For the second day in a row I woke up early and tried to go back to sleep. I had little success. I may need another weekend on Monday and Tuesday. Or maybe I will take a pill. I have some courtesy of my nice doctor. I seldom take one. Tonight could be one of those nights.
It is Sunday so I had the big paper to read. Instead of reading, I went to Starbucks and got coffee. A pot of coffee for one seemed like overkill. Back at home I settled in with breakfast and coffee and the paper. That was good for at least 20 minutes. The coffee helped cuz I am not quitting on the paper till coffee is done.
After ritual read and coffee I had a nice shower. With Emily gone I have very little to do. She is so good at finding mundane tasks for me. Must make her happy. I don’t know. Done with shower. What now? Well it is getting close to 9/15 Corp tax deadline. So I sat down and went to work on the half dozen tax returns I brought home. I got through 5 of them by noon. At noon I had a date.
So my friends Barb (same one) and Kirk grow grapes. They live about a mile from our old house. With grapes they make wine. Some of it is quite good. Some is scary. Whatever. And they make a lot of it. A lot. It’s quite an operation.
Today is the day they were pressing some of the fermented grapes. Only those that were ready. They measure residual sugar to determine readiness. Turns out enough was ready to get 120 gallons of wine. And that’s about 20% of what they will be pressing.
They have a wine press, quite large, into which we dump loads of the slurry, fermented grapes, and then use the hydraulic press to squeeze out every drop. Messy operation. What’s leftover is a dry cake of fermented grape which he can give to the pigs. And yes it does get them drunk. Which is also funny.
From the press, the juice is strained into five gallon jugs. These are labeled, corked with a bung in the top and placed on a shelf until they decide to barrel them up. Simple process. Of course, it’s simple to do, but making great wine is difficult.
We were at this from noon to 4. We did work at a relaxed pace. Which is about all I had in me for a Sunday.
I drive back home. I still had two returns to do. Maybe there were seven? Who cares. I knocked out the two. I had something to eat. I am going to the pet store and grocery store in a minute. Emily is not due back till 9pm.
THe pet store was awesome. Because I enjoy paying $105 for a bag of cat food and a bag of dog food. Both prescription. Both cost too god damn much. I hope someone pays for fancy food for me when my kidneys give out. I am not so sure about my kids.
At Winco, worlds best grocery store, I saw Mike Goetz. And I immediately knew I was going to be here awhile. He is a talker. World class champion of the verbal arts. Always a pleasure to see him and always a long conversation. No matter. Turns out he got a great deal on a 30 foot sailboat and had lots of pictures. And stories. And related items. Sounds like loads of fun. Makes me want a boat. Until I remember all the negatives of boat ownership. Then I know better. Anyway, had a nice, long talk. About 45 minutes. Then we parted. I got my groceries and got out in under 5 minutes. Wow.
I am home. Time to feed animals and me. Day has slowed a lot. That’s fine. I can sit and wait for Emily.
Leftover bbq pork chops tonight. With green beans in a spicy sauce. I am really hungry, not sure why. I am watching the green beans cook. I have a strange yet familiar feeling the food won’t last long. I eat quickly. I know what I’m doing.
I have been tracking Emily’s location on the internet. One good use for technology. She decided I should make her dinner tonight for when she arrives. I had thought 9pm is too late for dinner. Wrong again. So I had dinner waiting for her when she arrived. I am such a good wife. And she even noticed how good the pork chops were. Nice.
We got her unpacked and settled. She ate dinner. Complained about a few things. Told me a little about her trip while I concentrated in case it comes up again. Better to pay attention. She also made a few purchases while there. Stuff we can all do without. But I don’t tell her that because she wants us to like everything as much as she does. She really tries very hard.
It’s getting late. She is still up and moving around doing stuff. I need her to relax. Maybe I will give her some of that cbd oil she just bought. If it works I will give it to her several times a day. She wants me to try it as well. That sounds like a bad idea. Will see. Time for bed.