Old Grey and Friend Bottling Wine in Arizona - April 11, 2009

I forgot to set all the bottles out onto the table after everything was all bottled, sealed, and labeled...and now that I've got everything packed up and put away...it ain't happening.

Word of the Day

Pooty Pie - An affectionate term used to address a loved one, usually a significant other.

We had a bit of excitement this morning. HTP woke to discover a flooded kitchen. I think he had got up to get a drink of water from the fridge. Nothing like stepping into a small flood in the morning to wake a person up. There was no sleeping for anyone after that. He discovered that one of the connections for our reverse osmosis had managed to "pop out". HTP managed to fix the leak but every thing under the kitchen sink was flooded. What a mess! It's a good thing that I have lots of towels. We mopped up the mess with the towels. HTP dragged the rug that I keep by the kitchen sink outside to dry in the sun. The carpet between the kitchen and the laundry room had to be "blotted" as well as we could with towels but HTP had to dig out a fan to plug in to finish the drying process. Then...we had to wash all the towels. I know...laundry day isn't until tomorrow but HTP ended up doing most of the work today. He even folded the towels. I'm just thankful that this didn't happen yesterday morning. I'm not sure if I could have handled a flooded kitchen at 4 AM before heading to church and then hosting an Easter buffet.

I finished up bottling the rest of the Pyracantha Wine this morning...after breakfast and after cleaning up the kitchen RO emergency. After bottling the rest of the wine, I put the shrink-wrap seals on all the wine that my friends and I bottled on Saturday and the wine that I bottled this morning. Thankfully, I didn't have to use more than one of the 1/2 gallon jugs...however, I had to use three 1.5 L wine bottles. There was a LOT of wine and I ran out of the smaller 375ml bottles and the traditional 750 ml bottles. Grand total? We ended up with twenty-five 750 ml bottles, three 1.5 L bottles, thirteen 375ml bottles, and whatever amount is in that screw top 1/2 gallon jug...all Pyracantha Wine. That was the biggest batch of wine. Then...we ended up with ten 750 ml bottles, and nine 375 ml bottles of the Prickly Pear Wine. Next? We ended up with six 750 ml bottles and ten 375 ml bottles of the Pomegranate Wine which used barley water. And last, but not least, we ended up with seven 750 ml bottles and nine 375 ml bottles of the Pomegranate Wine with white grape juice. I made two separate recipes of Pomegranate Wine...experiments. I wasn't happy with the color of my pomegranate fruit this year. It was really pale. The Pomegranate Wine with white grape juice looks like a clear white wine. It should have been more of a rose color. Oh well...I've fertilized the pomegranate tree and plan to fertilize again before we hit the road.

I'm keeping some of the wine here for gifting to friends and neighbors but...I've packed up five boxes containing Arizona wines, Arancello, and Limoncello to bring to The Lake this summer. (HTP will be thrilled at the amount of space they'll take up in the car.) Half of it will go to Sis and some to Mom. After all, Mom picked the pyracantha berries for me. I'm afraid that none of this wine will be drinkable until next fall...and that might be pushing it a bit. I think the Pyracantha Wine might want to age a bit longer...according to the recipe. The sample we tasted while bottling didn't draw rave reviews.

Murphyism of the Day

Kranske's Law

Beware of a day during which you don't have something to bitch about.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth.

- Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)