early morning peace

Living with a pessimist when you're an optimist

2009-07-09T13:05:00.002-04:00

For the last 19 years I have been married to a man I love with all my heart. We have four kids, have moved several times and have shared many interesting experiences in our journey. It took me a long time to figure him out, actually, I'm still working on that. But my biggest issue with him is his pessimism. It wasn't until I learned the meaning of pessimist and optimist that I could really begin to "get him" and his attitude towards just about anything in life.

When we were having our first baby, I remember him saying "watch, he'll probably come in the middle of the night," or "he'll probably cry all night." I used to back it up with "it is entirely possible that he comes during the day and doesn't cry much at all, have you ever thought of that?" I remember so many moments when he would take the negative approach to the situation as opposed to just seeing the positive side of thing and that just made me angry and we would end up in a big fight over what? Nothing that really mattered. I just didn't know how to handle his attitude or his outlook on life.

Today he remains the same, although, he does try a little harder to not ruin a nice moment by throwing in his two cents of negativity. Recently I heard him say "just plan to go broke when we don't sell the house for the asking price." I, on the other hand, expect we will sell the house and everything will be fine. No need to needlessly worry myself or the kids at this point.

He says that he would rather think something wont work then if he does he's pleasantly surprised, rather than think positively and be disappointed if things don't work out. To me that's just backwards. I mean, I think one can be a realist at the very least. I don't see any benefit in thinking negatively all the time.

Negative thoughts stress me out, make me feel defeated before I even start, take away all my energy and everyone pays. I don't like me with that attitude. Living a positive life fills me with energy, I become more aware of the beauty that surrounds me and while the possibility of disappointment may be there, I can look back at the experiences in my journey and still be happy, even when things don't go my way.

We've grown together and matured, somewhat, still maintaining who we really are but learning to accept each others quirks. I seek out quotes, poems, books, and stories that are inspirational and feed the mind in positive ways. He reads them and never comments on them probably because he will most likely find something negative to say. He does make me laugh sometimes, which is probably my way of putting up with his negative ways. I often wonder how he comes up with those comebacks...amazing.

The moral to my story is that we all have quirks and not everyone likes everything about us. We need to always work hard to learn all that we can about the people we love so that we can better understand their behavior and hopefully they will reciprocate. One thing is for sure, our kids are and will be well rounded. They are mostly very positive--thanks to me-- but depending on the situation, they are able to be realist and see the potential negative in a situation without letting themselves drown in it--thanks to dad.

I'm sure we wont be living in a cardboard box after all is said and done. It's all good!

Blue Monday- Kids fun day

2009-07-06T06:55:00.006-04:00

Blue Monday is hosted by Smiling Sally. Visit her site to see what other blues are being posted today. Sometimes I forget how much blue we have around us.

This weekend we took only our two youngest to see the fireworks at the Yorktown Victory Monument. It was definitely different not having our older kids running after the little ones. We don't make them do it, they just do. Well this time we had to be like the young parents we were with the first two, except those are not 15 and 18 and our babies are 7 and 2.5.

They were wild!! It was so much fun watching them run around all over the place. I just kept thinking how great they would sleep at night. My little bear, 2.5, wanted to run everywhere. I think he'll be joining the track team because he loves to run. It was hillarious. My little peanut, 7 kept wanted to do gymnastics on the lawn or as I said in my post from yesterday, she wanted to play make believe volley ball without a ball.

We were quite the clows but we had a great time and the kids really enjoyed themselves and yes, they slept until 9:30 am the next day.

I am having technical difficulties...aka...ready to throw my PC out the window and stick with a MAC...grrrr!

Have a great Monday everyone!

Making Memories on the 4th

2009-07-05T10:00:00.001-04:00

U.S. Airforce Heritage of America Band

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So I set out to make some wonderful memories for my little ones and I think I did okay. We often see the fireworks from a distance and it's been a while since we've been this close to the action. We made it to the Yorktown festivities last night without any problems. There were thousands of people there but the event was so well organized that parking and leaving the parking lots not an issue at all. That was my only concern.

We arrived early enought to find a spot on the lawn and let the kids run around for a while. We had a great time playing fake volley ball. Yes fake, we didn't have a ball so we made believe we did and played down to running for the ball and hitting the deck to keep it from bouncing. It was quite hillarious and at first people looked at us like we were out of our minds but the kids were having such a great time and laughing so much I could hardley stop. After a while I could see them turning their head from side to side as if they were truly following a ball. I think they were following the reaction to each player.

The baby seen here calm, had a major breakdown just before the fireworks started. Once he saw the first light.....
and heard the first boom, he was set --

They both sat there and oohhed and ahhhed the lights in the sky. I have to admit, this was the best show I have seen. I don't ever want to miss another live fireworks event again. To top it off, the event was enhanced by live music playing in the background and that really tied in well with the lights and the people. We were all one nation, under God!! It was a thing of beauty and we were so glad to have been there to experience this live. There's no better way than to sit under the stars and watch as these mini rockets go off and creat such awesome beauty.

I think it's safe to say that we created some memories last night!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have to recognize that celebrating the American Independance in Yorktown, VA is truly an honor as so many events during the revolutionary war took place in Yorktown. Here is the link to learn more about this topic.

Victory Monument

How the Allied Victory at Yorktown
Won American Independence

Celebrate the 4th!

2009-07-04T07:30:00.004-04:00

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

~The Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

Photo by LeLisa

I am planning to pursue a little happiness in the faces of my children by taking them to the 4th of July celebrations in Yorktown, VA tonight. It will be busy, lots of traffic, lots of people but my kids will remember this event for ever. The smell of the fireworks, the diversity of the people, food, and music, all represent what we celebrate today...Independence Day!

