Dad's 60th Birthday

On October 16th, Dad's 60th birthday was celebrated in style. Yup, lots of meat, friends, fun and games. 60 may not seem like a huge milestone to some, but in the Wiens family it is a big deal. My dad is the first male in his family to reach that age and it's big because his parents and oldest sister didn't make it out of their 50s.

harvest time

The months of praying for the weather to co-operate, attempting to get the government to co-operate, trying to get the wineries to co-operate and attempting to keep the bugs and the birds away, all come down to this - the harvest.

This is a crazy time of year when you still pray for the weather to co-operate, you still want the co-operation of the government and the wineries and you still need the birds and bugs to stay away. The difference is that now you're also out there for hours at a time getting the "liquid gold" off the vine, into the harvesters, onto the trucks and to the wineries where it's tested for sugar content before being used to make wine.

Yup, a lovely, crazy time of year.

food for thought

Yup, it's that time of year again! I know, it's crazy how the time flies. In a few hours I'll be thoroughly enjoying a yummy turkey dinner with ALL the fixin's. The table will be laden with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, squash, salad, bread, cranberry sauce and probably a couple of things that I'm forgetting right now. And then, as if that's not enough, for dessert there'll be pumpkin pie and Obst Moos (a cold fruit soup, for those of you who don't know what Obst Moos is). My mouth is already watering in anticipation as I'm writing this.

It's funny how often Thanksgiving is associated with food. Right now, sure, we're taking time to be thankful for family and friends and all the good things in our lives. But at any other time, if we think of Thanksgiving we usually think of turkey. Hmmm... just a little food for thought.