Prima Bistro co-owner Jenn Jurriaans visits with Ott & Murphy Winery co-owner Diane Kaufman during the Spring Wine Dinner at the bistro in Langley. (Patricia Duff photo)

Duff ’n Stuff, May 20, 2013

If you love wine like I do, don’t forget about the wineries and their tours, concert events and tastings when inviting friends to the island.

Prima Bistro in Langley offers occasional events at which you can sit on the deck overlooking the Passage and eat and drink stuff. It’s one of those activities of leisurely indulgence that is made even more pleasurable by the company you keep. I happened to attend the bistro’s “Spring Wine Dinner” on May 5, which featured the rosé wines of some South Whidbey vintners and five-courses of imaginative delights by the talented chef/owner Sieb Jurriaans.

I sat with vintners David Ott and Diane Kaufman and literary lights, David Ossman and Judith Walcutt.

The wines we tasted were all deliciously pink and refreshing; one very different from the next. Look for them around town or at the wineries:

• 2012 Pinot Noir Rosé de Cultus Bay (grapes by Gene Felton, wine by Whidbey Island Winery) – big fruit with a crisp finish.
• 2012 Whidbey Islad Winery Rosato – a melon bouquet, hint of minerals at the finish.
• 2012 Useless Bay Winery “Rio Rosé” – spicy, sweetish and fruity.
• 2012 Ott & Murphy “Chanson Rosé” – crisp apple with citrus overtones, big finish.

The Laburnum arbor is in full bloom at Bayview Farm and Garden in Langley. (David Welton photo)

Anyway, if you can get over to the deck at Prima Bistro this summer for a sunny day with some of your friends, do it. You’ll love it.

More wine was had this past weekend at the “Libations under the Laburnum” event at Bayview Farm & Garden in Langley. It was a celebration of the nursery’s 20 years in business and local photographer David Welton was there to capture the magnificent golden blooms of the arbor.

Vintners Greg Martinez of Holmes Harbor Cellars in Freeland and Karen Krug of Spoiled Dog Winery in Clinton, were on hand serving up more wine for Whidbey Islanders during the festivities.

Greg Martinez and Karen Krug served wine at the Bayview Farm and Garden celebration. (David Welton photo)

Speaking of Spoiled Dog Winery, Krug sent out a release the other day about a lavender infused “verjus” that she made in collaboration with Lavender Wind Farm owner Sarah Richards.

Verjus is made from Spoiled Dog Winery’s estate Pinot Noir grapes (unfermented) and infused with the farm’s lavender.  The name is derived from the French “vert + jus,” or “green juice” and is pressed from semi-ripened, high-acid, low-sugar wine grapes winemakers thin from the vines just before picking the grapes for wine. The French have long used the stuff as a special culinary delight in dressings and sauces, much the same way one would use vinegar or lemon.

Verjus’ natural flavor enhances cooking by adding richness and complexity and pairs well with wines as a salad dressing, by itself or as a simple dressing blended with olive oil.  Krug posted some recipe ideas on the Spoiled Dog Winery website, for everything from salad dressings and actual salad recipes to using Verjus on salmon, chicken, pork and lamb. Yum!

Ott & Murphy’s award-winning Chanson Rosé is ready for labeling at the winery.

Anyway, if you’re into wine, Whidbey Island is its own pleasure palace of the grape.

Go to the Whidbey Island Vintners Association website or visit the Whidbey Life Magazine culinary/winery directory to find out more about who’s making something local and tasty in the fine culinary world of Whidbey Island.

From the heart of island wine country,

Patricia Duff

Who can resist a love song from “South Pacific?”

Now’s your chance to hear two veteran singers perform some of the most popular love songs from Broadway next weekend on the island.

Kate Matteson and Karl Olsen will perform a concert titled “Some Enchanted Evening” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 24 and Saturday, May 25 at Trinity Lutheran Church. They will be accompanied by Eileen Soskin on piano, with direction by Ken Merrell.

The concert is a donation-funded benefit for the island’s Veterans Resource Center and ELCA World Hunger Appeal.

