The Whole Gang!
And one of Aiden (that James captioned) that I thought was perfect
Needless to say the kids were ecstatic to be all together...and hope it is a glimpse of a new normal emerging. It is hard on them when they can't be together.
And, of course, James and Nicole were thrilled!
And Emma's newest pets
"Spot" and "Lily" and the "frog-atat" that James built for them.
So...the end of a pretty spectacular week.
And (although it still has about a month to cure) the white wine has clarified!
It worked :) And I siphoned off enough for an early tasting...just to see where it is at...
And a bit to "taste"
A light fruity "nose", nice colour- and the alcohol content cut drastically last week with the addition of filtered water and light pear juice. Crisp...with, what promises to be a nice pear finish.
Dubbed
Gypsy Winery- Message in a Bottle Wines
"OMG...It Worked!"
Début White
Vintage
2014
The Message in This Bottle will be "Pairs nicely with Fresh Fruit, Gouda, or Dessert"- I think.
When it finished curing I am going to siphon off and do a mini-bottle to share with "Idgy" over September...by then we may even have a Blush or a Honey Mead, as well. Enjoy a mini-wine tasting, together.
Starting the Blush on Monday.
Two books this week. Both Non-Fiction. Both exulting the joys of Fromage!
The Joy of Cheesemaking by Jody Farnham and Marc Druart
and
The Whole Fromage by Kathe Lison
The former, a nuts and bolts approach to cheese-making with numerous recipes and suggested pairings and uses.
The latter, more of a winsome Journal of cheese-making and tasting throughout the French Countryside and some suggested not-to-be-missed cheeses of France.
Loved the recipes and ideas for meals made from the different cheeses in the first...but the second was closer to my heart...and I have made a list of samples I have to buy and try...in a few instances buy, import and try. An entertaining, informative, and compelling read.
Still waiting on the new Water's novel...but did manage to find one of her's that I had not seen before- Affinity. About half-way in now...and it promises to be just as good as "Fingersmith"
Working on a new canvas over the weekend...a beach scene again with another earth-shattering kaboom of a wave against a large rock off shore based on this photograph...but probably a different sky and no barnacles on the rocks.
And hoping to try Mark's recipe for a round of Rosemary herbed bread over the weekend...since my herb basket has an over-abundance of it.
And as long as we are talking about herb(s)
A smile and nod to my buddy in Colorado, Ralph...who reminds us it is Fair Time in The State that just legalized Recreational Marijuana...
That is RIGHT...Elephant Ears, Deep Fried Twinkies, A Funnel Cake and a Joint.
"Is this a GREAT Country or what???"
~laughing~
Have a wonderful weekend!
