We have had a busy weekend getting ready for Halloween and just general cleaning.
The main mess in the kitchen has been wine. Not just the wine we are drinking, which is A LOT, but the wine we are making. Suddenly I have fermenters all over the place with yeast working hard to make sure we keep as little blood in our alcohol system as possible.
It started a few weeks back when all these people at church at plums up the ass. We decided we should make some plum wine. Afterall, that is the wine that won Grand Champion the last two years at the fair. If you can't beat them, make the same wine as them and try to beat them that way. That what we always say.
So I gathered up enough plums to make six gallons. According to the recipe book, that was 24 pounds o'plumses. It turned out in our case that we are fermenting se7en gallons of Plum Wine. I have a six gallon carboy and a one gallon jug next to it.
The pulp from the Syrah grapes we got not only produced juice but it seemed to produce fruit flies by the copius hundreds. The problem was that I had the mesh bag full of grape pulp sitting in my eight gallon bucket. I was opening it often to squeeze the bag and extract as much juice as possible.
Everytime I opened the lid and squeezed, I was getting pulp dripping down the side of the bucket. It made for quite a sticky mess on the floor. I finally got smart and laid down some plastic.
Saturday night I racked as much of the juice as I could out of the bucket and into the six gallon carboy. It was a really slow process as the syphon kept clogging due to the amount of free floating pulp and the stuff that had sunk to the bottom. It was clear from the start that we had more than six gallons. I got a second five gallon carboy and ended up with close to two more gallons of juice. That finally allowed me to get the pulp laden plastic off the floor. The fruit flies should be gone soon. Or they are settling in.
Susan spent most of the weekend cleaning while I was outside avoiding cleaning. My task was to set up the flying ghosts. I got the post holders pounded into the ground on Saturday and placed the posts today. Then I set about the job of stringing the fishing line.
With Susan's help I got it strung. We put our first test ghost into place and it fell off before going half way around the first wheel.
I am having definite issues with tension...both on the string and in my forehead.
We finally had to give up due to rain. Rain and wind will play havoc with the ghosts so we are hoping both will stay away when the 31st comes.
There is still lots to do...and then we'll be dead!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
It was a Dark & Chilly Night
Our Syrah is in the bucket but I haven't thrown the yeast in yet. I'm still trying to get more juice out of the pulp. Susan and I had a squeezing session last night and it didn't go well. There is sooooo much pulp that it is really hard to lift the bag up out of the fermenter. It's a heavy Mofo. Once it is out, Susan had a tough time squeezing. We got juice out, but there is lots yet to extract. We will try again tonight and probably toss the yeast in.
The amount of daylight is getting lesser and lesserer. I recently purchased these nifty new outdoor timers to operate my outdoor spotlights. They operate on a timer or I can set them to come on at dusk and go off 12 hours later.
I presently have it set for the dusk set up but we are now at the point were it is still dark 12 hours after the lights come on. So now I have to make the proper adjustments. The problem is that it is getting dark by the time I get home. So it is more difficulter to make my adjustments. I will be wearing my flashlight hat to get this done.
I bring this up only to mention that I am now leaving the back porch light on 24 hours per day. It's just gotten to that time. That means that it is only a matter of time before the snow starts flying.
That now leads me to my annual statement about winter which is this: As I get older, Winter gets colder!
The amount of daylight is getting lesser and lesserer. I recently purchased these nifty new outdoor timers to operate my outdoor spotlights. They operate on a timer or I can set them to come on at dusk and go off 12 hours later.
I presently have it set for the dusk set up but we are now at the point were it is still dark 12 hours after the lights come on. So now I have to make the proper adjustments. The problem is that it is getting dark by the time I get home. So it is more difficulter to make my adjustments. I will be wearing my flashlight hat to get this done.
I bring this up only to mention that I am now leaving the back porch light on 24 hours per day. It's just gotten to that time. That means that it is only a matter of time before the snow starts flying.
That now leads me to my annual statement about winter which is this: As I get older, Winter gets colder!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
The Grapes of 2102
We have returned home with our booty of grapes. They are currently sitting in a bath of themselves in my giant cooler. We started with 100 pounds. Then they went through the crusher and became juice...or perhaps more accurately, must.
But let's get things in order.
We started our day by getting up around 8 and having a hearty breakfast at the Sunnyside Inn. If anyone is looking for a nice place to stay in the Yakima Valley, more specifically, the Sunnyside/Prosser area, we recommend the Sunnyside Inn.