The singers will peform staged excerpts with some dialogue from six musicals, including “South Pacific,” “Funny Girl,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Camelot,” “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “Carousel.”

Matteson is a longtime singer who played the leading role of Magnolia in the Broadway tour of “Show Boat,” which won five Tony Awards.  She also toured nationally as Hope in “Anything Goes.”

Olsen didn’t know that big musicals were in his repertoire until Matteson and Soskin convinced him to open himself up to Broadway.

“Eileen is full of energy and was eager to do another project together.  She suggested including a male singer, and we asked Karl if he’d consider it,” Matteson said.

Olsen is known around town for singing with the Shifty Sailors, a local maritime singing group, and as a member of the folk group, The Brothers Four. His day job is as the minister of music at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland.

Soskin, who is well-known for her pre-concert lectures on classical music on and off-island, has performed extensively as a pianist and a mezzosoprano. Soskin knows a good singer when she hears one.

Matteson and Olsen had performed together previously as soloists for Saratoga Orchestra’s Messiah concerts and on other occasions. Olsen had once asked Matteson to sing a duet with him at Trinity Lutheran, and the piece had a very challenging soprano part.

“Okay Karl,” she told him, “you help me get over my intimidation of singing high, classical soprano, and I’ll encourage you to become less inhibited onstage.  Do we have a deal?”

“Eileen and I were thrilled that he agreed to do this show,” Matteson said.

After a few rehearsals with Merrell’s first-rate direction, Olsen relaxed into the style and the team of artists had a show.

Merrell has worked in a wide variety of performance genres from musical theater to stand-up comedy and dinner theater. He’s also a local musician who plays guitar and sings for the Cranberry Bog Bluegrass Band. Merrell managed to pull Olsen out of his shell for this show.

“I think the audience will see sides of Karl that they’ve never seen before,” Matteson said.

It’s a bittersweet performance for Matteson, as she will be moving off the island this summer and this may be her last performance on Whidbey.

“I’m so grateful to be working with this talented and enthusiastic team, and I love that it’s a benefit for two important organizations,” she said.

Admission is free, and donations are encouraged.  Come early for the best seating. Trinity Lutheran Church is at 18341 Hwy 525 in Freeland.

Creative explorations in fiber and fabric.

That’s what you’ll find this Memorial Day weekend when 17 artists from Whidbey Island Surface Design present their work in their second annual Art Show & Sale plus Silent Auction for Charity.

This year’s event takes place at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts in Langley in the center’s Zech Hall. The show will feature silk scarves and wearable art in hand-dyed, glowing colors, contemporary art quilts and mixed-media wall pieces, beaded jewelry, handmade textile home décor and unique gifts.

The weekend-long event opens Friday, May 25 with a Meet-the-Artists Reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and continues from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 25 and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 26.

“Santa Fe Sunset,” a very special piece of art created by WISD member Mary Burks will be available to bid on during the silent auction, with the proceeds going to support the Langley charity Mother Mentors. The winning bidder will be announced Sunday at 3 p.m. (Look for a feature on Burks on Whidbey Life Magazine Thursday, May 23.)

While you’re there, be sure to check out WISD’s concurrent exhibition in WICA’s main lobby.

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts is located at 565 Camano Avenue in Langley.

For more information about Whidbey Island Surface Design and a complete list of artists in the show, visit the website.

(Pictured at top is a detail of Mary Burks’ “Crossing Over.”)

The workshop, led by instructors Susanne Newbold and Sandra Whiting, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 25. Cost is $90 plus $25 materials fee.

To register, please visit our website: www.sweetwatercreekfarmstudio.com

So it’s that time again already. The lilacs are blooming, hummers are at the feeders, and as the new bunny emerges and the sun is starting to shine. Who wants to stay inside and write?

I was out to have a glass of wine with friends this week and one of them asked me a question I get asked a lot: “What is your writing schedule?”

So I thought as the weather continues to warm and try its best to lure us away from our typewriters, computers and writing desks, I would share the rules of writing that keep me on track. This is not so you can spend the days indoors, but so you can get your writing organized and done and enjoy the glorious weather guilt free.

