Monday

What does one do an a generic Fall weekend?  It seems that as of late I have not been in the mood to be outside as much as I should have been.  Fall is an odd time of year here in this part of Texas.  The mornings have been crisp and I have enjoyed my early morning runs outdoors.  The afternoons have been mild, for us that is always a plus.  And the humidity levels have been low.  All in all, the perfect weather to want to be outside doing something.  But me, no way.  I have felt like a slug, a mole or a bear that wants to hibernate.

I think that it was part of some weird depression and it just had to work its way out of my system.  Thankfully, it has done so.  It happened to do so on a Monday of all days, but I'll accept that and move onwards.  Funny how the mind and the body work against us, regardless of what we plan.  These two devices hold their path and make us deal with them before allowing us to move on the path we thought we wanted.

At the moment, I am sitting in the Crane Garden in the Dunn Tower of the Methodist Hospital.  For the next two days I will be sitting here with a laptop as part of my job.  Hospital lobbies are interesting places indeed.  I am camped out with knitting (Shurt'ugal Socks) and a book (The Victorian Internet) as well.  Sitting here on the laptop does not garner much attention from onlookers at all; however, when I start to knit or read that anonymity disappears.  Even the dogs that were here for a while got less attention than I did while I knit.

Normally, knitting allows me to blend in.  I'm not sure why it seemed so foreign in the setting today.  Usually people get comfort from watching me knit.  I can only surmise that today it evokes memories of a lost loved one and has made them a wee bit melancholy.  I do not take it personally, I just observe and forge on.  At the moment, there is a wonderful piano concert being played in the lobby, so the voices have lowered and the mood has lifted.  The Starbucks seems to be the loudest noises to be heard.

Back to the weekend.  Friday I left work at 12:30 PM and headed to Upstairs Studio.  In was hoping that the gals there could kick the funk right out of me.  No such luck.  I did enjoy their company and had a great time fondling yarn combinations for a hat.  I headed home hoping that the cats, dogs and SF would be the answer.  No such luck.  SF was out on the motorcycle.  The dogs were happy to see me for supper and a trip outdoors but not much else.  The cats, well, after all they are cats and it is my job to serve them.  I headed to bed at 7:30 when not even more knitting or any reading could snap me out of it.  I felt doomed.

It is amazing what the power of human touch and TLC can actually do.  At some point in the night SF pulled me up against her and I slept like a rock against her back until 9:00 AM.  That may not seem late, but I normally get up at 6:00 AM on Saturdays.  After we ate, we had a heart to heart conversation, which both of us had been avoiding but knew we needed.  After we were done and in agreement, it felt as if a HUGE weight had been lifted from my shoulders.  Both of us looked relieved.  We decided to get cleaned up and take the motorcycle out.

We went to the Mucky Duck to get concert tickets for the November Sisters Morales show.  From there we went to Casa Buick GMC to test drive a vehicle so that I could get a free tee shirt and get registered for the Terrain that will be given away during this year's Lone Star Rally.  I test drove and Acadia.  I love it but it is a gas hog and is really expensive!  From there we took the scenic way home.  It was almost 7:00 PM when we got home and the dogs were way past due for their supper.  I fed them and SF got our dinner ready.  We didn't even turn on the TV until almost 8:00 and that was just to see some of the college football scores.  We were both so tired that we went to bed at 9:45.

Sunday was just as wonderful.  Again that comfort of sleeping up against the one you love.  We slept until 9:00 AM again.  If the dogs and cats could have taken care of them selves I think we would have stayed in bed longer.  Alas, that is not the case.  After breakfast, we agreed that I would do house work and she would tackle the palms.  So the day went.  We both seemed happy and back on the same page.  The evening was quiet and we spent quality time together before we both drifted off to sleep.  She will be out of town the rest of this week, leaving very early Tuesday morning.  I will miss her now that we are "back to normal".

I have been knitting up a storm and now that I feel better I'll get some pictures up and post about all the projects.

Have a great week and don't forget that no one can read your mind.  If you have something to say, please say it.  You will feel better and it could be the very thing that the other person needed to hear as well.

Wine Tasting

I just realized that I had forgotten to publish the post about the wine tasting event that I attended WAY back on July 28th.  It has been sitting in the draft area feeling all left out.

One of our favorite places to listen to live music has a wonderful Wine Room.  I had never had the opportunity sit within the area so when I saw that Rusty was offering wine tasting on Wednesdays after work I was thrilled.  I was a bit disappointed that they start at 5:30 PM which meant that SF would never be able to attend with me, as she doesn't get to the Park-N-Ride lot until 6:00 PM and then it would take her another thirty minutes to get to the Duck.  I was also keenly aware that wine was off her diet until she has reached the target weight.

Nonetheless I decided that I wanted to attend and felt pretty good about doing it alone.  I have gotten quite adept at going and doing things by myself and I like the freedom that affords me.  I skipped the first one as it was devoted entirely to the Reds and with the heat as high as it is I wanted Whites.  I was ecstatic when the next email came out announcing that the wines for tasting would be Whites!

"Beat the Heat with Summer Whites" was the subject of the email.  It announced the wines and the host Sommelier.  I knew the company he was from and knew how they trained their staff so I was excited.  Cost was a mere ten dollars a person and that could be applied towards the purchase of any bottle that was tasted that evening.  What a deal!

First up was Bisol Jeio Prosecco.  It was a wonderful selection to start off the tasting.  It was light and refreshing.  I could imagine using it in a mimosa as well.  It is a wonderful selection from Italy!

Next up was Sauvion Vouvray.  I must admit that I was hesitant about this one, as I remember the Chenin blanc wines from the 70's that were very popular and I wasn't sure I was that kind of wine drinker, at least not yet.  I must admit that I was pleasantly surprise by this one.  I could smell the honey easily and it was smooth and a bit velvet-like on the palate.  I can see why it had such a foothold with the White drinkers, as it was perfect for appetizers and for mingling with friends and family.

The third one was Firestone Estate Riesling.  We could have ended right here as far as I was concerned.  This is one of my all time favorite types of wine and I seldom meet one I don't like.  I knew I would fall hard for this one as soon as I read, "...flavors of Tupelo honey, melon and apricot...".  This is one that I can drink just to drink but love to have it when I am eating spicy food, or at least as spicy as I can stand it.  I think that most everyone in attendance loved this one.  And I know that it is one I have purchased since that initial bottle.

We moved on to Four Vines "Naked" Chardonnay.  I will freely admit that up until I tasted this Chardonnay I was not a big fan.  It seemed that I had to spend a lot of money to get good taste.  This one goes for around eleven dollars a bottle which is fairly inexpensive.  They recommend oysters and I can see why.  I think that the citrus and mineral tastes would be perfect companions.

Our final selection was Miner Viognier.  Historically I love this one.  It is very prevalent in the Finger Lakes and I am quite fond of wines from that area.  It was difficult to decide on this one after the Chardonnay.  In all fairness, I think that I will have to purchase this one again to give it the respect it deserves.

So, have you had any of these?  If so, please share your thoughts.  If not, share some whites that you have tried and love to recommend!