Accountability
Parenting books should be legally required to display the number of children the author has.
Almost time to put up the Christmas lights or, as my kids call it, “Swear Day.”
People who don’t blur their backgrounds on video calls are just bragging that they don’t have kids.
4: Let’s hunt turkeys, Daddy. Me: How do we do that? 4: Put up a big sign that says, “Come here, Turkeys!” I might be raising Elmer Fudd.
3.5 *Two hours after bedtime: MOOOMMMYYY Me: what’s wrong!!!?!? 3.5: what animals don’t have teeth?
Tell your teenager to clean them out of their room now so you will have enough cups and dishes for Thanksgiving.
My favourite part of parenting right now is that my 4 year old keep making plans to go to his friend’s house after school but doesn’t tell us, his parents, or even his friend, and then loses his mind when it doesn’t actually happen, what’s yours?
When my son was born, I knew that I would love him forever, with a slight break between 12 and 21.
Do you remember?
The Travel Ghosts come alive
Shadow of the Silk Road
Rather than follow the Silk Road as the Western world thinks of it, Colin Thubron starts in Xian, China and travels west, terminating in Antakya, Turkey (Antioch). On the two places the Silk Road diverged onto alternate paths, Thubron chose to follow the lesser travelled routes. The net result of this journey is a fascinating portrait of Western China, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Persian and Arabic lands.
He takes a couple of interesting detours, including one into the fringes of Tibet. This is eye-opening and enjoyable to read.
His first books were about the Middle East – Damascus, Lebanon and Cyprus. In 1982 he travelled by car into the Soviet Union, a journey he described in Among the Russians. From these early experiences developed his classic travel books: Behind the Wall: A Journey through China (winner of the Hawthornden Prize and the Thomas Cook Travel Award), The Lost Heart of Asia, In Siberia (Prix Bouvier), Shadow of the Silk Road and To a Mountain in Tibet.
This is a rewarding, elegantly written, travel adventure.
Shadow of the Silk Road, Colin Thubron, ISBN 978-0-06-123172-8
A Musical Monday
No llores por mi Argentina-Enrique Chia – Nacha Guevara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7bpLCBCLiE
Beau Dommage – Harmonie du soir à Chateauguay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfQjDWAoCUU
Adio Querido – Maria Salgado https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPrtkSVC3cw
KOHAR with Stars of Armenia – Miananq Ergov https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afdvJr5Wh3Q
Measuring Up
Paying for your (S)(Z)ins
If you go back one generation, they’re probably the ones that made the Zin on your mis spent youth. Notice I said Zin not sin. … well maybe that too.
Established in 1895, Seghesio Family Vineyards produces benchmark Zinfandels that honour five generations of wine growing, and share the heart of Sonoma County and their Italian heritage.
“Loaded with rich, jammy fruit, this plump Zin is a pleasure to drink, with bold accents of wild berry, spicy cinnamon and licorice that glide dynamically toward plush tannins.
Petite Sirah is added to honor century old traditions and to provide color and structure. The result is a wine that offers tantalizing raspberry, blueberry, classic briary and spicy flavours with a balance of components for which Seghesio wines are known.
Blend: 83% Zinfandel, 12% Petite Sirah, 1% Syrah, 1% Carignane, 1% Barbera, 2% Mixed Red
Pair with anything Italian.
In the glass the wine pours pretty light, see through, and in the mouth it’s medium to medium plus in body. Great aromatics, but where this one shines is once it hits the palate.
ZINFANDEL – SEGHESIO SONOMA 2016
$33.99 regularly $36.99
14.8% alcohol
UPC:00088254758724
Local Escapes
If the Triumvirate is Singing Nah Neh Nah
Then we know that they have had more than one bottle of this.
In the meantime we had to do it by half – half a Cornish game hen each.
From a winemaking perspective 2020 was an exceptional vintage in the South Okanagan. Temperature-wise, this vintage was the 5th warmest in growing degree days in the last 2 decades. Overall, it delivered exceptional quality grapes of a smaller berry size with abundant ripe fruit and beautifully enhanced flavour profiles. It is a year where the quality will be talked about for years to come, producing wines that are cellar worthy.
Fragrant and fresh, this vintage is approximately 2/3 Pinot Gris and 1/3 Gewürztraminer. The grapes were entirely sourced from nearby vineyards including our Golden Mile Bench and Road 7 estates. A wine of Character that is a wonderful representation of Oliver terroirs.
They are saying 01 Sweetness, but we didn’t find it off dry.
The character here comes from putting together 6 grape varietals from the estate vineyards on the Golden Mile. Yes there is gold in those grapes as the taste is fruity with citrus and tree fruit flavours to enjoy.
If you have sucked up all the white, remember there is also a Character Red.
HESTER CREEK – CHARACTER WHITE 2020
$15.99 regularly $17.99
13.4% alcohol
UPC: 00626990112211
Interesting .. and not dumb
Glass takes one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times!
Gold is the only metal that doesn’t rust, even if it’s buried in the ground for thousands of years.
When a person dies hearing is the last sense to go. The first sense lost is sight.
Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end.
The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself.
If you stop getting thirsty , you need to drink more water. When a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.
Zero is the only number that cannot be represented by Roman numerals.
Kites were used in the American Civil War to deliver letters and newspapers.
The song Auld Lang Syne is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year.
Drinking water after eating reduces the acid in your mouth by 61 percent. Drinking a glass of water before you eat may help digestion and curb appetite.
Peanut oil is used for cooking in submarines because it doesn’t smoke unless it’s heated above 450F.
The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.
Nine out of every 10 living things live in the ocean.
The banana cannot reproduce itself. It can be propagated only by the hand of man.
Airports at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density.
The University of Alaska spans four time zones.
In ancient Greece , tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted.
Warner Communications paid 28 million for the copyright to the song Happy Birthday, which was written in 1935!
Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
A comet’s tail always points away from the sun.
Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers, that is why it is found in some medicines.
The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armor raised their visors to reveal their identity.
If you get into the bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even in the middle of the day.
In ancient times strangers shook hands to show that they were unarmed.
Strawberries and cashews are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside.
Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams.
The moon moves about two inches away from the Earth each year.
The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust.
Due to earth’s gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 meters.
Mickey Mouse is known as “Topolino” in Italy.
Soldiers do not march in step when going across bridges because they could set up a vibration which could be sufficient to knock the bridge down.
Everything weighs one percent less at the equator.
For every extra kilogram carried on a space flight, 530 kg of excess fuel are needed at lift-off.
The letter J does not appear anywhere on the periodic table of the elements.