Dear friends, If everything turns out as planned, I will arrive in Vancouver at 5.45pm, on Tuesday 14 October, 2014, and depart at 6pm, on Wednesday 7 January, 2015.
During the first week, and possibly later some time, I will be in Vancouver (Jane's apartment, which has been listed but not yet sold). For most of the rest in a beach cottage outside Comox, on Vancouver Island. Hope to see you at one point or other. All the best, Kjell
David Kessler Folks in the Bay Area will enjoy visiting Gallery Paule Anglim to see my friend Dean Smith's show of paintings: http://www.gallerypauleanglim.com/Press_Releases/Entries/2014/9/2_Annabeth_Rosen_%26_Dean_Smith.html
Annabeth
Rosen & Dean Smith September 3 - October 7, 2014 Reception for the
artists: Thursday September 11, 5:30-7:30pm Gallery Paule Anglim
Patrick James Dunn Did you attend reception?
David Kessler Yes, excellent art, good company, mediocre wine!- Patrick James Dunn Far, far better than mediocre company, insipid wine and motel room art! Take a look at my Japanese art, (see above), gift from Toshi with my name inscribed on blade! Lower set of characters.
signing the petition. I can actually tell, from the initials and lack of city name, which of my friends have signed. (I'm a bit concerned about sluggish pace of signatures - so many thousands of us affected - but I suspect some people have given up!) We need to get to 150 for the petition to be visible on the White House website.)
When are you next planning to be in T.O.? The guest suite here is always open for you and Corinne! Deborah
Hi Chilliwackians! Sorry we missed you yesterday. I gather you were in town to see Sarge and inspect his knitting! I've put in an order for a cycling jersey!
Rode in the Whistler Granfondo this past Saturday. Consequently, today's ride to Horseshoe Bay and then Parksville probably won't seem quite as arduous. While still challenging the total distance is roughly little more than half of that to Whistler.There to house/cat sit for The Millionaires! See you soon. All the best. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Playa
Greetings to Our Favourite Naramatian Freeloaders! Just a quick note to let you know that keys for our place will be with Sarge and Co! There are three "bits": One set, with a card fob, has keys to our front door as well as to patio. Second one has but a key to patio. Thought that each couple should have access in case you wander without each other. Garage door clicker is all alone as the ring attachment is broken. I'll let Sarge explain/show you the "technique" for opening/closing patio door. Basically, just push the door towards frame when locking/unlocking as it makes doing so easier. I'm sure you'll be fine.
Must away as I have to pack a few things for Cora Lee to mule over. Enjoy your stay. Perhaps we'll call one evening just to say hello. Otherwise, have fun in the Big City! Fondestos from Coriandre. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Pic: new apron and fridge magnet from G/D, "dreckly" translates, from Cornish accent/usage, as "directly" which actually means "later, much, much later, if ever" as in The Naramata speak/parlance, "We'll deal with outstanding hotel bill dreckly, once we've had a few more snorts of malt!"
Hi Patrick, great hearing from you and that Sarge is on the mend. He and Dave actually communicated a day or two ago, so who knows what they may have talked about - football do you think? Sorry to hear about your plumbing woes but the good news was that it was all resolved at little or no expense to you! We on the other hand just spent almost $1000 in unnecessary water fees because no one had been looking at the water/sewer bills for the Seattle house for the past 4-5 months (they get paid automatically) and didn't notice that the bills went from $200+ for a 2-month period to $600+. Well, after some research and investigation, it was brought to our attention by our upstairs tenants (Susie's roommates, but Susie lives downstairs) that their upstairs toilet had been running nonstop since sometime in April! Now, one would think that responsible young adults such as these would report this to the management (Susie) but apparently they didn't think it was unusual for the toilet to never stop running and besides that, didn't think of it as using water, only that the toilet keep making noise, which they felt they could live with! Unbelievable. Well, a lesson (an expensive one) for us all! Susie has now fixed the toilet so hopefully we're back on track.
