The last dimpled bottom

Yeah, I know what YOU'RE thinking. You bunch of perverts you.

But first, a photo to avoid revealing all at once. You have to suffer through the white peony. My heart bleeds for you. And an ant, just because.

So here we are, thinking about dimpled bottoms. This turned out to be the last Vin Blanco from almost exactly 3 years ago. It's also, I think, the last bottle of wine in those dimpled bottom bottles I don't like. Make me an offer, and 14 doz plus a few are yours. Oh, and yes, the wine was perfect with BBQ on a bun, done in a specialty Linda marinade. It was a perfect evening to sit and chat.

Stampede is in full swing. One particular co-worker came in with a hangover this morning. She thinks that was the cause of the untoward event with a Starbucks coffee, but I think it was the coffee. Another is dealing with a flight hangover from an overseas vacation. A boy's week out in Japan, if you can imagine such a thing. After being accidentally horrified by what happens to pass for entertainment on Japanese television, I am quite certain I do not. Another is enduring the whipsaw of England making it to the something round in some soccer contest, and losing. He knew it would happen, but was struggling with the tension of when.

Traffic sucks even more than usual. More and more people are driving like they are in a video game. I'm not sure how big of a helicopter it takes to lift a big car, but I'd love to see the city buy one, and install a big magnet on a cable. You know what I'm thinking. Goldfinger. We could fly it during rush hour with the pilot and crew instructed to look for someone driving like an A-hole, swoop down, pluck them off the road, and drop them somewhere. I'd say the ninth circle of hell, but I don't think we could get the airspace permits. I'll settle for dropping them into a junkyard from say, 500 feet. Not in water like the movie, we might hurt a fish.

Excited!

So, remember back in December I was told I'd won a Garmin? Three months later to the day it arrived. Thank you to the famous Richelle for organizing and following up with them. To save you doing the embiggen thing or squinting, it's a Forerunner 25. It looks like it's going to be perfect for what I need.

Here's what's in the box. Don't get me started on rotated photos.

 It's charging up now, but I'm looking forward to seeing heart rate data again. For a while I was very strict on heart rate training, and it seemed to do good things. I don't think I'm way out to lunch on it, but it will be good to be sure. Maybe a spin later tonight, if I can escape the cats occupying my lap. More info after my first use.

In relation to nothing in particular, this is what a 5 ounce glass of wine looks like. No, I didn't add it to the same glass, there's another glass.

And another thing! My buddy Janice is coming to run the Calgary Marathon at the end of May. Yay! I'm planning to do the 10K so we can hang out in the start area together. I last saw her when we went for a run on Crescent beach in Nova Scotia. I am already making a list of the various places to take her.

Monday swim was ok for the day after the race. 500 m 9:20 3x 100, then some water running, 2 x 100, more water running and stretching. Chatting with Katie.

Tuesday 5K, 32:35 feeling pretty good for tired legs. I had to wear long pants again as the weather had cooled off to be merely seasonal, which feels really cold right now.

Daylight savings time just pisses me off! Seems like every year the spring forward one kicks my ass worse and worse. I've been wandering around this week half awake, feeling far worse than what you'd think being down an hour of sleep. Then again, I got a couple nights of really crappy sleep over the weekend. I've seen some really scary traffic stuff happening. Maybe it's distracted drivers, maybe the time change. I wish they'd pick one time zone, I don't care which, and leave it that way.

The end of wine making season

Linda got a bit carried away when ordering wine kits last year. Since late January, this space has not looked like this. It's been full of carboys.

There have been 11 kits worth of doing this.

The last are done, and the emergency overflow storage racks look like this now. Which I admit, is much better than the chunks of ABS pipe I was going to get. The geek within says I should do an inventory.

I'm glad it's over. This was a lot of wine kits for me, even though I bought another carboy so I could deal with 3 at a time. I had to keep notes. One kit gave me a lot of trouble and wouldn't settle. That added to the overall time. One of the kits just went crazy on me and I had enormous trouble with it, to the point of having to POUR from one carboy to the next. I'm never doing another Meglioli kit again. The wine is good, but it's more trouble than it's worth.

