Wine!

Hi all, wow, this past week just flew by again. I didn't even get a chance to post yesterday for Book Club Friday! I was about to do it today but then I decided to post about 'WINE'! Cocktail night has been a bit hit and miss lately, Cheryl and I have usually just shared a glass of wine on a Friday night, and to be honest, that's what our Friday Night's were all about - wine and cheese tastings ;-)  

Cocktails are fun too but I like the idea of getting back to trying a new wine each week, and I thought I would share my 'findings' with you all on here. Not that I'm a connoisseur of wine by any means. In fact I'm no connoisseur at all, but I love trying them. Just this past year I discovered I rather like red wine too so that has opened up a whole new experience for me. I thought I might try to have a post once a week of a new wine I've tried. . . . I'm trying to come up with a name for the 'feature' but as of right now I'm stumped!

For now, let me tell you about two wines we've tried lately. And because I'm not a connoisseur and often can't tell what they taste like, I'm going to share with you the description on the labels :-) So, last week Cheryl was trying a new wine called The Naked Grape (well, new for us), a Pinot Grigio from California.

Light bodied and crisp, with aromas of pear, lemon and honey!

Honestly I can't even remember if that's what I tasted in this wine, I just remember it was nice! I think if I'm to do a post on wines from now on, I'll make notes of what I thought of the drink as and when I taste it. 

Next up is Toasted Head!

 Funny story, I was in the grocery store with Kristen the other week and looking to buy a bottle of wine for Friday night, so I ask her to look at the labels and pick one for me that she liked :-)  She picked this one with a fire-breathing bear! The following are notes from the Toasted Head website (because again, I didn't make any notes about it AND I didn't get a picture of the back of the bottle - because I wasn't thinking about doing these posts at the time).

The nose offers ripe pineapple and peach aromas with toasted graham cracker. The bright straw color prepares the palate for the rich tropical fruit and luscious stone fruit with a viscous mouth feel accented by toasted coconut, vanilla and butterscotch. The creamy finish lingers with hints of buttered toast and lemon zest. This wine will pair well with creamy Italian pasta dishes, roasted chicken or fish, and fresh summer corn.

Pineapple, peach and toasted graham cracker! Wow! I wish I could remember tasting all of that, lol :-)  Toasted coconut, vanilla and butterscotch, I'm sure I didn't get a taste of any of that either! Chardonnays aren't really my favorite kind of wine, I usually find them too dry, but am wanting to like them better - so I keep on trying them. This one was actually rather nice.

Well, that's it for this weeks 'recommendations'. I really liked both of these wines, so if you see them in your local store, give em a try.  And if you've tried something yummy lately, or can recommend a great wine, do let me know.

Hmmm? Any ideas what I can call my weekly 'wine post'?

Just me. . .

saying hi . . . . wondering what ya'll are up to?

Yesterday marked the '1 month before school starts' date! We go back to school here on August 22nd. I really don't want to wish the next 4 weeks away, I just want to wish the heat away. Is anyone NOT having SUPER HOT days? It's hard to imagine that anywhere in the US is having anything but 100 degree days, although I know many of you do actually have it cooler than that. And I saw on the news that Chicago had terrible floods this past week. It's crazy that some of us are in such a drought and others are being flooded out of their homes! 

We are gearing up for a yard sale this weekend! We've only ever done one once before, back when we lived in MD and we were getting ready to move to TX. Usually we just load stuff up we don't need and take it to Goodwill, but last weekend we went through our spare/storage room and cleared a lot of stuff out.  There was so much stuff  we decided it was worth the effort to do a yard sale. We told our neighbors too, but some of them are busy. Cheryl isn't though, so she'll be putting some stuff out too :-)  Hopefully it will be a successful day for us all. 

To pass the time (when I'm not sorting stuff out  for the yard sale) I've been browsing shops on line and adding goodies to my Amazon Wish List - I'm already dreaming of Christmas!. Did you know you can add a button to your tool bar from Amazon 'Add to Wish List' and no matter what online store you look in, you can simply click that button when you see something you like, and it will automatically go to your Amazon Wish List. I love it. Here's a few things I added this week . . . 

I saw this bag in Dillards a few weeks ago when I went out shopping with Cheryl, I just LOVE it. So when I got back home I added it to my wish list ;-)

 I can't save the picture any bigger than that, so for a closer look click on the purse, or go to Dillards HERE

 Now, if I'm to have a new purse (wishfully thinking for Birthday or Christmas)  I think this purse organizer would also be great. . . .

 I found this one on Etsy at Divide and Conquer

I want this book!  :-)

I like collecting Willow Tree figurines and would love the nativity this Christmas.

