Sitting upright in a chair is so last year. Anyone who’s anyone over here has a zero gravity chair which ‘enables a neutral spine alignment, improves blood circulation, relieves muscle tension and promotes overall wellness.’ Now, I bet you all wish you were lying in a sort of head-down-legs-up contraption too … a bit like… Continue reading Only in California …
Category: USA
How to be a Californian
Being a helpful sort of person, I’ve decided to compile a manual for anyone who, like me, spends a certain amount of time in California and would like to go native as quickly and as effortlessly as possible. If you follow my advice, you’ll find that you’re embraced as a local in no time at… Continue reading How to be a Californian
My first Super Bowl
If you’d asked me what a Super Bowl was, any time up until a couple of weeks ago, I’d have confidently told you that it was a delicious healthy lunch dish with rice, avocado, kale, quinoa and various other on-trend ingredients. But I now know better. Last week a new display of cakes and biscuits… Continue reading My first Super Bowl
Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
In 1914 William and Agnes Bourne decided to build themselves a home for their retirement. To this end, they bought 654 acres of land in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California, built a large country house and then surrounded it with 16 acres of formal gardens. Luckily William was the owner of one of… Continue reading Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
My First $300 Bottle of Wine
Robert Mondavi helped to put California wines on the map in the mid-twentieth century, and it’s good to see that his descendants aren’t just resting on their laurels (or their grape vines) and counting the cash they raked in when the winery was taken over. Instead they’ve set up a new winery in the Napa… Continue reading My First $300 Bottle of Wine
If you go down to the woods today …
In true Mr Toad style I have enthusiastically embraced a brand new favourite hobby … snowshoeing. It’s ideal for people like me, who want to enjoy the mountain scenery in winter, but have no desire to hurtle down a slope at 70 miles an hour, pitching headfirst into snowdrifts on the way down. The house… Continue reading If you go down to the woods today …
The Dangers of Drinking Wine
I wholeheartedly recommend holidaying in the company of a wine expert. Good wineries are researched, appointments are made, and all I have to do is turn up and taste the wine. Ridge Winery makes an award-winning red called Monte Bello which was one of the wines chosen for the famous blind tasting in 1976, known… Continue reading The Dangers of Drinking Wine