soeurs du jour

It was a dark and glowing night?

Last night we were driving home, down our country road just like always.   The bad weather was just arriving, slushy, snowy, freezy rain was hitting the windshield, it wasn't nice and we wanted to get home.  But over in the distance we could see an orange glow.   We were curious, was it a fire?  It didn't look like one, the glow was very steady in the sky.   A small detour to investigate was in order.

 

As we drew closer I realized what it was.  We're in the month of December and for the next three weeks the days are getting shorter and shorter.   Although it is winter, the nurseries are still growing plants for us to brighten up our homes, remember the poinsettias?   The plants need a longer day than mother nature will provide right now.

The green houses were lighting up the night sky.

It was amazing. But it didn't hold a candle to what we would see next.

Gerberas!

It was magical seeing the shadows of the flowers growing behind the sleet stained glass.

I haven't touched these photos, I wanted you to see what we were seeing. It's worth clicking on the photos to look at a larger size.

This was by far the coolest thing I've seen in a while.

As we headed home we noticed that a lot of the houses in our small neighbourhood had been decorated over the weekend. We immediately headed a few streets out of our way to see if, yup, there it was, the house with the upside down Christmas Tree in the window.

I have no words for that.

xo

Kath

Fall Back!

Did you remember to turn your clocks back last night?   I did it before we fell into bed worn out from a very big day.    

I skipped school (bad, I know) and we started our day by taking Charley for a long walk and then hit the road.   We squeezed in two antique stores and went for lunch at Olson's.   It is such a gorgeous place.

We headed out along the wine route to Jordan thinking we would just go where the wind took us.   Charley was settled quietly in the back.   Marg stopped to take photos at every opportunity. We were excited and arrived in Jordan when we had the big "Oh NO!"   Margie's purse was no longer with us.   It was forgotten at Olson's which was now more than half an hour away.   We called and it was safe, thank goodness.   

All day long I doled out money and paid for everything my sister bought.   I felt ever so generous and she felt well treated, "Buy me that!".    Of course a tally at the end of the day and a cheque written to me has put us back square.   

Last night we enjoyed a fantastic dinner at Zee's and in the middle of our great gabfest, Margie's cell phone rang, "Bahamas Calling".   Her best friend called and joined the party for a few minutes via long distance.    

Today, photographing Niagara Falls and Target in NF New York.

Have fun everyone, we will.

Kath

Rainy Day

It is a rainy day here, Margie is already off in the car, shopping, doing, making. I am working.

Be with you soon!

xo
K&M

Pick a Wine

A friend asks, "When are they going to pick the wine?" 

I wish it were so simple.  And if wishes could come true, I would have a tap installed on the post at the end of this row, right across the street.   I might even set up a table and chairs so I wouldn't have to move at all.

Aren't the roses beautiful?

Roses are the sentinel of the grape vines.   Susceptible to the same diseases as the vines, the roses will show the signs earlier. Vineyard managers plant the bushes as an early warning system.   

These roses always look so healthy and I never see anyone tending to them.  If I need an extra flower to fill out a bouquet, I will sneak across the street and snitch one.

Getting back to picking, we're getting close.  Very close.  The grape growers are out in the vineyards testing the grapes for Brix.  Brix is the amount of sugar in the grapes and since I really don't understand any of this, we've ordered our juice from Watson's and will let the experts do the hard work for us. 

We've been making wine from concentrated grape juice kits for over a year now producing drinkable Tuesday night plonk, as BB likes to say, "A chewy little wine".  The kits use grapes from California and somehow that just doesn't feel right.   So, this year, we're taking the plunge and going local.

When you see the vineyards wrapped like presents, you know that the harvest is imminent.  In France the harvest is called the vendange, in Italy vendemmia and here we call it the crush.

The netting protects the grapes from flocks like these.

Next weekend is the Niagara Wine Festival, I shall go and pick some wines for us.

In the meantime, I'm not going anywhere without my camera, who knows what I'll see!

Kath

The Old Winery (with links to some mouthwatering dining destinations)

When we were on our road trip on Sunday we had some ginger beer to drink,

Not only was it old but it was "tyme"and delicious.

We had a date last night, BB is going to be working on four shows instead of two and this extra work will take him away most evenings until November.  He decided we should do something special and called me at work to invite me out to dinner.  Very nice.  Good job, BB.

As is our way, we could not decide where to go.  After many emails we decided on Treadwells, it has received rave reviews from our friends and we had not been before.  We got there early and took a peek at the menu.   The thought was lovely but it was a bit overpriced for what we were thinking for a Tuesday night date.  We agreed we would save it for a special night when we could spend the entire evening and really enjoy ourselves.   We cancelled our reservation and headed back to Niagara on the Lake.  We were back at square one also known as home or NOTL as we locals like to call it.

We stopped at Strewn winery to look at the menu at La Cachette but it was still early and the restaurant was quiet.  I didn't fancy being the only couple in the place.  It felt a little too "early bird special" and we feel old enough sometimes without feeling like we're eating at 4:30 (after all it was 6:30 on a Tuesday!)

We were heading to Zee's and at the only stop light in town, we turned right instead of left and headed to  The Old Winery.  The name does not do this restaurant justice.  See, this fits with my photo of old tyme beer, they both have the word 'old' in the name.  The restaurant is not old, nor is it even old tyme, it's not even Jamaican.  It opened last year and  is very contemporary.

The food is delicious.   Tony DeLuca is one of my favourite chefs in this area.   He has another restaurant in the Oban Inn.  We enjoyed one of our most memorable dinners ever there.

We started with cocktails and I had a Manhatten, which  I only ordered  because a character in a book I recently read drank Manhattens.   I honestly didn't know it was a bourbon based cocktail and when I tasted it I was thrilled, I love bourbon.  It is now my new favourite drink.   "I'll have a Manhatten, please".  It just sounds so classy or grown up or something.

We usually end up at the Old Winery, if we have a place that is ours, this is it.  The menu is reasonably priced, the service is always good and sometimes great, and without fail, the food is outstanding.   I had my favourite crab cakes to start and something new on the menu, pistachio coated sea scallops on a warm spinach bacon salad.  Outstanding.  Every bite.  

My sister right now is shaking her head and wondering what happened  to the diet we discussed yesterday morning!.  Ha, out the window my sister, out the window.  I will start today.  Promise.  Oh and more photos next time. Promise that too.

xo

Kath

Behind each peach, pear and plum ...

Behind each peach, pear and plum that arrives safe and fresh on a table, there are a lot of  busy people working really hard to bring that fruit to fruition. 

It's that time of the summer when the soft fruit is being harvested.  On a warm day when I'm driving past an orchard I can smell the peaches.   If I can smell the peaches, they're ready and they need to be picked right now.

Who picks the fruit?  Guest workers from the Caribbean and Mexico who arrive in February and stay until the end of November.  They do all the hard work to keep the orchards, nurseries and vineyards producing, pruned and picked.  Guest workers are here legally as part of a Seasonal Agriculture Workers Program.

These guys are a part of our community.

Sometimes I only catch a glimpse.

Or they are past me before I know it.

There is not much chance for snapping photos, these guys are on the move.

 

Sometimes I think the rides on the trucks must be their only rest this time of year
and that truck does not look comfortable.

 

Thanks to the guys who work so hard to keep things going around here.

Kath