 Now what's the point of a purse organizer if you're not gonna 'wish' for more purses - just sayin!!!

Believe it or not, I actually have this Coach purse (below) in my closet, but I hardly use it! Jason bought this  for me years ago when we still lived in England. It's really nice, but just a tad 'plain', and a little small, can't get much in it at all - certainly not a big purse organizer!!

A Chi would be nice!

Have you ever tried on a pair of Uggs! Oh My, these can go to the top of my list!!!

What's on your WISH LIST?

Summer Knitting!

When I think of Summer Knitting I usually conjure up pictures a bit like this one . . . .

or even this one (oh to be knitting in Tuscany!)

I'd like to be thinking of skeins of soft cotton yarn, the kind that would keep you cool, of pretty little tanks that can be knit while you're lounging at the beach . . . 

but in reality, my summer knitting looks more like this . . . .

and this . . .

 

 and even this - yes, that's a hat and scarf set for my bottles of wine ;-) 

(they make a hostess gift look really cute)

 That's because right now my summer knitting consists of Christmas gifts for family and friends, AND some new things to put in my Etsy store come the Fall!  But whichever way I look at it, it's still Knitting, and it's still what I love to do :-)

Monthly Book Club

 

Wow, doesn't a week go by quickly! It's time for Book Club Friday again :-) And this week I have a new book to share with you. Before I do that, I'd just like to say that I really enjoyed 'Loving Frank' in the end. It took a little time to get in to it, but in hindsight it was a really enjoyable read. Fascinating too, that it was based on real events. If any of you don't know the story of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick I would suggest you don't Google it first if you want to read this book - the ending was a complete SHOCKER to me!!!  We had our monthly Book Club meeting last night about it and as always it was fun and lively.I love my book club because it makes me read books I normally wouldn't bother picking up, and more often than not I'm surprised that I enjoy them, when at the beginning I think I'm not going to!

Whilst I still had a few chapters left of 'Loving Frank' I actually downloaded this book to my Ipad . . . 

 This is our book club read for September (we won't be reading in August, we've decided on a Movie night instead - more about that next month ;-) Here's the synopsis:

Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.

Told by the father, but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle.

If I'm honest, I'm not sure what to make of this book. I'm a  christian, I believe in God and Jesus, and I believe we WILL have eternal life if we accept Jesus Christ as our savior. I've heard of a few stories of someone that died and 'went to heaven' (have you read 90 minutes in Heaven?) The thing that got me was that I thought you had to 'die' to even experience anything like that (don't ask me why I thought that, I just did), but this little boy didn't die, he 'slipped from conciousnessl!!  What does that actually mean? Haven't you already 'slipped from conciousness' when you're on the operating table? Did he really go to heaven, or did he just dream he did?  The book mentions a young girl named Akiane who 'paints pictures of Jesus and heaven based on her visits too, but again when I read articles on her, she has never 'died' but says she sees heaven in her dreams! So, I don't really know what to make of it all, but does it really matter? I know what I believe, I know that when I die I'll have eternal life with my Maker, my Creator, and I will be reunited with those I have loved and lost. I am reminded of this verse:

However, as it is written:   No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

I will say, it was a quick and easy read, less than 200 pages.I'm sure it will make for an interesting meeting too!  Wanna know what others are reading? Head over to Heather's for more Book Club Friday posts.

Beating the Heat!

I keep checking the weather forecast in the hopes I might see temps below 95 degrees, but it's not happening! The rest of this week and ALL next week, temps will be around 100-102 EVERY day!!!  This is the part of Summer I really don't like, but there's little we can do about it. 

To stay cool we can either stay in doors or eat ice! Actually we can do both ;-)  I found this yummy recipe over at Ree's blog, The Pioneer Woman- perfect timing, considering we have all this to use . . .

As you can see our watermelons are not seedless, so I had to strain the juice, then you just add sugar and lime juice and put it in a glass dish and in to the freezer for about 3 hours.

Take it out and scrape the ice and return to the freezer for another 2 hours. Scrape again, and hey presto....

WATERMELON GRANITA!

Thank you PW!

Speaking of 'melons' we've also been successful with these guys this year . . . 

Yummy Cantalopes. We've had quite a few of these already, in fact I think we've picked them all now - given some to the neighbors and munched on a few ourselves. They turned out perfectly. 

Is it hot where you are? What are you doing to beat the heat?