Lots of other stuff going on with us. We're also doing some kitchen upgrades in the Seattle house, daughter Kate has moved from her job as a structural engineer to a job with a different company, a construction company, where she was hired to be a "construction management engineer." Apparently this is a coordinator's job at construction sites and she will be on site rather than in an office. In between jobs, she is planning to stay with us here at the winery for 1-2 weeks to try to learn a little about running the business end of things here. We think it's great that one of the girls is finally taking an interest in the winery.
Did you have a good Whitstler Granfondo? That sounds like it could be a grueling event....isn't it all uphill? How far did you pedal. I know nothing about granfondos...are they are certain length, a certain time limit, etc.? And is it a race or just an endurance test?
And of course, it's HARVEST TIME! Here are some excerpts from Dave's latest diary entries. Talk to you soon. Partrizzia
| Monday September 8, 2014 9:30 Pm: I have had two days off from harvesting so I am waiting for the next big thing. I love making wine so tomorrow we are set to harvest the last of our old vine 100% Old Vine Zin. We will harvest our true field blend, Block 4 later this week which is at least 110 years old. What is interesting to me is we will blend many sections of Zinfandel tomorrow in 4 fermenters and these wines could go into RaiZin, Estate Cuvee or My Zin. Those wines will not be qualified for 110 Year Old vines because we want the wine we label 110 Year Old Vines be only our 100% Zinfandel and our Block 4. My Friend I alluded to two weeks ago, passed away last Tuesday. It was hard on his wife Arlene because it took two years after he was diagnosed............\SSSSSOOOOOOOO Pat and I met Arlene down in Petaluma today and had a great lunch at The Wild Goat. She is fine and staying busy by walking. Arlene will survive because she is very strong and healthy......As she has said to me in emails........Please stay healthy, Arlene On the way down to see Arlene I had a check up at my doctors and passed. Catarino will be here at a little after 7 tomorrow and we will plan the rest of the day. He will start in the last section of the 4th block which is mostly Zin and then he will move to some new sections which are more inconsistent...........Old Vines are in balance but young vines have to be thinned because they are like young people.........they want to produce........... So I made an easy choice for me..........pick the ripe old vines and set the bins aside. Then go to a section which was planted a few years back.....and.... may be a little low at 24+ sugar and then we can move into a real young section, 3rd leaf.........We are getting real different readings on these new vines. The south section is very high, as much as 27 sugar and the north section right across a pathway......these same vines are at 23+ so we will mix the three sections, 2 south and one North and it will blend just fine into our old vine south section of Block 4. These wines can go into several of our all Estate Wines. My biggest problem in the last two days you won't believe..........My ice maker is not working..........You can search my last problem with an ice maker in a GE frig. You can search on Google at the opening page. I have a whirlpool now and it has been great until now........I have no ice. Look, I'm too old to move the frig out to see if there was a problem in the back......seriously it is pushed back in a small cavity so I will have to ask for some help tomorrow. Catarino will arrange anything for me even after picking all these grapes tomorrow. He says I am his angel........Tomorrow is another day Wednesday September 10, 2014 8:30 Pm: My Mother, Vivien is 92 years old and my sister Lynda is 70 years old. Lynda and I had problems even when she was there as a child. She got married to Richard when she was 19 years old. She had three daughters and some, most of the time we do not get along. She thinks she is always right. I talked to her today because my Mother needs someone to see her since I am in Harvest and 80 miles away. Lynda is closer and sees her more but she wants to dominate my Mother.............long story We got up to 102 today and it may get hotter tomorrow and on Saturday and on Sunday. The sugar samples today were in line and we thought about taking a few days off, but we may need to work through Sunday.......................................... Thursday September 11, 2014 9:00 Am: Catarino and the crew are out picking Petite Sirah right now. We are hoping to finish all the Petite Sirah today and start on Block 4 tomorrow. We will finish Block 4 on Saturday. We need a break on Sunday and then we will pick Lagrein on Monday. If the temperatures stay over 100 in the next few days we could have almost everything ready next week. That includes Grenache, Carignan, Cabernet and Cabernet Franc. It will be fun........ Hello Harvest People! I did send this message earlier but perhaps ended up as Spam! I'm sure you are too, too busy to read this account on GranFondo but here it is anyway! As well, an answer to some of your questions, Patrizzia:
This GF
was 122 km but one I did in July, out of Penticton, was 160 km. There is
no "real" time limit but course is closed after a certain number of
hours, based on slowest estimated complete time. On way back to Squamish
we saw a number of riders struggling, not far ahead of traffic crews
collecting cones placed on highway to de-mark course lane! Of course,
many riders treat the event as a race, both in terms of time and
endurance, but for me and my friends, we simply want to complete it as best we can. More in following message to bring you up to date. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hi Dad, How was your ride over to Greg and Fran’s? I’m sure it was great as it’s so lovely today!!
