Off to WORK!!?? we go........

May 1, Tuesday We are back to our seasonal Inn keeping for Carol's sister, Corinne (and her husband Marlowe), in Paso Robles, CA. They are off to Italy for 2-3 weeks and we said we would Inn keep again for them (see Nov. 2006). We really did enjoy ourselves last time and we said we could/would do it for them twice a year, if they want us to. Their vineyard is called "Frances James Vineyard" and their B&B is called "The Winemakers Porch".
see http://www.francesjamesvineyard.com/
We started by celebrating a birthday for Marlowe' son Todd. He came over again (like last time- see Nov. '06), along with his wife Tressa and their three beautiful girls- Natalie, Nicole and Katie. They are a wonderful family. Well, Todd is now a little older then twenty something!! Where's Tressa?? We have guests booked solid every weekend including Mother's Day weekend and their BIG Wine Festival Weekend for our last weekend. But, most weekdays are guestless, so we have a lot of time to really enjoy our selves up here- that's part of the plan!! This is an Aussie couple, Anne and Larie, they gave us some great tips for when we go to New Zealand next year. We are doing our barrel tasting here- five Bordeaux varietals. But, they have a vineyard of their own in Australia, so they knew a lot more then we did.........but that's another story!!

The last time here, I cut down a diseased oak tree on Marlowe's property, a almond tree on a friends property and some olive tree branches at Still Waters Winery and Olive Oil Co. All this wood I am using in making wood turning projects on the wood lathe. I went back to Still Waters and talked with the owners Paul and Pat Hoover and also showed them some of the stuff I'm making with their olive wood. They were happy with it, bought all the olive wood turnings and are going to sell it in their wine tasting room. They are clearing a shelf or two off and will highlight me as a wood turning craftsman- I'm thrilled!! They also offered for me to set up a table on Mother's Day to show and sell all my stuff, and they are expecting 400+ people. I'll be the only craftsman there! This is a first for me- it should really be fun. I'll owe Carol BIG on this one (Mother's Day), but maybe I can recoup some of the $$ I'm spending on tools and equipment!! You can see some of my past turnings at- http://www.temeculaturnings.blogspot.com/

I brought up my small wood lathe and I've been turning during the day- out behind the barn.