A plan is hatching

We’re working on a plan to get married this summer. It will be a very small affair, involving just us, a couple to serve as witnesses, and a person to marry us. It will take place in another city in the vineyard owned by the other couple.
It was rapidly becoming clear that because of family conflicts that we would not be able to have everyone we would like to have without major conflicts breaking out. The plan is to have the ceremony, go for dinner that night, and the next day, to set out on a driving honeymoon. Hope the weather holds.

See more progress on: marry Christine

Ten months

It’s been about 10 months since I moved in with Christine. Over the winter we have done quite a few things to the place. Most recently we had all new windows and a new front door installed. It was a bit strange having the installer wandering about the house for the better part of a week, but the job is done and it is good. I hadn’t realized how blotchy our old windows were because of broken seals that allowed moisture to form between the two panes of glass.
Our new windows have argon gas between the panes. It keeps the heat in better in winter and keeps it out better in summer. As we go through our huge northern climate change I’ve notices both of these effects already.
Now that we have new windows we need new window treatments. We’ve purcased various curtains and rods which went up right after the installer left. Then we selected and ordered custom wooden slatted venetian blinds for three of the rooms: the tv room, my ofice, and the master bedroom.
These kinds of projects can have negative effects on a relationship as the turmoil of renos and the stresses of home owner installations come into play. We’ve done a very good job of recognizing when we are being grouches and working around it. One of the benefits of “late middle age” (to use a euphemism) is that we are capable of a little self awareness and self analysis.

See more progress on: settle in one place

Recent red wines

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve enjoyed some very nice red wines and some not so nice. The bottles went out with the recycling and I didn’t not specifics such as year or vintner so my remarks will be kind of vague.
In general, I’m kind of losing my taste for Spanish rioja. The ones I’ve had recently have been kind of one dimensional, with no nose.
On the other hand, Argentinian reds are rising in my estimation. They represent a very good price/quality combination, have depth and complexity of taste and a good, usually berry like nose.
Australian shiraz is an international standard. We had a Maclaren Valley (?) shiraz last night. It had a caramel bouquet and the taste of fruit jam. Very nice.

See more progress on: Enjoy great wine