Oh, life.

Erm, hello.  As months go, November was a bit of a bust and I am happy it is over.  December is now here, thank goodness.
Time marches on and the Napa Valley is still busy with harvest.  However, it is not grapes that are being harvested right now.  No, it is the other crop, olives.  The olive harvest is in full swing and, at least to my untrained eye, it looks like it is a bumper crop this year.  Harvesting olives doesn't look like much fun, plain tedious if you ask me.  And the rewards are not as plentiful as from the positively-bursting-with-juice grape, although just as delicious.  I was talking to the gentleman whose crew was harvesting the above olives and he told me that he only expected a yield of 15 gallons of oil from each half ton bin.  No wonder good olive oil is so pricey.

Summer reading.

I should be well into the pile of books I put aside for my summer reading by now, but I'm a little behind. I have however started with the book on top - Garlic, Wine and Olive Oil by Thomas Pellechia - and I am quite enjoying it. How could I not, it is a book about three of my favourite things; garlic, wine, and olive oil...yum. If only it had a chapter about dogs.

Oil Futures.

"Except the vine, there is no plant which bears a fruit of as great importance as the olive." Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79).
I would agree, although I am quite partial to the humble strawberry. Vinomaker would disagree: He thinks any land planted to olive trees would be invariably better off if planted to vines.
Our neighbours have formed an olive oil cooperative and today was their olive harvest. I, for one, hope it was successful and bountiful as I enjoy the couple of bottles they give us...olive oil pairs well with wine.