I hope you all have an opportunity to celebrate, be with family and friends, and create very special memorable moments in life!!

Be safe and have a great time!

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About Wine: the making of wine

2009-06-30T07:30:00.004-04:00

Once again, I bring my edition of About Wine, this time we learn how the wine is made. Very interesting stuff. If you're new here you may want to start this journey by reading the first About Wine article and follow that with About Wine: Wine Tasting. Visit Neil (who recently visited Hong Kong) at On The Grape Vine to learn more about the Australian region and wine.

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Before we go any further on our wine journey, it might be just as well to summarise, in a very simplified way, how various types of wine are made.

So let’s just concentrate first on white, red, rose and sparkling.

It should be mentioned at the start that most grape juice is white ie. clear. For instance Pinot Noir, a red grape is used in the production of sparkling wine eg. Champagne. It is the skins that give red wine its colour and most of its tannin.

1a. Dry White Wine Production.

Destem and crush grapes.
Drain the juice off the skins and press remaining juice from the skins and return it to the free run juice.
Add a wine yeast to the juice to begin fermentation where the sugar in the juice is converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide. The higher the sugar content of the juice, the higher the alcohol content of the wine.

Drain wine off the fermentation lees, which are mainly a sediment of dead yeast cells and grape solids, and let all the remaining solids settle out over time.
Drain the clear wine off any residue. This is called racking and may need to be done a few times.

Bottle.

For those wanting more details (and pictures) about white wine making in very basic form in my micro winery check out: http://onthegrapevine.blogspot.com/2008/02/vintage-2008-begins.html

1b. Sweet & Semi White Wine Production.

We know that fermentation converts sugar in grape juice into alcohol. In dry white wine that sugar is virtually all used up by the yeast and the wine is considered dry.

If the fermentation process is stopped before the sugar is used up then sugar obviously remains and the wine is considered sweet. White wine with a residual sugar content of 10-30g/L is semi sweet, 30-100g/L (or more), sweet. (Sorry I don’t know the imperial measurement for that unit!)

Another method of production is to ferment the white wine to complete dryness and then add concentrated grape juice to the desired sugar level.

2. Red Wine Production.

Destem and crush grapes.
Ferment the juice and skins together.
Drain the wine from the skins which are then pressed. Add the pressings back into the wine.
Drain wine off the fermentation lees and transfer to oak barrels for clarification and “oaking”.
Drain clear wine off any residue.

Bottle.

For those wanting more details (and pictures) about red wine making in basic form in my micro winery check out: http://onthegrapevine.blogspot.com/2007/04/vintage-2007.html and

http://onthegrapevine.blogspot.com/2008/04/end-of-vintage-2008.html

3. Rose’ Production.

Initially process as a red wine but only let the wine ferment on the skins until desired colour is achieved ie. from a few hours to a few days.
Then process it like white wine.

4. Sparkling Wine Production.

Select a single wine or blend (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier etc.) that has been specifically made for sparkling wine production. Usually it is white but can be pink. This is called the base wine.

For a really cheap sparkling:

Bubble carbon dioxide through the base wine in a refrigerated pressure tank.
Filter.
Bottle.

for a little more upmarket sparkling:

Place base white wine in a refrigerated pressure tank, add sugar and yeast. The yeast ferments the sweetened wine. The carbon dioxide evolved from this secondary fermentation is absorbed by the cold wine.
Filter.
Bottle.

This is called the Charmat Process.

For an even more upmarket sparkling:

Yeast and sugar are added to the base wine in a bottle
After secondary fermentation occurs in the sealed bottle, the now sparkling wine is transferred under pressure to a tank.
Filter
Bottle (in a different bottle).

This is called the Transfer Process.

The traditional and best (and most expensive) way of making a sparkling wine eg. Champagne:

Yeast and sugar are added to the base wine in the bottle it will be eventually sold in.
Secondary fermentation occurs in the sealed bottle.
After some time, the bottle is manually turned in a rack twice daily and gradually brought to the upright position (neck down). The lees from the fermentation process eventually settle in the neck of the bottle leaving the remaining wine clear. This is called remuage (riddling) and takes about 3 weeks.

To remove this deposit, the neck of the bottle is immersed in a freezing solution which freezes the lees plug into a solid mass. The seal is removed and the internal pressure in the bottle expels the plug. This is called disgorgement
The bottle is then topped up with some of the same wine and a sugar/wine solution. This is called dosage or liqueuring.

Bottle is corked and wired.

This process is called Methode Champenoise or Methode Traditionnelle (traditional method).

It should be pointed out here that only sparkling wine made in the Champagne district of France can be legally called Champagne and only it can be made by Methode Champenoise.

Hence we have kept to the generic term ‘sparkling wine’, the best quality of which is made by the traditional method. But it’s all the same thing, really.

So there you have it. We have left a few other wine types out like botrytis white wines eg. Sauterne and the fortifieds like Sherry and Port so if there is any interest in these, let me know.

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Thank You Neil for an informative post!!

I'm running our of steam...

2009-06-28T13:37:00.003-04:00

Today, Sunday, I woke up with every intention to attend the 8:30 am service at our chapel - of course it was only 2 am when I woke up and 6:30 am when I finally fell asleep again. It has been quite the week and I've been stretching myself too thin. As I sit here writing I realize that next week is not exactly going to be easier so I must, must, must write down what I need to do or I will have a break down. I enrolled my toddler in a 3 day pre-school program and my 7 yo will go to all day camp 3 days a week at the gym. This way I will have time to get and keep the house ready for showing.

