Monday, July 31, 2006

OMIGOD some knitting content

Here is a before (which you may recognize from earlier post and an after) Using the pets because they are little hams and for sizing. It is a moebius basket. Ofcourse, the one feature of the basket, the moebius handle, I didnt accentuate in the photos. But it's a great little one skein project.






For those of you who asked about my texting friend's Dad... she's been afraid to bring it up. Which is good because her cover story is going to be she has a friend who has a BF who is also named Dan...

And speaking of texting. On Aug 8 I can have a new cellphone. My current one, a Razr, did not stand up to being left on the roof of my car or being dropped onto gravel. (The first accident made the screen have a yellow haze and the second, put a crack in the window if you are curious) Anyway, I have to admit, that the Razr for me was only OK. I actually preferred my older Samsung. The phone book on the Samsung would have a person's name and then click for all their numbers-- easy to navigate through the phone book. The Razr shows a person name for each number I have. So instead of just Katrinka, I have Katrinka cell, Katrinka home, Katrinka work. Going through my phone book then becomes more tedious. I was thinking of trying the Samsung T509 but I saw a few bad reviews as far as sound quality. What I need in a cellphone is camera (yes I need a camera... Im hooked OK. Don't judge me.) and bluetooth. That's it. Having those features will make me happy.

Just when I thought we would have a break from the smoke coming in from CA fires (they are really bad on allergies so people are constantly sniffing which kicks in my hypochondria) we had a warehouse explosion that closed down freeways and roads.

Last week in wine class was Argentia and Chile. Nothing jumped out at me.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Where is Rehoboth?


THANK YOU SP!
Isnt it cool? It's a bear-related theme. Even the tissue paper was Care Bears. And I have never seen little bear needle huggers.

My Trekking obsession is being catered too.

I actually had to look at the back of the postcard to find the state. I feel my horizon broadening. I know a new location. I will have to look it up later to find out more about the place. I'm using the postcard as a bookmark (I love postcards and I love bookmark!) THANK YOU SP!

So last night one of my friends got really really drunk and thought it would be cute and sexy to send a randy text message to her BF Dan. And since she was really drunk it was really filthy...I mean REALLY REALLY only have guts to say that kind of thing when drunk filthy. She sends it and later asks him about it, and he says, "what text message?" In her phone book Dan and DAD are right next to each other. OOOPSIES!

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Wine Recommendation

I'm in love with this wine. Or maybe it was because it was my 7th taste... but if you are looking for a sweetish wine that you can just suck down with a straw try this lovely Australian blend. It taste like a fruity mixed drink.... and it's inexpensive $7-$11 a bottle.

Rosemount Estate
Traminer Riesling (65/35)
2005
11.5% alcohol


http://www.rosemountestate.com/documents/05_traminerRiesling.pdf

Monday, July 24, 2006

Monday Moment of Zen




Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Those screwy caps!

Like most of you, I used to have the exact same answer. I thought red OK to hold bowl because red isn’t chilled, but white, always the stem. But according to the number one or two food and beverage school in the nation (they keeping switching with Cornell), and backed up by all the wine places I have been to in the past 2 weeks… you can hold the wine glass ANYWHERE. Unless you’re from a Venus, hand heat is not sufficient to warm wine during the duration it is in the glass that would be detectable to the average wine consumer. I was watching a few somms drink wine and they were holding the glass from the foot. So if you like holding the stem, stay with it. But if holding that bowl feels A-OK too, don’t feel like an oaf. You won’t damage the wine.

The cork issue. Cork is from the cork tree. It takes 30 years before cork can be harvested. As more and more wine was produced, wine makers realized OH SNAP (still can’t drop that word!) we are going to run out of cork. More trees were planted, but OH SNAP (again!) there is going to be a 18 year gap of no cork.

Wineries start to experiment with other closures.

Many New World wineries have embraced the screw cap. If you don’t plan to age a wine more than 5 years, the screw cap will keep your wine fresher than cork. There are very good wines out there that have screw caps, but no great wine uses them. Probably because the public hasn’t totally embraced the idea. Also, it is a considerable gamble to test it on those pricier bottles.

