Firehook Bakery's ( Cleveland Park ) Grape-Trellised - Wine Anyone? - Garden & Waterfountain In 2009 : Summer? Morning Before I Started Work

D.C.'s wild wine grapes : let's make some wine from them ? Anyone?!?


This was one of those mornings That I believed I was having car problems and so I took both the bus and the metro to work and arrived early. This meant that I still had time on my hands before I showed up at work. Here I was in the Cleveland Park N.W. neighborhood on a sunny, bright morning and what was I to do?




Look at the tiny, fragile sweep of the " new growth " or tiny green orbed pearls - it's a loose-spread string of green pearls here of the grape vine that will grow and fatten and get more pregnant with each day ( so many close-clustered/ sister'ed fecund and early pregnancies all in one bunch ). They will also become more beautiful and retain and display so much more life and sheen and shine and luster as they grow and that is always fun to observe as well ...

I am glad to have this photo ...


I got my coffee and croissant I think inside the Firehood Bakery four or so store-fronts down from Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits where I manage the wine department and headed outside to the enclosed grape-arbored/trellised courtyard/garden ( it used to be owned by Aroma Italian restaurant for many years ) and looked for a place to sit. I was of course very interested to see where the vines and the grapes were in their development as this point?




I immediately recognized some of my customers and went over to say " hello " before finding a place to sit. I saw my friend here with her sunglasses above sitting down and chatting with her male friend or colleague? I can't remember just now as it is Sunday afternoon here at my home in northern Virginia at 2:12 PM on January 24th, 2010.

I found these pictures at the store as I was looking for some inspiration to add here on my chatart blog spot and these certainly fit the bill in a large way once that saw them. They work as art on so many levels. Nature's as well as man and women' art. It took artistic vision to create this grape-trellised courtyard that continues to charm and delight to this day - even now in January 2010 when it is very chilly and cold. You can enjoy it but just not as long as the cold creeps under and into and between layers of clothing now as we are still largely bundled-up to combat and keep it at bay now ...

But this spring in 2009 we did not have to worry about any of that.



I love this photo above and it may be the single best one that I took next to the shadow of the grape vines on the stone ground of the courtyard with the multi-colored gray, green, black and purple - all shiny as if oiled feathers on the pigeon. To quote Bert of Sesame Street ( he sure would be proud of me here ) : " Doing the uh-uh pigeon ! ... ".

It's great to see first the head of brown hair and the sunglasses up close and then to realize that in each of the two dark-tinted sunglasses that the Canon camera and I have captured two completely different views out back here in this grape-trellised courtyard of the Firehook Bakery. It's amazing ; I really enjoy enlarging this picture here on my screen to better see what has indeed been captured. It's sort of like capturing the bugs hundreds of years ago in what becomes this amazing amber that women all over the world wear. My mother taught me about amber and like here I have grown to love it ...








Hello Linda, it sure is nice to see you here with your friend enjoying some outdoor time away from home and away from work ...



The lush canopy of these grape vines growing strong and wild and so lushly green and verdant is such an inspiration made even more dramatic and spectacular with the blue skies behind as well as the bright sun and all of it's shine, too ...




I love this smile and I also really enjoy the reflections here as well in the dark frames of the sunglasses. It's not as dramatic or as visible : but they both reflect the other side of the courtyard on this sunny, bright, blue-skied morning in Cleveland Park N.W. in Washington D.C.




This bright whitened sun and the white clouds almost form into the shape of the croissant that i held in my hand and would soon enjoy ...

These wispy white clouds above on a baby-blue sky framed by the lovely cut edges of the grape-vine's green leaves both in dark silhouette as well as some lighter green as well as some reds and yellows in the center of the leaf ( visible as the sunshine filters a bit through ) is pretty wonderful, too ...




Look how many people have gathered out back to drink their coffee, eat their croissants, muffins, bagles, cookies, etc ... and just enjoy starting their days in such a relaxed and friendly way as they chat and listen and breathe deeply-in all of this splendor ...




Sunshine, whitened-out blue skies, dark brown old vines and new vine-growth all make a great close-up of living patchwork here ...




The vine's " new " growth and the leaves here with a splendid blue sky, sun and all it's glorious shine as well as puffy-wispy white cloud islands moving ever so slowly across the blue is pretty unbelievable and yet so appreciated and welcome here in D.C. ...




Old brown, matted, brick and mortar white serve as a perfect reflector to all the amazing and wild and vigorous green folliage and growth of these vines as their really young grape clusters begin to form as opague, matted and tiny dull dark green orbs ( sometimes greener and more bright, depending on the sunshine as it hits and bathes them or not ). It's fun to observe.




Sunshine and shadows and shade and one pigeon close to me and my feet and that I quickly framed and snapped and shot as to preserve this moment as it looked for food on these large pieces of dull gray cut stone outside ...




Sun and shade and green and faded dull red bricks as well as sunglasses and reflections within as well as baseball caps, running shorts and someone on their cellphone ... all part of today's world here back in April or May of 2009? I don't remember which month this was exactly ...

Nice, enjoy these photos and do go to the Firehook Bakery here on Connecticut Avenue N.W. across from the Uptown movie theatre here on Washington D.C. Buy whatever you want and then escape outside for a few brief moments of warmth and wonder and relaxation outside in this largely unknown, hidden grape-trellised courtyard. It's wonderful way to enjoy some coffee and other threats and to get away from the hustle and the bustle of life in a city - in this case, in our nation's vibrant and busy capitol ... TONY

P.S. : I have more pictures that I may add soon. In the meantime enjoy these. Cheers ... Happy New Year

January 2010 @ Cleveland Park, D.C., Sara & Mother & Friends Just After Veteran's Day Weekend With The Rolling Thunder '09, Vite Ink Portrait Sketches

Sometimes people just show up in my life : that's one reason that I love working in one place where people know that they will find me a lot of the time. I like that : it really helps to sustain me through the long days of work that I love but are also quite fatiguing by the time you get close to the end as it was on this evening.