This past week I've gone to work, trained a few people, driven children to their destination, helped decorate for Vacation Bible School and yesterday I hosted a birthday party for my little peanut- she's now 7--Wow! I had 8 kids over for an afternoon of water fun in the back yard. Boys and girls playing together, sometimes nicely and others...well, kids play is always unpredictable. But it was obvious to me they were having a great time getting themselves wet. Then it was time for me to spray them and it was war time as they each tried to get me wet.

Thank God parties have a limited time because I would go absolutely nuts with that many kids under the age of 9 competing for water balloons, my attention, the sprinkler, slip and slide and the hose. Whew!! My daughter was in heaven and I was ready for a nap which came shortly after the kids went home. By Saturday evening I was completely exhausted. I tried to watch "Horton Hears a Who" with the kids and passed out on the floor.

Now I'm trying to re-energize myself for next week. Vacation Bible School every morning, getting the house ready for the market when I get home - have to finish a few details before showing time begins. I WILL go to the gym every morning or I will lose my mind.

I will be back with some of the following updates:

* Water play at the Birthday Party

* Cinnabon Clone Cinnamon Bun Recipe

* About Wine

* The Lee Hall Depot has been moved

* Blue Monday and Outdoor Wednesday

* Summer Reading - small steps and making progress

Have a great week everyone!

Outdoor Wednesday - the sun and clouds

2009-06-24T08:37:00.004-04:00

Susan, our host for Outdoor Wednesday has an awesome list of participants. Go see, you never know what beauty you might find in someone else's outdoor.

I have so much to share that I'm finding it difficult to pick any one topic so I will have to come back to give you more of my world in a later post. For now, enjoy these sky pictures. I just love the view of the sun hiding behind the clouds. This was taken at a park near home where my daughter was playing field hockey.

Enjoy and visit Susan to see more outdoor stuff!

About Wine: Wine Tasting

2009-06-17T17:45:00.008-04:00

Photo by: smcgee

This is such fun information particularly if you are interested in wine and all the little details about wine. My friends often ask me what type of wine I like and my usual response is "the type that tastes good." What? isn't that enough? Nope..apparently its kind of cool to know a little about all those different flavors, heat, wet or dry, etc.

So here's a nother great post from Neil at On the Grapevine.

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There is a lot written about wine tasting. A lot of it can be pretentious and over the top.

So let’s try to stick to basics here and keep it simple…..and fun.

Wine tasting involves three senses.

Sight.
Smell.
Taste and mouth feel.

So pour yourself a glass (well, not a full glass, around 30mL or 1 oz is best) of your favourite wine and follow these steps:

Tilt the glass slightly and check its clarity. It should be clear, not hazy.
Look at the colour against a white background. Note the shade (hue) and depth (intensity) of colour. A young white wine can be anything from water white through green to straw yellow. They darken towards orange/brown as they age. Purple can mean a young red wine. Brick red can mean oldish. Brown can mean really old (and possibly off!). You may have to tilt the glass and look at the rim of the wine to get the best idea of its colour. And the colours should be bright, not dull.
Swirl the wine around the glass and look at the liquid remaining on the sides of the glass as it slides back down. These are called the “legs” and indicates the viscosity of the wine which is related to the alcohol content. The more legs the higher the alcohol content.

So far so good. You now have an idea about the wine’s age and condition.

Not too hard so far.

Swirl the wine around the glass and sniff the wine. Put your nose right into the glass. Not too many sniffs however, a couple will do.
Think about what you are smelling. Any off smells? Sulphur? Vinegar? Mould? Nail polish remover? Wet hessian (burlap) bags? None of those, I hope! Now you know the wine is “clean” (or otherwise).
A couple more sniffs. What do you smell? Fruit? If so what sort? Flowers ? If so what type? Berries? Toast? Smoke? Cigars? These are the aromas of the wine. There are many more descriptors and it’s up to you to decide what they are. No one else can smell what you are smelling. Aromas fall into three categories. Primary fruit characters (that which the grape imparts to the wine and each variety tends to have a more or less distinct aroma eg. Riesling = citrus), developed fruit characters (what happens to the primary fruit characters on ageing eg. Riesling = toast and honey) and winemaking inputs (the result of what the winemaker has done to the wine during production eg. oak maturation). Experience will eventually allow you to differentiate. Don’t try and recognise everything now.
So what do you think? Were the aromas intense, medium or light? Did one smell dominate or was the over all impression one of harmony? Now you have an idea of the flavours to follow.

This is not as difficult as you thought, is it?

OK, here comes the best part.

Take a small sip (around 10mL) and move it around the mouth for about 10 seconds. Think about the flavours and the feel of the wine in the mouth. Then spit it out, or much better, swallow it. (When you are tasting 200 wines a day say, as a wine judge, swallowing would have you on the floor by lunch time hence the spit alternative).
You may have heard some experienced wine tasters making peculiar noises at this stage. They are sucking air into their mouths to help the wine release its volatile components which enhances the wine’s flavour. Absolutely no necessity for you to do this.
The taste components will be sweet, acid and possibly bitter along with flavours that have the same descriptors as the aromas. The wine should have a good balance of sweetness and acidity (one should not dominate the other) and hopefully no bitterness. Flavours can again be described as intense, medium or light. You should notice a change in these components the longer you hold the wine in your mouth. And the more diverse the flavours, the more “complex” the wine is considered to be.
After swallowing, the taste may linger for varying times at varying intensities or in some cases, not at all. This is known as “length”. Longer is better.

Another perceived taste is that dry, puckering of the mouth associated with tannins in red wine. These come from the grape skins as well as the oak during storage. This is really not a taste but a textural sensation ie. mouth feel. Tannins can be described as soft, silky, grainy. They should never dominate a wine.

