Saturday, July 15, 2006

Flamingos and Frogs and Cows, Oh My!

For a night with four stops, we managed to get through it in very short order. That's due simply to the luck of the route. It looks like the whole weekend's work will be that way even though we will be covering territory from Vallejo to Capitola.

Our first stop was to drop off a yard full of giant frogs. I love these critters but they just don't show up to their best advantage in the photos. It's that green on green thing. It's a perfect frog yard - the lawn is laid out like a pond, surrounded by shrubs and low plants. Not only do the frogs display well, but they are somewhat protected from passing critter-thieves. Every time they go out I fret a little because once these are gone, there will be no more. The mold has worn out.

Next, we delivered a herd of cows to a home right on the edge of wine country out in Livermore. The sender mentioned that the birthday girl has been experiencing a lot of wild life living here; wild turkeys, gophers, coyotes, deer, so why not cows? These are going to be very busy cows. They moove to another Livermore yard in the morning and then to Capitola for a Monday surprise. Rollin' rolllin' rollin', keep them dogies rolling, Rawhide! That tune is now stuck in my head!

Segue: A few years ago the Learning Annex offered a class in bullwhip. I was so tempted, but couldn't get any of my friends interested. You'd think that they might consider it just in self defense if they figured I was going to do it. I didn't go and as near as I can tell, it hasn't been offered again. Now that Rawhide is on my mind maybe I'll order this. But then where does one buy a bullwhip? EBay, I guess. Since that I am no longer in corpoorate management, I don't have as much use for this skill as I once did.

The final act of the night was to move the flamingo flock from San Ramon to Castro Valley. There was one bird missing from the flock, so it's good we brought extras. It annoys me that we have to plan on theft. The flock will stay on this yard for two days. They are scattered among many plants in the ground and in pots. It looks great. I think the flocks always look good, but some installations are more aesthetically pleasing than others. This one looked really good. I couldn't get a good angle to show it in the photo. I wonder if the sign will prompt any honking? If that line is gone when we get back Sunday night, I'll know.

Thursday evening I attended a NAWBO-SF. dinner. It is always a good networking event, and this one in particular was excellent. The featured speaker was Laura Zahtila, the owner of a boutique winery in Calistoga. We had the chance to taste her wines (excellent) and hear the story of how she got into this business (fascinating). Also featured were handmade chocolates and other sweet treats to enhance the wine tasting experience. Any event with wine and chocolate and a room full of middle-aged women is guaranteed to be a success. Dinner was good too, but definitely not the main attraction.

In keeping with the wine theme, this afternoon DBFA and I went over to Rosenblum's to pick up our wine club selections and do a little tasting. (I do this occasionally with my friend HJM. We can make an afternoon of it.) The tasting room was packed but we found a place at the counter. We started with the Chateau La Paws, Cote Du Bone (the owner is a veterinarian as well). It was so excellent that we quit right there, bought a couple bottles of that and a few of the Vintner's Cuvee Zinfandel (always a good deal), picked up our wine club package and called it a day. Hmmm - what shall we have for dinner so I can open one of the bottles of zin?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

ok, the frogs are cute! here from michele's

Anonymous said...

Hey, Michele sent me.
I love the cows, and the frogs, and the flamingos. It's all cute (and a supercute idea!).

Shannon akaMonty said...

YOU HAVE THE BEST JOB EVER! :)

If I ever move to your coast, will you let me work for you? ;)
It looks like so much fun!

Oh, and Michele sent me!

Anonymous said...

Pretty damn neat job you have yourself. :) Beats the corporate world I am sure. I found my way here via your all too kind comment at my little space and I am going to poke around a bit.

cheers,

P.

Unique Designs from Zazzle said...

Love those frogs! heh heh

Star said...

Sounds like an intteresting job. Much better thab corporate managmenet. Michele sent me.

Lazy Daisy said...

Great looking yard. What fun. I've never seen frogs or cows or buzzards. Michele sent me.

Anonymous said...

Hello, Michele sent me this time. People steal your critters? My goodness how strange a world! I like the frogs, didn't know you did them too.

Panthergirl said...

What a wacky job you have. But i love the idea of learning how to use a bullwhip. I could *definitely* use that at work.

Here via michele!!

Sarah Jane said...

Love the bullwhip girl - you should totally do it.

What fun!

Here from Michelle's again!
Vickie

kenju said...

I LOVE the frogs! I didn't even know that people did that. Since I collect frogs, I wish someone would send them to me.

I saw a lot of flamingoes at the beach this weekend; I might even have photos of a few, which I will post tomorrow, probably.

Michele sent me tonight.