Columbus Day weekend is our pumpkin pickin', wine tasting weekend in Long Island, New York. A few of us cousins started this tradition last year and when the start of fall rolled around again we all decided that a return to the Martha Clara vineyard was definitely in order.
The weather was superb and I have to say that there is nothing like a big ol' picnic with wine and cheese and good bread in the middle of a field on a old fashioned wooden table. Everyone that was there at the vineyard (and it was packed to the gills this weekend) enjoyed watching their children play with everyone else's children. I mean, everyone that was there enjoying the succulent varieties the vineyard had to offer, watched ALL the children play together. I have yet to go out to an event that has the same comradarie and friendliness as the weekends at Martha Clara. It's one of the reason we drive about 2 hours to get there every year. There is just something about family and wine and relaxing in the outdoors.
Right before the sun set we headed on out to the pumpkin patch to pick the choicest pumpkins. I think we could have taken every one of those pumpkins home. They were all so beautiful and I'm really looking forward to carving one up as a jack-o-lantern with Francesco. The others will eventually get eaten in my annual pumpkin stew which is served in the pumpkin shell. It's a very dramatic dinner served with homemade herb bread. Mmmm....
Pencil drawing from sketchbook
Of course, a trip out to Long Island is always super inspiring to me and this morning I woke with country mice on the brain again. This time they were frolickin in the patches. I stole a few quiet moments alone to pencil down my thoughts. My mind is racing with ideas and my hands are tinglin to get back to work so I better calm both. Happy Columbus Day!
Another sketch from this morning
No comments:
Post a Comment