Day 64, Post-Op Township 7 Terravista Chabeuil Blues: Sunday, November 20th!

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire, philosopher (21 Nov 1694-1778) 


I am exhausted entertaining my friend! [Tina left me with a crushing hangover and a 300$ speeding ticket!! This is very good news indeed Lol!! Nothing like the sweet taste of revenge, Ms Tinsel Town!] She arrived last Saturday from Queensland, I took her to the Whispering Wall and had a nice glass of Wirra Wirra Shiraz with my friend who lives in Williamstown. Sunday we visited Seppeltsfield, Château Dorian, had lunch at Maggie Beers, then onto St Hugo and finishing at Jacobs Creek. To be continued!

Adelaide: On Monday we rode Obahn into Adelaide, walked across the new bridge to the Adelaide Oval where we had a coffee. From there we Walked along the new pathway honouring all who had served in our various wars. This is behind Government house, it was very moving.
 
We then walked along Rundle Mall to Victoria Square and caught the the tram to Glenelg..Had a scrumptious seafood platter at Sammys on the Marina, which we then walked off with a brisk walk along the jetty! Back into Adelaide to Haighs for chocolate frog and up to 2KW for a cocktail and amazing view of Adelaide.
 
Home to a delicious meal quiche and a glass of Seppeltsfd Shiraz! Love Tina Trip organiser Hi Trip Organizer! Enjoyed your snaps of Seppeltsfield and Adelaide. They brought back very, very fond memories! I guess if you don't receive the plane tickets in time for Open House we'll see you in the New Year! Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Penticton Creek; Patio cat; Hungry cat!



Greetings Pat and Corinne! Thank you for the invitation to the open house on Dec. 10. What great timing to launch the festive season. Unfortunately we won't be anywhere close by to be able to attend. One of these years, we'll come out at Christmas. 

Can you believe ? The U. of M. faculty has been on strike for 3 weeks now. Amy has only her Spanish class to attend because the prof doesn't belong to the union. The whole academic year i(if they come back soon) will now run right up to Dec. 23 and classes for first semester until Jan. ??? There will be no study week in February. In the meantime, life goes on for Amy with dance - she will be tutu attired for her role as the Spanish dancer in The Nutcracker on Dec. 17. She is also enjoying her very first job at Aritzia at Polo Park.

Moi? I'm busy with teaching and incredible as it seems, still doing yard work. If they haven't been nipped by the frost, I have ripe raspberries to pick. Needless to say, we've had a long and glorious autumn. Gerry Lenton's Mom across the street has been raking up a storm quite often. She's in great shape. Did you know her way back when? Haven't seen Gerry coming to visit.

How is your hip ? Where will you be spending Christmas ? Send a photo of Etta and Duke. Our kiddos are always on the go. Marius is double the size of his two sisters who are "miniature". Mama Cat is as gracious and lovely as ever. Despite the fact that Marius is now bigger that her, she remains a worthy wrestling opponent for him. (Maybe he lets her win). Pikko and Baby Balletina just shriek when he beats up on them. But most of the time, he's a loving brother.
 
Wow ! I'm beginning to email like you. Take care till next time ! ������

Dear Loquacious One! Didn't realize that verbosity was a communicable disease! You'll have to start donning a surgical mask and gloves when answering my messages! Unfortunately, for you, the virus may already have taken hold. This being the case, you might wish to warn your other correspondents!
 

Sorry you won't be able to join us! Of course I knew it was a very long-shot but one never knows! What a drag that the UM strike is still on. Wouldn't want to be walking the picket line in winter weather! Please FedEx a box of your raspberries! Yes, I knew Gerry's Mom reasonably well. From Grade X until XI we were very good friends so I was often at their home on Lipton. His twin sisters were just young teenagers, if that, at the time.
We will be driving to Tinsel Town for Christmas. Ayn very generously bought Chloë a return ticket so she will fly down on the 22nd. We plan to leave around the 15th and will probably stay overnight in Vancouver before making for Portland next day. We have very close friends there. Since we've made this trip so many times, over the years, we have all the times/distances calibrated. From Portland we can be in or very near the top of Napa/Sonoma with a reasonably long day of driving. Have a couple of cases of wine to collect at a winery in latter, Christmas hootch! From there into Berkeley to stay with more close friends before driving to LA. Our winter tires were put on, about a month ago, so we are prepared for snow. One of reasons Lady Dar doesn't want to drive by herself, to Vancouver, this coming Thursday, is that it is snowing heavily already on the Coquihalla! 
 

At the moment, I'm acting as a doorman, opening the patio door for Etta and Duke as they leap onto the stairs to bound around the patio then back into the garage, (through the cat door we put in a couple of months ago, to play follow the leader through the house, over furniture and across beds then back to my office to start the merry-go-round again! At any rate, trust the Spanish Dancer enjoys The Nutcracker! [We used to take Ayn to the ballet of same, when in Winnipeg, over Christmas!] Take care of yourselves and hope to see you, one way or another, if not at the Open House, then at some other point in space and time! Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio!
Patrick, Thank you for the invitation. We will be there! Hi Pamela! Terrific that you and William will be able to attend our Open House! Beforehand, as a small thanks for all the wonderful kindling, Lady Dar and I would like to invite you for dinner, on Sunday, December 4th, at the Burns Street Gin Joint and Hot Sheets Hotel, anytime between 5:30-6:00 pm. Hope you are free but let us know and we plan accordingly. 

