Mint, Elderflower & Rhubarb Wine - Fourth Bottle (6), 24th May 2019

Mark came round on Friday night, bringing a bottle of his Breakfast Wine with him. He needs to restock his pond after it had an encounter with an enthusiastic Labrador, and our pond is teeming with plant life (plus frogs, possibly fish and certainly snails - but he isn't having any of those).

I opened a bottle of Mint, Elderflower and Rhubarb on the basis that it is one of my best and we drank most of it in the garden, pretending that we were warmer than we were.

Rose Petal 2015 - Sixteenth Bottle (C1), 17th May 2019

I took this bottle over to York with me on Friday night, where my parents are entertaining Troy, my second cousin once removed. Apparently I have met him once before; when I was 11; but all I remember is his younger brother's drum kit. He had a Myers' look to him and the same rambling eloquence, and it was a genuine pleasure to meet him. I'm not sure what Troy thought of the wine, though. He had a glass (and also the final, somewhat murky last half glass) but mostly stuck to the beer.

This wine has not aged badly at all - the rose flavour is more subtle than other vintages and it has a slightly sweet but still refreshing taste.

Xmas Tutti Fruti - Fifth Bottle (B3), 12th May 2019

It has been a week with plenty of alcohol, and this bottle rounded things off nicely. But we have been on holiday, which is an excuse.

BBC i-player currently has all series of Line of Duty available. This has been recommended by so many people that Claire and I shared the bottle whilst watching episode one of series one. It is certainly promising - no-one is the clear hero and there is a ton of plot. I know what we will be doing with our free evenings over the next few weeks.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Third Bottle (A3), 11th May 2019

After our week's holiday in Kelso, we have decided to cut down our alcohol intake. Therefore we had no cocktails before sharing a bottle of wine between us. I think that is the very definition of moderation.

It has been an excellent holiday but, as always, it is good to be home. Being in our own bed and surrounded by cats has much to recommend.

The bottle we had was prune & parsnip, which is a reliably good bottle. We drank it to dall and rice - the holiday has involved a lot of meat and plain vegetarian food is now the order of the day.

Zucchini Wine - Third Bottle (3), 10th May 2019

Well, that is another bottle down the sink. Only three left to go.

This was my comedy wine for the Kelso holiday and saved until the last night, specifically so that Ann would not have to try it. She thinks that the joke has worn somewhat thin. In fact, I think this wine has lost some if its offensiveness. Nick said that its worst crime was blandness. Wendy & Richard thought it drinkable. They were in the minority but it does solve the problem of what to do with the remaining three bottles.

The wine was poor reward for having done a 12 mile walk (advertised as 9) to the top of Windy Gyle via the Heatherhope Valley.

Exploring an Iron Age Hill Fort above Heatherhope Valley

Apple Wine 2016 - Fifth Bottle (4), 9th May 2019

I had meant to bring a bottle of Apple 2017 with me to Kelso, which is a better vintage than this one. Of the five proper bottles I took, this was (for me) the most disappointing. Wendy, though, preferred it to the strawberry.

The day had been spent in North Berwick,  where I met up with cousin Sarah, Rachel and Claire collected shells on the beach, a café took an inordinate length of time to bring a plate of cheese and olives, and we walked up North Berwick Law in the late afternoon sunlight.

At the top of North Berwick Law

Strawberry Wine - Third Bottle (2), 8th May 2019

Wednesday was our only wet day for the holiday in Kelso. Before we went I had been checking the weather forecast daily and it looked like the weather was going to be atrocious. The forecast lied. Even though Wednesday was wet, we still got a five mile walk in, beginning and ending in Dryburgh Abbey - a 12th Century ruin where Walter Scott is buried. Well worth visiting.

To thank everyone for putting up with my medieval buildings obsession, I opened a bottle of strawberry wine, which went down nicely. Ann voluntarily had a second glass!

Dryburgh Abbey