Welcome 2012 in Sonoma County with a Guide to New Year's Celebrations
A good link for finding out the best New Year's Eve celebrations in Sonoma County on December 31, 2011. Happy New Year!...
National Geographic Travel names Sonoma County One of the Top Destinations in the World for 2012
National Geographic named Sonoma County one of the top travel destinations in the world for 2012. Here is a link to the article and a slide show of all the destinations....
The Most Beautiful Time of the Year in Sonoma County Could be Now
Typically we think of springtime or summer as the most beautiful time of the year but for all of October and now November here in Sonoma County wine country of Northern California it feels like right now is the best time of year. We had some early rain (after six typical dry months) in September. The grass has gone from golden brown to emerald green. The vines and trees throughout the county are turning red, gold and orange. The skies have been brilliant blue and the weather has been delightfully warm but not too hot. LOVE IT. Maybe that is part of the reason why the real estate market has been so active this fall. Much busier than the typically busy summer months. Perhaps it is 30 year fixed rate mortgages at 4 percent? Ten year fixed jumbo loans at 3.75%!!! Perhaps it is health of many tech companies and startups in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Who knows for sure but it has been a great time to be showing and selling property and out and about on these beautiful days. Has kept me away from the blog for a bit. I apologize, and I am back! [caption id="attachment_1326" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A brilliant November day and old vine zinfandel in the Russian RIver Valley appellation of Santa Rosa, Ca"][/caption]...
One person's artistic vision is grounded in Graton
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Hollynn D'Lil in her Graton Garden courtesy of the Press Democrat"][/caption] My friend HolLynn D'lil is like many of my friends and clients who have moved to Sonoma County from successful lives elsewhere. She had a vision, a feeling, a sense of the possibilities that her new life could be in our pocket of country paradise a short hour north of San Francisco. She wanted room to garden and a studio for painting and a home environment that nurtured her creativity. More so than many, she did not allow a bare flat patch of dirt and a dated home deter her from realizing her vision. Now she lives in a creekside sanctuary in the heart of the small Sonoma County community of Graton. I first walked on to HolLynn's property for a dinner party last fall, which was my first meeting with her as well. Within five sentences I said to her--have you ever thought of having your home on the West County Garden Tour ? (a benefit for Food For Thought in Forestville). She said--I have always wanted to do that but didn't know who to approach. This May 15th she was one of eight gardens and homes in West County featured on the tour. Yesterday, the Press Democrat newspaper did a feature story on HolLynn's journey. I thought I would share it with you as a wonderful example of the creation of a dream in Sonoma's West County....
Check Out This Impromptu Singalong at Petaluma Whole Foods Market
The Heritage Music Theatre at Cinnabar Theatre in downtown Petaluma created a great guerrilla marketing event at the local Whole Foods Market. Imagine a fruit aisle stocker spontaneously bursting in to song from behind the pineapples and a bass player emerging from the cooler. Imagine yourself minding your own business shopping away when a half dozen singers burst into Woody Guthrie's stirring "This Land is Your Land" from over by the papayas and you get the idea. Woody Guthrie's American Song opens December 31st and runs through January 23 just down the block from the fruit aisle! For a taste, the video below is really worth watching to see the involvement of the shoppers grow as everyone gets in to this "Random Act of Culture." [tomatoframe width="480" height="390"]http://www.youtube.com/v/huSdqL1XlPQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"[/tomatoframe] PS If you want to check out the latest homes for sale in this town of spontaneously musical produce aisles, you can see them on a map by clicking the link on the right, or here....
A New Look in the Wine Country
If you don't live in Northern California you might not be aware that we don't have rain for about six months of the year, from April to October. Plant, animal and human life has adapted to drought conditions during the hottest months. But early October everything starts to look pretty parched and dusty. The hills are golden and brown, we have some of our best warm weather, but it is time for rain. Everything feels thirsty. Then the first rains come. Everything is transformed. We have probably had about four inches in the last few weeks. Now the hills are turning emerald green and they will stay that way till May or June. The trees and vineyards are turning all sorts of orange, red and golden tones. Every year I am surprised again about the incredible range of colors on our sunny days, from the emerald grass, to the colorful vines and the amazingly clear blue sky. I took this shot last week as I walked my dog. These colors inspired the new version of my blog design that you see today for the first time. After 3 and an half years, we were definitely due for a freshening, both of the design as well as some good new tools. Now it's back to writing about real estate and life in Sonoma County. Happy Autumn and thanks for visiting!...
Harvest Crush: a big Rush after a Long Wait
Wine country crush is underway, after a slow start and a strangely extreme summer season....
Don't Miss Sebastopol's Gravenstein Apple Fair this Weekend!
This year marks the 100th! Anniversary of Sebastopol's first ever Gravenstein Apple Fair in 1910. Billed as "The Sweetest Little Fair" in Sonoma County, it is a celebration of Sonoma County's long tradition of agricultural delights. Now many of the apple orchards have given way to vineyards, and Sonoma County apples have long been less competitive on the world markets than those from Washington State and China, but the early ripening Gravenstein apple is still a hallmark of the best in local farming and fruit! Thanks to Sonoma County Farm Trails for keeping this tradition alive! If you can't make it to Sebastopol this weekend, Sonoma County Farm Trails offers a great on-line and printed guide to year round food tasting activities and events at Sonoma County's many small farms and markets. ...
Finally the grapes are ripening
A snapshot of recent veraison in a Russian River Valley vineyard, Sonoma County, is another reminder of the phases of country living....
If You Lived Here You'd Be Home by Now–Scenes from Barrel Tasting Weekend
Today's rain should clear up and bring sunny skies and warmer temperatures for the second weekend of this year's Barrel Tasting Event sponsored by WineRoad, a group of northern Sonoma County wineries from the Russian River, Dry Creek and Alexander Valley appellations. If you are like me, perhaps your first exposure to the Sonoma wine country and our gorgeous back roads came from visiting friends during tasting events such as this. After many repeat visits, you begin to think, after a long weekend of wine tasting, gee, if I lived here, I'd be home by now....