Wine Predator Gwendolyn Alley at Cantina Antonelli in Montefalco, Umbria, Italy
Montefalco, Umbria at Cantina Antonelli
Alley on the radio
I’m also grateful to be “on your radio, on your radio, you’re gonna hear me on your radio” as Joe Jackson put it. If you tune into local CAPS Media Center radio 104.1 this week or online several times I’ll be talking about wine tasting with Nadine Piche on Ventura Vibe! capsmedia.org/radio. @capsmediacenter @venturavibe805 or listen live tomorrow, Friday, at 8pm. During the tasting, I’m featuring a wine from a winery I visited in early June, Domus Hortae in Puglia. The wine is made from the rare white Minutolo grape and imported to the US by Verovinogusto. Ventura, CA locals can even pick up this wine at the Ventura warehouse—and taste along with me! Post up about this wine and two other white wines from Domus Hortae plus pairings influenced by my visit to Italy this year.
I’ve been blessed with beauty… grateful for the gifts of 2025, for friends, and family and foster dogs too.
Nova
Last week I became an emergency foster mom to Nova when there was concern Nova had pneumonia and she needed to be quarantined from the other animals at the shelter.
- Read more about Nova’s backstory on Art Predator here.
- Read more about Nova’s pneumonia on Art Predator here.
On our sunset hike Friday to the Ventura Botanical Gardens, she was great! But by Sunday morning it was clear she was coming down with something serious, and I spent the day at the vet’s hoping to bring her home with me. Sadly she had to stay in the hospital, but after a lot of expensive care, she came home to us. It’s slow, but steady, and she has a long journey ahead for a full recovery, but for a few days there, it was very stressful and scary for those of us who have fallen in love with Nova. I watched her closely, wiped her nose, gave her medicines by hand wrapped in wet food which I would warm with hot water. Plus I would stay up late checking on her and bring her to go outside for potty breaks, I’d wake in the night to check on her, and I’d get up early in the morning to make sure she got her meds on schedule. Fortunately, her appetite is back, and she is sleeping well.
Nova post-pneumonia resting in the sunshine
Fighting pneumonia wore her out, so walks are brief. Yesterday we strolled up the gentle path from Ocean Avenue Park near my home, and she enjoyed smelling the plants which is a great sign that her nostrils are clearing!! She’s still on quarantine, but she is starting to wag her tail more and showing joy in her step as we walk. If you’ve ever been really sick like pneumonia you know that it will take awhile… and more doctors visits and meds and X-rays to confirm when the pneumonia is completely gone. Two strong antiibiotics, Clavamox and Baytril, help, and she will have continued medical expenses for on-going vet care and x-rays for the next few weeks. If you can, please DONATE and SHARE NOVA’S fundraiser to pay for her medical care —past, present, future: https:gofund.me/a7f4db918
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(So what are you grateful for? I’m grateful for comments also!)
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 