For a couple of years now I have followed a writing practice created by producer/screenwriter Scott Myers. He calls it 1,2,7,14. You can read the full version of here.

What is so great about this way of working is that it is simple, and once you get the swing of it, you will see how it works easily in your life, especially on a sunny day!

This is a format created for screenwriters, but I bet it could easily be adapted for a novel writer, too.  So this is how it works; you just have to remember these four important numbers.

1,2,7,14.

“1” Read 1 screenplay per week. (Or a book if you’re a novelist.) Pick out your favorite movies. Try scripts in different genres to experience different tones and atmospheres. But every week, read at least one full-length movie screenplay. There are several great sites online to get scripts. My favorite is the Internet Movie Script Database because it provides full scripts, with all the action lines included and not just a transcript.

“2” Watch 2 movies per week. (Novelist could watch a classic) Go to the Clyde (or your local movie theater) and watch one movie for sheer entertainment value. Rub shoulders with a real crowd to remind you of your target audience. Then watch one movie at home to study it. Note its major plot points. As I am writing a thriller at the moment, I am studying Hitchcock, the master of suspense.

“7” Write 7 pages per week. (This works for writers, too.) That’s one page per day. It may take you 10 minutes, it may take you an hour, but however long it takes, you knock out a page per day so that every week, you produce 7 script pages.

“14” Work 14 hours per week prepping a story. (Also great for writers to get into the habit of doing it.) While you are writing one story, you are prepping another. Research. Brainstorming. Character development. Plotting. Writing one project, prepping another. Two hours per day so that every week, you devote 14 hours to prep.

Remember these simple numbers: 1,2,7,14.

Those are simple, clear goals. Daily goals, weekly goals.

If you do this, here’s what you will have done in one year’s time:

• You will have read 52 screenplays.
• You will have watched 104 movies
• You will have written 2 feature-length screenplays.

So, why not enjoy the nice weather guilt free? Get up early and write that first page; download a screenplay to read in the sun in the afternoon; prep your story once the sun goes down; then save your home movie watching for the weekend and make it an outdoor cinema event in your own back yard.

Have a lovely summer!

Suzanne Kelman is a multi-award winning screenwriter. Two of her screenplays have been optioned and are in development, while another is in pre-production and due to begin filming in Europe this year.  Kelman will run a week-long screenwriting class during the summer at her home studio in Bayview, the dates of which will be announced on the magazine. If interested, email suzkelman@gmail.com.

ASW’s Ginger Schmidt gives WIAC’s Frank Rose a check. (Photo courtesy of WIAC)

Artists of South Whidbey greeting card chairperson Ginger Schmidt presented Whidbey Island Arts Council’s Frank Rose with a check for $700 for the council’s artist-in-residence program through its Arts in Education Community Consortium at South Whidbey Schools.

The money was funded through sales of cards displaying images of artwork by ASW members.  South Whidbey merchants who carry ASW cards include Ace Hardware in Freeland, Useless Bay Winery in Langley, and Bayview Farm and Garden and Casey’s Arts & Crafts in Bayview.

Other funds come from the silent auction of members’ artwork which takes place annually at the ASW art show in July.

Look for the free Whidbey Festival of the Arts from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 7 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 8 at South Whidbey High School.

Not long ago, at the end of a long day of partnering the right plants to the right people, Bayview Farm and Garden owner Maureen Murphy found herself under the golden tresses of the Laburnum arbor in the heart of the nursery.  As the setting sun lit up each bloom into a golden glow Murphy thought, “This is so beautiful.  I really need to share this with everyone!”

Bayview Farm and Garden owner Maureen Murphy stands under the arbor of blossoming Laburnum at her garden center in Langley. (Photo courtesy of Bayview Farm and Garden)

And so, as a celebration of 20 years in business, Murphy has decided to host an after-hours party under the arbor, to thank friends and neighbors for contributing to the success of the nursery and to enjoy the beauty of the arbor in all its springtime glory in the evening sun.  The “Celebrations of the Golden Blossoms” is from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 18, and will include wine tasting from four local vintners, hors d’ oeuvres provided by Murphy’s daughter and chef Nekoda Acosta and music by Trio Nouveau.   Everyone is invited.

