Pietra Santa

This is tasting room for the Pietra Santa Winery in the Cienega Valley above Hollister. I always forget how beautiful and magical it is up by the winery.

Pietra Santa is Italian for Sacred Stone. The sacred stone in this case is the amazing soil from which grape vines and olive trees grow to produce crops for award winning wines and olive oils. To learn more about Pietra Santa, check out its website or Facebook page.

A Hitching Post

On the north side of Hawkins Street, between Monterey and San Benito Streets, is this concrete hitching post from a long time ago. Perhaps as far back as the early 1900s. If anyone knows more about this hitching post, please leave a comment.

A Tree for a Tree

Lately, I've noticed the demise of long-time trees around town. That tree stump, for example, was on San Benito Street last week.  Neighbors on my street pulled out several handsome Italian cypress more than 20 years old because their roots were starting to disrupt the neighbors' water lines. The other day, I saw trees laying on their side in an orchard and wondered if the owners took them out because they couldn't water them.

Hopefully, the trees will be replaced with other types of trees or some kind of plant life that are drought resistant. We need plant life for the simple reason that they produce the oxygen we breathe.

A Few Rock Faces of the Pinnacles

See the faces in these rocks at the Pinnacles National Park. Happenstance of nature or did some people of long ago start carving the faces?  Interesting ponder, no?

Have a great Sunday. See you tomorrow.

Hacienda de Léal

The Husband and I experienced another first yesterday evening. We attended a function in the courtyard of the Hacienda de Léal in San Juan Bautista. It was quite pleasant, sitting beneath the Manzanillo olive trees as we talked with friends, ate pizza and desserts from The Grove Restaurant, and watched the night fall.