Crab Apple & Strawberry Wine 2020 - First Bottle (3), 23rd-24th June 2021

This is such a pretty bottle of wine. It is jewel-red and so clear. Taste-wise, it is not bad either and I think rather better than Apple & Strawberry. It has a fruity dryness to it that is appealing and I should have another bottle to see if I think 'crab apple' or 'strawberry' is the dominant flavour. I'm not convinced either is distinctive.

The most exciting thing to happen on either day was that some new jeans arrived through the post. By far the most expensive jeans that I have ever bought (from Spoke) but they fit perfectly and are so, so comfortable. The adage that you get what you pay for seems true on this occasion.

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

My old jeans - 32" waist apparently!

New jeans - 31" waist

Strawberry Wine 2018 - Fifth Bottle (3), 14th May 2021

I think that this vintage may have improved. Claire described it as at the good end of a midweek bottle, which is definitely a step up. Though the strawberry flavour is subtle, it is present and otherwise this felt like a soft white, but with a glorious red colour.

Friday has been a busy day at work but the evening was pleasantly relaxed. After a tortilla, I made rhubarb wine and then we curled up on the sofa to watch ER. Not a Rock & Roll lifestyle!

Taken on 14 May

With some apologies for the above image (it is the only one I took on Friday), but I have got all concerned about my health again. I looked in the mirror sideways on, and all I could see was ribs. And I have been trying to gain weight for the last few months: instead I have lost a couple of pounds. This photo is, in some way, to encourage me to go the doctors again - even if I do come across as a neurotic hypochondriac! 

Rose Petal Wine 2016 - Seventeenth Bottle (B4), 30th October 2020

I am starting to worry about my weight loss. At the beginning of Lockdown I was over 10½ stone (or over 147 pounds or 67 kilos). Seven months later I am around 9 stone 10 (or 136 pounds or 62 kilos). Probably this is down to increased exercise, but maybe it isn't. Also I have been feeling dizzier of late. Therefore, I made an appointment today to get some blood tests done. Watch this space.

In the evening I made a fabulous butternut squash risotto (chili oil being the magic ingredient) and we drank this rose petal wine, which was surprisingly good.

[NB - If you think the photos below are too personal or inappropriate, let me know and I will delete them.]

Me on 11 July 

Me on 31 October

Orange Wine 2018 - Sixth Bottle (B3), 27th-28th May 2020

After having a rare night off the booze on Tuesday, we opened a bottle of orange wine on Wednesday to drink with smoked haddock in a parsley sauce. And we didn't (quite!) finish it. Now Claire's work patterns are 12-7 two days on, two days off, I do the cooking on the days on, and Claire does it on the days off. She says that it is lovely to come home to dinner having been cooked for her.

Neither Wednesday nor Thursday had any particular event of note. Which is about par.

To relieve the boredom, however,

I dressed up as Michaelangelo's David

Blackberry Wine - Tenth Bottle (B4), 8th-9th October 2017

A bitter-sweet bottle of wine, and that does not describe the flavour, which was full and fruity. This was our first bottle after a fabulous week in Corfu, where we had blue skies, golden beaches (only one of which contained nudists), mountain walks and wonderful food. I came back, though, to the news that Aunt Jennifer had died. She was a woman I liked enormously and there is an empty space where she should be. Everyone has their time - but it should always last just that little bit longer.

The distant sandy beach had more bare flesh than you can shake a stick at

Elderflower Wine - Fifth Bottle (5), 2nd-3rd July 2016

One of the reasons I chose this bottle for the House Warming Pary was so I could say to Charles "I didn't recognise you with your clothes on," and hand him a glass. [For reason, click here - it is safe!] Alas, Caroline and Charles (and their two young sons) were some of the last visitors, by which time the elderflower had gone. Much of it was drunk by other neighbours who came - Don & Sandy, and Lenny & Joan. It is a very English thing not to know who else lives on your street, and I am delighted that we had numbers 15, 16 and 24 come over. Don, Sandy, Lenny & Joan have lived here for decades and I think enjoyed the opportunity to have a poke about our house and garden.

Elderflower, Rhubarb & Mint Wine - The Making Of ...

It is a rare occasion that I ask a naked man if I can pick elderflowers from his garden. This was one such occurrence.

The tree I eventually used

I noticed last week that Charles & Caroline, two doors down, had an elder tree in their garden and I thought it would be good neighbourly bonding to ask if I could use some, possibly in return for a bottle. So at a respectable hour on Sunday morning, 12th June, I knocked on their door. It was opened by a four year old. I asked if mummy or daddy were home. He looked reluctant, but went off to find one of them. Charles came to the door, hiding behind it, but it was clear that he was wearing very little. Possibly nothing. Having knocked, I now had no choice but continue. I asked if I could get some elderflowers. He looked confused. "For wine" I explained. Looking nonplussed, he said he would ask Caroline and shut the door. I wasn't sure whether he meant 'right now' or 'at some point in the future'. I hung around awkwardly for a few seconds, but decided that discretion was the better part of valour and retreated with no dignity in tact.

A pint of elderflowers

There were plenty of elderflowers elsewhere and I picked about a third of a carrier bag, which translated into a pint of flowers once I had stripped them from their stems (tedious).

Rhubarb in our garden

Claire supervised my picking of rhubarb from the plants in our garden, and I got 2 lbs 13 oz. I chopped these into chunks, put them in the bucket and poured in the elderflowers. Our main mint plant is doing well, so I got a handful of leaves from this and a few from a mint that was here when we arrived, chopped these roughly and put them in the bucket. I added 3 lbs of sugar and 7 pints of boiling water, stirred it all round and left it overnight.

Our main mint plant

On Monday morning I added a teaspoon each of pectolase, tannin and nutrient and sprinkled in the yeast. I left this until Friday evening, 17th June, when I sieved out the solids and put the liquid into its demijohn. It was a quick job and done before seven o'clock. The wine is pink, but not as pastel delicate pink as pure rhubarb.

If you want to see how this wine turned out, click here