualifies for my own personal scream-out-loud at any one who dares to answer back, Christmas build-up day. I'm sure you have had at least one or two of these yourself. It's my Grinch day. I think I deserve it. Pulling together a family Christmas with all the bells and whistles is a monumental job requiring patience, perseverance, vision and a degree of jollity! It's the jollity part that appears to depart at the first sign of festive fatigue. Maybe its hiding under the bed with all the holiday shopping. Or left behind after one too many at all the Christmas parties around town. It'll reemerge eventually. It always does.

Though all very well said and done until the sixth grader in the house unveils a staggering, pre-winter break homework project of a book report, to be produced as a seven-page, hand-illustrated pop-up book complete with scenes from key action within the book and type-written paragraphs on character, setting and theme. Some pages require being split into two halves, with pop-up scenes on each.You know, the type of project no 11-year-old busy dreaming of a white Christmas (felt like a possibility this snappy last week) is remotely capable of pulling off without quite literally being tied to a desk and chair and armed with an array of art supplies and paper cutting utensils for the duration. Frustration is unavoidable as eraser chips and several key, colored pencils fly through the air at regular intervals as each page approaches something like an hour and a half to complete.  

Maybe this  particular exercise in good studentship would have been more appropriate had the book been a Christmas Carol, The Night before Christmas, or some version of the actual reason for the season. Out went plans for an away day down to the Dickens Fair at the Cow Palace, in came even more streamlined micro-scheduling of this key, mid-December Sunday.

With a pile of unaddressed Christmas cards to be sent on their merry way around the world, a toppling pile of pressies to wrap and a newly purchased tree to decorate this evening, I'm blogging my bear's head of an attitude away (thank you for reading) and thinking seriously of whipping up an ultimate stress-food, steamed treacle pudding with custard for dinner tonight. That should do the trick. 

How Now Brown Cow - another Chileno Valley Adventure

Weaving its pastoral way through West Marin and South Western Sonoma Counties, Chileno Valley, for me is a magical place. Possibly half of the stories I have written for print magazines in the past couple of years have found their source along the rocky, twisting turns and inland dirt tracks to the hidden gems of artists and writers, farmers and musicians.

Friday morning's assignment had me armed with a print-out of off-road directions and despite the first rainfall in weeks, hopped into recently purchased economy car (the new me - still to be recognized by all who identify me with the extreme mom mobile that has now been relegated to Christmas tree shopping, soccer tournaments, wine barrel excursions, double base transportation and mountainous winter escapades) oblivious to the fact the gas tank was teetering dangerously low.

At this point in December there is so much to squeeze into a day. Tootling along empty and remote country roads flanked by peacefully green velvet hillsides is, as you may well agree, a therapeutic enterprise, guaranteed to soothe the over-stressed soul - at least until the little red light dings in warning of an imminent refueling requirement. 

Guiding a compact, zippy little VW Golf over farm bridges and cattle grids, by the side of deep ponds and round a never-ending series of rustic curves in the gentle undulations of the secret, hidden, inland valley appears altogether all the more daring when dicing with a flashing gas tank. If ever a need to defer to the trusty Suburban, then this is surely it. Seemingly thousands of big, brown cows, moody black bulls and completely clueless, though adorable calves dotted the entire landscape, blocking the dirt track every few feet, daring the feeble little motor horn to deter them from their position of rest. Rather like a drive through safari park. Or a sort of James Herriot experience only in Sonoma County, not Yorkshire, and a reporter, not a vet, with rain and mud and heifers forging the common link. OK, I'm rambling a bit, it was that sort of day.

By the grace of some degree of good karma (I assume!) I made it to my assignment, forgot about the potential 17-miles from nowhere, out of cellphone reach gas crisis for the duration of a stunning, unique and quite incredible home and garden story and back along the winding valley road into Petaluma, fingers crossed all the way, intrepid little motor gasping for sustenance (and a wash) at the gas station here in town. 

Half expected to drive by birthday-boy-buddy, Michael (whom I had seen a couple hours prior having coffee down at Aqus Cafe) with his road biking group of action guys, out there that morning and if I had run out of gas, they could have towed me back to town!

Deep and Crisp and Even over Sonoma County

Brrrr ..... dig out the woolen turtlenecks, hats, scarves and mittens for it's mighty crisp here in Sonoma County this week as we awaken to the closest we're likely to get to a white Christmas season.

For frost was on the hillside in the vineyard this morning as I dared to stick my freshly pedicured toe out of the covers for that tell-tale indication of the early temperatures.