After breakfast, we loaded up and headed for our first winery. We were planning on going to Steppe Cellars in an area known as Rattlesnake Hills, but they didn't open until 11. We had to be at our grape source at 11 so that was a no-go. There was another winery in the immediate area called Tefft, so we went there.
We ended up buying a box of wine from these guys.
From here, we went to Vine Heart. This is our grape connection. Things went very smoothly at Vine Heart and we were in and outta there with our must in 20 minutes.
After that, the day was ours to do as we pleased and then head home at a reasonable hour.
There is a wine makers coop area in Prosser where we can hit several wineries in one stop. We went to three bing-bang-boom!
First was Coyote Canyon. There were a bunch of people there and we got a nice tour and lots of questions answered. Plus they had meatballs. Yum!
Next door was Martinez and Martinez. Tasted lots, bought nothing.
Oh wait! I forgot that Susan bought a Corkscrew from these guys.
Next to them, behind the fountain is Apex. Again...tasted but no purchase.
We ended our tasting day at Milbrandt Vineyards. We had some food and some wines and then decided to call it a day.
The drive home took two and half hours, covering about 180 miles. It was a quick weekend trip, made necessary by our busy schedule.
Here are a couple of pictures to depict the definite arrival of Autumn. The park looks fabulous!
But let's get things in order.
We started our day by getting up around 8 and having a hearty breakfast at the Sunnyside Inn. If anyone is looking for a nice place to stay in the Yakima Valley, more specifically, the Sunnyside/Prosser area, we recommend the Sunnyside Inn.
After breakfast, we loaded up and headed for our first winery. We were planning on going to Steppe Cellars in an area known as Rattlesnake Hills, but they didn't open until 11. We had to be at our grape source at 11 so that was a no-go. There was another winery in the immediate area called Tefft, so we went there.
From here, we went to Vine Heart. This is our grape connection. Things went very smoothly at Vine Heart and we were in and outta there with our must in 20 minutes.
After that, the day was ours to do as we pleased and then head home at a reasonable hour.
There is a wine makers coop area in Prosser where we can hit several wineries in one stop. We went to three bing-bang-boom!
Oh wait! I forgot that Susan bought a Corkscrew from these guys.
Next to them, behind the fountain is Apex. Again...tasted but no purchase.
We ended our tasting day at Milbrandt Vineyards. We had some food and some wines and then decided to call it a day.
The drive home took two and half hours, covering about 180 miles. It was a quick weekend trip, made necessary by our busy schedule.
Here are a couple of pictures to depict the definite arrival of Autumn. The park looks fabulous!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
The Pursuit of Grapes
For the first time in 52 days, we have had rain. It's not a big deal. It is the eleventh longest Spokane has gone without rain in recorded history...that's about 135 years. It's probably nothing but a speck in the great scheme of time. All I can tell you is our lawn is dry.
I am writing this from the Helen room in the Sunnyside Inn in Sunnyside, Wa. We are out to get some grapes this weekend. We have arranged to pick up 100 pounds of Syrah grapes from our contact Patricia in Prosser. Prosser is just down the road from Sunnyside which is just down the road from Yakima, which is just down the road from Ellensburg, which is just down the road from Seattle, which is nowhere near where we live.
We have had a wonderful day of driving and wine tasting. Susan is resting prior to our night on the town of going for pizza and beers and then returning to our room to crash, watch movies and soak in the giant bathtub in our room...the Helen room.
We have been to several wineries. Let's see if I can recount them in order. First we stopped at this Spanish looking hacienda place off the highway on the way to Prosser called Chandler Reach. We spent $10 there on a glass and wine tasting fees. We also watched some grape crushing.
We continued on to Prosser but first stopped at Bern's Tavern for beer and some lunch. We needed to have food in our bellies in order to survive the coming onslaught of vinery juice.
After Bern's, our first stop was the Yakima River Winery. This place is a quiet little Mom and Pop winery owned by Mom and Pop Winemaker. Mom served us several glasses of great tasting wine and charged us no fee. We therefore felt compelled to buy a bottle of Syrah which we will lay down for three years.
Next we hit the Desert Wind Winery. We paid a $5.00 fee for tasting and bought nothing. We liked lots of their samples though.
From there we ventured to Kestrell Winery. This is a place we like a lot because of their cheese selection. However, today they did not have the Horseradish cheese we have purchased in the past. We did buy a wine tasting passport which waves all the tasting fees at a lot of wineries. It cost $35.00 so we have to hit six more wineries to break even.
