Have been here now for a full day.  Slighly surreal to have left winter in Wellington and arrived in summer here.  Uneventful trip – and aside from queuing for the best part of TWO hours to get through immigration in San Francisco and therefore missing my first bus to the Napa Valley – everything went very smoothly.

Because I was here last year, the bus trip was re-assuringly familiar – nice views of San Francisco from the bus, all the way down the Bay to the Golden Gate Bridge, and then in the Napa Valley lots of vistas of lush, green vineyards.

After some homemade pasta, good Wine and a tot of very good homemade (from Italian friends) brandy, I had a very good sleep.

Yesterday Caroline and I headed off to San Jose (about 2 hours from here) to visit an exhibition at the quilt museum of historic quilts and modern reinterpretations of them by a well known textile designer, Kaffe Fassett.  It was well worth the trip.  The historic quilts – all hand sewn – were amazingly complex and reflect a time when well-off women were expected to sew well and had lots of time.  The fact that the earliest ones (made in the late 1700s) survive at all is amazing.  The modern reinterpretations were very vibrant, but much simpler in construction.  It was possible to get really close and therefore see the stitching that give quilts texture.  And it was fun to be there with Caroline so we could discuss and critique them!  I’ll post some pictures in the next post.

There was also a smaller exhibit of ‘art’ quilts – which are meant for wall hanging rather than for use.  It was interesting to see the range of techniques in these small works – beading, embroidery, painting etc.

Quiet day in store today.  We head to Mariposa on Wednesday.