A Spur of the Moment Visit

Yesterday evening around 8am I had just finished dinner and was contemplating this and that before popping up to The House to catch up on the day and then come down and pack for the 6 day tournament which I'm off to in a couple of hours (from now - lunchtime Friday) in Palmerston North.  As I was pulling my thoughts together Martin rang and said that R and L had just arrived with a bottle of wine for a chat and did I want to come up.  Of course I did.  It's always good to catch up with friends.

The evening was warm and absolutely perfect for wine with friends and the chat ranged far and wide as we sat on the deck: initially in the sun and finally under the stars when the sun retreated to go and play with someone else.  At around half past midnight I arrived back at The Cottage!  Then followed a call from a friend in Scotland and despite my intention of being in bed and asleep within a few minutes of the call ending I eventually switched off the light at 2am!

So I woke this morning with nothing packed and no thought given to my journey this afternoon.  Did I care?  Of course not.  Evenings just don't get much better than that.

A Wine Tour

I've been on a number of tours of the wineries of Hawkes Bay of which I understand that there are about 172 in Hawkes Bay and I've visited less than 10 of them (some more than once).  On Friday Gaz, Carol and I went on a tour run by a company, Vince's World of Wine, which I've not been with before and it's a company I will certainly recommend to visitors in future.  The wineries were very well chosen and the wines of a very high standard.   Vince drove one mini-bus but our driver/knowledgeable guide/good-fun-person was Lynn, Vince's wife.  We visited 4 wineries and ended up at Moana Park, a winery just by the Pukatapu School where all Wendy and Martin's children have gone and the younger children still go.  Despite its closeness I had never been into the winery.  I am ashamed because as a package the wines were far and away the best we tasted.

I think Gaz and Carol were enjoying themselves

Lynn looked on with a typical Kiwi smile

Pedro, Moana Park Winery's chief rabbit hunter

Moana Park's Cellar Door

Wine: I just Love It But...

I do wish that their PR people wouldn't come up with such such rubbish for their blurbs. New Zealand makes some of the finest wines available today using modern techniques. I won't analyse the above because it is, of course, simple a puff in the advertising sence but real? I ask you. What else would it be? Ersatz? Mind you in wine terms it is interesting that the word ersatz is German.

For want of a can opener

One of the lovely things about being here is that The Family Geddes is so near. Catriona came down to see me last night at about 7pm. In my experience children, when (with permission) raiding fridges and food stores look for for biscuits, sweets and anything which is not the healthy option. Not so with the Geddes children. They raid the larder for lettuce leaves, carrots and apples. OK so I've never known a biscuit refused but first choice a lettuce leaf?!

A little later Wendy came down with Fraser. We had a blether and perhaps a glass of wine (we have learned to eschew the healthy option) passed our lips. After they had gone I decided to have some dinner.

Frankly food has been at the bottom of my agenda over the last few days since I've had this bug and nothing in the larder came forward as it would have done to Ford Prefect and said "Eat Me". A tasty salad? I have no ability to taste at the moment and a salad is effort. I decided upon soup or a tin of beans. That is until I discovered that one of the necessities which had been overlooked in the kitchen was a tin opener. Guess what I'll be buying today.