In 1993, Bayview Farm and Garden was little more than a glimmer in Murphy’s eye.  A small greenhouse and 5 parking spaces were the extent of the business.  As the nursery grew, so did an obsession for Murphy:  She envisioned a living tunnel of Laburnum trees.  Commonly called “Golden Chain Tree,” Laburnums bloom mid-May, and have blossoms similar to wisteria vines.   She planted saplings, small enough to bend to her will and train onto a metal structure.  With careful care and attention from Murphy and her staff through the years her dream of a tunnel of gold has become a reality.

Murphy came to the nursery business partly through her family’s business of manufacturing greenhouses and partly through a long journey of discovery of the natural world through travel.  She found that the nursery business could be an intersection of her love of the natural world with the world of commerce.  It would also allow her to make a living on the Island while raising her family.  She studied horticulture at Edmonds Community College under the tutelage of Dan Hinkley, the now rock-star plants-man.

“I really couldn’t be doing what I am doing without Dan Hinkley,” Murphy said.

After running a wholesale nursery from her property, she decided that a retail nursery would allow her to grow the business, while bringing her love of plants and the environment to the public.

From the start, Bayview Farm and Garden has shunned chemicals.

“It was really hard at first.  We would get laughed at for not carrying herbicides and pesticides,” Murphy said.

“I did all this research — before the Internet, mind you — on soil science and how to make organic fertilizers — because there simply weren’t any on the market!”  Murphy would buy organic products from farmers, like bone meal and alfalfa meal, and come up with recipes for various fertilizers.  “Basically we were selling home remedies.  I got mocked at nursery trade shows, believe me.”

But she never wavered from her principles.  Standing up to the good ol’ boy network of national nurserymen at conferences, she would ruffle feathers but ultimately make an impression and see changes happen.  In 2001, Bayview Farm and Garden was recognized by Garden Center Magazine with Innovator of the Year honors for their pioneering use of only organics.

“It is believed that Bayview Farm & Garden was the first garden center in the nation to go “green” from the start, helping to create the movement toward non-toxic garden,” Murphy said.  From that point on, she was invited to sit on panels and make presentations and became a nursery rock-star in her own right.

Beyond using her business to educate the public about plants and right use, Murphy said there’s also the aesthetic aspect that’s important.

“I truly believe beauty is essential to life.  ,” she said. “It is as critical as food and water.  It’s not just something to have now and then.  Beauty has the power to heal the spirit, and I feel that creating beauty in the world is definitely a part of my mission.”

Everyone is welcome to raise a toast to beauty with Murphy and the staff at Bayview Farm and Garden under the breathtaking Laburnum arbor this Saturday.

Wine tastings will be provided by Spoiled Dog Winery, Blooms Winery, Comforts of Whidbey, and Holmes Harbor Cellars. Music will be provided by Trio Nouveau.

Penny Webb is a writer, musician, landscape designer and mom.  She is currently working on her memoir, planting a new rockery, and bribing her kids to do their homework.  

We will make book covers using collage materials. Students are welcome to bring any preferred prints, drawings, or other collage materials desired for covering their books. We will spend the morning making the covers and the afternoon stitching the signatures into the book. We provide written and visual instructions and all supplies. Each student will leave with a handmade book.

Cost for the workshop is $90 plus a $25 materials fee. To register, please visit our website: www.sweetwatercreekfarmstudio.com

Here’s an admission.  I don’t really “get” Twitter, and don’t have much faith in its value for those of us who are not celebrity tweeters.

I have a writer friend who said she has 14,000 followers, and who admitted she doesn’t actually “read” anything they post or follow any of the conversations on Twitter. My guess is that those 14,000 “followers” aren’t reading anything she writes either. Sounds like a big waste of time to me. I mean, I understand the networking value, getting one’s name out there and all. But, really, what is the point?

The other day I was working when I noticed a “Tweet” came through from a colleague. Even though it remained true to the minimum of 140 characters or less requirement, it had within it five! links. By the time I had clicked on each link to see where they all led, 40 minutes had passed and there were about 300! new Tweets to look at when I went back to the feed. What?

