Prune & Parsnip Wine 2019 - Eighth Bottle (B1), 9th-10th December 2020

This will be another of those diary entries where I complain that every day feels like the last. There is little that stands out from Wednesday or Thursday and they certainly will not be days that I remember for evermore. Or even by the start of next week. We did have a bottle of Prune & Parsnip Wine, so that was something, and saw a further two Advent Windows from the neighbours. It was another two days of feeling barely in control at work and I do look forward to a fortnight's time when the country shuts up shop for a week.

An out of focus picture of our Advent Window

Apple Wine 2019 - Second Bottle (6), 2nd-3rd December 2020

Definitely a mid-week bottle of wine, this one. There is nothing actively wrong with it, but it is neither interesting nor delicious. 

On Wednesday night Claire poured me a glass of apple wine as medicine. I was feeling entirely overwhelmed and panicky about work. At that point I could not see how I could get everything done - and I got up at 2 a.m. to do ninety minutes work (mostly redone about twelve hours later). By Thursday, though, everything was clearer and Claire said that my moustache was no longer drooping, so we finished the bottle and watched Taskmaster. All was right with the world once more.

The Neighbourhood Advent Window for 3 December

Rhubarb Wine 2018 - Tenth Bottle (C6), 29th November 2020

Oh, I'm an old man. Most of my waking hours - nine of them - were spent kneeling on the floor, creating a Tardis panel for the Street Advent Calendar. That is nine hours of crouching and kneeling whilst designing, measuring, cutting, gluing and placing carefully. After about three hours of this, each time I got up I made an old-man groaning noise. Two days later and I am still stiff. The end result, though, is fantastic. A bottle of rhubarb wine as muscle-relaxant was definitely the thing to have. And, in fact, I thoroughly enjoyed feeling like I was at Primary School again, with rounded scissors, lots of coloured paper and glue. It was a good day.

My Tadis Advent Panel. Nine hours work!

Orange Wine 2019 - Fourth Bottle (1), 28th November 2020

This bottle was better than I had remembered. It was not cloyingly sweet and there was a pleasant depth to it. We drank the wine at the end of one of those dank days which just makes you want to hibernate. Instead, though, I made a Christmas pudding (now to be stored until Boxing Day) and created my first panel of our Advent Window (lots of stars - relatively easy and a bit dull). In the evening we ate 'Hot & Sour Guinea Fowl' and watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Gently amusing, but no more.

The Christmas Pudding before 8 hours of steaming

Rose Petal Wine 2018 - Eighth Bottle (A5), 27th-28th November 2020

On Friday, having finished the Xmas Tutti Fruti and having had a whisky mac, we decided that a further bottle would be a good idea (it wasn't). But it was not to be anything too nice - so I fished out a bottle of Rose Petal, and it fulfilled its duties admirably. 

Most of it was drunk whilst watching Taskmaster, which is infectiously, gloriously silly. This left the murky, crunch dregs for Saturday. Claire generously allowed me to finish the bottle.

What I spent Saturday afternoon doing

Xmas Tutti Fruti 2018 - Tenth Bottle (B1), 26th-27th November 2020

It has been an odd Thanksgiving this year. Rather than a houseful of friends & family, we celebrated alone. Actually, we had two Zoom sessions - one with the Taylors to mark the opening of Whisky Mac season, and one with Richard & Linda for Thanksgiving Proper. The other odd thing was no turkey. Claire roasted a guinea fowl instead, which is not strictly North American, but is rather better than the traditional bird. Also more suited to two. We washed it all down with a bottle of Tutti Fruti, which was as good as ever, but did not finish it. Friday was a working day and, as mentioned above, it was the start of Whisky Mac season.

Our Thanksgiving meal (plus wine)

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Sixth Bottle (A1), 22nd November 2020

It has been a delightful, domestic Sunday. In the morning I made a marmalade & yoghurt cake - not an unmitigated triumph (the texture is weird and rubbery) but it tastes acceptable. In the evening I made a goulash which, apart from the sour cream curdling, was excellent. All washed down with a bottle of blackberry wine. 

Claire spent her day making a faux stained glass panel depicting the lifecycle of a frog.

Claire's panel