There was a lovely morning swim today. The good news is that I cracked a sub 90 second 100 m. Yay me! The bad news is that it took forever to warm up and get the water feel happening. I need to be swimming more often.

For a weekend that I didn't want to plan anything, where I wanted to hang out and relax, it turned out pretty busy. Three wine kits bottled, and everything put away. Friends over for lunch. Us visiting friends for brunch. A long run with friends. A swim with a friend, and saying hi to a water running friend. Scrubbing and unlocking my old iPhone 4 to give to a friend who has urgent need of a phone. (This is why you never let a company phone be your only phone.) Lots of cat cuddling. A nap. Watching a really cheesy movie. Yes, in fact I rented Megashark vs Kolossus. It was every bit of bad that I had anticipated, though I was surprised there was no scene of the shark eating a bikini-clad beauty. I thought that was required.

There was some relax time in there, but there is a long list of things not accomplished, the most urgent and least compelling of which is gathering up info related to my business taxes. Even just gathering up the little bit of paperwork is stressful, and I don't even have to fill out the forms! I don't quite throw up from the stress, but it's pretty close.

After several days of not thinking about work, I can now sketch out a process drawing of the various choices that will be offered to me. I think I'll put them up on my whiteboard for the viewing edification of whoever will be managing me. (Poor sod.)

East Coast, West Coast

A year ago exactly we were in a wonderful little cabin just off Crescent beach in Nova Scotia. It was a lovely vacation spot, with the only drawback having to be careful of the tides. Beaches are a wonderful place to be, listening to the waves and smelling the air. The wind feels so clean, blowing the cobwebs out of every nook and cranny of your body. Even just watching the waves is very soothing.

It's a sunny warm day there again today. The whole weekend I mean. How do I know that? A buddy is spending time on a nearby beach today. And yesterday. Swimming. Reading. Other beach stuff. There are photos. I am envious.

I have other friends living in North Vancouver. Today they were taking a walk on the beach. It wasn't quite as nice out, being somewhat cloudy, and the people involved are wearing jackets. No swimming. There are photos. I am envious.

Clearly I live in the wrong place. I used to think I wasn't a beach person because I had to be so careful about getting sunburned. Since I've been outside so much the last decade, mainly running or biking, the sun and the heat doesn't bother me as much. I'm still careful, liberally spraying on the highest SPF sunscreen I can find.

Not that I need it this weekend. It's still raining, and last night it snowed a bit. Yes, winter is coming. I keep hearing conflicting predictions of what it will be like. Fall in Calgary is usually really nice, warm days and cool evenings. One set of predictions says the snow is going to come sooner, more often, longer, harder, deeper, windier, colder. Everything about winter only more so. Another set of predictions says it's going to be another powder puff winter. Whatever. We can't change it, all we can do is dress for it.

But January. I'm seriously considering taking a nice vacation somewhere warm in January. My work contract will be up, if I make it that long. So, where is nice in January that isn't too long of a flight?

Two wine kits bottled today, a Negromaro, and a Primitivo. Both are tasty right out of the carboy. One more to go, and that will be done tomorrow. That was after I slept in, and had a slow start to the day. Long weekends are so nice.

Even though the Labour Day weekend isn't even over yet, there is this. Preparation.

The wine storage problem solved

After yesterday's afternoon run, and some yummy treats, we were in the mood for a movie. I like to browse through the trailers, and the iTV box has some truly dreadful ones. I very nearly rented 3 Headed Shark Attack. No, really. It looked so deliciously bad. I mean, it had Danny Trejo in it, so what more do you need?

In the end we settled for Ex Machina. I was expecting a bit more of a plot twist about who was an AI robot, but I wasn't disappointed. I didn't know where it was going, and that's a good thing in my books. Much of it was shot in a hotel in Norway, and while it's beautiful, I think I'd be a bit creeped out staying there. Maybe it was dressed up, or down for the movie and looks quite different in real life.

Slept like a rock, and missed the first part of #coffeechat. We had found this great coffee that I was going to share.

