without learning about wine making!

My husband and I learned a lot while we were in Napa.  Why the grape vines are trained to grow the way they are.  This is so the vines can have the maximum amount of sunlight.  It was amazing to see almost every single plant-able area containing rows and rows of vines.  Whether the land was flat or hilly.

Considering the hilly block of vines, the next question was how does one maintain the grass and other ground growth from over coming the vines.  Animals!  Yes, animals.  One winery said they invested in goats.  They not only eat the vegetation, but offer a great fertilization.  All natural.

Our next stop, was the extremely large machine that squeeze the grapes.  If you are as old as I am then you'll remember a scene from an entertaining red-headed-comedian stomping grapes in a barrel with her dear friend.  The senior wine educator shared that people really didn't what to drink wine that tasted of feet any longer.  Of course we all had a good chuckle after that.

He went on to explain that just the juice of white grapes is collected, while with red grapes the juice and skins are collected.  From there, the collections are taken to large tanks to be mixed with various yeasts.  And then after a specified number of days to weeks, the contents are then filtered and placed in barrels.

That's it, it does seem simple... and wine making has been going on for centuries upon centuries.  Would you attempt this?  You don't need much land.  But I would imagine you do need to learn a bit more about planting and the time one must put in to growing the grapes.  Then again, you can buy the grapes from someone else and start there.  Would you stomp them or would you find another way to squeeze the juice of the grapes.  Would you make white or red?  Sweet or dry?  The questions are endless...

without preparing for a trip!

Okay, I go away for for a few days... and now I owe myself eleven blog posts!  It would have been twelve, but in the middle of the getting back into the routine I was able to write one post.

Without further ado... The saga of the last day before my trip to Napa, California.  It started like any other day of the week.  I got the kids up and off to school, walked the dogs and fed them too... then I began to prepare for the arrival of my brother-n-law who was going to stay out our kids. 

In one of my many trips up and down the stairs to check on the status of the laundry, I began to smell dog food.  That's when I notice the small pile of dog food beside our girl Maeve.  She had thrown up.  I was not phased, I just went ahead and cleaned it up.  She seemed okay, she began to play with her sister Red.  So, I went back to running up and down the stairs doing what I needed to be done.

In about an hour though, I realized something was wrong.  On yet another trip through the kitchen, I was hit with that bad smell again.  She had tossed her cookies again, but it this time it was more like her entire breakfast.  It took me longer to clean up, but I persevered.  Maeve though, curled up and went to sleep under the kitchen table--I knew then she wasn't feeling good.  

Figuring she was wore out, I left her be.  It wasn't the end.   At the same moment I received a call from school nurse requesting I come pick up my youngest son because he was sick, Maeve threw up again.  This time she was so wore out, she laid still and didn't move.  I called the school back, asked them to keep my son comfortable while I had to handle the situation at home.  At this point, I was seriously feeling like fate wasn't going to let me go on my trip. 

Thanking Old Man Winter for giving me a 60 (yep, 60) degree day... I took Maeve outside and hosed her off.  Shampooing her and then rinsed her again.  Grabbing a towel, I dried her off; then I went back inside to tackle the mess again.  Once I was done, I hauled butt to the school to get my son.

Although, my day didn't end there.  Yes, Maeve was sick a fourth time.  But it was the text message telling me my brother-n-law's GPS had routed him through major city near us, that upset me.  I couldn't help him.  I began to feel truly at my wits-end.  But I plodded on, repeating a silent mantra... I am going on this trip!

The rest of that day is a blur... I survived and did make my flight the next day!  Have you ever gone through challenges similar to this, wondering why me?

Without Red!

Ok, I was all set to write a post last night and our pup Red had another plan for me. I quickly set up my webcam to snap a few pictures of her, as you can see she really isn't a puppy anymore. Red is a two-year-old "Red" Golden Retriever. Weighing in at 85 lbs doesn't stop her from living her dream as a lap dog.

When Red is bored with her sister Maeve, she comes to me and puts one foot on my leg. I moved back from the laptop to give her my full attention. She took this as her cue to get comfortable and crawled across my entire lap. Sometimes she even feels like typing herself and paws at the keyboard. As you can see Red has an intense look on her face, almost contemplating as to what she could write about.

"Hmmm, let's see I could write about those darn cats in the neighborhood who seem to escape before I can catch them. No, no, I don't want to waste my time on them. Perhaps I could write about all the socks Amy doesn't know I've stashed away for safe keeping. Ha! She thinks the washer ate them. Only I know the truth--well, now you do too.

Perhaps the number of stuffed animals I can hold in my mouth at one time would be more interesting. You would be surprised at how flexible my jaw line is. I believe my record is four! Now, my sister Maeve can only hold a tennis ball with a softball in her mouth. Funny our humans think she has impressive talents doing that! Humph! I say four stuff animals, trumps two balls any day! Don't you agree?"

without Red

That is the name of one of our goldens.
She is a dark red Golden Retriever.

Every morning like clockwork
she starts barking before the sun rises.

Some days, like today, it is annoying...
I would love to sleep in until say 7.
Other days, I can handle it.

Today, though I did fold a load of wash,
pull the wet clothes from the washer,
and then start another load... all before 6 am.
By 630, I had half of the monthly bills paid.

Oh, and I've already finished a cup of joe
before it got cold because I lost track
of where I put it.

So, without Red...
I would be snuggled up in bed
dreaming of all the tasks left to do.