Other textural features (and just not limited to red wines) include creaminess, viscosity, the “weight” of the wine in the mouth, “heat” where high alcohol content produces a warm feeling at the back of the mouth after swallowing.

So now you have an overall impression of the wine.

In time you will learn to look for:

Any wine faults
Varietal nose and flavour
Flavour and component balance
Richness and fullness
Complexity
Pleasant mouth feel
Length and finish

Some may think this is all too much trouble and are happy just to enjoy wine as a drink. Nothing wrong with that.

But if you are interested in knowing more about wine, all this will help you understand what you like or dislike about the various wines varieties and styles you try. And hopefully this will encourage you to look for new experiences in the world of wine. It’s really a never ending adventure out there.

Visit Neil to learn more about wine and about his homeland, Australia.

OW! A Birthday Bouquet

2009-06-17T06:43:00.003-04:00

Today is outdoor wednesday and I have to say, it is a very special day to me. Please visit Susan, our host, at A Southern Day Dreamer, for more outdoor stuff.

Now back to today being special-- It's my birthday--yay! I'm excited because I am blessed with the gift to celebrate yet another year with my family and friends. Another year of adventures, learning, giving and receiving the joy of life from everyone around me. I don't look at it as getting old, growing gray hair or new wrinkles - nature will do what it has to do- to me it is definitely a day when I look back at all I have done, the lives I've touched and the ones that are still with me today and say "Thank You God for this fantastic gift!"

So I share with you my birthday bouquet of flowers. A collage from the pretty little things I get to enjoy on this peaceful morning. I took these pictures around 6:15 am, it's raining a little, and the weather is cool. Perfect day! Enjoy the flowers!

Blue Monday - Warm Days of Summer

2009-06-14T19:13:00.003-04:00

Blue Monday is hosted by Sally at Smiling Sally. Visit her blog to see what others are sharing.

Here you have it, a set of pictures that speak to the upcoming season. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy!

He's leaving my nest

2009-06-12T12:34:00.004-04:00

This week I have been working very hard to not think about all the momentus changes taking place in our lives over the next six months. I work hard to not cry and keep my cool. I work hard to maintain balance among the little ones, the friends, the co-workers, the students and all the people in my life. However, eventually something's gotta give. As I was driving to the gym this morning, this time for me and not anyone else, I found myself crying. My first born boy is graduating High School tomorrow and although he will be living with us over the summer, in September he will be leaving my nest to attend Westminster Choir Collage in Princeton, New Jersey.

He has been a true gem, an incredibly independent, self motivated, hands-off young man who pushed himself harder than anyone to do well and be the best he can be at everything he does. He's funny, charming, smart, loves to cook, sing, read, play the piano, read, eat, cook, watch good movies, read, eat...I think I mentioned that already. His favorite past time next to reading is eating.

I am proud of him and wouldn't want him to stay home longer than he wants to because he is ready to get out there and start the next chapter in his life in one of the best Music schools in the country. But I never imagined it would be so hard to let him go. This experience should prepare me for the next three---doubt it though. They each bring a certain something to my life which I will miss terribly so I'll deal with this separation anxiety one kid at a time.

I guess I'll cry a little more between today, his graduation tomorrow and the final drop off when school starts in September. I pray each day that God give him the wisdom to make good decisions, the courage to reach for the stars, and the serenity to accept himself when things don't go his way.

To add to my anxiety we had a realtor visit us yesterday because the time has come for us to sell our home and move. Yes, we are expecting a new set of orders in the fall. Orders that will take us to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for a three year tour. This is exciting on so many levels. My 15 yo daughter is torn about the whole deal but I think she is looking forward to the change and being in a school where her brother isn't the star and she is not expected to walk to the beat of his drum. But, there are the friends and at this age, moving is a difficult process. I will do my best to make it a good experience for her. As for the younger kids, they look forward to having summer year round and going to the beach whenever.

Ahhhh, the things we do. I have been either in the military myself or married to a military man for over 20 years now so moving is not an issue for me. I do embrace change, it's happening, it's coming and there's nothing I can do about it so why fight it. Everywhere we've lived we seem to find great friends, great adventures, and always manage to find the beauty of each city we've lived in.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Outdoor Wednesday - Lee Hall Depot

2009-06-10T08:38:00.002-04:00

Today's outdoor Wednesday is hosted by Susan at A Southern Day Dreamer. Visit her site to see more outdoors around the world! It's an amazing treat.

Today I want to share with you a bit of history. Below you see an old picture of the Lee Hall Depot. This little building is located just down the road from where I live and for the longest time, before I knew it's history, I used to think it was more of an eye sore. It's run down, boarded up and made the entry into Lee Hall look worse for wear. As I learned about it's history I realized this was a site that needed to be preserved. We read about the future of the depot and learned that the plan was in fact to preserve this bit of history and to do that they would physically move the building to another area just across the tracks where there would be more room for future passengers and visitors. The depot is located only a few feet from the tracks so this new plans is a really great idea.

Mural by artist Sidney E. King

This is what it looked like when I first moved here, four years ago.

This collage of pictures was taken this week. I wanted to capture the preparation process. We still wonder how in the world they move a building, an entire building so I'm really glad we're not moving until after they move it because I will be there taking pictures everyday they are working. Right now they have separated the main building from one of the additions. That section has been lifted off the ground and placed on wooden blocks...what's next-- guess we'll have to wait and see.

Since we've been here the city has made a plea for donations, received gifts and grants from various organizations and now they are ready to get moving- literally!