I love to document and preserve things to as to refer back/ go back to them at some late time.
In this case it was last night - Saturday evening on January 23rd, 2010 in Cleveland Park N.W. Washington D.C. as I scanned through some of my older pictures taken last year in 2009. I was looking for inspiration and stories to add to my blog sites. I was also looking to bring some closure to 2009 as I knew that I had many pictures and many stories that still remained to be formed and later seen/ put on this screen in a scene or scenes of sorts - as each photo in and of itself is a complete scene to be seen?!?! Yikes! Too much ' I want to scream - with joy, oh boy! Of course ... Mr. Ed is a horse of course .... remember that old t.v. series Sara? I know your mother there leaning on my office door remembers Mr. Ed the speaking horse! How timely it is that out of the hat/bag I should pull this bit of trivia Sara as my brain waves somehow were led to it by bits and pieces of words and trains of thoughts/ tangents leading from one wee connection into another one of more import and meaning ...




I have you all smiling here as you got ready to move Sara. Your whole family of friends and family came to help you and to celebrate. I am glad that you wound your way towards my store as those that come here I believe make up my larger family and I like this thought very much as I know I have told you all over the years. It was especially nice to have your mother here.




We were all gathered in the office because I was showing you my blogs and I believe that the one we were looking at here was the one of the motorcyclists all gathered in D.C. for Veteran's Day celebration ( Rolling Thunder ) recently. I was showing you some of the pictures that I had snapped before arriving at work on that recent weekend.

I think this was all inspired by your shiny navy-blue Vespa that I once saw outside the store when you showed it to Mike Martin and me. It sure was big and impressive. That was still when the other Sara was still living in Cleveland Park ...




This was a nice serendipitous time and I believe that later we went out to the tasting table and celebrated with some sparkling wine and i drew quick portrait sketches of you all that I gave to each of you after completing them. I only wish that I had taken pictures of you holding them up in front of you so that I could have a memory of them.

It's my art and my gift to both the people that I sketch as well as to preserve and capture the moment and in my own artistic way put my stamp on it. I think that most people appreciate this and I sure do enjoy doing them.




I always catch people off guard as they do not see it coming and then they have trouble understanding what I am doing and believing it as I am doing these sketches. I do not look down at the paper as I do them : I look directly at the person and do not ask them to pose for me. They talk and move and I hope are not too self-conscious as I do them. I try not to direct attention to what I am doing but people do notice and do comment even when they do not comment with words. I can see it in their expressions and gestures and I just continue to draw them all the while : no matter what.

I am looking for fluidity in the quick sketches of their heads and faces. I may do four or five within a ten-minute period - sometimes even more. It depends on my sense without looking down as to how the mood may have changed and how much ink I may have already applied.




Sometimes I want the sketches quick and easy and more of a line outline without too much detail. I want one quick impression before they move and change the position of their head and gaze. I like these a lot and always try and include some as they, too tell part of the story.

It has become my great pleasure to do these and have now done them for perhaps five years or more? I believe that I started them back with Alphonse Mellot of Sancerre, Loire Valley France. He visited the store and did an in-store wine-tasting with Laurent Givry the president of Elite imports with Cindy back in late 2005 or was it 2006? I only did one of Alphonse or was it two? I gave it to him and I understand that he now has it framed and in his office. Laurent saw this and was quite surprised. I'm glad that he shared the news with me because it does let me know that it does mean something to those that I sketch quickly.

Anyway, this was a lovely visit with Sara and Matt and the others. Cheers and Happy New Year to you all and until we meet once again and recreate this wonderful moment all over again...
Enjoy, TONY

January 2010 In Washington, Virginia/ Colorful Colors, Shapes. Textures To Text,/Elevate/Not Inebriate! Cheers ...

Valentine's Day is coming soon : Here's a preview of the " new " sweeter-style sparkling CA. CHANDON rose that tasted great to me this moment! Cheers and Happy New Year!




We tasted so many wines this Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 as I we saw wines sales people, owners of wineries ( Paul Ach of Austria's PAUL ACH Vineyard in Burgenland ), owners of their own companies ( Al of Nice Legs imports ) and more ...




We tasted these wines/ vineyard's-winery's wines : TAKING ROOT ( from Moldova some excellent Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris as well as some excellent Bonarda red in a blend, too ), CORTEM ( both from Moldova )/ DEMOCRACY ( Virginia, Jim the owner brought us both his new dry apple wine and new dry red blend ) / CHANDON( sparkling off-dry rose and the dry Pinot meunier red that's blended to make the bubbly ) / PAUL ACH ( Austrian reds of Burgenland : the Zweigelts and the Blaufrankisch indigenous grapes ) / KLEE ( Oregon Pinot Noir )/ JESEBEL ( Oregon Pinot Noir )/ STERLING ( Organic CA. Sauvignon Blanc )/ ROSENBLOUM ( CA. " Desire " sweet Zinfandel with chocolate infusions - GREAT for VALENTINE'S DAY! )/ RUST EN VEDRE ( Stellenbosch dry red blend, South Africa )/ ...




I've got more to include here and yet I got caught and cut off as it was time for me to get back to my other work. I will finish this by Sunday or sooner. So, in the meantime enjoy these fun pictures that show me : Anthony Quinn - one day in my life and how truly rich it is for me and how blessed I feel to be able to enjoy it on so many art levels as well as others, too ...

Cheers and stay-tuned for more really soon ... TONY