Have friends from London/Chabeuil, (small village about two hours south of Lyon), staying until Wednesday. Did a bit of wine-tasting today as we had to collect a number of releases from Township 7 and Terravista. Probably do a bit more tomorrow as Art Gallery is closed and we want to see latest exhibitions. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Bob and Senka at Terravista, pressing skins of the current Syrah! Andre and Benjamin admiring Lady Dar's advertisement! Tree at Poplar Grove and Rosemary with Andre, outside tasting room.

Hi Bob: Here is the information on the malt offering from Dubh Glas which I mentioned earlier. Let me know what you think and we'll plan  accordingly. Cheers, Patrizzio! Hi Senka, Bob and Benjamin! Great to see you three this afternoon, even uninvited and as unwelcome as we were! Your full website gives details of being closed after October but the quick link which pops up leads one to believe you are open! Guess we are both right! Me more so as the customer is always right, right? Hope you can join us for our Open House. Benjamin is welcome, as well, as Etta and Duke are inviting all their canine and feline friends! Cheers, Patrizzio!

Splendid Photos ! Thanks for the invite! Hi again, Senka! Glad you enjoyed the snaps! Just opened the case of wine we collected yesterday, as we all wanted to try the Syrah for dinner this evening, and was delighted to find the calendar and lasagna recipe. Thanks so much for both! Lovely gifts indeed! Funnily enough, we had leek soup for lunch today. Earlier this morning we walked down to the Saint-Germain Café and Gallery on Main Street, with Andre and Rosemary, to meet close friends, Val and Dan, who live in Gallagher Lake. Val's nephew, Chris, owns the place. 

After we enjoyed a good visit, The Sisterhood went shopping for clothes and Andre and I strolled home. Somehow we started talking about what we were going to have for lunch and I mentioned that Lady Dar was planning to make leek and potatoe soup but didn't have time to get around to doing it.

Andre said he would make the soup, (He does all of the cooking back in France and is terrific at it!), so he did just that while I rode the stationary bike for my hip. Absolutely delicious so when I discovered your recipe I suggested he make lasagna for dinner tomorrow! Thanks again, Cheers, Patrizzio! PS: Do you have a recipe fro Quail? About a dozen perch in the neighbour's tree across our back lane!!!

Hi Kevin: Thanks for the wonderful tasting yesterday! Here is the information on the malt offering from Dubh Glas which I mentioned. Let me know what you think and we'll plan  accordingly. Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Patrick and Corinne, We are flattered that we are on your guest list - thank you for the invite. Unfortunately we will be on the plane flying home after being in Hawaii (Island of Kauai). We know your open house will be exciting, boisterous and fun. Cheers, Dawn and Gerry.

Hello Never-in-one-Place Jet-Setters! Have a grand time on Kauai! Lady Dar is already green with envy. At any rate, travel safely, take care of yourselves and hope to see you, one way or another, if not at the Open House, then at some other point in space and time! Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio!

I am exhausted entertaining my friend!She arrived last Saturday from Queensland, I took her to the Whispering Wall and had a nice glass of Wirra Wirra Shiraz with my friend who lives in Williamstown. Sunday we visited Seppeltsfield, Château Dorian, had lunch at Maggie Beers, then onto St Hugo and finishing at Jacobs Creek. To be continued!                                Hi Patrick 

We have watched some of the Hinterland series, a bit depressing, I call the detective in the series, the "Welsh Wallender". I am a great fan of Netflix and we are currently watching the third season of Rectify, which is a very compelling drama series and well worth watching, on a lighter note we enjoyed an Aussie series about a reprobate lawyer, called Rake.

I saw Ricardo and Baldrick last night and they both said " hi". Andrew is still deciding about your scotch offering and he said he will contact you.

He also reminded me of our great trips to watch rugby and wine tasting in California and he commented that he still had some wines left from those trips. Mine all went about five years ago!!, do you have any in your extensive cellar ?

Cheers Mick

Hi Mick and Bridge Woman! Loved your characterization of detective in Hinterland, "The Welsh Wallender!" Started Shetland a few nights ago and had to put subtitles on as we simply couldn't catch  much of the dialogue! Worse than The Wire for understanding speech patterns! Funnily enough, last night I just started watching Season 4 of Rectify. Chloë told us about it sometime ago. The actor who plays Daniel is Australian, as you might know, and one of his sisters, (Rachel), lives in Vancouver.

Chloë knew her when they both worked at GI Brewery and we've seen her socially a number of times. One of the last times was shortly after she'd been down to see him and his family on set, I think in Tennessee. Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi, Very kind of you to invite me. However it is a bit too far for me to come at the moment. I hope everyone has a super time. Cheers, Bev Hi again, Bev! Sorry you won't be able to join us! 
Of course I knew it was a very long-shot but one never knows! Cheers, Patrizzio!

Alas this is the same night as my works Christmas dinner. I wish you and lady Dar a happy and healthy festive season. Did you find a new place yet? Perhaps we can get together for a coffee before the end of the year. Cheers Teresa Hi Mama T! Sorry you won't be able to join us. No, we haven't found a new place, or at least Lady Dar hasn't stopped looking! Anyway, we'll be here, (forever, if I hope!), until we head south for Christmas, so if you'll be in town over next few weeks, let me know and please pop by for a java or something stronger! Cheers, Patrizzio!