The boys stuck a bottle of water out on the little bit of lawn we have last night to see if it would freeze, though it didn't quite reach their expectations of sub-zero experimentation. Even the cats are curled up on convenient throws, taking a break from their regular hillside patrols. Marley the vineyard beast must have been having a hard time on the hunt of late as he resorted to pilfering a chicken bone from the dinner plates as we were washing dishes last night.

Predictions for today are mostly cloudy. with a light chance of rain, sleet or maybe, just maybe if it gets cold enough on the higher elevations in Sonoma County, some sign of snow. Lows in the 20s to lower 30s, will make for one of the coldest weeks of winter. A bit of a shock to the system after balmy 70 degree sunshine over Thanksgiving but certainly makes the holiday mood more compelling and caused me to finally crack open the Christmas decor stash, late last night.

A Few Good Women - Bringing About Change in Youth Mental Health Services

When Lori's teenage son was diagnosed with an early on-set of severe schizophrenia it was shattering to all of us who know and love this family of most vibrant human beings, a Bay-Area tribe of remarkable individuals, known for shared qualities giving rise to frequent, random acts of community kindness and a quest for travel, adventure, enduring friendship.

For Lori (pictured at right) to come to terms with her beloved boy's early prognosis and subsequent years of turbulent periods ranging from remarkably serene to downright traumatic, it has been a mother's journey of discovery of her inner most strength and fortitude and a fantastical spirit of positivity, acceptance with a pioneering determination to make much-needed improvements in the field of mental health care for California youth.

Beginning on home turf in Marin County, Lori's first major impact on the county's Transitional Age Youth Program, a collaboration between Buckelew Programs and Family Service Agency of Marin has been as a leading influence in the launch of a spacious, new office center for the TAY Program in downtown San Rafael.

Thanks to the generosity of Sarah Shaw (pictured at left at the new office opening celebration on Lincoln Avenue with Kathy Eagle, TAY Team Leader, center), the TAY program is also looking for a new training house for young men and women (16-25) of Marin County who are struggling with mental health challenges.

The TAY program uses a strength-based model and integrates wellness and recovery principles, supporting transitional age youth to become architects of their own futures.

As Lori had discovered through her own personal experience, there is, except for the TAY program, a staggering lack of resources for young people suffering from similar mental health problems as her son. No longer a child, but not yet equipped with the experiences of an adult, this critical stage of transition requires guidance, supervision and care not easily available or affordable here in California.

Currently TAY provides full services to around 20 young adults and partial services to 70 to 100 more young men and women each year. Staffed by a Team Leader, Team Partner, Peer Mentor, Independent Living Skills Counselor and Family Advocate, TAY office services are community-based, with outreach by these staff, volunteers and many fully involved parents such as Lori.

Youth in need of full services are referred by County Mental Health Services and after an initial assessment, TAY provides 24-hour crisis management, medication oversight, peer mentoring, housing support, education and employment support.

Families and youth assist in the development of an individualized service plan based on a picture of the youth's goals for independence and psychiatric needs, symptoms and challenges, housing, education and job needs including a range of social issues and concerns.

Thanks to the generous support of the Shaw Family, the new training office on Lincoln Avenue offers all sorts of effective socialization programs including art, meditation, mind over mood, movie night, movie and video production in a small, on-site media center. Staff have been able to develop new collaborations with other providers to bring services such as counseling sessions and job training classes to the TAY offices. 

Lori's story is not unique. Sadly there are many more young men and women in the North Bay suffering from mental health illnesses such as schizophrenia, yet the development of programs within the community such as the Transition Age Youth Program help dispel much of the mystery, confusion and helplessness felt by the supportive families and provide invaluable full or partial care for the youth themselves, within an open environment.

Until you, or someone close to you experiences mental severe health challenges with a youth in the family, the crisis that these families face sometimes on a daily basis simply does not hit home. Programs such as TAY are a lifeline to the community. It is remarkable that given the current state of the economy, private funding has enabled this superb North Bay program to continue to expand and to realistically dream of furthering its reach in 2010.

Feast your Eyes and Your Senses on a Friday Night SoCo Crab and Champage Supper

Crab season has hit Sonoma County at last, fresh from the Pacific and perking up December's winter menus here in downtown Petaluma's restaurant row. If you are in town this evening (Friday, December 4th), or you fancy a drive up from Marin, down from Santa Rosa or across from Sonoma, don't miss out on Della Fattoria's Fabulous, annual Crab and Champagne supper. Reservations are recommended, especially as there will be live, musical entertainment by Cuerva Band (An unusual interpretation of Americana Contra and Brazilian Choro)mixed with early 30's European folk music.to set a magical mood for tastiest crustaceans and top-drawer, festive bubbly.

