One of the things that has been keeping me so busy of late is the vineyard. Remember the vineyard? Twenty Norton grape vines I planted several springs back. I’m making my first batch of wine this year, about 10 gallons. It’s really an experimental batch; I’m learning as I go. I’ve learned that I already have made several mistakes. I almost hope the wine is awful, because making wine is a lot of work and bother. I wouldn’t have to do it again! However, it’ll be several months before we know anything for sure. More on this.
66 responses to “Cat in the Sack”
Husband started making beer from kits and turned out a really nice honey brown ale, rather like Newcastle. After a couple of years of beer brewing he decided to see if he could make wine, and has been doing that ever since. He does not, however, grow his own grapes. He orders grape juice kits from a store in Dallas, Texas that he visited when he was there on a business trip. He’s on a first name basis with the store owner.
I agree with Russ, making wind has never been labor intensive for me,
Blinky, I’ve found breaking wind easier than making wind! 😉
Aw, you guys. Just couldn’t resist the fart jokes, could you?
Thanks, Lily! Will it make me seem, like, creepy if I say I like Buffy the School Girl #4 and Buffy the School Girl #5 the best?
Which one(s) would you like, Munchkin? And by “like”, I mean “wear”.
The one I like the best is the leather pants and top and I would wear it in the wintertime, but I don’t own the pants. I sure run around in black minis and white tanks, with or without boots or logos. And I wish I had that coat!
The red leather pants and black tank top? Well, yeah. It’s been a long time since I last bought a pair of leather jeans. (For motorcycle riding. What did you think?) But I’m guessing those red ones would set you back a few coins.
Jerry in Fla alluded to “Rush” on yesterday’s blog. My daughter Alice likes one Rush a lot, but there’s another … one is a group, the other is completely different, a solo singer? That’s all I can remember … can you explain? Alice would, but she’s in Vermont. And the other one she doesn’t like much.
Bob’s grandmother used to make excellent wine from wild Florida grapes when she could get them. However, she was also known to use Welch’s concentrate. We made some of the latter this summer and it’s quite tasty, if a little sweet – a nice dessert wine.
Bob’s grandmother used to make excellent wine from wild Florida grapes when she could get them. However, she was also known to use Welch’s concentrate. We made some of the latter this summer (using her recipe) and it’s quite tasty, if a little sweet – a nice dessert wine.
Bob’s grandmother used to make excellent wine from wild Florida grapes when she could get them. However, she was also known to use Welch’s concentrate. We made some of the latter this summer (using her recipe) and it’s quite tasty, though a little sweet – a nice dessert wine.
Jerry in FL – I just posted on the wrong day too.
Repost:
I have always teased my maternal grandma about her love of ugly artificial flowers. I have nothing against artificial flowers, I have probably just as many (or more) as my grandma ever did. She had a massive collection of those old, plastic nasty poinsettias, daisies, and such. My new place has one of those black lamp-posts with the posts on either side. I ACTUALLY entertained the thought of a pair of those horrid, hanging fake geranium baskets. I’ve never been a fan of geraniums, they are only pretty for approximately thirty seconds before they start looking awful. I have turned into my grandma.
And I have yet to move the first box. Wanted to vacuum before bringing anything in, which is really hard to do with no power. Power company finally showed up late in the afternoon, just before the thunderstorms. 🙁 Honestly, I’m not too disappointed, my left knee is killing me. Lugging boxes down all those stairs does not sound too appealing right now.
Debbie – car coupes have two doors, sedans have four doors.
Is ‘Welch’s concentrate’ marketed specifically for winemaking? If so, that’s a nice turnaround. The inventor of Welch’s Grape Juice, some time in the 19th c., I think, was a Methodist. Historically, the Methodist Church has favored total abstinence, because of the demonstrable evils of strong drink. But wine is central to communion. Voila, non-fermented grape juice. We still use grape juice for communion, and when I had communion at an ELCA funeral last month, they had a choice of juice or wine. UMC still favors abstinence and says ordained sorts must abstain. Some don’t.
One who does just sent me and his sibs this picture of the aurora [borealis or australis?] as seen from the ISS.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bvb9o7PIIAImE8R.jpg:large
I would love to explain my comment but I would probably lose what little goodwill I have left.
Jerry, after looking at your comment today, mistakenly posted on the older page, I don’t see anything that would erode goodwill by explanation. From my perspective, explain away!
EMB,
Watching the Aurora is one the things on my bucket list. Photos are inadequate, even videos seem to be lacking. I want the full-sky experience. It isn’t something common for those of us that live in the deep south.
It is my shame that I took a cruise to Alaska and didn’t look for the Aurora. It completely slipped my mind. I was too busy talking, eating and drinking to go back on deck after dinner. Silly me. If we ever go again, I’ll look. But The Man In My Life has determined that we are going to see Europe the next few summers and ski in the wintertime. So that seems unlikely. I’ll probably never go back there, since I don’t travel without my friends.
Jerry, I now understand you about listening to the band Rush. No I never have and I doubt I ever will. I have no musical interests besides choir and classical.
Jerry – Never. I always enjoy hearing from you. I have not said anything about Ferguson either for much the same reason. I will just say, bad apples spoil everything for everyone and the current media approach of ratings before journalism has only one badly tarnished silver lining – we now have some idea of what festers in the minds of some of our less noble countrymen and even more disheartening, there are those in other countries who live in such fear their whole lives.
It’s one of the perks of living in N MN. I’ve not seen a good one in years, mostly / light pollution. The old neighborhood is actually farther into town, but nearby lighting there isn’t as bad.
Auroras are really something if you can get a few miles out under decently dark skies, and are always somewhat different. Lots of excited electrons up there. The gas giants have them too, only much bigger, but I’ll settle.
Lily: ‘. . . ski in the wintertime.’ I don’t know where you ski, but it’s north of where you live now, no? Ski in the daytime but look outside if the night sky is clear. No guarantees; it happens or not, and sometimes only a bit. Europe is generally farther north than you expect, so you may see auroras from there. I never did, but wasn’t as likely to look then. Also, they center over the north magnetic pole, which on our side of the North Pole now.
Been to Aspen twice, emb, and never saw a one. Course, I was usually drunk after sunset. Heh, “usually”…
Not even looking at a newspaper or internet news now. I am totally sick of any media report and maybe most of mankind. I know this is the history of the world just being enacted all over and over and over but I DON”T like it.
Going to bed sober.
Love, Jackie
Some activities are incompatible w/ others.
Sorry about the triple post. From my end it looked like it either didn’t post at all or only showed up once, at that time anyway.
What is this “going to bed sober” you speak of, Jackie? 😕