My loving husband, bless his soul, knew that the only way to help me come to grips with my monumental birthday was to wine and dine me! And he made a spectacular choice. Nothing could have been more perfect than our Harvest Winemakers Dinner at Fox Run Vineyards on November 1. You can see by the photo that it was an enchanting evening! From the picture perfect setting in the old wine making room to each course and glass of wine to the company, the evening was spectacular!
never been to before. Pack member Lorri and I had attended a wine-tasting fundraiser for AIDS a few weeks back and tried some wines from various wineries, one of which was Eagle Crest. So on this perfect fall day a few weeks back, Jim and I decided to go to the wineries themselves.
Eagle Crest Vineyards(http://www.eaglecrestvineyards.com/), located on the western shore of Hemlock Lake, has an unusual story. Founded in 1872 by Bishop Bernard McQuaid as O-Neh-Da Vineyard, they made sacramental alter wines for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester. While they still make sacramental wines, under the current name of Eagle Crest (for the bald Eagles that nest in the Hemlock Lake area), they specialize in making pure grape wines from Finger Lakes grapes, using only natural grape sugars (no corn sweeteners or cane sugars).
Where did April go? We really did go visit wineries in April: Penguin Bay, a return trip to Standing Stone to see their latest renovations as well as taste their outstanding wines and Wagner's. The 2007 vintages are starting to come out and they are VERY promising. I will get information up on each trip soon. But for now, with Mother's Day coming up I thought I'd forward a Mother's Day event! Here is a great combo - visit Casa Larga in Fairport, NY for their Mother's Day at the Vineyard event . Moms can have free tastings from 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm. Then, after purchasing a bottle of wine, visit the Lilac Hill Nursery http://lilachillnursery.com/ right across the street from the winery. There mom can choose a lilac for her yard! They have a wonderful collection of lilac varieties. My two favorites currently in bloom in my yard are my bluish Abraham Lincoln (which you can see above with Maggie) and my exquisite Sensation (not quite in bloom yet, but still sensational)!
Only people from Rochester NY would get so excited by lilacs, but come on - it's the weekend of the Lilac Festival, Mother's Day AND free wine tastings for moms at Casa Larga! Does it get any better than this? By the way, Laura Wilder designed this year's Lilac Festival Poster. (Laura designed our Logo and did the print of Rory on this website). You can visit the festival website at: 
http://www.lilacfestival.com/
Sunday was such a beautiful day , a great day to take advantage of by hopping in the car to check out the Keuka Lake wineries. This weekend was Keuka Lake's World Tour of Food and Wine. (Don't panic if you missed it, they will have another one on April 19-20th!) . We stopped in Hunt Country Vineyards just a mile west of Branchport upon the recommendation of fellow "pack" members, Lorri and Dave. We were not disappointed. This 6th generation of winemakers produce award winning (and very delicious) wines. But before I get to the wines, I want to tell you about Gus. 
As we pulled into the parking lot, we could see an amusing cut out caricature of grape stompers. If you look closely you can see that in the barrel with the man and woman are 2 Bernese Mountain dogs! Thus the winery's mascot - 8 year old Gus the Bernese Mountain Dog. We didn't see Gus when we arrived so asked where he was. We were told that Gus had just had his bath and couldn't be allowed back out in the mud. He was hanging out on the porch of the homestead. 
However, as we were leaving, we were lucky enough to have a "Gus spotting." Gus saw us looking at him and quietly, stealthily slipped off the porch and started inching his way toward us. But, knowing he was on the brink of getting in trouble, he hesitated. At that moment, with the zoom camera, we snapped that elusive Gus photo! So there you have it - a rare Gus spotting! 
. I am sipping a glass of Alchemy as I write this. It is a delicious red wine combination: 45% Cab Franc, 40% Cab Sauv and 15% Noiret. Noiret is a peppery grape that Cornell is test-growing. It adds a really nice little zing to this wine. The other wines we tried were as follows:
We really enjoyed chatting with Pat, our server and with Joyce Hunt, the owner. This is a trip worth taking. 
