Sigh of relief, and a mosaic of a day -- and no hats were lost

[kinzel]

Me, I'm going to pour a couple celebratory glasses of wine: Eidolon pre-orders have shipped and the catalog page at srmpublisher.com has been updated... and on top of that while I was standing, waiting, at the PO I was able to use Haysus the Asus to get some chapter 37 words for Theo.... And, and, we got home from the follow-up visit with the vet, young Hexapuma showing off a "double good" ear condition on one side says the vet, though the other side is rated simply good, and draws more ear drops. And and and, after standing in line at the PO I then stood in the returnables line at Jokas, our local wine store and also the local redemption center, earning enough nickles to buy a holiday special of "Pinot Grigio Champagne" ...

... gee, I thought champagne was one of the reservee controlle terms that meant it could only be used by well-sited locals in France, for a special set of high-profile fizz-grapes. However, our sparkling Chardonnay experiment having been a success earlier this year, we'll go for it, though Rolanni is known to not care for the traditional hupped-up champagne grapes.

So, holiday wines: has anyone recently discovered a new-to-them under $10 bottle of late? Something NOT a heavy red? A little-known, fruity, but not over sweet white? Which reminds me -- how many of you remember when college kids and fans discovered Lambrusco in the v early seventies. What could we have been thinking of?

Elsewise, we're told that the storm track is coming our way for awhile, and though we expect to miss the Friday storm that might re-hit the ice-storm victims of last week... there's more coming and some of them have our names on them. Excerpts from Saturday's predictions: "snow after midnight. Cold with lows around 3 above. Light and variable winds...becoming northeast around 10 mph after midnight. Sunday and Sunday Night
Snow. Blustery. Highs in the mid 20s. Lows around 10 above. Chance of snow 90 percent." And the track may give us something for Christmas Eve and Christmas day say the folks at Wunderground, which is why I went to the grocery and did some pre-need buying of cat litter, cheese, bottled water and the like today, right after I hit the Circle K and filled up Argent the I Dare Mobile.

Oh... and an oddity. In the face of telecom confusions Rolanni has mentioned over at Eagles Over The Kennebec, I've had to turn to my rarely used cellphone, which is showing an amazing variance in reception -- from no bars to 5 bars within moments. I'm told a new tower is being phased in and something is certainly happening -- last year I could just about get one bar once a day if I stood on the deck and held the phone over my head, facing west. Who else lives in no-cell or a low cell zone?

Breakfast this morning was born of a sudden decision to have something hot in the face of the 3.2 degree (F) temperature out on the deck... so I tossed together a turkey-pastrami-and-sweet-pepper-omelet with sharp-cheddar. Good plan, and no hats were lost.

Comments

[zola.livejournal.com]

Cellphones...

We're in the mountains so there are always dead pockets--if you go to the front of the house here you can get two bars, but towards the back, nada...

Before we changed providers, we had no signal at all.

[kinzel.livejournal.com]

Providers around here ... are more interested in making sure they have Bangor, Portland, Lewiston, and the liek covered. In theory Waterville is well covered, but we're on the far side of a ridge from most of those towers --

[zola.livejournal.com]

Same kind of thing here, we're technically "out of city limits" so we aren't as important... I've toyed with the idea of contacting Verizon and seeing if they want to put up a repeater on my hill, and may yet do so after my property is surveyed so we can be sure there's room for it.

That being said, I do get 100% signal on the satellite dish. I'm told by the techs that you almost never see that. too bad you can't get cell by satellite...

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

"Lambrusco" comes in many varieties. "Cella" is sweet. "Riunite" is medium, rather like white zinfandel. Try getting hold of white merlot -- the filtering process gets rid of almost all the tannins in the red, making it a mildly sweet wine that is still pretty red, even if it's called white.

:)

[kinzel.livejournal.com]

Lambrusco (as imported to baltimore) used to be fairly potent and rarely sweet; in fact getting used to Lambrusco after BSFS meetings made Egri Bikavar more than palatable.

wine!

[(Anonymous)]

So, holiday wines: has anyone recently discovered a new-to-them under $10 bottle of late? Something NOT a heavy red? A little-known, fruity, but not over sweet white? Which reminds me -- how many of you remember when college kids and fans discovered Lambrusco in the v early seventies. What could we have been thinking of?


We were thinking of getting sloshed . snort.
So , according to my daughter :)
Nobilo, a Sauvignon from New zealand, fruity start, not tart about 11.oo, or Starboro, another New Zealand Sauvignon, less fruity, with a clean finish.. I quote . Good for sipping. She does like her New Zealands. But I usually agree with her.