Next was Mercer, a nice little winery with many nice wines that they didn't charge us to taste. So why did we buy the passport?!
From Mercer we went to Snoqualmie. We bought two bottles from them. One was a really tasty 2001 Merlot that I want to drink NOW! But, we are going to save it for a special occassion. Monday, for example.
From Snoqualmie we drove to a little family owned winery called Davenlore. We went there mainly because we bought a refillable bottle there last year. It was $25.00 to buy the bottle and the wine last year but only $15.00 this year. Plus, they served us lots of wine and did not charge a fee.
Our next stop was to the Yellow Rose Garden Center to try and buy a Halloween prop we saw there several years ago. Alas, (who ever says "Alas" anymore) it was not for sale. So we trudged across the street to Willow Springs winery. We'll probably go back because the have a wonderfully cheap alternative to Bailey's Irish Cream.
Finally, we finished our tasting day at the Airfield. Airfield Winery is a nice place that was very busy. They had people stomping grapes in the back room and lots of wine to sample out front.
By this time, we (but especially Susan) were getting pretty souced and it was time to head to Sunnyside to check in to our room...the Helen Room.
As we drove the ten miles from Prosser to Sunnyside, we began to notice a change in the overall smell of things. Sunnyside stunk! It smelled like the abandoned outhouse at a stockyards. Fortunately, the smell had not inundated the Sunnyside Inn. Our room smelled fine.
After a brief nap, we headed out to dinner and noticed the smell had moved on. We went to the Snipes Mountain Brewery for a little beer and pizza. Wood fired pizza ovens seem to be very popular in this part of the state.
Now we are up to date and it is time to relax in our room and watch a movie. We selected "Walk the Line" from the library here at the Inn. We also need to soberize ourselves. We still have to get through tomorrow.
I am writing this from the Helen room in the Sunnyside Inn in Sunnyside, Wa. We are out to get some grapes this weekend. We have arranged to pick up 100 pounds of Syrah grapes from our contact Patricia in Prosser. Prosser is just down the road from Sunnyside which is just down the road from Yakima, which is just down the road from Ellensburg, which is just down the road from Seattle, which is nowhere near where we live.
We have had a wonderful day of driving and wine tasting. Susan is resting prior to our night on the town of going for pizza and beers and then returning to our room to crash, watch movies and soak in the giant bathtub in our room...the Helen room.
We have been to several wineries. Let's see if I can recount them in order. First we stopped at this Spanish looking hacienda place off the highway on the way to Prosser called Chandler Reach. We spent $10 there on a glass and wine tasting fees. We also watched some grape crushing.
We continued on to Prosser but first stopped at Bern's Tavern for beer and some lunch. We needed to have food in our bellies in order to survive the coming onslaught of vinery juice.
After Bern's, our first stop was the Yakima River Winery. This place is a quiet little Mom and Pop winery owned by Mom and Pop Winemaker. Mom served us several glasses of great tasting wine and charged us no fee. We therefore felt compelled to buy a bottle of Syrah which we will lay down for three years.
Next we hit the Desert Wind Winery. We paid a $5.00 fee for tasting and bought nothing. We liked lots of their samples though.
From there we ventured to Kestrell Winery. This is a place we like a lot because of their cheese selection. However, today they did not have the Horseradish cheese we have purchased in the past. We did buy a wine tasting passport which waves all the tasting fees at a lot of wineries. It cost $35.00 so we have to hit six more wineries to break even.
Next was Mercer, a nice little winery with many nice wines that they didn't charge us to taste. So why did we buy the passport?!
From Snoqualmie we drove to a little family owned winery called Davenlore. We went there mainly because we bought a refillable bottle there last year. It was $25.00 to buy the bottle and the wine last year but only $15.00 this year. Plus, they served us lots of wine and did not charge a fee.
Our next stop was to the Yellow Rose Garden Center to try and buy a Halloween prop we saw there several years ago. Alas, (who ever says "Alas" anymore) it was not for sale. So we trudged across the street to Willow Springs winery. We'll probably go back because the have a wonderfully cheap alternative to Bailey's Irish Cream.
Finally, we finished our tasting day at the Airfield. Airfield Winery is a nice place that was very busy. They had people stomping grapes in the back room and lots of wine to sample out front.
By this time, we (but especially Susan) were getting pretty souced and it was time to head to Sunnyside to check in to our room...the Helen Room.