The coffee has a reddish tint, lots of big coffee taste without any bitterness. I'll be buying it again.

We ordered lots of wine kits last fall. I'm just making the last of them now, and was trying to figure out storage. I didn't have enough racks, and couldn't get more of what we had. The racks that fit into the Ivar aren't made anymore. They were replaced with a lighter gauge of metal wire that is designed to be supported by a shelf. It's much more expensive, and much less efficient.

Then we were told of the Omar wine shelf. Checked it out and Yay! I assembled it this afternoon. The unboxing.

This is the hardest part of the instructions. It took me a long time to see the difference in the two sketches, and I used to be so good at those 'spot the 12 differences in the drawings' things. Once I figured that out, and that the two pieces form a cone that snug into the grooves on the rod and support the actual shelf, I was good to go.

Here's the first one. It's quite sturdy, and if they sold the rack itself as a separate item like Ivar shelves, I'd buy several more. There's lots of space between the racks. Instead of 6, I think I could get 8 in a section.

Here's all of them tucked into the corner.

You didn't think I'd waste time loading it up, did you?

Summer is the time for BBQ bison burgers. Stop me if I've said this before, but so yummy! No workouts today. I'd say I'm feeling lazy, but I got lots done today. Any time now I'll tackle the business tax paperwork. Yes, any time. Real soon now. Any moment.

Why is my swim bag so heavy?

Last night I bottled the Aglianico. It's a deep rich ruby red, a little tart and oaky now, but the fruit is right up in your face. Once it matures it's going to be awesome! Needless to say I had supervision. Stealth supervision.

My swim bag has been getting heavier and heavier. When I changed fins from the blue ones to the black ones, I noticed the weight increase. But since then I've been wondering if it's me getting more feeble. How much stuff can be in one swim bag?

Now I know. My bag lived in Michelle's car today after our swim. Our lovely swim! I did some tune up and coached. Michelle had a breakthrough! Yay her!

I'd recently read a blog from socalrunnergal, "what's in my run bag", via my buddy SUAR. As I was taking the damp gear out, I decided to take it all out to photo and itemize. Shocking. Just shocking. Here's the deceptive bag, looking all innocent.

Here is the heap of stuff. I never would have imagined.

From upper left going roughly clockwise:

• Merrel mesh tote bag. I got it as swag at one of my first races, it's been used lots. Incredibly useful. I have two of them, but the other is downstairs.
• The current pair of goggles and nose clips.
• Not one, not two, but three, count'em three pairs of back up goggles.
• One pair of backup nose clips. There's another pair around somewhere. 
• Blue mesh bag that hasn't found a use yet. 
• High tech rubber band for trying to keep Michelle's legs on the reservation during kick drills. In real life they were used to fasten snowshoes together. Really.
• Black shorty fins.
• Best body wash ever.
• Hand paddles.
• A spare Scotiabank bag. I think this is from the half marathon last year.
• Flip flops. All recycled materials, bought at Tri-It.
• A little Talisman shoe pouch as swag.
• Two locks.
• Shampoo and cream rinse, for when I had hair.
• Razor.
• Comb.
• Last year's and the year before's Talisman renewal paperwork. Soggy.
• A Monthly timesheet for January, that I email in to get paid. I did.
• A key fob.
• A luggage tag with obsolete contact information.
• A couple ear plugs, last used early 2008 on a twin prop flight to High Level.
• A pen, I don't know if it works. I tried later, it does. Amazing.
• A car key, never used. At least we still own that car.
• $2.40 in change.
• The current swim suit, with the shark teeth motif.
• Back up swim suit, and it gets used on short notice periodically
• Cheque book and pen. Not that I write a lot of checks, 178 since early 2001.
• Waiver forms for the race next weekend. Not soggy, carefully taken out and put somewhere handy.
• Kleenex package.
• Toothbrush. I wouldn't dream of using it on my teeth now.
• Washcloth.
• Underneath it all my orange towel.

And this is what didn't go back in after. Much of it went into the garbage.

First bit of decluttering done! What next?