A screw cap won’t prevent cork taint though, because it’s a bacteria that can be in the lines.


Today's wine

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Like I said, WINE TIME

Difference between Old and New World Wines
Old World is tripartite: land, wine maker, grape varietal
New World is fruit forward, the test of fruit is key (In the New World, fruit can get riper)

Fast Facts
• All color from wine comes from skin (it’s illegal to add color)
o Can't make red wine from white grapes and white wine from red grapes
• Illegal to chaptelize (add sugar) to wine
• Oxygen is the enemy of wine until wine is served. Other enemies include heat and light
• Change in temperature is worse than a constant high temperature
• Most wine is meant to be consumed in 1-3 years, red 1-5
• Most wine is kept/served too warm
• Keeping wine cold, retard aging
• Some grape varietals lend themselves to aging: they have high sugar (which lead to high alcohol) and/or high acid BUT Zin doesn’t age well because alcohol too high (can do 1-5)
• Worse day in Napa is better than the best day in France
• More wine is made in Central CA than anywhere else (x4)

Vocabulary
• Ullage: space between bottom of cork to top of liquid (or from bottom of abny other closure). The space is not air.

Question to leave you with: is there a place where you should not hold the wine glass?

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Congrats Italy

What can I say, I was cheering for Italy. They weren't Togo, but at least they weren't those thugs and pretty boys from England.

I want to thank my OSP, for not ONE but TWO skeins. I love them both.



The first, with all the sparklies I just adore. They really do look like little beads. I think I will make the suggested scarf because it will be perfect for Vegas nights.


The second, the colors are just so intense. I love this yarn. It is just a beautiful little workhouse that I can see featuring or making a whole project out of it. This is has my favorite shade of blue and green separately, and here they are TOGETHER. I can see myself buying this yarn. It's why my OSP did such a great job, she sent something for sure I would pick out, and then something I wouldn't, but once I have it my hand, I think OH SNAP (see below for more on that phrase) I have to make something with it.

And I wasn’t the only one to get a treat!





She loves to chew boxes. I could spend tons of dough on neat chew toys, but they couldnt compete with good ol' corrugated cardboard.

It’s skin shedding time in the reptile world. It is so tempting to peel her, but she is not so fond of that.



But oh how I would love to pin her down and peel her away.

I moved the ferrets from their small cage to their big cage.

It’s a bit weird having them at eye level.

So you know how when you spend a lot of time with someone with someone you pick up their mannerisms or phrases? It’s not on purpose. Well, remember that when I tell you the word/phrase that I accidentally picked up from my friend this summer.
Oh snap.
Ug. I hated it when she picked it up (from My Name Is Earl). It worked my nerves whether she did it with a southern accent or just normally. But hearing it over and over… what can I say before I knew it, I was saying it too without even knowing it. What’s worse is how many words OH SNAP has replaced:
-wow, neat etc
-you don’t say
-look here
-oh no
-shit
-mother fucker
-how exciting
-fuck
-son of a bitch
-How wonderful
-Ut oh
-Oh no.
-Ug
The list goes on, but as you can see, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to use this phrase and I have taken them. Oh Snap. It’s not cute. Why couldn’t I just pick up her cycle or why couldn’t she say something better?
I beg of you people, is there another phrase that I can replace this thing with? On the flipside, what phrases are you out there irritating people with?

And starting tomorrow and for the next 4 weeks. This blog will be all WINE all the time. So if you want to read about wines (specifically New World, check back!)

Sunday, July 02, 2006

I want this sheep



When I was knitting Friday, a fellow knitter showed me this little sheepy she got at the Black Sheep Gathering in Oregon. Ofcourse, she couldnt tell me who she bought it from. I would have bought a bunch as arent they adorable little guys?

OK so the picture is blurry. It's on my camera phone and while people were all around pawing the guy. But basically it's a ball made from stockinette and little bobbles on it.

accommodation in Barcelona