Here's a bit of history from their website:

he historic Lee Hall depot was constructed in the 1880s as part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad’s efforts to establish its Atlantic terminus at Newport News, thereby linking the Ohio River Valley with the sea. The station was sited on Warwick Road, now Boulevard, connecting the Warwick Courthouse with Williamsburg and Yorktown.

Traditionally, the depot served the Yorktown, Lee Hall, and lower James City County communities and was the social and economic focal point of the village of Lee Hall that grew around the station.

The depot is the only remaining station on the Lower Virginia Peninsula from the railroad’s expansion into Warwick County. Five stations (Lee Hall, Oriana, Oyster Point, Morrison, and Newport News) once served the county. It is a symbol of Newport News’ early development from the agrarian Warwick County into the modern City of Newport News and of the history of transportation.

The restored depot will provide an area for a light rail transit
stop, a gift shop/admissions area, and two exhibit galleries. The exhibits will include “Lee Hall Village: A Railroad Community” and a children’s hands-on exhibit entitled “Rails Across America.” Both exhibits fulfill the Commonwealth’s Standards of Learning requirements for school-age students.

Additionally, the station will be named to the National Register of Historic Places and Virginia Landmarks Register as it has already been decreed eligible for listing.

Source: The Lee Hall Depot

Blue Monday - outdoor weather

2009-06-08T06:10:00.003-04:00

Blue Monday hosted by Sally at Smilling Sally. Please visit her site to see links of what others are sharing!

My blue has a little story behind it. Last week started of super hot here in the Virginia Peninsula so on a whim I decided it was time to get the kids their yearly outdoor fun toys. So I went out and bought mini water guns, this lovely sprinkler whale and a three ring pool. The were so excited to get out there and play. But it was late and we decided to get everything ready for the next day. So we blew up the pool, hooked up the whale and set up the back yard for fun.

Unfortunately, the next day was not so hot, in fact it was 20 degrees cooler. But that never stops a kid from getting wet outdoors. However, by the time school was out we realized we were facing tornado warnings, thunderstorms and lightning--several of which were hitting close by. OK that was not good. Both my little ones stood by the back door and looked out, so disappointed.

Since then the toys have been all over, the pool lost most of the air we put in and the whining did stop after a while. I felt so bad for them.

Well today, this week actually seem like it will be a winner for them. The temp will be in the 80's with high humidity so I'm ready for the outdoor fun. I think I'm more excited then the kids. They don't know it but when they come home from school it will be time for some serious back yard fun!! I can't wait!!

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By the way--I need to share a couple of pictures with you. These are grapes, still developing on my grapevine. The kind you would use to make wine in fact. No, not trying to make wine - that's for another time in my life.

And these are my tomatoes. I can't wait for them to ripen. They already look delicious.

Happy Blue Monday everyone!

About Wine

2009-06-03T01:24:00.003-04:00

photo by On The Grapevine

As promised, here's a little education on wine:

When Terie and I discussed my contribution to her blog on wine matters, we were in agreement that it should take on a mixed format to include the basics of viticulture and wine making, the various wine varieties and styles available, matching food with wine, wine tasting tips plus any interesting gossip in the world of wine.

Hopefully I can do this in a simple and entertaining way. In no way do I want to turn the whole thing into a series of lectures. Some people take wine very seriously…..way too seriously! But as the doyen of the Australian wine industry, the late Len Evans, once said “Wine is a great drink, but it's a drink, it's the juice of fermented grapes. So just drink the stuff, be quiet and get on with it.” He also once said "Life is too short to drink bad wine” I have always tried to follow his advice.

Most of my wine experience has been in Australia but I have also visited wine regions in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, New Zealand and the USA. I hope all this has given me a broader outlook on the industry worldwide.

Where to start? Grapes might be the obvious place. So what are wine grapes and where do they come from?

If you remember your high school biology you might recall those terrible double-barrelled Latin names that all organisms have. Without having to make you seek out your old textbooks let’s just say wine grapes fall under the genus Vitis which in turn are classified by their species.

The ones we are interested in are the European Vitis vinifera and the various American Vitis species. European grapes include all the well known wine grapes eg. Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay. Merlot etc. as well as table and drying grapes eg. Sultana (Thompson Seedless).

What a lot of people don’t realise is that European grapes are all the same species, they vary simply by variety. It is said there may be about 8000 of which 1000 are used for wine. And just to complicate matters (stay with me on this) each variety can have a number of clones ie. despite being genetically identical they can differ in growth patterns and fruit production characteristics.

Pinot Noir for example is said to have between 200 and 1000 clones! Cabernet Sauvignon around 12. American grapes consist of about 20 species and also numerous varieties. For wine making the American grape Vitis labrusca is the main one used and many people will recognise the varietal names Concord, Isabelle, Catawba, Niagara and Delaware.

However most wine drinkers agree that American grapes do not make the best wine, the main disadvantage being a rather pungent or ‘foxy’ flavour. But the vines do have viticultural attributes eg. disease resistance, so efforts have been made to “cross” the American and European species. These are known as hybrids. American wine drinkers probably recognise the hybrid varietal names Baco Noir, Edelweiss, Frontenac, La Crosse and Seyval Blanc.

So what is the origin of these grapes?

American grapes are of course native to various regions of North America. European grapes have their origin in Western Europe, Central Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. They have been growing wild for some hundreds of millions of years. Domestication is said to have taken place around 3000BC.

Some history here.... focus for a moment:

The first written accounts of grapes and wine can be found in ancient Mesopotamian text from the third millennium BC. There are also numerous hieroglyphic references to wine from ancient Egypt.

