57 Cumberland Street, San Francisco CA 94110
Phone Number: +1 415 738 2112
Nadine 415 595 0023
Colman 415 871 9920
Skype: nadinemellor
Dearest Family and Friends
January was characterised by brilliant sunshine, burlesque shows, watching films, and much communing with nature. New Year’s Resolutions fell by the wayside within two weeks but we (mostly) stuck to being vegetarian for the month – falling prey to weak will only when perusing menus in the tempting gourmet restaurants hereabouts. Although the following paragraphs appear to give the lie to this statement, we have had a quiet month, working hard and staying in a lot, hanging out with Adam, Rob and the DLG. But we made the most of living in such a beautiful part of the world by getting out at weekends. And we had the visitor’s book inscribed for the first time! Expedition of the Month
We don't have a car. Parking is notoriously difficult in SF as this sign indicates, so it's much better to sign up to Zipcar (a scheme where you pay for your hire car by the hour, petrol is included, and you leave it clean and drop it off nearby). Our first Zipcar expedition took us south along Highway 1 beside the Pacific on one of the most spectacular weekends of the year; the great thing about SF is that the city becomes beautiful rugged cliffs and wild beaches within minutes. 
South of Half Moon Bay we stopped at Pescadero Marsh Reserve and seawards saw lots of seals sunning themselves on rocks, beautifully camouflaged and with impressive whiskers. The beach had picturesque driftwood and soft sand; we found a small lake inland of Highway 1 and walked around it for an hour or two, spying at least 20 different bird species (a few I’d not seen before), just nonchalantly feeding, displaying, bobbing, dabbling, diving, or in the case of the osprey, just patiently sitting waiting for prey to surface – truly glorious. 
We drove on an hour south to Monterey, famous because John Steinbeck lived there (Cannery Row is set when the town was the sardine capital of the world before overfishing collapsed the industry in the 50s; Steinbeck would be turning in his grave to see his name used to commodify culture and foster mass tourism). Now the visitors flock to its first class aquarium, on the site of a sardine cannery. Beautiful Monterey Bay has a unique 10,000ft underwater canyon, kelp forests and a nutrient rich sea, which allows for a huge variety of marine life. 
The aquarium celebrates this diversity with vast tanks devoted to the Kelp Forest and the Outer Bay. Surprises included the mesmeric jellyfish whose luminous orbs and tendrils rose and fell with the current, the size of the waterdynamic sea otters, the extraordinary sunfish which resembled a Dr Who monster created from Styrofoam - and the non-cage aviary which held a collection of waders and ducks – astonishing to see how petite they were, and how delicately marked are their feathers close up.
Next morning, we spied red breasted mergansers and sea otters confidently breasting the Pacific surf just outside our seafront B&B. We could have stayed there for hours, but the call of Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing back up the coast proved too great. In the shadow of a power plant is an inland waterway teeming with birdlife. 
We were captivated by a snowy plover, 4 inches long, darting along the foreshore at our feet, and by the variety of water birds (divers, herons, waders, ducks), more sea otters floating on their backs nibbling at kelp while gulls tried to poach dinner, and excitingly a white-tailed kite hovering above. 
Final stop on our adventure was our four-hour whale watching boat trip - we saw sea otters, seals, sea lions behaving like dolphins, and sea birds including scoters and common murres. The sea was like a millpond until our skipper pointed us in the direction of some white water ahead. Thrillingly this was a school of some 500 short-beaked common dolphin which had not been sighted in the Bay for the last 18 months. 
The school rode the bow waves beside us, we could hear them clicking to each other, and watched them swim and leap around. Phenomenal. The 10 gray whales we later encountered from more of a distance were much shyer, but we saw them breach and blow on their journey from Alaska to Mexico. The journey back was less eventful aside from cheeky western gulls following the boat close, taking food out of hands.
The weekend was rounded off by Colman getting caught for speeding on the freeway! Now we know why Zipcars are so called…
Costume Party of the Month
San Francisco is famous for vintage clothes and eccentric sub-cultures. But we hadn’t expected costume events to be so prevalent and well attended. There is a big scene here for dressing up in period outfits – someone is making serious corsetry money in this town – and as befits a small city, there’s a sense of intimacy as all the performers are the audience and vice versa. Loyal and enthusiastic supporters cheer on their friends’ musical and artistic efforts at these fun nights.
Colman took me (and Rob and John) as a surprise to the Hubba Hubba Revue which featured lots of swing dancing (it is very big here), and a series of burlesque acts made up the first half – some amazing costumes shed in quick succession: all feathers, fans and veils deftly manipulated. The second half saw the superb Lee Presson and the Nails take to the stage. A pun on fake acrylic nails (a joke that had to be explained to us afterwards) the 10 piece band featuring a big brass section played covers of 30s and 40s hits expertly embellished with a sinister twist by the lead singer, a born showman with spats, high waisted pants, braces and impeccably brilliantined hair and pencil moustache, who proceeded to shed his costume throughout the show.
Last weekend it was Colman's turn for a surprise: an Edwardian Revue called Sunday Gorey Sunday, in the Great American Music Hall, a lovely 1907 Belle Epoque venue (SF’s oldest nightclub) which had hosted the sold out annual Edwardian Ball the night before - this celebrates the art and stories of the late author/illustrator Edward Gorey. The costumes were stunning – bustles, hats, veils, bowlers, umbrellas, waistcoats, corsets, plus fours, petticoats – and some were actually ballroom dancing round the dance floor. The musical acts in the revue were more experimental (Loop Station are an electric cello and a singer); the burlesque act was excellent, and revealed little flesh in perfect tempo and patterning.Film Club
Most weeks we get together with Adam and Rob to watch a movie at someone's gaff. This month we watched Blood Diamond, Kinsey and Pan’s Labyrinth. Colman and I also saw Babel and Venus, I also watched United 93, The Holiday, and Dreamgirls. Pretty much all of them had merit – the most ambitious and surreal Pan’s Labyrinth, the most poignant is Venus with the stand out double act of O’Toole and Phillips, United 93 is an exemplary piece of film-making, and Babel and Blood Diamond both signalled a shift towards important global themes in studio pictures.