Weekend Update

Good morning everyone, it's another HOT one here in Texas! I wanted to get here yesterday to post about our fun weekend, but that never happened. I had to run over to my ENT to pick up my allergy drops, then went to the grocery store with Kristen, back home to clean up (inspired by the lovely Debbie, her kitchen was featured in the Country Woman magazine) ;-) do laundry, then it was time to make dinner, and then we popped over to Cheryl's so Kristen and Emily could play in the pool and I had a glass of wine with Cheryl.

Last Friday I got a flat tire! First time EVER since I have been driving I think (and that's many many years!). Thankfully Cheryl's hubby Steve came to the rescue. He doesn't go out to work until 3.30pm so he was the first one I tried to call. He not only came out to get us but immediately called AAA and the arrived not too long after to put the spare tire on for me. We were only about 10 minutes from home. I got two new front tires put on the car the next day, and all is well. I can't thank Steve enough, he was my knight in shining armor.

So, Saturday night we went out for 'Cuban'! Cheryl had gotten a Groupon for this Cuban restaurant in Austin, called Habanas, known to have the best Mojitos in town ;-)  They really were GOOD!

Kiki and me ready to head out.

Yummy Mojitos!

After we got home we went over to Cheryl's for a dip in the pool, I deliberately waited til it got dark so I could have a 'moonlit swim' :-)

I'm still having issues using Windows Live Writer to post to my blog, it won't let me! I had some computer issues last week and ever since Jason fixed them I can't post using WLW. I don't like posting with blogger now, it doesn't seem to leave a space between my paragraphs! I'll have to get Jason to take another look at things.

Book Club Friday & Wanna Swap?!!

You all know how much I love books, so I thought I’d join in again with Heather’s Book Club Friday this week, even though I’m still reading the same book I mentioned last week - ‘Loving Frank’ by Nancy Huron.  Book club meeting is next Thursday so I should be finished with by then. In hindsight, I’m rather enjoying the book, and just out of curiosity I Googled Frank Lloyd Wright’s house which is talked about in the book – called Taliesin. Have you heard of it? Seen it? Wow, what an amazing looking structure! Google it if you’re curious ;-)

So this week I thought I’d review a book I read a few months ago for Book Club.

Here’s the synopsis:  It's the beginning of a lazy summer in 1950 at the sleepy English village of Bishop's Lacey. Up at the great house of Buckshaw, aspiring chemist Flavia de Luce passes the time tinkering in the laboratory she's inherited from her deceased mother and an eccentric great uncle. When Flavia discovers a murdered stranger in the cucumber patch outside her bedroom window early one morning, she decides to leave aside her flasks and Bunsen burners to solve the crime herself, much to the chagrin of the local authorities. But who can blame her? What else does an eleven-year-old science prodigy have to do when left to her own devices? 

This is the first book in a series of 4 (so far, actually the 4th book is due for release this November!).  Not one of my favorite books! To me, reading about a ‘kid sleuth’ as Flavia is labeled, seems rather disconcerting.  I mean seriously, who lets an 11 year old kid go off to solve a murder on her own?!  And the fact that she is only 11 made me feel like this should be more like a novel for younger readers, yet it obviously wasn’t.

Still, in saying all that I did find myself not wanting to put the book down (like all mysteries, I can’t wait to get to the end to see ‘whodunnit’!) and the meeting we had about it was fun (as always). That’s what I love about being in a bookclub. You get to hear other opinions about the characters and plot, which sometimes lets me see the book in a whole different light.

SO, who’s up for a SWAP? I would like to send this book on to someone else that would like to read it, in exchange for another book that I would like to read ;-)

Top of my list is:

 

OR

 OR

OR

 Or, if you have a book you think I might like to read, and you would like the Flavia de Luce Mystery, then just send me an email: denise at deniseschulz dot com

Also for anyone that is on GoodReads.com you can find me under that email address and I would love to be added to your ‘friends’.

I was going to add ‘Wine’ to the title of this post (Cheryl and I will be trying two new wines tonight ;-) one is a ‘chocolate dipped strawberry wine!!!) but I’ll leave that for the next post.

Strange, I couldn't post this using Live Writer, so went to Blogger to post, but Blogger won't let me leave spaces between the paragraphs? I hope it's not too hard to read!

Have a great weekend!

Hot Summer!

Would you think I’m crazy if I said I’m already done with Summer? The temps have been over 100 degrees here for what seems like weeks now! We don’t go out unless it’s to the grocery store. The kids don’t play out in the cul-de-sac either, for obvious reasons. I’m starting to wish it was Fall, actually I just wish the temps would drop, I’d still like to enjoy a nice long lazy Summer!

This is helping . . .