The ancient Greeks introduced grape growing and wine making to Europe and then as colonists to southern Italy. The Etruscans further developed these wine making techniques and eventually the Romans took over from there.

Between the fifth and tenth centuries, viticulture was almost exclusively an activity of the different religious orders in their monasteries. The Benedictines and others extended the grape growing limit, within Europe, northwards. Viticulture also eventually became popular with the aristocracy of France as a symbol of prestige.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Neil

On The Grapevine

Blue Monday--Patriotic Concert on the Beach

2009-06-01T06:34:00.004-04:00

Blue Monday is hosted by Sally at Smiling Sally. Visit her site to see what other's are sharing on this glorious day!!

This past weekend was my annual Girls Getaway weekend and let me tell you...it was amazing! We walked the beaches, the boardwalk, and the streets lined with souvenir shops so many times. My legs are sore but it's all worth it.

To improve our weekend we found out through a friend who happens to be a bouncer/police guy that the USO was hosting a concert on the beach and he had tickets for us. That was the icing on the cake...so we thought.

This is my favorite flag photo yet. I was on my knees on the sand, looking up and the people behind me agree..it was perfect. We were sitting in an area specially for military families and members, current and retired. We had the pleasure of meeting some truly amazing people. One fantastic group were those that did the Ride to Recovery 350 mile bike ride from DC to VA Beach, it was in our local paper but somehow I missed it, however, I was so glad to be there to meet them in person. Some were wounded soldiers on a special bike. Some others had wound only they could feel but still they gathered up their strengths and support for a good cause. They are amazing!!

This is my twin sister Lin...what, you don't see the resemblance. Ok so my tan is a little deeper than hers but otherwise we're identical. In fact my other sister has red hair and freckels--go figure. OK so we are identical in life experience, love for our families, and love for our weekend getaway too.

So this is David Cook and his drummer along with my twin sister Lin (red) and our new little sister Lindsey (blue). It was exciting meeting the band in person and "partying" with them at the top of the Hilton. I really kept wishing my daughter and son were there with me because David is most definitely on their iPod and they would have loved to have met him. Having a picture was a must for them.

Finally, you all know how much I love the sky and all it's wonder. This is the sunset on the morning we were checking out of our hotel. It's a little fuzzy but it is my favorite time of day--early morning, when the sun is rising and the birds are waking. Just a few people doing what I love to do at this time of day--relaxing, meditating, contemplating life.

Enjoy the week everyone!

PS: Come back tomorrow for the wine article from Neil.

A visit to the vineyards

2009-05-28T13:52:00.003-04:00

A little over a year ago I went on a wine tour in Williamsburg, VA. The atmosphere was excellent, the people interested, and many of them knowledgeable. After a tour of the vineyards, we visited the "dungeon" where they keep the barrels and where the wine is made, I guess, that was pretty cool, literally. My favorite part was the actual tasting of the wine. They had several bottles ready for us to taste but no one told me there would be a quiz.

I hate tests. Well, it was more like we take a sip and we had to write down what we tasted. To me, at the time, wine was wine--it tastes good, I wrote after my first sip. Then I heard others call out "citrus, grapefruit, peach, oak" --what the heck..there's oak in my wine? Any way, I failed miserably but I still got to drink my wine.

Oh yeah that was the other thing, they provided us a bucket to spit out the wine -- seriously, that's just wasteful. I wont be needing a bucket, thank you. Thank goodness I was not driving that day because after tasting several varities I was feeling pretty good.

I decided that day that would try harder to really pick out the flavors, to better understand wine and the makings, and to educate myself a little more about wine and food combination.

I ran across Neil's blog On the Grapevine recently and became interested in what he had to say so I invited him to be a guest on my blog. He will give us a few lessons, ideas, and maybe even answer some questions about wine grapes, wine selection, etc. Don't be shy, ask away. I plan to post about wine when the mood strikes us or when we have a really good recipe deserving of some really great wine. Check out Neil's blog too, full of information and ideas.

Guest post coming soon...stay tuned!

Outdoor Wednesday #20- Ferrel Kitten

2009-05-26T20:28:00.005-04:00

I could not wait to post these outdoor shots...I was so excited to show these babies off. This morning as I was feeding my own little baby his breakfast I spotted this momma cat in my garden. I remember when she was only a kitten herself a couple of years ago. Her momma still hangs around. Anyway, she came out then out came her baby...and Oh My Gosh, is she cute or what.

Enjoy these photos and please, visit Susan to see more of the outddors from her own view as well as others.

Now on to see the kitten frolic in my garden :-)

Memorial Day -- a day to remember

2009-05-24T08:20:00.004-04:00

And I'm proud to be an American,

where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me.

~Lee Greenwood

So much can happen in 24 hours

2009-05-22T14:14:00.002-04:00

It it amazing how much trauma can happen in a short 24 hour period. Things don't always go as smooth and it seems that the minute Daddy goes on trip I get a few more curve balls to keep things interesting I guess. Funny thing about all that is that when he is home he doesn't have to deal with any of these little events, yet they still happen but only when he's gone, of course.

Peanut(6, 1st grade) saved her milk, from her school lunch, in her back pack. It spoiled, spilled and needless to say, it was a stinky mess. We just threw that bag in the trash - it was getting small for her anyway. Daddy can get her a new bag.

My little Bear (2.5) decided to go fishing in his diaper this morning. I'm not going to get graphic here but if you have kids you might have experienced one or two fishing expeditions in your kids life....let's just say, it was yet another, stinky situation at eight o'clock in the morning. I wasn't sure where to start but I knew I had to get things cleaned up quickly so I put him in the tub with very warm, soapy water and had Peanut watch him while I disinfected his crib, wall, and anything in the area he might have touched. Yuck!