Think Crab Louie Thousand Island, Avovcado, Black Olives & Ranch Egg for starters, Crab & Havarti Pressata, Catalan Beef Stew, Potatoes, Leeks, Fennel, Spanish Olives on Polenta Integrale or Ravioli Herbed Ricotta & Chard Filled Ravioli in Marinara, Shaved Parmesan to follow. Or how about Leek & Mushroom Bechamel, Picholine Olives, Pepper Flake Mozzarella & Bellwether Farms Ricotta?

707-763-0161 or elisa@dellafattoria.com

For all you Champagne Charlie's out there who can't get enough of sparkly toasts this Christmas and New Year, how about the ultimate Champagne tasting over at Vine and Barrel, Sonoma Country Life's favorite independent wine sellers, on kentucky Street, also in downtown Petaluma. If you have never been to one of V & B owner Jason's outrageous tastings, its time to remedy that on December 12th at 3pm prompt:

"This is my favorite event of the year and the 3rd Annual Champagne and Oyster Tasting," says Jason. "We will feature all the great Champagnes and sparkling wines from around the world from Bruno Paillard, Monopole and Heidseick and Lucien Albrecht from France to IronHorse, Schramsberg and J Sparkling from California to Zardetto and the great Proseccos from Italy over to the very best Cavas from Spain – including Salvatore Dali’s favorite."

There will be at least 20 different houses of Champagne and Sparkling pouring for this festive tasting. "We will dine on 500 oysters, the finest pate, wonderful caviar and the most delicious local cheeses," promises Jason, who does expect the event to sell out – as it has every Christmas. Cost is $30 per person to taste all so many of these enticing sparkling wines and Champagnes of the world along with delicious pairings.  Attendees are entitled to 10% off anything they want to purchase in Vine and Barrel that same day. A great chance to stock up for your holiday wines and champagnes while supporting local business.

(707) 765-1112 or jason@vineandbarrel.com

Light a Lantern for Petaluma's Heritage Homes Holiday Parlour Tour this Sunday

This year's Petaluma Heritage Home Holiday Parlour Tour (Sunday, December 6th, 2009) features five homes and an authentic, Victorian horse-drawn surrey for a genteel travail up and down stately D street.

Evening entertainment begins with a free and festive Wings of Glory Gospel Christmas Concert from 5-6pm at Historic St. John's Episcopal Church.

Don't miss Sara Dooley's outstanding welcome as hostess and acclaimed classical vocalist singing traditional carols in her gracious 30 Brown Court home (below), freshly decorated for Christmas as one of this year's most sumptuously situated historical homes on tour.

You can also pick up tickets in downtown Petaluma at Marisa's Christmas Fantasia, Tuscan Gardens, Petaluma Museum, Copperfield's Books. Also at Think Biz in the G&G Shopping Center and at St. John's from 4:30-7:30, on the evening of the tour. $15 adults, Children FREE (accompanied by an adult).

Heritage Homes was founded back in 1967 to protect the unique character of the Petaluma area by encouraging preservation and restoration of vintage buildings that have historic, architectural, or cultural significance. Halloween and Winter Holiday parlour tours provide fantastic opportunities for a glimpse inside of these architectural beauties at their seasonal best.

Petaluma Educational Foundation's Gift of Live Theater for 1,000 City School Kids

If there was ever any doubt that today's young, digital generation can only benefit in expanding their fast-tracked, high-tech, increasingly short attention spans, a live theatrical performance of a classic simply hammers it home in the most fundamental of methods.

For during an informative 'question and answer' session with the two traveling troubadours who'd performed an exuberant short of the world's most popular seasonal show, one eleven-year-old lad asked quite innocently if the play was produced after this winter's movie release of a flick with the same name.

"Well," replied one of the two Greg's who have trodden the planks of Petaluma's stages multiple times in the past eight years (thanks to the annual generosity of PEF) "That's actually a very good question," said he. "The movie A Christmas Carol has increased the popularity of the story, but it has been known around the globe for over 150 years. There was a book, you should read it."

Catching the eye of a teacher seated across the aisle, the poignancy of this moment wasn't missed! When PEF first started bringing the Traveling Lantern Company back to town (original founding partners, Peter and Ann Wengraf were a popular pair of Petaluma residents who moved back to the UK several years ago) many of the city's elementary school students had not seen live theater in their lifetime. Now that they are able to attend a performance at least once each year, there has been a 100% hand raising in the young audience for those who have enjoyed live theater.

In order to continue to offer cultural enrichment programs, grants for innovative classroom programs and scholarships for city-wide high school's outstanding grads, PEF relies on private donations from the businesses and corporations of Petaluma and supportive families and individuals. Read more about PEF in the foundation's holiday newsletter and pass along the link to friends and family.