My house was absolutely euphoric this morning! You might think it was because the sun has been shining for 2 days in a row (even though it's 27 degrees outside) or because Spring is on the way and robins are arriving. But no, it was because Jim read in this morning's paper that Jamie Lee Curtis is posing "shirtless" for AARP magazine! Wow. That got his attention right away! As a new AARP, he is ecstatic - going on and on about what a GREAT group these AARPS are and aren't I jealous I'm not "in" with them? I don't know how I can keep him contained until the magazine comes out Monday with Jamie Lee on the cover! 
On the plus side, a winery that pays meticulous attention to detail is the Vineyard of Hermann J. Wiemer. We visited his winery on the west side of Seneca Lake late last summer and had a wonderful chat with Laura who served us the wines. The tasting room is located off the retail shop in an enchanting old stone and wood barn on the property. It was cool and shady inside, although you could wander out on a sunlit stone patio. We were the only ones there initially, so we got the chance to try some wines that we might not have had the opportunity to in a large group. Fred Merwarth is the current winemaker, but Hermann J. Wiemer is still very involved and checks the vintages daily. The winery produces small lots which enables the winemaker to have the best control of the final product. As a legend in Finger Lakes wine development, Hermann J. Wiemer's Vineyard has won many, many awards. Check out their website at http://www.wiemer.com/ for more information and to sign up on their e-mail list.
I have been very bad about updating. Let's see, there were the college FASFA forms, Rory's surgery, Bryn AND Jim's big milestone birthdays. I turned around and it is March! By the way, Rory is doing fine. Of the 2 tumors on his liver, one was benign and the other a slow growing cancer. We are hoping that the other spots on his liver are also the slow growing kind and that we will have much more time in the pleasure of his company! He was a real trooper (6 days at the vets) and is back to rough housing with Maggie.
when I notice a deer standing in the thicket about 10 feet from her, staring at her. There's our Maggie sitting in the snow, stick in mouth, barking at the deer, tail wagging, as if to say "look at me, look at my cool stick - let's play!" The deer-statue must have stood there staring at her for a good 5 minutes before she snorted ("you're nuts") and ran off -much to Maggie's disappointment. Fortunately our girl doesn't let things get her down (combined with her memory lasting about 1/17th of a second), and she came bounding happily back to the door.
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Wow. I just re-read the last blog and realized how quickly things change. How wonderful that warm, content, Christmasy-cozy feeling of the last blog entry. Then the wind blew in changes - changes that have yet to fall out and settle. It all started with that beastly blast of wind and the flying pieces of siding, branches and whole trees (not to mention it was TRASH DAY)! After surviving days of electrical ons and offs, life again settled into the quiet routine of work, school, home. Little did we know event number two was just lurking around the corner. Sitting down to an Instructional Council meeting, my cell rang and I heard those dreaded words that every parent hopes they'll never hear... "I was in a car accident Mom." Thankfully, no one was hurt badly (except the cars) but it was a hair whitening, palpitation producing experience! Watching the other car being towed away, flashers flashing, police sweeping the glass, I knew it could have been much worse. So we deal and move on from event number two. Event three started inconspicuously but gained momentum throughout the month. Our Logo/Poster-boy Golden, Rory, went in for his rabies shot and a possible "lump" was uncertainly found. Bringing him back for a second "feel" a week later and it still was as clear as mud. Blood work, however revealed high liver enzymes (not a good sign and indicative of a fast acting cancer), but an ultrasound would possibly clarify things. Meanwhile Rory is acting just fine - chasing Maggie, jumping on the bed.... The ultrasound showed what looked to be a healthy liver, kidneys and heart, but a very large mass possibly coming off his spleen. It was important to get him in to have it removed or it could burst and he could bleed out. Long story short, as he lay on the table, the vet called to say it was indeed coming off the liver (with other bumps evident on the liver) and what did I want to do. GULP. Rory has had the large (size of 2 grapefruits) growth removed as well as part of his liver. He has been at the vets for 5 days now and we're hoping to pick him up tomorrow. The good news is that every time I call, they re-iterate how they can't believe this dog just went through major surgery. I hope we bought him some time and I really hope our run of 3's is over! 
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