Happy Yule!
Nanette

[baggette.livejournal.com]

I remember Lambrusco........and Boone's farm which was the popular cheap stuff in my woods......
Now, I like Fetzer's Guewertzemiener (sp?) and Hannaford is selling a very sweet and fruity thing in the produce dept. I forget the name and that is two floors away.....

.....as for cell reception, my 2 boys have two different companies and plans, but neither has reception IN the house. Step out on the porch and they have 4 bars. Not really surprising when you consider that we have a tin roof and aluminum siding.

LOL

[masgramondou.livejournal.com]

No idea what Lambrusco was like in the US but it had a horrid reputation in Europe. That reputation is no longer deserved. True we aren't talking vintage Moet et Chandon here but we aren't talking those prices either.

Last time but one time I hopped across the border to Italy I bought a case of pink Lambrusco (Rosato) for the bargain price of €12 (for 6 bottles - i.
e. €2 / bottle).

One thing I have noticed is that I greatly prefer the Italian frizzante wines (e.g. proseco) to the Champagne style. Why? because they don't do a second fermentation with added yeat but let the original one continue after bottling. It gives a tarter and less overwhelming taste IMO

Re: wine!

[kinzel.livejournal.com]

Sloshed yes, sometimes.

New Zealand wines are hard to come by here in Central Maine; i think we don't have quite the choices available that southern Maine gets.

wine rec

[k-10b.livejournal.com]

Hubby and I have recently been drinking La Vielle Ferme AOC Cotes de Luberon (2007). Generally around $8 a bottle and is a slightly fruity, light bodied white. It's good with just about anything, and lovely with cheese!

KB

A couple of holiday wine suggestions

[(Anonymous)]

Chilean sauvignon blanc is often pretty good, and usually reasonably priced.

Chilean Viognier is a little more costly, but an interesting change; very pronounced apricot/peach fruit character, but no overt sweetness.

I would back the other poster's suggestion of NZ sauvignon blanc, although apt to come out slightly higher in price.

Finally, for a special treat without two many $$$$, my favorite sparkling wine just now is the Lindauer Special Reserve from NZ; it is actually a pale shade of pink in colour, but more delicious than anything else I know up to about twice the price.

Cold tracks and other fun times

[(Anonymous)]

Interesting that both coasts are experiencing the same in the way of weather. Yesterday (Thursday) was quite exciting enough and more on the way for Sunday. It's amazing to me that people who live on quite imposing hills (you would never be allowed to have that steep a grade in Colorado says my surveyor husband) haven't the foggiest idea how to drive in snow and ice. Do not spin your wheels-- it won't help. Do not follow closely -- you may have to stop suddenly and suddenly and ice do not match. Ditto for acceleration. It took me 4 hours to make a twenty minute commute because people can't drive! Jenny from WA (I'm moving back to Colorado!)

Wine

[bobbie-monster.livejournal.com]

Try Mouscato or any of the Reislings.

Re: Cold tracks and other fun times

[kinzel.livejournal.com]

Interesting ... because some of the worst traffic we've ever seen from a train (an excellent and comfortable place)was in Colorado during one of our trips west for a convention. Sudden snow, steep slopes, 18 wheelers, and drivers from coast to coast all meeting at the same point. it was not our problem.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Low to no cell signal -- my house. On any of the networks (we have 5 or 6 in the UK) I and other people can get signal fine outside, but inside forget it. It's not even a heavily metal frame house, it's just in some weird area where signals Do Not Want To Go. I has a landline, it works...

BTW, Merry Christmas to both of you! And much thanks for the the stories.

[jodel54.livejournal.com]

I live in a hole in southern NH and we have low to no cell service in the house with some out in the driveway.

[alienorade.livejournal.com]

I live just outside of a midsized town...and my reception was horrid until I got a new phone and SIM card. My old phone was two years old (and had been phasing out when I bought it) and the SIM Card was three mergers old....

The phone person was amazed I got reception at all. On the other hand, I even have reception in my bathroom now! Just what you needed to know.....

[amm-me.livejournal.com]

If you're ever passing through Texas, pick up some Ste. Genevieve. All their varieties are pretty good - I prefer the white zin and my much more knowledgeable sister-in-law the merlot. Always under $10, usually the larger 1.5 liters are under $10. But you have to be in Texas. It's grown, fermented, bottled, and sold in-state only.

My brother and SIL used to regularly take a couple bottles home to Boston. That's a little harder now. You can hardly shrink a bottle of wine to go in one of the stupid 1-quart-size ziplocs...

Abigail