A white between 2 reds

The hard part about this morning was pulling on compression socks after my swim. Well, even the swim was a bit hard, in that my arms have reverted back to Pastafarianism again. It was a pitifully slow 1000 m. A bit of drill, and a few intervals and I packed it in. At least the lane ropes didn't eat me.

I wasn't wearing the compression socks due to fallout from the run yesterday. My feet and legs feel good. No, this is why.

High socks keep the edge of the boot from rubbing on my calf hairs. It's kind of weird walking in a higher heel than I'm used to. My balance was funny all day. The afternoon was hell because of a bad country band that fired up in the square kitty corner from my office. Mostly it was soft rock with a country twang, sort of. I don't know where they unearthed "Delta Dawn" from, but she belted it out with enthusiasm, if no talent.

The summer it came out I was making a nuisance of myself at my BC relatives, and they packed me off with one of my uncles driving a gravel truck all over the Fraser Valley. He liked to sing along. There used to be a road that essentially was the border, but the USA has probably demanded it be closed and planted land mines in it to keep out the drug smugglers. It turns out this truck has a throttle you can manually set. On one memorable occasion he set the throttle, I steered, while he stood on the gas tank and vented his opinion of the USA in liquid form. I was very impressed.

Tonight was some wine stuff. Here's a Meglioli red, with lots of raisins and grape skins ready to be racked.

Here's the 3 kits on the go. Bottle more in a couple weeks. It smells very good in the basement, in a wine-y sort of way.

Days of wine and lilies

Hmmm, doesn't quite scan. Oh well.

A busy wine weekend, bottling 2 reds, racking and stabilizing another, and starting a white. Some of it with Curtis supervising.

The Volcanic red was 30 bottles and a slurp from the siphon, just enough to know it's really good. A little sweet, a little fruity, a little tart. Can't wait for my first glass. Normally after bottling there is a partial bottle left and we try that with whatever is on the menu that day. Linda gave me the sad big-eyed look when I told her there wasn't any left over.

Then 29 bottles and several slurps for Linda of the Super Tuscan. I'm a big fan of the Super Tuscan. What am I saying? I'm a big fan of a lot of Italian, Spanish, and South American reds. No, I didn't step on Curtis throughout the process. Later he took a more dominating position on the sink.

Linda has been hard at it, trying to get the last of her lilies and other plants into the garden. She has had them in temporary pots. The main beds need to be amended and have lots more soil added. She has used up a whole big bag of garden soil compost mix, and we've ordered another. A big bag is a hair over .75 cubic meter. Seems an odd size to sell.

Here's an assortment of various garden shots.

Linda did this bit the other day. The day lilies look a little sad, but they'll perk up.

The flowers in the back garden look very happy, and well they should be!

Last year the day lilies in these front beds looked much the same as the scraggly transplants.

The mint is happy and attracts lots of bees. To the right is the latest bit of soil amending.

The red and white peonies are about to bloom.

The temporary pots with just a few lilies left.

One of the big ceramic pots in the front patio.

Another view of the recently amended soil with a few plants so far, and I think more going in there.

Another view of the front after more soil amending.

Don't ask me what they all are. I love lilies and can recognize them 4 times out of 5. The peonies I know because there's two, and they've been there a long time. Other than that, I don't know. You'll have to ask Linda.

And lastly, one of Celina writhing in a patch of sunlight.

That troublesome white is finally bottled.

I've never had so much trouble with a wine kit. This Meglioli Moscat was more trouble than the rest of them put together. The rest of them being more than 3 dozen kits. It's supposed to be a 6 week kit, and it took nearly 3 months. Started March 14, and just finished yesterday.

I've referred to it off and on in this blog, and I suppose if you were really keen you could look back and get the details. But I doubt it. If I'm not keen enough to go back and provide you a link, you aren't going to go look yourself.

It all went normally, or so I thought, till degassing and stabilizing. It wouldn't settle. Sometimes whites take a little longer, but at least you can see progress. There was none. Just haze.

