All about oak
There is a decent sized contingent of wine drinkers for whom chardonnay is undesirable because of the “oaky taste”. When I seek to further clarify, the precise feature of dislike is its butteriness. The buttery notes have little to do with oak, but can be accentuated by the barrel. They result from a second bacterial […]
Put it in a pot
This is the time of year when I personally think the containers in a garden really start to out-shine the perennial beds. The potted plants have really taken off with the sun and the rain and now our patio planters are getting all the praise. This also happens to be the time of year when […]
Connected and disconnected
First of all, most types of dementia are not hereditary. While having a family member with dementia, particularly a first-degree relative like a parent or sibling, does increase your risk of developing the condition, it doesn’t guarantee you will get it. So, if Mom or Dad or Grandma or Grandpa had some form of dementia, […]
Good to the last drop?
I was recently asked at a speaking event why I’ve been so vocal about not liking grass in the yard. The reason I’m not a fan of grass is not the plant, but the homeowners that care for it. Grass requires more time, money and resources than anything else we can have in our outdoor […]
Bottle sizes
The standard wine bottle size is 750ml or about five 5oz glasses. It wasn’t always this way. But thanks to Napoleon and his quest for standardization and taxation, the 750ml bottle size became a way to simplify trade and calculations. The main trading partner of wine with France at the time was England, and the […]
Losing control
If you read any of the letters pages in our two County newspapers, you will see a trend. Not a happy trend. There’s lots to fight about, and lots to fight against. Though the passion is there in the writing, most of us are entering an endless cycle: Repeating the same arguments over and over. […]
Hybrid grapes
The grape species that is used to produce most of the wine you consume is called vitis vinifera. The grapes originate from Europe and include most of the varieties you already know: chardoanny, sauvignon blanc, riesling, cabernet sauvignon, etc. These species of vines don’t much care for cold weather. At minus 25 degrees celsius, they […]
Cheers!
Half-past July and finally the rain is falling on the day after my birthday. Today, Sunday the 20th of July, I am one day older and officially an old person. I know I’m old because recently I looked at an empty cardboard box and seriously wondered if it was good enough to keep because “you […]
Mowing
For the last few articles I’ve been trying to help you grow a better lawn. In this last piece, I am wrapping it up with mowing. Growing a good lawn means nothing if you don’t know how to care for it. When cutting your grass, there are a few things to know. First, we generally […]
Labracadabra-dor and Newfoundland
What if? What if the entire, thinking world stopped reacting to what DJT says or does? What if we just stopped listening to him ramble on incoherently? What if the big corporations and the governments around the globe simply tuned him out? Would he go away? Speaking of going away and tuning out. LOML and […]