We are back from California. The wedding was wonderful! It was held in a beautiful resort called St. Orres. It is located along the coast north of Bodega Bay, a part of the state I haven't visited in years. I forgot how beautiful and Pacific Northwest-like it is! We rented one of the cabins, Pine Haven which was just sweet inside and out. We arrived rather late on Friday evening and were pleased to discover the fireplace had been prepared for us. How lovely to relax in front of the fire, sip coffee and listen to the surf. In the morning, we could hear the seals barking on the beach and watched deers eat from the apple trees right outside our window. We hadn't realized that breakfast was included so we were pleased to discover a basket outside our door filled with quiche, fresh fruit, granola, fresh squeezed OJ and cream. Heavenly!
The wedding itself took place outside. The fog stayed out over the ocean and served as a gorgeous backdrop. I know the locals thought it was chilly but Shane and I loved the cool air. There were about 60 people in attendance, nearly all of them dressed to the nines. As Paula is from the UK, many of her family members wore wonderful hats. How I wish more people would wear hats! The ceremony was short but very moving. There were poetry readings and a spoken word piece written and performed by the son of the brides. I particularly loved a reading of excerpts from letters written by the brides soon after the start of their relationship. I was reminded of the sweetly dizzying feeling of falling in love, how your heart lies cosy in the small circle of your dear one's arm but the nevertheless how your heart must burst and in doing so it takes you and the whole world in and then out aflame . It was a good thing Shane brought plenty of tissues as the entire family, including myself, shed copious tears of joy.
The reception was held in the main hotel's dining room where Chef Rosemary Campiformio served us a delicious array of fresh local items. Shane and I both had the butternut squash soup with pheasant broth to start, followed by an heirloom yellow tomato and goat cheese salad with olive oil and basil dressing for the second course. For the main course, Shane had the wild mushroom ravioli with a cream sauce and I had the fresh Sonoma duck breast with strawberry orange pancakes and fresh strawberries. Yummy! How nice to actually get great food at a wedding. Cory and Paula know how to host a party. Sadly, I missed the evening reception. I was looking forward to the dancing but while taking a small break after luncheon, I passed out in our cabin. I didn't think I drank all the much champagne but I must have been wrong. Oh, well!
We drove back to San Francisco the following morning. There, we managed to meet up with a friend from our college days, Jerome. There is little dead air when we are in Jerome's company. Shane lights up in a way reserved only for his dearest friends and we laugh for a long time. When we see our friends from TECH our conversation revolves around humiliations large or small. All of us seem to count our days by our miseries and take a chilly pleasure in recounting them to one another. I love it! Jerome is a little grayer but much the same I am glad to report. It was good to see him. That evening, we visited Cory and Paula in their home and spent a happy hour (literally, they got a lot of very fine wine as gifts as well as for the wedding, so we helped them out by drinking a lot) bashing the right wing and sharing a little Obamania. We got home late Sunday night.
Our little shop is doing very alright. Thanks to everyone who has favorited us or made a purchase! We make a sale every other day or so. That seems very good to me as the shop is too new to have any kind of reputation. Some sales may be from our new store blog, Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs but I think most have come from Etsy searches for colors or content. Cool, eh? Stephanie made an amazingly beautiful orifice hook which we listed recently. Take a look! A artwork is all free hand. It knocks my socks off. Surprisingly, we have only made two local sales. I am surprised as we did some very anecdotal but informed market research in order to appeal to the local fiber community. Oh well!
Next week, I am going to Orcas Island to attend the Fall spinning retreat with Judith. I am really looking forward to this! I have so many questions for Judith and hope to get her opinion on the quality of my rolags and top. I am very proud of my handwork but Judith is the Queen. If she says she likes them, I think I will squeal. I don't even care that I cannot remember the supposed topic of this season's retreat. I am just really looking forward to the spinning.
What else is up? My cough is much better. I still cough deeply but much more rarely. Shane is busy at work and playing way too much WOW. The trees outside are golden and the air is nippy. Today the light was wonderful. Seattle just glows when sun is out and the temps are low. My summer SAD seems to have faded at last.
Fini!
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