First I tried more metabisulfite and more degassing. I got lots of foam, but it didn't help. More bentonite and degassing (more foam) didn't help. And this isn't nambly-pambly stirring with a spoon. This is an all out assault with a drill and stirring tool!

My wine kit retailer suggested Sparkaloid and that did the trick. The problem is that it's a very soft layer on the bottom, easy to disturb during racking. I did, and had to go for a second racking before bottling.

Normally I get 29 bottles from a kit. Sometimes 30, sometimes 28, usually with part of a bottle left over for us to taste test right out of the carboy. This time I got only 25 bottles, plus 1.5 bottles of hazy wine for cooking, and part of a bottle for tasting. Considering I was thinking of dumping it at one point and starting the next kit, I suppose I'll have to take it.

Maybe it's a bit pissy of me, but I didn't like the labels either. Their a pain to get the backing off, and I'm pretty sure they are going to be a pain to get off the bottle as well. Which is typical for them.

I've got 3 more Meglioli kits to go and I think they will be the last. They're always more trouble than the other kits, and their instructions are masterpieces of confusion. Even though they do all juice kits, I don't think they are any better than the other kits.

Here's some photos starting still fairly hazy just after the Sparkaloid.

Much better! I was hoping to bottle this, but sucked up too much of the sediment and it was a bit hazy again.

Endless notes!

Finally in the bottle! We drank a glass each, and it's pretty good. Still a bit tart, but we suspect it will mellow very nicely.

Three other kits on the go, all reds. Next weekend I hope to bottle two of them, and get another white started. Then the last 3 of the Meglioli kits. I hope they go well.

Flinging herbs in every direction

No, my middle name is not Herb.

What amazing long weekend! This is summer in Calgary. It has to be enjoyed while it is here. I'm so glad I took Friday off work.

Yesterday, after the bike ride and a productive afternoon writing in the office patio, I ate two bison burgers. Yes, two. Plus a Yum bakery tart dessert. Plus wine of course. This is what is left of that tart today, with strawberries added, just because.

I had thought about going to the pool this morning, but my hams were talking to me, and I slept in past the time of going to the pool. That let me join the twitter #coffeechat, and got a bunch of new followers on the basis of this tweet.

This #coffeechat programming temporarily interrupted by recreational cat vomiting. Do not adjust your browser.

We had a lovely breakfast on the patio, with more coffee. If any of the coffeechat people read my blog, I ordered the Deathwish coffee. I will tell you about it after it arrives. If any of the locals want to try it, let me know. Perhaps a morning coffee party is a do-able thing.

I did some puttering around the patio, building up the division between the patio and the walkway between the houses so water can't run that way. Then raking the little bit of lawn in the back. And raking and thatching and trimming and raking and thatching and cutting and raking. For a tiny little patch of lawn it produces a lot of grass.

Then the first installment of eating. Here I am, ready to BBQ, only without a glass of wine in hand. Nearby, I assure you.

BBQ salmon with fresh dill, green onion, lemon juice, maple syrup, alder smoked salt, and butter for a glaze/sauce. Huge shrimp in a citrus ginger blend with herbs, lime juice, and a dash of orange juice and a bit of butter for the sauce. A salad with a ton of different herbs and fruit, and other veggies, with a cranraison dressing.

I was too busy drooling and eating to take a photo of the seafood.  Even this photo was taken later, as we finished off the salad. It was lovely sitting out on the patio, drinking wine, enjoying the day. But you knew that, didn't you.

During coffeechat there was discussion of using coffee as a rub for meat, and Linda got all excited. There is chicken marinating, probably for tomorrow night. Other stuff got added after I took this photo. I'll be sure to tell you how it turns out.

I am feeling better about the white. After refusing to settle for so long, it's now doing well. I'll probably bottle it next weekend. Compare this to the photo in this blog, a week ago. Racked and stabilized the Super Tuscan.

Linda worked hard on the garden all afternoon. There will be photos of that anon. Patience.

Best photo of Curtis ever! I think the blue fabric really sets off his fur and eyes.

So he doesn't feel left out, here is one of Celina, doing her river otter impression.