There's No Place Like Home...But Where Is It?!!!

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Yes, Australia is still home for us, but we are continuing our peripatetic lifestyle, making about 4 trips to California each year for a month or so each trip.  Over the last 8 years, we have made do with a very small one bedroom condo in Oakland that we viewed as a sort of hotel-room-away-from-home, and it served us very comfortably and well.  Still, after 8 years, and realizing that our back-and-forth life will continue for some years, we realized we'd be a lot more comfortable if we had a bit more space to live in when we are in California.  And so, a few months ago, we bought a larger condo in the small village of Glen Ellen, in Sonoma County.

This trip to California has been about getting the Oakland condo cleared out and ready for sale, and getting the Glen Ellen place set up as our new U.S. pied-à-terre...a comfortable place with room for occasional visitors, still near enough for Ross to visit clients in Silicon Valley when needed.

Wednesday was the final trip from Oakland to Glen Ellen, with the car loaded to the rafters.  As we drove into Sonoma County, we were greeted with such lovely scenes that I wanted to capture them, even from a moving car!  The vineyards have a long, continuous row of yellow banksia roses, with the occasional white one tossed in for good measure, and this rose hedge runs along for miles land miles.  




As you look across Sonoma Valley to the east, you see the beautiful Mayacamas range -- Napa Valley lies on the other side of that range.



Such a lovely part of the world!  We are so lucky to be able to enjoy it when we are here!

Today was about a visit to Petaluma, to visit Knitterly, a really nice yarn shop, where I managed to find some beautiful MadTosh Merino Light to make a pair of socks for my sister, Tracy -- by special request, which makes it especially fun, and she wanted purple, too!  Found two gorgeous purples -- of course, I couldn't decide between them, so I bought both.  I know this NEVER happens to you!  Tomorrow I will need to make a choice and get knitting...pics soon!

Knitterly is definitely worth a visit, should you ever find yourself in Petaluma:


Oh, and next door was a very cool old brick building that was so picturesque I just had to take a few pics.  I think a couple of these would make very interesting paintings...or quilts!  Can't draw or paint to save my life, though...




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