Hardware Store in Wine Country

I avoid trips to The Home Depot whenever possible. Their products are fine, but not the shopping experience.

So while my husband was studying the map to get us from one winery (Bella Luna) to the next (Le Vigne), I startled him by saying, "Look at that hardware store, I have to stop."

 

We were in downtown Templeton but it felt like we had gone back in time.

I half expected to see Opie from The Andy Griffith Show.

Or at least a Templeton version of Opie!

The place is immaculate. Wood floors.

 Every item in place. Dust free and label facing forward.

Admittedly, the folks that run it are pretty 'OCD'  (they said it, we just agreed, ha ha).

But that just adds to the charm.

Along with the old-fashioned cash registers.

And the bank safe that has been around forever.

It has a stair step door frame so that if robbers try to shove nitroglycerin to blow it up, it will only settle/seep into the first of many 'stairs'.

Clever design, no?

We walked through all the aisles.

Impressed by the decent prices.

Felt the urge to support the business.

Established in 1899 and operated by the Hewitt Family since 1923.

Which is why we left Templeton with a shiny new mailbox and stick-on numbers displaying our street address….

Cocoa, Ovaltine, Belgian Chocolate, Fluff and Marshmallows, oh my!

Milestone birthdays deserve CAKE.

Even if the person you are celebrating is more of an apple pie lover.

So I scoured the internet for a show-stopper and found this multi-layered decadent cake on Sweetapolita.

I read the recipe several times.

Figuring that the amount of butter listed for the frostings MUST be wrong.

SIX STICKS !!!!

Oh boy, this cake was going to be show-stopping and possibly heart-stopping.

But most of all, it was delicious.

.....let's hope our hearts are still pumping long enough to celebrate another milestone, ha!

Cardiff Kook Run 2016

Sunny, in the 70's, big crowd.

Fewer costumes than previous years but still quite amusing to watch along Pacific Coast Highway on SuperBowl morning.

Feel the energy….

(or lack thereof at the end of the route)!

Best Costumer Ever!
A couple running, IN A SOFA…..

….munching on potato chips, before the SuperBowl.