This week around home we have continued to harvest lots of tomatoes and beans. Cathy made some green salsa from our garden’s tomatillos. I started a new wine, Plumbarb made from plums and rhubarb. The highlight of the last week was the 2nd anniversary of the day I married Cathy. We celebrated by going on a 3 day trip to Pagosa Springs and Crested Butte.
We spent the first evening at The Springs Spa. 18 hot pools along the San Juan River ranged from 97 degrees to 112 degrees. We tried out all of the pools except for a couple of the coolest ones. I jumped straight from the 112 pool and the 109 degree Lobster Pot pool into the cold San Jan River.
The second day we visited the Last Chance Mine above historic Creede, CO. $150,000,000 worth of silver was mined there during its heyday. We collected specimens of amethyst, sowbelly agate and native silver. We also found a beautiful opal and peridot ring for Cathy at the mine’s gift shop. We finished the day by watching the sunset over the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in the National Park of the same name.
Our 3rd day we went on a wildflower hike above beautiful Crested Butte, spending a nice time sitting on a bench overlooking Judd Falls. We followed that up by visiting quaint little Marble, CO where some of the highest quality white marble in the world was mined to build many of the monuments in Washington, D.C.
We got home late that night the day before our anniversary. Our anniversary dinner was scallops, lobster and ripe shishito peppers in butter sauce. It was a delightful 4 day celebration.

I’ve been meaning to start my blog for quite a while and finally decided the time is now. My recent book, about creating and growing bonsai that bear an edible crop, Bountiful Bonsai, is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and most local bookstores. After 2 gardening books about bonsai, I’m switching gears a little to write about one of my major hobbies, home winemaking which I did introduce as part of Bountiful Bonsai. I’m about to sign a deal with Storey Publishing to write and publish the book Craft Wines. I will also write about my other interests including rock collecting, fishing, hunting, wildflowers and nature in general. Soon I will also publish an e-book version of my first book, Herbal Bonsai and a collection of philosophical essays titled, Hunting the Wild Quantum: The Adventures of a Hillbilly Savant.

I have a 200 case wine cellar going back to 1986 with 137 different wines, only 3 from grapes and several vintages of many of those wines. In particular, I’ve made blueberry wine 10 years in a row. The most memorable of which is a vintage I named Blueberry Bride. My then fiancé, Cathy, stomped those blueberries the week we got engaged and we then served that wine at our wedding reception. My most recent wine is Chamomile, in glass for secondary fermentation and a banana wine currently in primary fermentation. I have several vintages planned to start this fall, including some with hot peppers I am growing in the garden. Stay tuned for updates about my winemaking activities.