As we drove the ten miles from Prosser to Sunnyside, we began to notice a change in the overall smell of things. Sunnyside stunk! It smelled like the abandoned outhouse at a stockyards. Fortunately, the smell had not inundated the Sunnyside Inn. Our room smelled fine.
After a brief nap, we headed out to dinner and noticed the smell had moved on. We went to the Snipes Mountain Brewery for a little beer and pizza. Wood fired pizza ovens seem to be very popular in this part of the state.
Now we are up to date and it is time to relax in our room and watch a movie. We selected "Walk the Line" from the library here at the Inn. We also need to soberize ourselves. We still have to get through tomorrow.
Saturday, October 06, 2012
The Boiler Game is Over
The temperature was below freezing the last couple of nights and so I fired up the boiler last night. October 5th is the oficial boiler game date for this year. Not even close to the record.
But we are warm.
As you can see from the tree in our front yard, Fall is here. We spent the day doing Fall things. That means getting Halloween stuff ready. It's a pain for me because I have come down with the cold Susan had. I'm much more of a pussy than her so I won't bear it near as well.
We are closing in on completing our newest Halloween addition. it's a giant pumpkin scare crow. Susan is down to the wire on the paper mache punkin.
I may have more to say but is head is clouded but snot. See, I told you I won't bear this well.
But we are warm.
As you can see from the tree in our front yard, Fall is here. We spent the day doing Fall things. That means getting Halloween stuff ready. It's a pain for me because I have come down with the cold Susan had. I'm much more of a pussy than her so I won't bear it near as well.
We are closing in on completing our newest Halloween addition. it's a giant pumpkin scare crow. Susan is down to the wire on the paper mache punkin.
I may have more to say but is head is clouded but snot. See, I told you I won't bear this well.
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
The Boiler Game
It's getting chilly in the night time where the sun seems to just up and leave the sky. What is up with THAT!?!
The chill means that it is once again time to play "The Boiler Game". As you will no doubt recall from Octobers of yesteryear, we try to see how long we can go before we have to reignite the pilot light in the furnace and turn on the heat.
I just looked back to last year but could not find a definitive post that gave a date as to when the heat came on. It looks like we made it past Oct 21st. That could be the record. I'll have to research it.
I managed to get another color of paint on the bird houses this morning. I should have them finished soon and ready to put up this weekend. Then the birds too stupid to head south for the winter will have public housing for the winter.
The chill means that it is once again time to play "The Boiler Game". As you will no doubt recall from Octobers of yesteryear, we try to see how long we can go before we have to reignite the pilot light in the furnace and turn on the heat.
I just looked back to last year but could not find a definitive post that gave a date as to when the heat came on. It looks like we made it past Oct 21st. That could be the record. I'll have to research it.
Monday, October 01, 2012
End of September Update
We had a semi busy weekend which was marred by illness. Susan has been steadily coming down with a cold since last week and it continued through the weekend...even though she had to work a hockey game on Saturday. She is tough.
Even though she was feeling sickish, that couldn't keep her away from our annual visit to the Greek Festival and the local Greek Orthodox Church. Normally, we ride our bike's but Susan thought it would be best to drive because of her depleted state. It was fabulous as usual and again makes me wonder why I don't enjoy orzo more. I really love that little football shaped noodle.
I spent the weekend goofing around the yard, doing odd jobs here and there. I spent some time on a new Halloween Prop. I cleaned up around the yard. I started painting some bird houses I have had for a couple of years but not put up. And I made some beer.
It's an Octoberfest Beer and I used some of my home grown hops. Above is the wort boiling away prior to adding the hops. Below is the hops, the store bought stuff from the store where I bought it and the home grown stuff from the home where I grew it.
It is currently bubbling along in the kitchen as the fermentation process has taken off and gone wild.
I've been holding off on these bird houses because I had to get them painted. And naturally, they had to be painted in the color scheme of the house. I got them primed on Sunday and then added some base colors later. They will soon be the bitchin' best bird bedroom in the neighborhood.
I spent the weekend goofing around the yard, doing odd jobs here and there. I spent some time on a new Halloween Prop. I cleaned up around the yard. I started painting some bird houses I have had for a couple of years but not put up. And I made some beer.
I've been holding off on these bird houses because I had to get them painted. And naturally, they had to be painted in the color scheme of the house. I got them primed on Sunday and then added some base colors later. They will soon be the bitchin' best bird bedroom in the neighborhood.
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