Oops! They Did It Again.

So once again Jim's ship has come to the rescue.  For those who're keeping score that would be two in four days.  This one was on the news.  My neighbor, John, actually told me about it.  So cool!  Sadly it was only on the five o'clock news so I didn't get to see it.  

Way to go Gonzalez!

That is all.  Carry on!

-Michelle

The Great Prediction

Okay this is probably not what you think when you read the title.

When I went to the Ingleside Fall Barrel Tasting I did the ring test on my friend Sarah.  For those of you who have no idea what the ring test is, please let me explain.  

You put a gold wedding band on a string and hold it over a pregnant woman's belly.  You do need to have a bit of a bump in order to perform said test.  If the ring swings back and forth it will be a boy.  If it goes in a circle it will be a girl.

Many say it's an old wives tale, but I've done this with a number of friends and have only been wrong once.  I've predicted something like 7 or 8 pregnancies and only been wrong once.  And apparently it's more prevalent in the Midwest.  

My prediction?  A boy!  Jameson says it'll be a girl.  Silly boy when will you realize the power of the ring?  Insert maniacal laughter here.  We'll see who's right in January.

My last prediction?  A boy also.  He was born in March.  Don't bet against me.  Insert my giant grin here!

Here's hoping for a healthy baby to Sarah and Jameson.

-Michelle

A Sailor's Life

So many ask me what Jim's doing.  And a lot of times I can't tell them.  Either I don't know or I am not at liberty to say.  Such was the case at the barrel tasting that I attended on Saturday.  We have a lot of friends that were disappointed Jim wasn't there.  So while I was being carefree and frivolous, my hubby was out doing this.  It makes a girl really proud.  

Here's one of the few times I can share what Jim's been doing.  He emailed me last night to tell me the ship was going to be in the paper.  And I just had to share with everyone.  I'll be emailing the article to a few people as well.

It's nice to see a positive article for once.

Ingleside's Fall Barrel Tasting

So Saturday was Ingleside's Fall Barrel Tasting.  Jim was not home so I was seriously contemplating not going this time around.  The drive was a serious consideration for me.  I wasn't sure I wanted to do the 2.5 hour drive by myself.  Plus I didn't want to be by myself.  

But after a quick call to the winery I discovered many of my friends would be there.  So I gassed up the car, grabbed a cool drink and headed out.  And am I ever so glad I did!

The drive was gorgeous!  The fall foliage was beautiful.  Traffic was light and the temperature was lovely.  So I did not arrive a grouchy person due to traffic.  And I was able to catch up with a lot of people I hadn't seen in a long time.  Always something to put a smile on your face.

A barrel tasting is a wonderful event to attend.  You get to try wines directly from the barrel and normally you'll meet the winemaker himself.  At Ingleside the wine maker, Bill Swain, and assistant wine maker, Maria Swain, were manning the barrels.  They are a husband and wife team.   Every barrel tasting is different.  I was delighted with their selection this time.  They did varietals from 2007 that were off the beaten track.  They did Chaumborcin, Touriga, Tannat and Malbec.  Something that you might not normally find.  So you got something new to try.  And they were all reds.  My favorites were the Touriga and Malbec.

Afterwards I went to the Riverboat in Colonial Beach with my friends for a late dinner.  I was smart and brought my camera.  Unfortunately I left it in the car for most of the day.  Oops!  And I missed out on some very nice photo opportunities.  But I thought I'd share this photo of our buddies Linda, Andrea and Melanie.  And these fine ladies all work at Ingleside.  And are tons of fun.  Linda didn't work the barrel tasting.  Instead she and I were tasting.  It was great fun!

It's The Great Pumpkins

Okay so I'm a bit late on this.  Things got a bit hectic and I got side tracked.  Such is life.  So for those of you who mentioned that you wanted to see the pumpkins, here they are.

Everyone who knows us knows that we always carve jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.  And this year was no different.

As you can see Jim carved the relatively same pattern that he does every year.  The Black Pearl.  That doesn't mean that I'm not going to post the picture.  His is the only pumpkin that survived to be displayed on Halloween eve.  Even if I did have to use some toothpicks to help it stay alive.  Sadly we had someone smash our pumpkin after the trick or treaters were done.  Jim says that kids will be kids, but that's for another story.

I did one called Fraidy Cat.  I wasn't really in the mood to carve jack-o-lanterns this year.  And this was the easiest pattern to do.  Sadly it didn't last to seen Halloween Eve.  And we actually carved our pumpkins the night before Halloween.  Isn't that sad?  I thought a cat pumpkin was very appropriate for the year I've had.  Luckily I got photos before my pumpkin bit the dust the next day.  

Kyla and Pumpkin were both interested in the jack-o-lanterns when I lit them up for the photos.  In fact each picture took a little longer than normal because I had some very curious kitties that kept getting in the way.  

And yest this year we only did two pumpkins.  Maybe next year we'll do more.