We’re continuing on with our Merry Making! If we’re hanging out at home, we may as well be productive! 😃
Here, Brian is re-racking our Sangiovese … then it gets the stabilizing and clearing packets. After the right photo was taken it went downstairs for three weeks! We’ll be bottling in June, so stay tuned for more about the name of this one!!
May 22, 2020
Next up… Pinot Noir!! We haven’t made this “flavor” before – we’re excited to try it!! But, we gots ta wait a while yet!
May 22, 2020
By the end of May we were ready to bottle our newest Cabernet Sauvignon! In this collage, Brian is re-racking, filtering, then bottling!
May 27, 2020
And it gets a name and labels! If Maggy can have a Mead, then Katie can have a Cab Sauv! 😃
May 27, 2020
We haven’t yet had a “Taste Testing” comparing Katie’s Cab Sauv to our Rainy Day Cab Sauv (bottled July, 2019) … but some day soon we will!!
And, our newest creation… we are so pleased with our Winter Blues Hard Cider that we started another batch, although a different flavor this time — Strawberry Lime!
The birds have continued to enjoy our feeders in the pine tree outside the Kitchen window!
Here’s a male White-Breasted Nuthatch…
May 23, 2020
And a male Hairy Woodpecker, hangin’ around on the tree, deciding between the seeds and the suet! …
May 23, 2020
And this little one… I’m sure they’ve been around before, and we’ve had lots feeding here this Spring, but we never knew what kind they were. This is a female Pine Siskin! …
May 23, 2020
Here’s a male Downy Woodpecker! The main difference between the Downy Woodpecker and the Hairy Woodpecker is size… the Downy is quite a bit smaller.
May 23, 2020
And, a brand new bird for Redtail Rise!! Brian and I had never seen this little guy before! We’re just a wee bit north of his range, and he only visited twice. I was lucky to get a few photos on his second visit! This is a male Lazuli Bunting! …
May 23, 2020
Share-zies!! In the left photo a male Hairy Woodpecker and a male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak; in the right photo, a female Pine Siskin and a male Lazuli Bunting …
May 23, 2020
And in this collage… on the left this male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak was outside the Living Room bay window! And on the right, he’s in the pine tree outside the Kitchen window.
Now that we’re well into May, lots of birds are around!! Some have been here all Winter, and some are arriving back to stay until Fall. Some even just passed through, only spending a couple days here.
Here is the Dark-Eyed Junco …
April 13, 2020
And the White-Throated Sparrow …
May 11, 2020
Last week, this juvenile Cooper’s Hawk was in our front flower bed. When I startled him while closing the front window, he went to a nearby spruce tree, and was kind enough to hang around until I got my camera and snapped some photos of him! 😃
May 15, 2020May 15, 2020
Here’s a male Tree Swallow, and in the right photo, under the crescent moon …
May 16, 2020
Male & female Tree Swallows up on a wire!
May 16, 2020
The Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks are back! The male gives the name, the female has quite a soft yellow on the breast. This is the first year we’ve known who she is!
May 18 & 19, 2020May 19, 2020
A female Downy Woodpecker is checking out a male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak! Well, maybe she’s protecting her suet! 😃
May 19, 2020
The Blue Jays have been around all Winter …
May 19, 2020
Here’s a new one for us, although I suspect they’ve been around and we just didn’t notice them or know their name … a Chipping Sparrow! This one was sitting outside the Living Room bay window, and was content to stay around while I took his photo!
Our hard cider had matured the same week our new pinot grigio was bottled, so that meant … Taste Testing!!! 😀 And, that means having good friends join us for their opinion… cuz it’s not near as much fun without friends around! 😀
First up … Winter Blues Hard Cider! … complete with a cheese board!
May 14, 2020May 14, 2020May 14, 2020 Clockwise from top left: Gregor, Barb, Al, Linda
Then it was on to the pinot grigio … we’ve kept some bottles from the first pinot grig kit to see how it ages, and how it compares to a brand new batch.
So, we compared Flat Garden Pinot Grigio, bottled ~9 months ago in late August to our brand new Charlie’s Pinot Grigio, bottled a couple days ago.
May 14, 2020
A blind taste test was in order …
May 14, 2020 From left: Linda, Al, Barb, Gregor
Flat Garden was a deeper colour, and had a deeper flavour. Charlie’s was milder. We were a mixed crowd when it came to which tasted “better”!
Taste Testing Thursday was a hit! We’ll be doing it again soon!