How are all these people having the time to read all this stuff, to follow all these links that lead to articles, news stories, photos, etc? What am I missing here? OK, I know that everybody doesn’t follow the conversations of every Tweet, but I just don’t understand how anyone, especially people who need to be doing work in their respective fields, could possibly have time to follow Twitter in any productive way, unless it is the only thing they have to do for their job. How are people who also have to devote hours to their work, family and play lives having time for Twitter? Some of these feeds have thousands of followers or more. “What the what?” (as Liz Lemon would say.) Are we becoming a society of  trash pickers; Tweet-feeders wasting time around the online water-cooler, unable to focus our brains long enough to read something of substance?

Punch eyes a family of ducks at Swan Lake in Coupeville. (Patricia Duff photo)

As editor of this magazine, there is nothing more important to me than making sure I stay on top of the comings and goings of arts and culture on Whidbey Island. Within the confines of this relatively small area of land, it’s a fairly manageable task, with or without Twitter and Facebook (and for the record, I know Facebook is a different kind of tool and works beautifully for spreading the word.) But I was relieved when I heard a story on National Public Radio that talked about the emerging popularity of the long-form article and a return to good, investigative journalism; a backlash of sorts against the cabal of short, sharp, shocks we experience daily on the Internet via Twitter and other social media sites. Hallelujah! No longer do we have to follow the race to the bottom of our tech-obsessed world, where it seems everybody and their mother has become a journalist, writer or blogger, adding to the glut of information in this overly-informed society. Quick, cheap, non-substantive trash is no longer the only form being developed online, and there seems to be good segment of the population who feel the same way I do about Twitter and other cabals of technology.

Longform.org is a website that recommends new and classic non-fiction from around the web. It looks for pieces that are more than 2,000 words and that are freely available online, culled from popular publications such as the  New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, the New Yorker magazine, Slate, Esquire, Playboy, and others. There’s also a Longform Fiction site.

It’s refreshing to see a site that promotes textured reporting – the long, investigative style reporting that’s sometimes hard to find amid all the flotsam swimming around the web. This site acts as a kind of filter and encourages readers to take their time to read a good story, rather than pushing them to rush through and click onto the next site, Tweet, blog, etc.

I understand how valuable Twitter can be to journalists in the fast-moving world of breaking news. And yes, astronaut Chris Hadfield performing David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” aboard the International Space Station and tweeting it to the world is very cool, but that’s an exception.

I just think it might be a waste of time for some of us who are being led down another time-sucking rabbit hole.  I think we have to be very careful about how we spend our time in this current society, because there are so many insidious time-suckers these days.

“The Homecoming” Penn Cove Water Festival logo was designed by Roger Purdue and created by artist Michael Ferri.

I, for one, would much rather spend extra time outside in the hinterlands of this island, perhaps down at the pond staring at a family of ducks with my dog, than wasting time bent over a screen looking at short blurbs of mainly nothing much on Twitter.

See you outside.

From the heart,
Patricia Duff

An upcoming outside event! Don’t miss the Penn Cove Water Festival in Coupeville from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 18. 2013 is the 22nd year of the Penn Cove Water Festival, bringing the historic Water Festival to a new life as our Native community and neighbors participate in their annual tribal canoe races, and townspeople gather to celebrate our history and the waters that surround us. Visit the website for more.

Patricia Duff is a journalist, freelance writer and the editor of this magazine.

The Gourmet Dinner by Cultivar and Chef Vincent includes an “entertaining, fun-filled, magical auction” and will be held at the historic Bayview Hall at Bayview Center, Whidbey Island on Saturday, May 18, 5 p.m to 9 p.m.

Whidbey Children’s Theater has been “A Home Away from Home” for thousands of kids, ages 4 – 18, for over 30 years. The benefit will allow WCT to reach more children through innovative and collaborative theater programs. Since its founding, the organization has provided dynamic theater programming focused on giving youth a safe and supportive place to develop their creative voice, express themselves and build self-esteem, confidence and identity.

Seats can be reserved by calling 221-8707. The cost is $75 per person and seating is limited.