Birthday of the Month
Adam turned 40 and we celebrated in style at the famous Vietnamese fusion restaurant, Slanted Door, beside the ferry terminal with views of the Bay Bridge on the Embarcadero. We were a jolly table of 14 – Colman and I fell off the vegetarian wagon and munched happily through fish, meat, anything put in front of us. Afterwards we adjourned to a cool and intimate bar touting itself as an old style Speakeasy which you have to pre-book and get in only with the correct password. The cocktail list was extremely impressive – Colman went for the marmalade whisky sour.Walk of the Month
Two days later, after hanging on online for Arsenal's agonisingly close glorious victory against Man U (we can only access sport via the BBC website), we set off to walk to Sausalito across the Golden Gate Bridge. The first hour across town wasn’t the most prepossessing but after we collected Adam and his friend Patrick over from Australia for the birthday event, the beauty of the Presidio (a former military camp now eucalyptus wood and park), and the views over the Bay unfolded. 
Another glorious day with hardly a cloud in the sky. The shimmering water, studded with sailing boats, and the SF skyline stretching out to the Bay Bridge were only surpassed by the Golden Gate’s ‘International Orange’ against the azure sky. 
Adam and Patrick turned back at the first bridge span while we carried on to Sausalito, a distance of 10 miles it turned out. The terrific ferry journey back across the bay brought us close to Alcatraz – next month’s expedition!DLG Event of the Month
Sadly we were unable to join the DLG for skiing in Tahoe - next year. But we hosted mid-January and it was a great night. The DLG are such a nice bunch, Jason’s tequila gift was put to good use and I think Amy summed up the evening best: ‘a lovely DLG! Those who weren't there missed a night of tequila, patent-leather shoe modeling, debauchery, and yes, stripping.’ Visitor of the Month
Last weekend Colman’s brother Patrick came to stay (thanks Rob for the blow-up bed – the sofa bed arrives any day) and we drove over the Bay Bridge (for the first time in my case) to the East Bay and explored Berkeley. We walked along the ridge in Tilden Regional Park, completely shrouded in mist in the morning, which cleared enough by lunchtime to reveal the valleys around us. 
After a yummy tapas lunch (thanks Patrick) we wandered around the impressive Berkeley campus, taking the lift to the top of the campanile for extraordinary silvery mystical views westwards to San Francisco, the uprights of the Golden Gate Bridge just visible.Restaurant of the Month
Foreign Cinema in Mission for Jecca’s birthday was a close contender, but for the more unusual dining experience it had to be Cha Ya, a vegan Japanese restaurant round the corner. Although occasionally draughty, with an impenetrable menu and off puttingly bright with canteen style décor, the cuisine was anything but. The best miso soup we’d ever tasted, yummy tempura, delicious sesame dressings, delicate cucumber salads, rich udon concoctions and who knew you could do such imaginative things with tofu?Wine of the Month by Mission Boy
Thomas Fogarty
Gewurztraminer
Monterey ‘05
Most people raise an eyebrow when I tell them that the Irish have been at the heart of the wine trade for centuries. But I point to the Lynch’s and the Barton’s whose names remain on the most illustrious Medoc Crus. So how could I resist a Fogarty labelled as from Monterey, once the capital of the Mexican state of California. (more on the labelling later).
Even it was a Gewurztraminer. Gewurz’s can be notoriously hit and miss. This is not a subtle grape. A good one is divine but a poor one is all elbows and knees. No grace.
This grape originates in Italy (‘tramin’ refers to Lake Tramino), headed north to Germany where its trademark spiciness was noted (‘Gewurz’ means spicy) and spread to Alsace where the best known old world examples are made.
Fogarty’s Gewurz is a brassy gold. It looks rich and boy does it deliver. It has a sumptuous nose of apricots but without the sickliness that Gewurz sometimes generates.
Its got a smooth and rather sweet entry with terrific rich texture and oodles of fruit. On the first day the wine this was compromised by a sour disjointed finish with very prominent alcohol (yes it weighs in at 14.2%), but this was cleared by a day of air and cool serving (say slightly above fridge temperature). The breathing awoke a range of smoky and spicy flavours we hadn’t had upon opening.
So on day two we had rich unctuous drink that could be used either as an aperitif (just one glass) or as something to have after dinner. Don’t pair it with food though. If it doesn’t clash like pink and scarlet it’ll probably obliterate any food flavour with its alcohol and fruit.
Bird of the Month
A very tough call as we saw so many wonderful birds in Monterey. But the Bufflehead Bucephala albeola – won through. An attractive small diving duck that nests in trees and hangs out in small flocks, with the male characterised by his big round head with white patch at the back. We saw a flock in Pescadero doing what can only be described as a synchronised swimming routine in a butterfly motion with their legs out to the side and wings flapping in the water all in unison - apparently their courtship display. Stencil of the Month
There's little graffiti on the walls here; it's all on the pavement.Bumper Sticker of the Month
Those Who Ignore History are Condemned to Repeat It; Those Who Ignore Nature are Condemned to Deplete It
Missing you all very much – come and visit – still a great exchange rate!
Love and hugs Nadine and Colman xxx
