Crab Apple Wine - First Bottle (A2), 5th-6th June 2016

This batch of crab apple wine is vey much like all others: a light, refreshing wine with a strong apple taste. It is my 'House White' and I am sad that we had to leave the tree behind when we moved.

Much of the bottle was drunk on Sunday night after a heavy day of sitting in the garden and reading an early Arthur C Clarke (he could foresee interplanetary space travel, but no jobs for women beyond 'secretary'). On Monday Claire deserved the rest for having to work till 8:30, running genetic tests onf fresh brain tumour samples. So this bottle covered both Brain Surgery and Rocket Science.

Rose Petal Wine - Tenth Bottle (B1), 4th-5th June 2016

We drank most of this bottle yesterday after a visit to Harlow Carr Gardens near Harrogate. Claire has confirmed her entry into comfortable middle age by becoming a member of the RHS. I have joined her by being able to spot an Acer at 20 paces. Sooz is still hanging onto her youth. She was mostly bored by the gardens and more interested in a bonfire and some rocks.

I thought rose petal wine would tie in with the day - floral, pink and rather good. We drank it while eating artichokes, which I think are leafy globes of deliciousness but which Sooz considers irritating and pointless.

I think I recognise an Acer

Oh - the other thing of note that happened on the Saturday was that I was on Radio 4! The link to the programme is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07djk3s and I am at 52:40. If you ever wondered what I sound like, or want to know how my parents met, have a listen.

Blackberry Wine - Tenth Bottle (B1), 3rd June 2016

I have received my first 'Subject Access Request' under the Data Protection Act, which meant I spent most my day at work trawling through e-mails, formatting them so that they could be printed and generally putting myself in a bad mood. Coming home to a stiff gin & tonic followed by a bottle of blackberry wine helped matters somewhat. I also came home to a red metal skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex on our hearth. Sooz and Claire had seen it in Blackbird and thought it would make a good birthday present for Andrew.

Rhubarb, Elderflower & Mint Wine - First Bottle (3), 2nd June 2016

Well, I am delighted with how this wine has turned out and I will definitely be making it again. It has retained its bronze-pink colour and is entirely clear. The taste is complex, with the barest tingle of mint, and no one ingredient dominating. Any extra mint may have given the wine a mouthwash flavour. Sooz (who is visiting) and Claire agreed that this was delicious and the bottle was finished rather too quickly.

If you want to see how I made this wine, click here

Blackcurrant Wine - Fourteenth Bottle (C5), 30th-31st May 2016

Bank Holiday Monday was spent exercising muscles that I did not know I had. Mostly this was through shifting large paving slabs, energetic digging and pulling up tree roots with my bare hands. This called for a bottle of something delicious, and blackcurrant wine fits that description. We drank it to kangaroo steaks, cooked rare. I have never eaten kangaroo before and would be hard pressed to distinguish it from beef. That is not a bad thing. Perhaps it was tougher and required more chewing.

On Tuesday I ached, but took my mind off it by being hugely busy at work. All at once our Headingley development is starting to sell, and that keeps me in a job.

Crab Apple Wine - Sixteenth Bottle (C4), 29th-30th May 2016

It has been a glorious bank holiday weekend, almost exclusively spent gardening. We have made such a difference to the back garden. Where before there was a large rectangle of grass, uninteresting borders and an asbestos, pebble-dashed garage, there are now curves, sunlight, a large variety of plants and a pond with a water lily, water soldiers, a minature bullrush, an iris and other greenery besides. I am more interested in gardening than I have ever been before. Topping the weekend off with a bottle of crab apple wine was a pleasure.

Before - though you can't see the garage (on the right)

After

Julia's Wines - Raspberry 1995, 28th May 2016

With apologies to Julia, this wine was godawful. It had an interesting smell of jam but the taste was synthetic and nasty. There was only the barest hint of raspberry. I managed to finish my glass and Ros said it wasn't the very worst wine she had ever had (without elaborating what was). Otherwise everyone else had one sip and the bottle was emptied into the sink. It was a wonderful evening, though - Game's Night at Ros's, and six of us were there. We played four games - Pit, Saboteur, Ex Libris, and Ticket to Ride. All were great fun and I won the first and last. (Not that I am at all competitive or care deeply about these things.)