A very busy day in the loft. Moved all my bottles. Decanted another 3 demijohns into bottles, including an amazing blackberry and elderberry 1994 (!), a grape and apple 1999 and an unknown red from an unknown date which also tasted great. So who's inviting me to a Christmas party this year?
I sorted out a big pile of paperwork into keep, recyclable, compostable and 'used on one side only so reusable'...
I collected a cheque owed to me from St Nicks for Apple Day and saw Helen, and agreed to meet with her at 6pm and have a bit of a social. She came back here and had my home-made soup and a roll which was made by our son at school. Good chats.
In the evening I worked out my ActOnCO2 carbon footprint, updated to give our exact electricity usage (1674kwh/year, renewable tariff) and gas use (132 cubic metres/year) which gave a household footprint of 1.04 tonnes/year, or an individual footprint of 0.27 tonnes/year. Obviously this isn't the total as it doesn't take into account my public transport use, food and goods purchases, and the things that national and local Government does on my behalf.
I also took advantage of a fallen and logged tree to stock up on my woodpile...
Showing posts with label bottling wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bottling wine. Show all posts
Not too bad a start to the day, came down to ensure things didn't go too pear-shaped and therefore it was a smooth start, fortunately.
I made a start on the many demijohns in the loft which have sat there since we moved in 2001 and I've done nothing with the contents. This house doesn't lend itself to winemaking, somehow, and also I was aware of my drinking having a negative effect on my health, so I didn't resume my hobby. So, there were 30 or more demijohns of assorted wine, cider and unknown brews to basically get rid of. They are in the way of the work which will take place the day after tomorrow.
I took the bung out of each gallon jar and tasted it with a straw. Many were vinegary or bitter or yuk... but one, an elderberry and apple 1998 was wonderful, so I bottled it. Another, an experiment done by an old, now sadly deceased, friend called Lin, was orange tango and tea... I bottled this as it was interesting and drinkable... not excellent, but drinkable. There was also an interesting Metheglin... honey and herbs.
I bottled 3 gallons and poured 8 away. Only another 20 or so to go!
The day went far too quickly. Gill went to town to do the charity shops, and bought a dress from Age Concern for £3 and something else for £2... and was given a card as a thank you. When she came home, she discovered that it had a £10 Littlewoods.com voucher in it, as a thank you. Littlewoods will donate £2 of it to Age Concern. How good is that?
I got a call from Lynn asking if I would be willing to help out at a LETS members' parents house later today, moving some heavy furniture and pulling up some carpets. So of course, I said yes, and at a few minutes to 6, I zoomed over to Huntington Road to help, spent 45 minutes there and sped back, in time to eat a fantastic tea Gill had made... a stew made on the woodstove then topped with cheese scone mix and popped in the oven. This 'cobbler' thing is really delicious and very easy to make.
A quiet evening, washing up, stoking both stoves as it is cold tonight, and playing Scrabble on facebook. Oh, and promoting the good news that Age of Stupid will be shown on BBC4 on Monday 14th December at 10pm. Great!
I made a start on the many demijohns in the loft which have sat there since we moved in 2001 and I've done nothing with the contents. This house doesn't lend itself to winemaking, somehow, and also I was aware of my drinking having a negative effect on my health, so I didn't resume my hobby. So, there were 30 or more demijohns of assorted wine, cider and unknown brews to basically get rid of. They are in the way of the work which will take place the day after tomorrow.
I took the bung out of each gallon jar and tasted it with a straw. Many were vinegary or bitter or yuk... but one, an elderberry and apple 1998 was wonderful, so I bottled it. Another, an experiment done by an old, now sadly deceased, friend called Lin, was orange tango and tea... I bottled this as it was interesting and drinkable... not excellent, but drinkable. There was also an interesting Metheglin... honey and herbs.
I bottled 3 gallons and poured 8 away. Only another 20 or so to go!
The day went far too quickly. Gill went to town to do the charity shops, and bought a dress from Age Concern for £3 and something else for £2... and was given a card as a thank you. When she came home, she discovered that it had a £10 Littlewoods.com voucher in it, as a thank you. Littlewoods will donate £2 of it to Age Concern. How good is that?
I got a call from Lynn asking if I would be willing to help out at a LETS members' parents house later today, moving some heavy furniture and pulling up some carpets. So of course, I said yes, and at a few minutes to 6, I zoomed over to Huntington Road to help, spent 45 minutes there and sped back, in time to eat a fantastic tea Gill had made... a stew made on the woodstove then topped with cheese scone mix and popped in the oven. This 'cobbler' thing is really delicious and very easy to make.
A quiet evening, washing up, stoking both stoves as it is cold tonight, and playing Scrabble on facebook. Oh, and promoting the good news that Age of Stupid will be shown on BBC4 on Monday 14th December at 10pm. Great!
