Blue Monday - outdoor weather

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!!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

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

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.