Our neighbs next door put in an above ground pool last weekend. Actually we ALL put in an above ground pool. We could hardly sit and watch them when we had every intention of joining them in it ;-) So, just a few days before the 4th July, we set to work . . .

It wasn’t an easy task! The heat was unbearable at times. Then we couldn’t believe it when we saw grey rain clouds forming. especially when rain wasn’t even forecast for that day. While still trying to hold the sides up, we heard thunder too! Thankfully we got no lightening, but we got a down pour and we couldn’t run inside because we were all still holding the pool up. Cheryl’s son had to run over and ask our other neighbors for a hand, things were getting desperate, the wind was blowing really hard too. Thankfully, the rain didn’t last long, the sun came out again and we finally had the lining in the pool and the sides supported!

Then it was time to ‘fill er up’!

Ok, so that took a day and a half, but it was all worth it in the end. The kids got to play in it on 4 th July afternoon :-)

We pop over there every other night or so and join Cheryl and the boys for a swim/play time.  It sure does beat the heat.

Kristen was letting the ball go between her legs in this picture (below), I was trying to catch the ball in mid air!!!

Things in the garden are winding down. We won’t be planting anymore til later in the Fall, the water restrictions are just too bad right now to be able to keep anything going out there. We did get another ripe watermelon (picture courtesy of Kristen) :-) And we’ve had a ton of peaches and cantaloupe. I’ll share more of that next time.

Book Club Friday!

I didn’t get a chance to join in with Heather last week for her Book Club Friday, but I have the time today to post so here we go . . .

This week I’m reading Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.

 

This is our book club read for July. To be honest I didn’t think I’d enjoy reading this book, the storyline just didn’t interest me at all, but half way through the book the characters are developing and I’m being drawn in to the ‘drama’ so to speak and liking it better than I thought I would.

Here’s the synopsis:

Horan's ambitious first novel is a fictionalization of the life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, best known as the woman who wrecked Frank Lloyd Wright's first marriage. Despite the title, this is not a romance, but a portrayal of an independent, educated woman at odds with the restrictions of the early 20th century. Frank and Mamah, both married and with children, met when Mamah's husband, Edwin, commissioned Frank to design a house. Their affair became the stuff of headlines when they left their families to live and travel together, going first to Germany, where Mamah found rewarding work doing scholarly translations of Swedish feminist Ellen Key's books. Frank and Mamah eventually settled in Wisconsin, where they were hounded by a scandal-hungry press, with tragic repercussions.

Our meeting is not until July 21st, so I may still be reading this next week – after that we’ll be reading Heaven is for Real, which I’m really looking forward to, and might actually buy it for the Kindle on my Ipad, it will be the first time I’ve read a book on there! I still like the idea of reading a ‘real’ book, but want to give the Kindle a try.

Kristen on the other hand has no problem reading on my Ipad, she’s already read the first book in the Warrior series. As soon as she finished it she asked if I could download the sample of the second book, to which I replied, “I might as well just buy it"!” – and just like that, within seconds she had it in her lap to start reading! Gotta love technology!!!  ;-)

 

It’s another super hot day here in TX, I think I’ll be over in Cheryl’s pool later tonight, and joining her for a margarita . . . or two ;-)  Have a great weekend!

The Oasis

Hey all, thought I’d jump on here again before too many days pass us by! While Sue and Doug were here last weekend we took them to The Oasis – the famous  and very popular (actually I’m not sure it’s famous, but it is VERY popular) tourist attraction on Lake Travis in Austin.  It’s only about a 30 minute drive for us but we haven’t been there since my sister was here 2 years ago!

It’s always so crowded and parking used to be terrible, but they’ve put in a multi storey parking garage since we were last there so that helped a lot.  Here’s some photos we took while we were there (and again, I know Sue has some much nicer ones but she must still be busy unpacking and catching up on her laundry as she hasn’t added them to her blog yet!).

  

I tried to get a picture of the ‘boys’ but didn’t have it on the right setting! I don’t even have a pic of Sue and Doug on my camera! I must have been taking them for Sue using hers!

The Oasis is known as the Sunset Capitol of Texas – hence the many photos that follow ;-)

   

 

 

As the sun was setting we noticed a young guy and girl below us on the steps, he was on one knee and was proposing to her at sunset :-) When he stood up I actually started clapping and everyone joined in. I told Sue we should ask if they wanted us to take a picture for them, it didn’t look like they had any camera with them. I walked down to them and asked and the young guy was so appreciative and said he had his Iphone with him. I snapped a couple of pics for them but not sure how they came out, it looked like their silhouette against the sunset, which hopefully was ok. At least they had a picture of their special moment.