Peanut wanted to be helpful so she got a bag to empty the upstairs trash cans...she try, but the trash landed on the floor instead of the bag...OK. I'm going to breath in and breath out. "It's OK honey, you did your best" is what I said to her...what I thought will stay in my head for now.

So now the baby is clean, the trash is picked up our hands are washed and the room is being aired out. Life is back to good. NO! I accidentally hit my coffee mug which was half filled with tea...it spilled all over the floor, table, chairs...etc. Another clean up job for MOM. It was at this point when I felt I could scream that my Peanut looked at me with her beautiful brown eyes and said "Mommy, today is not your day is it. Do you want to go back to bed, I'll take care of the baby?" I laughed because after all, it's just a stinky mess here and there, spilled trash and tea, not the end of the world.

Mr. Musician (18, 12th grade) had an event at the school last night. He was performing and I didn't want to miss it but dad wasn't home to help with the kids so everyone went to the show. Thankfully, the baby sat through it and played with his food ate candy, cake, and spaghetti...nothing like a little sugar to get him all hyped up. The performance was great as always, the Freshman kids have a lot of courage to go up there and sing as amateurs. The did great. My M&M (15,9th grade) filmed her brother -- she was so proud of him, as was I.

There's more going on to day but thinking about all this just makes me want to crawl back into my shell. I need a break!!

Outdoor Wednesday 5/20- a Squirrel

2009-05-20T08:40:00.004-04:00

Outdoor Wednesday hosted by Susan takes us outside and makes us look for the little things we sometimes fail to see.

I was already inspired to look deeper into thing this week when Queen B posted her photo for Blue Monday. I was touched.

Anyway, I always like photographing those moments in time when someting different, unique, or natural is happening. No posing, no waiting, just shooting and capturing what I see at that very moment.

This is a sweet little Squirrel in my yard. Probably an offspring of one of the Squirrels living in the wooded area behind our house. They just love a home with birdfood but lately they haven't been around because I have failed to fill my birdfeeders again. This little guy is trying to figure out how to jump from the fence to the bird feeder. I once had a tree there with a branch that extended down to the birdhouse. It was very convenient.

So it's time to figure out what in the world happened here. He knows there was something here and now, not even a fence. Well, we're working on that. First we have to grind the stump, then we'll be able to accomodate the squirrel and its family.

The good thing about squirrels...they can practically fly. This was an easy jump.

And off he goes in each of a better place to find food.

...oh the stories I could write using this little scene...I think I'll get working on that because my little man really enjoyed watching the squirrel make its way around our yard.

Enjoy outdoor wednesday and enjoy the life that nature breaths into your world everyday.

He just had to try his way first

2009-05-17T19:37:00.005-04:00

Photo by HighlyCaffeinated

My husband seems to always want to save a penny or two by doing certain things himself. That generally turns into a disaster and we still end up spending the money, sometimes more. I say let's stimulate the economy and hire someone to do the job. But no, he has to give it a go first.

Last week we realized that our Oak tree was definitely dead. It needed to go before the wind knocked into our house because you know that's exactly what would happen if it fell on it's own. Never mind that there's an open field on the other side of the fence. Anyway, he asked me to call around and get some quotes. My neighbor also said, get lots of quotes. OK, I get the idea, I'll get quotes. So I arranged for 4 or 5 different tree service companies to come around and give me a quote with and without the stump grinding. We had one guy come by and he said the tree was dead (duh...really? Thanks dude) and that it would require a lift because they could not climb a dead tree. Basically, our tree was so dead that it could fall apart if someone tried to climb it. He said he would send us a quote. Never heard back.

No big deal I have a few others lined up, or so I thought. Another guy came over gave my husband a quote (big mistake) and they singed a contract on the spot. I was very upset because first, I felt we were getting ripped off. He was charging us $650 without grinding the stump. My neighbor's tree was about the same heigh and he paid less. But he didn't need a lift..OK I get it. Needless to say, I had to call all the other guys to cancel the quote. They all told me I was getting ripped off...as if that changed the fact that we had a contract!!! Yes, it was too late to cancel...you know, the three day rule.

So they came, they took down the tree in a matter of ....well pretty quickly, they left with their check in hand...happy as a well fed pig. (I have no idea where that came from) anyway, my dear husband, Mike, decided he would take care of the stump. With a machete, shovel, a wedge, and some other tools he should be able to get it down low enough so it's not very noticeable.

There's a fence behind the tree and it was now cutting accross the stump, needed to be replaced, etc. etc. He spent a good 4 hours outside trying his best to chip away at the stump, with little results. In the mean time I called one of my tree guys and arranged to have them come by on Monday to grind the stump...after spending $650 what's another $100 to get rid of the stump? Well, it's way more then we would have spend if I had arranged the whole thing but since Mike made the decision to hire the first guy he had a chance to speak with we ended up spending way more and he spent 1/2 a day outdoors in the heat, wasting his time.

Lessons learned. If you hire someone to do work, let them do the whole thing and be done with it. Get quotes!! There are so many tree service companies out there, it is amazing the range in prices they charge. Shop around. Evaluate what your time is worth and if it's more than what it would cost to pay someone else, say a professional, to do the work then it's time to call that pro and let them handle the job.

I could go on with all the little things he tries to do to "save" money, and in the end, it costs us the same or more. He sort of reminds me of Tim "the toolman" Taylor. Our tree stump will be gone tomorrow; Mike will fix the fence this coming week--yes I do trust he can do that better than anyone else; and then we can move on to other details we need to focus on to get the house ready for the market.

