Edinburgh.... at last!

Hello Everyone. It's been ages since I wrote something on this and the reasons are quite simple......

1. We've been busy selling and buying flats and moving through to Edinburgh.
2. We've not had the internet FOR AGES.

At long last we've finally made it through both of those ordeals (the worst being the lack of the net - by far) and are presently trying to settle in the 'Burg. I have to say that I'm finding it rather pleasant here. It's certainly better than Glasgow in so many ways. (This particular picture was taken at 6am on a Sunday morning when the Mile was empty - completely empty!)

Firstly there are no neds - or at least none that I've seen. The weather is better - it still rains here but it still seems brighter and according to the Met Office it has 1/3 the rainfall of Glasgow. Also there are loads of people out on bikes. To be honest everyone here seems healthier and although people say that the folks here aren't as friendly as the Weegies, I still haven't had any experience of that.

So I'm looking forward to our life here. It almost feels like every day is a holiday - I mean how many people get to drive or cycle through the countryside to work and back but still live in a major city? And where we live totally rocks as there is a beautiful park outside where we had a picnic last week - and there wasn't a bottle of Buckfast in sight. (That's our view above!!! - Jealous yet?)

So I urge all my mates in Glasgow to join us any time you want. You'll be more than welcome.

One Tree Hill

This is a pointless entry but it's the only way I could show KP & Co the tree that I was going on about. I think it's quite cool - but they think I'm a bit... weird!

One Ring to Rule Them All....

Hi All,

I don't know if Isla has got round to posting a picture of the engagement ring yet but here it is in all it's glory. Thought some of you ladies out there might be interested in having a look at it.

I'm sure Isla has filled you in on it's cut and carot etc. All mumbo jumbo to me but apparently it's a goodun. Actually, I just really like this photo so needed an excuse to put it on the blog.

Enjoy.

PAAAAR-TAY!

Hi Everyone.

Been really remiss with this blog but having no internet in the flat really makes keeping these up to date almost impossible. Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to everyone that came to our Cheese and Wine the other night. It was a good laugh and testament to that is that fact that I had to spend almost the whole of Sunday in bed!

The wines were great and there is so much cheese in the flat at the moment that the place gets a fresh stench every time the fridge is opened! Special mention to Angus who's Pensilar Cheese smelt like a junkie's foot. Tasted not bad though.

Anyway thanks again. Think we're going to start a wee wine tasting club through in Edinburgh if any of you are interested in joining us!

Wino

At long last the wine is brewed and bottled. It's not quite ready to drink yet as it needs to settle for a few days and despite all the precautions, I can still see a little bit of sediment floating about in it.

I have to say that it smells...ok. And just OK. Nothing particularly special. I got a little taste during the rustic siphoning episode and again it tastes just OK. I'll see how it is a few days as I've put some in one of those 200ml airport bottles so that I don't have to open a full one. Who knows, in 10 years time they actually might taste above mediocre.

Thirst for life/booze

Well that's another year and another 40 days booze free. Actually quite difficult this time as I was doing it at my folks house where mother-dearest always has an open bottle of red, a glass of which is consumed nightly. Makes it hard which each dinner is accompanied with the question "would you like some wine with your meal?"

Despite that hurdle the 40 days passed quickly and although many of my friends question the worth of this exercise, I do find that if nothing else at least it makes you question you're reasons for wanting a drink.

Actually the time scale wasn't completely booze-free as I choked on some of the home made wine a couple of weeks ago when I was trying to syphon it out of one bucket and into another. I hope that inhaling alcohol doesn't count!?!

Home brewed wine

So I've started trying to ferment my own wine. I bought one of those homw starter kit last week and mixed everything up in a big (sterilised) tub, stuck the one-way valve on, and let those busy yeast get to work.

I've been meaning to try it for ages and the kits are really straight forward. The only thing that I can't help feeling is that I'm being ripped off. It cost £25 and that should make about 6 bottles of wine (Cab Sauv in this case) but really all you are paying for is the grape concentrate, a few additives and some buckets and tubing. Of course, you get to reuse the equipment and further batches should be a lot cheaper but £4 per bottle isn't all that cheap especially if it tastes like complete crap.

I think what I'll do is by the additives in bulk and then just stick any old fruit juice in there and see what happens. That might, however, put an end to my wine career and my liver. We'll see what this lot tastes like.