Are you still coming to the Aunt Leah’s AGM this Thursday the 18th?
If so I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you? Could you pick up a
gentleman named Peter Gilpin? You may
remember Peter, he is from the church well the Anglican side, he is
mentally challenged but very keen on Aunt Leah’s and volunteers at the
Tree Lot every year. He lives I believe near Matt and Catherine. Or if
you are still coming maybe you could take him
home if you are not able to be here for 5:30 as Peter is quite focused
on getting here he may leave quite early!
Anyway lets chat about it!! Thanks, love you
Stats for ride: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/589864543#.VBU1ILayDRo.email |
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| Seal, salmon, seagull Helen Bambie Dinner with Grogg/Lurch George Gently
Dear friends, If everything turns out as planned, I will arrive in Vancouver at
5.45pm, on Tuesday 14 October, 2014, and depart at 6pm, on Wednesday 7
January, 2015.
During the first week, and possibly later some time, I will be in
Vancouver (Jane's apartment, which has been listed but not yet sold).
For most of the rest in a beach cottage outside Comox, on Vancouver
Island. Hope to see you at one point or other. All the best,
Kjell
good morning patrick,i hope no let down from the G.F.i was wondering if you had any contact information for andrew hobbs?thanks;matt Hi Patrick, It was wonderful to host you, Coralee and your Grand Fondo riding buddies, Carlos and Whirlygig. I'm glad you have all recovered and have many good tales to tell about your ride. We enjoyed your company and look forward to the next time we get to share great wine, food, stories and bridge. Ruth Hi Patrick, Life is busy as always (strike duty and legal matters etc.), but we were happy to be able to spend time with you guys and your riding buddy Giorgio. Enjoy riding on the island in the sunshine. Ruth P.S. We'll be attending the Fringe this weekend to see some unique theatre productions while you dive into island life and perhaps some very fine wine and bridge (which, in itself, is always rich in drama).
Hi Patrick, Thanks
again for your hospitality. We’re looking forward to being the
temporary proprietors of the Island Inn. We’ll try to keep the Hum
under control.
Our great thanks to Big Al for solving your plumbing problem.
We
just said goodbye yesterday to our friends Karen and John from
Ottawa/Fort Myers. John, Karen and I, along with my friend Bill Brown,
golfed at Fairview
Mountain Wednesday in a stiff wind. Good fun and I was pleased with my
92 under those conditions.
Last
night I attended a meeting of the Artisan Winemakers of Naramata (AWON
for future reference). We were at the place of an old local guy who
grows 35
varieties of grapes on 1 acre. He makes about 500 litres of wine
annually. We had a guest speaker, the wine maker from Therapy. He is a
cool young guy from Prince Edward County in Ontario, familiar with the
other Lighthall Vineyard, in Prince Edward County.
Needless to say that, in addition to lots of good grape growing and
winemaking discussions, we drank a lot of wine! Lynne, meanwhile, went
out to a meeting to support a candidate for the NDP nomination for the
2015 federal election. While as you might guess
we’re not strong NDP supporters, we really like the candidate, the
noted ornithologist Dick Cannings.
Have a good time on the Island and we’ll see you soon. Pedro the Juice
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