Making Vinegar

I recently splurged on a bottle of O Cabernet Vinegar and boy, it was good. I used it in a blue cheese dressing recipe and man...you could really tell it was quality stuff. It was so good that I used it all up pretty quickly. It was then that I decided that I would FINALLY ACTUALLY do something that I have been wanting to do for a while now: make some vinegar.

One of the benefits of Jeff being a winemaker is that we have a ton of wine hanging around. I am sure our neighbors think we are total boozers when they see our glass container on recycling day. In addition to the cases that we get as part of the terms of his employment, there always seems to be bits flowing in from bottling, or topping, or whatever else it is that he does. Just the other day he came home with these three bottles, each of them opened and partly consumed. I have no idea why, or what they were for, but they were definitely on their way out, already starting to smell like vinegar.

The "How to Make Vinegar from Leftover Wine" article from gangofpour.com gave me the final boost of inspirational motivation so I went to the local homebrew store and picked up a Red Wine Mother, which is the starter for the vinegar process (somewhat like a sourdough starter) and a three gallon carboy. I am so excited. If this experiment goes well I have already decided that I am going to try a Rosé Champagne (or Cava, Prosceco, or Sparkling Wine) vinegar, since Rosé Sparklers are my favorite. Let the vinegar making commence!

P.S. We named the kitty LuLu.

One of us. One of us. One of us.

Flat on her back hogging the couch. Yep- she's one of us. I promise I won't start posting a million pictures of my cat on this blog, don't worry.

We took her to the vet yesterday to get her checked out and aside from the earmites and the fact that she may be pregnant, everything went well. You can see on her belly where the vet buzzed a patch of hair to check for a spade scar. (none there)

We LOVED our vet and the assistants who worked there. We found out that she is a "classic tabby" since her markings on her side produce a circular pattern instead of stripes.

We still don't have a name for her. I, however, am calling her Tucker- a suggestion made by Carrie. It seems she has met a female kitty named Tucker, who was named after Maureen Tucker, the drummer for the Velvet Underground. I like the name. It's the same kind of name as Scout, from To Kill a Mockingbird. I don't want a cloying super-girly name. We have tried Loo-Loo, Trixie, and even Missy Pants. Tucker may not stick either, but I feel like I have to start calling her something besides My Sweet Goober-Poo.

Our New Baby

We don't have a name for her yet. She is the loviest, sweetest poo ever.

The Stray Animal Day

This is a recent thrift store purchase. It's a "sewing/knitting basket" I love, love, love the fabric.

Also, breaking news: we may be bringing home a kitty today. A little girl was found out at the winery and she is going to the vet this afternoon. If everything is okay, Jeff's going to bring her home! Yay!

I'll post a pic if we get her.

I also saw a black dog this morning running down the middle road, looking tired and lost. I was on the way to an appointment so I couldn't stop. But, about two hours later I was coming back from a walk and I saw him again trotting down the road. The poor thing absolutely broke my heart. I tried to get him to come to me, but he(she) wouldn't, and in fact ran away when I tried to approach him. I know it's potentially dangerous to approach a stray, but his tongue was hanging out and he was limping a little and I couldn't not try to help. I called animal control so hopefully someone will try to find him. Poor doggie.

The coolest puppets ever

On Fridays our daily paper inserts a little tiny version of "Life" magazine and there was a photo spread of GIGANTIC marionettes that a french theater troupe broughtto London last month. The show was called "The Sultan's Elephant". Oh man...that is so cool. I wish I could have seen that. Check out the photos of it on flickr.

Remodeling

I transplanted some hostas that were being almost completely obscured by a hedge row in the front yard a few weeks ago and I am SO happy that they seem to be thriving in their new home. I am slowing trying to turn this area of the yard into a woodland paradise. I looked out the window of my office the other day to take a break and caught this little fellow surveying the new landscape. I would like to think he approved of the changes.

The Joy of Owning a Home

I am reading with excitement all about the brand new joys of owning a home on NotMartha. Picking out colors, sofas, and painting the walls. I am reading and thinking "ah...I remember those days."

I am dealing with the not-so-fun aspect of homeownership: when shit breaks.

First, there was the toilet and water issues that happened last week. Then! Just when I was getting use to the idea of parting with hundreds of dollars, I was outside dumping the kitchen scraps into the compost..I heard a "gurgle, gurgle, gurgle". I look down to the find the source of the noise and I pulled back an overgrown patch of grass to find a gigantic POOL of water next to the well house.

Panic stricken, I start bailing the water out of the hole in the ground with my compost bowl like I am saving myself from a sinking boat. All the while I was telling myself that this was just a puddle caused by rain. Ha. I actually managed to get most of the water out, but as soon as the pump came on the hole filled right back up. Long story short, an adapter piece on a pipe broke.

The very dirty well technician informed me that the leak had probably been there a very long time as you can see from the picture above that the foundation of the well house is, uh, sunken, and the adapter finally broke enough to cause a large body of water to emerge.

I laid awake a few nights trying to tell myself that the supposed thousands of dollars this was going to cost me was OKAY, and that this is why I have a credit card, and that owning a home is not all paint chips and curtains. The good news is that it was a super easy fix and by the time we split the bill with the Buddhists (they share the well) it's only going to cost me a hundred bucks.

Whole lot of nothing

Not a whole heck of a lot going on here. Seems like we are spending a lot of money on some very unfun stuff. We had a toilet fiasco over the Holiday that escalated into a major water issue, and both cars need major stuff done. *sigh*

The good news is that I am finally feeling like I am coming out of my creative slump. Slowly, anyway. I tried out Corel Painter the other day again after many years. That's a funky program. I think it would take some getting used to. I have 30 days to try it, so we'll see if I need it enough to plunk down the cash. Even though I really shouldn't.