I do appreciate that he tries to help. We do get to laugh often about his little mishaps and mine, except I don't have as many-- no really, I don't. Hmmmph!

Foodie Friday- Granny Smith Nutty Salad

2009-05-14T18:22:00.003-04:00

It's foodie friday again...my favorite time of the week especially when I have something to share. This is hosted by Gollum. Visit her at Designs by Gollum for more tasty treats.

I love to have fruits and nuts in my salad so I'm always coming up with a different combination to keep things interesting. We had this for dinner on Thursday night and it was delicious. Mr. Navy made steak on the grill so we topped this with a few slices of meant and, yum, very tasty. If I had craisins and bacon bits I would have added that too but it was good none the less. Enjoy!

Romain Lettuce

Granny Smith Apple

Walnuts

Parmesan Cheese

Olive Oil

Lime juice

Don't bother with measurements, you know how much you should be eating...toss it all together and add grilled chicken, beef, or salmon for nutritious, filling meal.

5/13 OW #18 - the good and bad in my garden

2009-05-13T06:42:00.007-04:00

Today is Outdoor Wednesday, hosted by Susan at A Southern Day Dreamer. My favorite part of the week as far as blogging is concerned because I can share my outdoors and everything happening in my garden, especially today. Visit Susan for more outdoors!

This is what's been happening or growing in my outdoors. This makes me very happy!

These are tiny little grapes on the grapevine.

Tomatoes = home made salsa..yum.

~ ~ ~ ~

This makes me sad because I don't know what it is and I'm afraid it will mean I have to cut down my grapevine...it is apparently suffering and I don't know what to do. The problem could be in my soil so I guess I can have my soil's nutrients and fungus measured if there's such a thing but many things just aren't growing in there, an oak tree died and we had to cut it down and now this. If you have a clue, please fill me in.

This is some tumor growing on the grapevine. Kind of creepy.

Here's a shot of a different part of the grapevine and it's tumors.

Bye bye oak tree, hello- guess we have to fix the fence now!

After you give me some advice about my garden issues, please visit Susan and see other nice outdoors you'll find around the world. Thanks for coming by.

Blue Monday 5/11 - Settlers of Catan

2009-05-10T22:45:00.006-04:00

Blue Monday is here again! Hosted by Smiling Sally, you get to share your blue anyway you want it and then go visit others to see what blue they have to share.

Today I'm sharing a fun, family game. Settlers of Catan. Have you heard the news, have you seen it, have you played it?

Settlers of Catan is made for 3-4 players and suitable for ages 10 and up. In it, you are a colonist looking to settle the newly discovered continent of Catan. To accomplish this you build settlements which generate resources. You then use these resources to build roads, soldiers, cities, and more settlements. In the game, each settlement is worth 1 victory point, while each city is worth two (a city is an upgraded settlement). The first player to get 10 victory points is the winner.

Well, my husband has become somewhat addicted to this game, so much so, that when we are not available to play with three or more players, he will play it online with people from...well, I don't know who these people are, probably other addicted people killing time that cold be best put to use doing other things.

I am not a big board game person because I don't like conflict and fighting over fake money, just seems silly so I might as well not play. My oldest son and husband both think it's war, for real. This game has been a blessing because, although we have our friendly competitions, we play for fun and there are not fights. I recommend it, loads of fun. Learn more here and here.

The downside for us is that 2 of our kids are not 10 years old; however, we play age-appropriate board games with them earlier in the evening and then when they go to bed we play this fun game. If you have play this version or the expansion, please tell me about it. We are thinking about expanding and would love some reviews.

Don't forget...go visit Smiling Sally for more Blue Monday or to participate like I did!

ONE special day for moms

2009-05-09T19:27:00.005-04:00

Photo by desireux

I keep wanting to ignore this "special" day mainly because as we all know, this level of attention, affection, and appreciation should happen more than once every 364 days, don't you think? I don't know, maybe it's just me.

Over that last few days I've evesdropped on conversations that take place at the check out counter at the grocery store and oh how much there is to tell the strangers that we meet. Some discussed their plans to go out to brunch right after church and others discouraged that since every body and their mother (I mean that literally) had the same idea. Others talked about how their kids are going to make them breakfast in bed and yet they criticized the partially burnt meal. (So ungrateful..geeez!) (I hope she had to get up and clean up the mess they left in the kitchen)! One lady even complained at the kids attempt to make a her a home-made present because she had to help them with the project and clean up after they wre done" -- (I guess the bonding time you spent with your kids means nothing to you.)

I actually get a little annoyed when people ask me "so what did you get for mother's day?" Well, let's see I have four kids and they give me all the bad mouth, attitude, slammed doors, messy rooms, whining, selfish acts of LOVE a mother could ever ask for. Every once in a while I get hugs and kisses followed by "can you take me to the mall?" or "can I use the car?" Why ask that question? Don't ask! Well I know why they ask...because they want to tell you what they got for Mother's day, probably something expensive. Well good for you, now don't forget to take it off each time you wash your hands which means you wont ever get to wear the precious jewel. Oh darn.

To me, everyday SHOULD be mother's day but no one ever asks what I got on the other 364 days of the year, just on this special day because apparently this is the only day we deserve to get anything. Oh good heavens am I whining?

No. I'm not whining, just making an observation. But if asked what I want on Mother's day, I think I will ask for

one respectful act

one selfless act

one I love you

one Thank You

and

one "how was your day mom"

every day for 364 1/4 days.

That's all...pretty cheap huh!!

Here's a little story with a twist written by my friend Queen B, that is a mother's day gift from me to you. In the spirit of celebrating, I want to wish all the mommies of the world a very happy mother's day, everyday of the year. You deserve it!