We celebrated my birthday with a picnic lunch and a drive Out West! Out to the Trunk Road, then north over Cork Screw Mountain towards Ram Falls. Spring is coming to the Foothills!
We saw a Beaver Lodge! …
April 30, 2020
Zoomed in a bit … the cell phone takes fairly good photos but not on zoom. And unfortunately, I forgot the big camera and zoom lens at home! 😕
April 30, 2020
We went off the Trunk Road and found this pretty little pond …
April 30, 2020
Then we followed another trail to see if we could get to the South Ram River! Success! We are downstream of Ram Falls (where we went in February with our cross-country skis and snowshoes) …
April 30, 2020April 30, 2020April 30, 2020April 30, 2020
The cliff goes straight down!
April 30, 2020April 30, 2020
On our way back south … the mountains were spectacular!
As the snow started melting off, we got to work in the yard and flower gardens. I just couldn’t look anymore at a yard filled with Winter’s caa-caa from 4 dogs… so out came the rake – around the house, as the snow disappeared.
Then it was… tackle the flower gardens, as they thaw out! First, the front of the house – cleaning up from last year! Before …
April 21, 2020
And after; much better! …
April 21, 2020April 21, 2020
I checked on the asparagus we planted last year. It was a “two-year root”, but only put up one shoot for each plant. This Spring … wow! lots coming! This is the first time either of us has grown it, so we’ll see how it progresses and when we can eat it!
April 30, 2020April 30, 2020
Linda & Al shared their bearded iris with us! Thanks Linda & Al! A few went into the Front Bed …
April 30, 2020April 30, 2020
And a few went into the beds by the stone stairs …
Time to check the Hard Cider – to see if it was fully carbonated! So we grabbed a couple of our Erdinger Beer Glasses! …
April 15, 2020April 15, 2020April 15, 2020
The result? The carbonation was perfect! And, the flavor? Wow!! Not as sweet as we thought it would be, which is a good thing! And, downstairs it went for another 4 weeks of aging … It should be ready to drink in mid-May.
April 20, 2020
I decided to try our Cucumber Infused Vodka in a martini … WOW! Ya gotta like cucumber though! 😃
April 15, 2020
We keep this vodka in the freezer, so it gets ice crystals in it …
April 15, 2020
After starting our mead in late December, and aging it downstairs for 3 months, it was time to bottle it!
April 18, 2020
Here Brian is re-racking it …
April 18, 2020
Then filtering …
April 18, 2020
All bottled … 35 ½ 750 ml mason jars!
April 18, 2020
Named and labeled …. Maggy’s Mead!
April 18, 2020April 18, 2020
And the result? Wonderful! We did a taste comparison between Maggy’s Mead and our Limp Mint Mead (bottled at the end of last July) … we couldn’t really taste the mint, but it did seem to effect the color… the Limp Mint Mead is a deeper color. And the taste? Maggy’s Mead is milder, perhaps just because it hasn’t aged as long. Maggy’s Mead is now downstairs…
April 20, 2020
The Pinot Grigio, which we started on Apr 7th, was racked into a carboy for stabilizing and clearing; then carted downstairs for 3 weeks.
April 20, 2020
And what’s happened to that beer, you ask??? Brian checked it for carbonation — it wasn’t quite fully carbonated, but … Brian said “it was light and refreshing, with a crisp, clean taste, like a gopher running across the snow-top with a bald eagle fast on his heels! It awakens the palette to a dance of Mexican jumping beans!” 🤣
April 20, 2020
We let the beer carbonate for another week upstairs, then it joined the cider downstairs to age for 4 more weeks. It should be ready to drink at the end of May.
“Aunt Kari & Uncle Brian got off the edge of the snow mobile trail and into the deep snow they went! They said it was hip deep! I know it was deep, cuz I had a heckuva time when I went off the trail too! Well, after what Aunt Kari said was 30 minutes (whatever that means!), they went on their way. But! Aengus & I got a wee bit distracted!!!! Aunt Kari & Uncle Brian came and found us!! And laughed and laughed and laughed at me! And took lots of photos – I don’t even like my picture taken!”
“And what did we get into? Well, Aengus said there was a gopher down here!”
“And when we got home, I had to have a BATH!! I must admit, it did feel good to get rid of all that mud! And it was a warm bath inside and not a cold hosin’ outside!!”
2020-04-21
And after that adventure, Katie had a beer named after her! 😆 …
